Sky! Feb 8-15 Trip Report & Review

[jovisoul]

Great review and pictures! We were on the Sky the week before you! It was our 12th Princess Cruise. Captain Tuvo was spectacular, our FAVORITE captain by far. He is so personable and always takes the time to speak with guests! His daily messages were a hoot!

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this review!

[c-boy]

Mmmmm Gin cart   😋

[Tak8]

Great review.  Love the photos.  The dessert sampler at Sabatini's looks great.  I can never decide, but I don;t have room for more than one. But small portions of four, I would attempt. 

[dalibi]

Thanks!  

I'll look for more pics,

Can you post more menus?   How much are Bailey's and coffee?

Cheers!  Have fun!

[rocklinmom]

Thank you, I will visualize the buffet for now (and get hungry).  We are booked in regular balcony cabins because my son prefers the bunk bed vs. sofa bed (and he is really tall). Plus the sofa bed tends to block balcony access vs. a bunk bed that drops from the ceiling. It's nice that you and your family could have sofas just for lounging on. Were the balconies smaller than on the older classic ships? And were your Aloha deck balconies covered?

[Sadebud]

Great review!  Thanks for sharing.  We sail on the Sky in December and you are just making me more excited!

[MaryBethV]

1 hour ago, dalibi said:

Thanks!  

I'll look for more pics,

Can you post more menus?   How much are Bailey's and coffee?

Cheers!  Have fun!

I took photos of all the menus (where we ate) and will post them as I go along. 
A shot of Bailey's in the souvenir glass was $3. We just poured it in our regular coffee (included). You could also order coffee beverages with various liqueurs, etc. in them - as listed on this dinner-time dessert menu. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by MaryBethV

[MaryBethV]

57 minutes ago, rocklinmom said:

Were the balconies smaller than on the older classic ships? And were your Aloha deck balconies covered?

We have never been on the older classic ships, but I have read that our balconies are smaller/more narrow. I think they are an OK size. I just love the view and the fresh air. If I'm going to lay out - I'll head to a spot near a pool. And yes - they were covered by the deck/balconies above us.

Edited February 19, 2020 by MaryBethV

[MaryBethV]

DH and I headed to the new jazz lounge - Take 5 - for a cocktail or two.

 

Two pages of the quite extensive drink menu -

 

 

DH's Amaretto Manhattan and my French Martini

 

Then we spotted Iris and the gin cart. Let me tell you - she takes the crafting of a fine gin & tonic seriously. It was fun just to watch and she explained every step as she made them. I ordered a Citrus Gin & Tonic and DH ordered The Classic. We both liked the citrus one the best.

 

 

Who knew all those tools in the cocktail making set were to use?!? 😁

 

 

It was 60's night with the band Static in the Piazza.

 

And time for bed if wanted to catch an early water shuttle to Princess Cays the next morning. Not easy to do - those Gin & Tonics were on the strong side!

 

And the Patter for embarkation day:

 

 

 

[dalibi]

Thanks!

[c-boy]

hawt d^mn ! Jazz & Gin  🤩

[Joywrk]

Do you know if they have diet tonic? Love Gin and Tonic but need to bring my own if not available on board

[MaryBethV]

28 minutes ago, Joywrk said:

Do you know if they have diet tonic? Love Gin and Tonic but need to bring my own if not available on board

I'm sorry - I don't know if they have diet. 

[senior lady]

Great review and pictures.  Looks like Captain Tivo will be on my cruise to Baltic in June.....yippee

[Camelia-]

14 hours ago, snoozecrooze said:

Hi! I'm not the OP (and I do apologize for hijacking), but I can help. Captain Tuvo informed me he leaves on March 7th, and that will basically be his 3-month-mark (he took the helm on 12/7/2019). A good measure for captains' schedules are (broadly speaking; all schedules are subject to change for unpredictable circumstances) 3 months on, 3 months off. So Captain Tuvo will not be back until June after his break. Sorry to inform you of this and hope that helped a little!

thank you so much for that confirmation. Do you know if he will actually be returning to the Sky Princess or will he be transferred to another ship? I've heard such awesome things about him that I hope to sail with him one day..I'm sure that the videos that I've seen of him don't really do him justice!!

[MaryBethV]

Sunday | February 9, 2020 | Princess Cays

It was windy and rainy and the ship was rocking throughout the night. I love it - lulls me to sleep. However, it was still windy and rainy when I woke up, so I didn't have high hopes for sun and wondered if we'd be able to tender to Princess Cays at all. Thankfully, it soon calmed down and the rain stopped. Yay!

 

 

 

 

The night before, we pre-ordered room service on the Medallion Class App. It arrived right on time. However - the breakfast sandwiches were barely warm. And dry. At home I try to limit my carbs and I have this little vacation rule... 'no carbs that aren't YUMMY'. 😜So I ate the egg and ham and left the english muffin. The croissant, on the other hand, was definitely in the yummy carb category. Mmm

 

 

 

 

Then, one of God's most beautiful rainbows appeared. Captain Tuvo even made an announcement to look as we were sailing directly through it. Stunning!

