SKY 7/28 Very Dissapointed.... (long review)

[JCJR]

Just got back from the 4day on the Sky and I am very dissapointed that I did not have many complaints. (Gotcha!!).

 

We were a group of 10 (including 3 boys ages 11, 9, 9 and a 6yr old girl) taking up two Ocean view (forward) 8012 and 8211 and 1 balcony (forward) 9016. All the cabins were fine no A/C or Toilet issues. I talked to about 10 different people on the cruise and all of them had good cabins except one person and they said they had A/C problems which were fixed. I asked if their room was Aft ( back part of the ship) and they asked how did I know? I explained about all the info from previous cruisers. Now on to my review.

 

Embarkation: Arrived to the pier around 12:20 and was able to walk straight to the counter, no lines. Our carry ons got x-rayed and the attendant spotted a bottle. She told the other guy to take me to the booze table. I opened my bag and showed them that it was just a Margrita mixer and no alcohol (the rest of the story comes later). Got on board around 12:50, we had to wait for the rest of our party. We were greated on the ship with flutes of your choice of orange juice or champagne. We proceeded to get lunch at Il Adagio. There was a pasta bar with one attendant mixing pasta and sauces 1 at atime and another making large pizzas (vegetatian, Cheese and Pepperoni) and cutting them into small squares. Portions of pizza were small but we got double orders for the kids. The pasta was good. The restaurant was on deck 11 Aft and I was feeling quite warm. No one else in my party new about the issues on the SKY and I did not want to ruin their vacation by telling them. So I kept asking everyone if they were warm ( they kept looking at me as if I was paranoid) and they were warm but not too bad.

 

We ate lunch and got to my mom's balcony room to drop off our carry ons. We then went back to make reservations for Cagney's for dinner on deck 5. We wanted to take advantage of our Buy one get one free Specialty restaurant coupon. We were only able to get reservations for 6:30pm or 9:45 We chose the 6:30pm thinking we will drop off the kids at the kids corner at 5:30 and have a peaceful adult dinner. We went to register (12-8pm) the kids at the kids corner to find out they opened at 8pm on the first day. There goes our 6:30 reservations and 9:45 was too late because we had to pick up the kids at 10:30 so we choose the Italian rest at 7:45. This was our first Freestyle snafu, it was difficult to make reservations and still be able to see the show and drop off the kids. The first and only main show on the first day was at 9pm. We did see the the late night comedy show at 10:30pm.

 

Rooms: Very small compared to Carnival and RCCL. We had a dbl bed and two upper bunks. When the bunks were lowered they covered 75% of the lower bed and we had very little head room. I could not see the TV from my side of the bed. The bedding was real nice and a lot of pillows that looked luxurious but they were not functional. Every one in my party complained that the larger pillows were uncomfortable. We had 2 lrg and 3 small pillows. After the first night we asked for a 4th small pillow and we recieved it latter that night.

 

Bathroom was average (which means small) for a cruise ship but there was room in the shower for my oversized body. The shower was excellent, it had very hot water ( I take lukewarm showers) and great pressure but was soft feeling. There were two dispensers one for shampoo and one for bath gel. The shampoo was good but the gel did not foam and it smelled like spearmint which was nice. I thought some one poured mouth wash in the dispenser because the other two rooms in my party did not have the spearment smell, they did not use the gel because they brought their own soap which was much better. A/C was strong and was freezing in the bathroom. We had clothe drying in the bathroom and it never got dry. Toilet worked fine in all our cabins and one day an engineer went to my mom's room to check her toilet because some cabins had an issue and they were on the same line as her room. Plenty of suction.

 

Room attendants: two were assigned to my cabin and service was terrible for my taste and past experiences. Since it is Freestyle there is no set time for them to clean your room or turn it down for the night. I would get knocks twice a day to see if we wanted our rooms cleaned. My experiences on other Cruise lines were that it was mandatory that the rooms were cleaned twice and you never saw your room attendant. I never got towel animals ( and I have two kids). Other cruises I got one every night with no exceptions. I also had no ice constantly and had to ask a couple of times daily. After the first day I would of thought they got the message that I use a lot of ice. My mom's room never got turned down at night and they did get 1 towel animal on the 2nd night. I never did ask my brother if his room was OK but I think they got 1 animal as well.

 

Entertainment: Poor compared to other ships. One comedian which was OK and they had singers and dancers. No band. Small stage and room never got filled. They did have 3 different shows/activities but that is average for any ship that I have been on. They did have an adult show on the last night that was interactive and every one had a good time (it was a blast). The comedian had an open mike contest for telling jokes and 3 passangers competed for a small prize. There were three rounds and I actually broke the ice as being the first one to tell a joke and I won my round and received a CD from the comedian, which he sells on board for $10 and are available in stores on shore for $15. They had a Monte Carlo night which was a casino style revue at the casino and the white out party which was packed but only lasted an hour.

 

Food: Buffet was so-so. We ate breakfast every morning in one of the main dining rooms (Crossing) which was located Aft. There was a slight smell of sewage everytime we went to that dining room (so the problem is definately in the back of the ship). Since I knew there was a sewage problem it was easy for me to notice it but the rest of my party did not notice until I pointed it out and still it was faint that they forgot about it. The smell was only outside of the dining room and not inside. I saw a blower in front of room 8260 every day of the cruise, I guess it was to dry the rug. I do not think anyone was in there but that is were the last bank of elevators are located that lead to the dining room. Food was OK and not as good as Carnival or even RCCL. That was the consesus of my whole party and not just me. Lobster was on the 2nd night along with Beef Wellington, Prime rib on the last night. The Creme Brulee was fantastic on the 2nd night and the bread pudding with vanilla sauce on the 3rd night was great as well. We did not have lunch in the dining rooms and caught the end of the lunch buffets twice. It seems on this ship everything closes and you end up eating Hamburgers and hotdogs. Pizza was only available for part of the day. The Sports bar actually serves food from 5:30pm-5:30am and is advertised in the dailies (noboard newspaper) but we did not notice it until the third night. They had chicken wings, Hambrg, Hotdogs and cheesecake.

 

Service was poor through out the cruise. There were a lot of new people (this being the fifth cruise, 3rd week) that they should of done better. Once in a while an experienced waiter/waitress would step in and fix the issues. Service was s-l-o-w. All the experienced cruisers in my party kept pointing it out to me. The crew really tried hard and was nice but that still did not make up for their short cummings. You would ask them a question and they would not know the answer. I have many examples but it is too long to list. My brother asked for an ash tray while on the pool deck and he asked three waiters and they all said they will be right back. There was 1 ashtray for every 100 tables (at least it felt that way) and my brother only asked after trying to find one himself. My sister bought a bucket of 6 beers and asked 3 waiters to open one of her beers and somw ice and they did not have bottle openers and took 30 min to come back. It seemed they were more concerned trying to sell you stuff than the service after you buy.

 

There was only water, tea and coffee included in all meals. In the buffett the cups were so small you had to get up every 2 minutes to refill. I ended up bringing 10 galsses of water on a tray every time we had lunch and that was just for my family of 4. Capuccino and expresso was available as well in the restuarants for breakfast and dinner. Keep in my that this is what I saw and I might be missing something. Drink specials were $7.95-$8.95. We bought a couple of drinks and beers here and there. I brought the 6 Rum Runner flasks with the following Rum, pineapple juice, tequila. I also brought cream of coconut, margarita mix and a Magic Bullet blender. We made Pina Coladas and Margaritas. I saved my Drink special cups and used that when we brought some drinks up to the pool deck.

 

Kids Corner: The only one that enjoyed the kids camp was our 6yr niece. My boys did not want to go back. First time that happened, usually they never want to leave. They did play dodge ball and one 1st place in the tournament. A lot of people used the basket ball courts.

 

Casino: First day there was a lot of specials, Buy $15 worth of chips for $10, once per person and $20 slot card for $10. We are all small time gamblers (my bank roll was $50 for the whole cruise). I was able to stretch my bankroll for three days playing a half hour at a time.There were BlackJack tournements $15 entry and Texas Hold em tournament on the last night. I did not like the auto shuffling dealing shues ( or what ever they call them) and a lot of the slot machines do not except the promo cards. There were no free drinks for players. They did have a mini buffet nightly. Blackjack odds 3:2 and 6:5 with $10 min but they had a $5 table for some kind og Hold 'em card game. We did have a good time in the casino and used all the coupons they gave us when signing up or the players club.

 

Excursions: Since we were 10 pp it was quite expensive to do tours so we planned ahead and did things on our own.

Freeport: Our plan was to rent a car, drive to Lucaya Marketplace and spend 2 hours, drive to Golden Rock beach and the caves (2hrs) and drive back to Paradise Cove for snorkling (2hrs) We figured 9am-3pm (actual port time was 8-6). We rented a car (Thrifty)at the airport and called 3days before to verify and was told they had a desk at the port and our van will be waiting for us ($117) and confirmed 3 times with the lady. We arrived at 8am and went to the car rental agency and it was called Celebrety (there is a car agency at the port). But it was seperate from Thrifty. The lady was nice enough to call the airport and the confusion was they though I was on Discovery Sea Escape and their desk opens at 12 noon (BTW Sky docked in dock2 and Discover is dock1 and it is a small hike.) Since I s/w them beforethey offered to pick me up and take me to the airport. I waited and it took them 1 hr to pick me up, I ended up back on the dock with the Van at 10am. They did allow me to drop off at the pier but it had to be at 4pm.