 

 

Time to grab our tender tickets at the Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar on deck 7. Kristoff gave out tickets right on time and we waited for our group to be called. I was hoping to go out on the promenade deck near Alfredos, but it was closed. 😒

 

 

Couldn't resist a quick stop at the International Cafe while waiting. Coffee + a slice of lemon loaf cake. The cake part was very good. The icing was... CHEWY. Like a cross between icing and taffy. 🤔

 

 

 

On the first tender - and had a chance to waive to my in-laws who decided to just enjoy the ship for the day.

 

 

Ride over to Princess Cays -

 

 

 

Looking to the North -

 

 

 

 

Looking to the South -

 

[CATGUY7]

We are currently on the Sky.  Yesterday we stopped in Roatan.  Captain Tuvo announced that it was the first time they’d found it on the first try, so yay!  He has a wonderful sense of humor.  

[snoozecrooze]

36 minutes ago, Camelia- said:

thank you so much for that confirmation. Do you know if he will actually be returning to the Sky Princess or will he be transferred to another ship? I've heard such awesome things about him that I hope to sail with him one day..I'm sure that the videos that I've seen of him don't really do him justice!!

Hi! Another Princess captain mentioned before that once a captain joins a ship, they are bound to that ship for approximately three years, per their contract. I don't know how stringent this is for every captain in the fleet, and unpredictable circumstances may also arise, but I take his word for it. Note that relief captains can also come on-board in the middle of a captain's contract to substitute.

 

Using this logic, I believe Captain Tuvo will be captain of Sky Princess until 2022. He will share this role with Captain Heikki Laakkonen of Finland, who was the inaugural captain, also until 2022. The swaps happen almost to the dot of three months -- Captain Tuvo should be on from 6/4-9/4 and then probably come back on 12/10 (these are the sailing dates). 

 

Now back to regularly scheduled programming with Mary Beth! (sorry if I've created any distractions from your report 😞 )

 

 

[MaryBethV]

31 minutes ago, snoozecrooze said:

Hi! Another Princess captain mentioned before that once a captain joins a ship, they are bound to that ship for approximately three years, per their contract. I don't know how stringent this is for every captain in the fleet, and unpredictable circumstances may also arise, but I take his word for it. Note that relief captains can also come on-board in the middle of a captain's contract to substitute.

 

Using this logic, I believe Captain Tuvo will be captain of Sky Princess until 2022. He will share this role with Captain Heikki Laakkonen of Finland, who was the inaugural captain, also until 2022. The swaps happen almost to the dot of three months -- Captain Tuvo should be on from 6/4-9/4 and then probably come back on 12/10 (these are the sailing dates). 

 

Now back to regularly scheduled programming with Mary Beth! (sorry if I've created any distractions from your report 😞 )

 

 

Love your input - learned something I didn't know before! 🙂

[MaryBethV]

50 minutes ago, CATGUY7 said:

We are currently on the Sky.  Yesterday we stopped in Roatan.  Captain Tuvo announced that it was the first time they’d found it on the first try, so yay!  He has a wonderful sense of humor.  

Yes - he is so funny! On our approach to St. Thomas he said something like "We were looking for St. Thomas and thankfully we ran into some fishermen that pointed us this way... and LOOK! We found it! Woohoo!" 🤣LOVE

[MaryBethV]

Prepare yourself for way too many photos of Princess Cays. 😉 We got off the tender and headed over the bridge to the quieter South side. After picking out the furthest clamshell, we took off on a short hike before more people joined us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right behind our clamshell was a basketball court and a beach volleyball court.

 

A few steps to the North we had the Reef Runner Bar, bathrooms, and a small buffet.

 

Time for a margarita!!!

 

[MaryBethV]

We decided to take a walk to the North side before lunch.

 

Construction of some sort going on in the general area that the fire was at last year.

 

 

Looking toward the lagoon area from the lookout tower -

 

 

 

Last February, we had a cabana reserved. However, the fire on Princess Cays happened exactly one week before our visit and there was no power (and one bathroom on the island - eek) so our cabana reservation was cancelled. We have one reserved for our cruise with the kids in April - so, fingers crossed. 

 

No shortage of loungers!

 

Access to the water in front of the cabanas -

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sports beach area -

 

 

Well hello there, little crab!

 

 

 

After some lunch (advice: skip the hot dogs and hamburgers and go for the grilled chicken!) at the buffet on the South side, it was time for a swim.

 

 

Low tide -

 

Back on the tender -

 

Looking North -

 

 

 

Does anyone know what the little yellow cabana/cottage on the far left is?

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by MaryBethV

[DuaneO]

Interesting review, I really enjoyed you’re efforts.  Thank you.

 

was interested, were the images smartphone or digital Camera.. or a combination?

 

every effective coverage.

Edited February 19, 2020 by DuaneO

[nini]

Mary Beth- How lovely you and DH were able to take your in laws on their 

first cruise- and such a great ship! Thank you for your review and pics!

[jwattle]

7 hours ago, MaryBethV said:

I took photos of all the menus (where we ate) and will post them as I go along. 
A shot of Bailey's in the souvenir glass was $3. We just poured it in our regular coffee (included). You could also order coffee beverages with various liqueurs, etc. in them - as listed on this dinner-time dessert menu. 

On a personal note, the Bailey's is lovely over a bit of ice cream 😄