 

We went to Lucaya Marketplace (following a taxi) and it took 20 min to get their. We walked around and decided to go to Golden Rock (GR). We got directions and the lady said it was 30 miles away. It ended up being 24 miles. We stopped at a market and bought drinks and chips and off we went. The road to GR was barron 20 miles later and we saw 3 vendor stands on the side of the road and it was in front of Lucayan National Park. SO we drove into a small dirt parking and there was a small concrete shake with a Park Ranger (no uniform). He gave instructions to the caves. It cost $3 adult kids under 12 free. We walked about 50 yards and saw some steps that lead to the cave. It was a small underground room with water and bats hanging on the cave roof. It was pretty interesting and the kids had a good time. It took 5 minutes. We exited and walked on a path another 50 yards and there was a second cave. No bats but it was interesting as well. Walked out (total time was 20min) and asked directions to the beach. He said to leave the car there and walk across the street and the beach was a short 15 min walk. It was hot and my mom has problems walking so we got directions to the east end (Bishops hote/restaurant) another 7-8 miles. We were able to park 20 yds from the sand and all got out. The beach was warm and water was nice. Snorkling was non existent only small fishes you find at any beach. It was getting late so we decided to stay there longer and skip Paradise Cove. We got back to the port and dropped off the van. I got a ride back to pier #2 from the car agent because she was leaving. They were not aware that the Sky is now arriving to Freeport so she said she will mention it to her boss. Gas was at $5.79gl and we put $30 worth a little more than we started with.

 

Nassua: Walked to the Fincastle and shops. Went to straw market and bought Rum at the Barcadi shop (2 -1ltr bottles for $15) Very hot. We got on a bus and went around the island for $1 pp. Got on board by 2pm.

 

Stirrup Cay: Beatiful island that you need to tender (catch a small boat). The beach has no shade. We brought umbrellas (courtesy of Blackerbys tip, Thank you) and were the only ones with shade. One guy offered to buy one from us but were worth they weight in gold. There was shade but it was a way off from the beach. Snorkling was EXCELLENT. Best part of the cruise. My brother and I are divers and our kids live in the pool and we all went snorkling. We brought our own gear but had to rent vests. They did not allow any one to not have them. $5 adults, $2.50 child. Best $15 I ever spent. We swam out to a channel between two huge rocks. There was a life guard sitting on top of one of the rocks watching out for non vest wearing snorklers. Some one said you did not need a vest if you only had a mask (no snorkle) but we did not see any one. The depths was from 3ft-28ft or so. We saw a bunch of fishes including parrot fishes, seargents, grunts, trigger fish small schools of reef fishes, yellow tails and we saw 3-4 small sting rays. The sting rays swam also in 2 ft of water were everyone was able to see them. Every one said that this was the highlight of the trip, even the non snorklers. The beach was clean and clear. We were able to bring the chairs and loungers in the water and sit. There were haammocks and picnic tables in the back.

 

Thats it for now but I have to say that Freestyling is not for us. It seems the Freestyling is more for NCL than for the passengers. They did what ever they wanted and it felt like they were freestyling (winging everything). I heard, Sorry we can't do that from the crew often which we never experienced on Carnival or RCCL. I like the shows and dinners and this cruise did both poorly compared to others. I would rate this cruise a 6, my wife 7. I would cruise again if the price was right. It is a great cruise for first timers.

 

Any questions and I will try to answer them.

[coaster]

Glad you had a/c. That seems to be the biggest concern with the Sky. Surprised the entertainment was subpar. Jean Ann Ryan Productions has been excellent in the past on NCL based on our experience. I thought I saw a post where NCL was gradually fazing them off their ships which could be why the entertainment is not as good. Anyone know what the real deal with Jean Ann Ryan and NCL is now?

 

Freestyle is not for everyone for sure. It is the difference to having very good service as compared to being free to do things at different times and service suffering as a result. I have only sailed NCL once after freestyle took over and was not really impressed either. The bulk of our NCL cruises were pre-freestyle. We were going to try NCL again until we were scared off by the Sky's issues that have been shared here. I am still willing to try NCL again on a fully functioning ship though. Thanks for the detailed review.

[blackerbys17]

We brought umbrellas (courtesy of Blackerbys tip, Thank you) and were the only ones with shade. One guy offered to buy one from us but were worth they weight in gold. There was shade but it was a way off from the beach.

 

LOL, you are welcome! I'm glad you brought the umbrellas, they come in handy don't they?

 

Sorry to hear you had a few problems but over all it seems the cruise went pretty OK. Glad you were able to enjoy it!

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

...I would rate this cruise a 6, my wife 7.

 

:eek:

 

What does your wife think about THAT?!?!?!

HAHA!

 

Seriously, though....great review! Thanks for sharing!

[pyrogy]

Your Title sounded worse than your actual review. It sounds like things definitely could have been better but overall not so bad. Hopefully you were able to have a good time regardless. Thanks for a fair review.

[April7901]

SO glad you had a pretty good cruise. It's very reassuring to see the positive reviews coming in.

 

 

... would like to say "ditto" to those thanking Blackersby for the sunshade ideas - I just purchased one that will fit in my carryon for my cruise. I'm looking forward to being a beach bum, but I would NOT survive without some shade!!

[JCJR]

Your Title sounded worse than your actual review. It sounds like things definitely could have been better but overall not so bad. Hopefully you were able to have a good time regardless. Thanks for a fair review.

 

It was a poor attempt of humor and trying to lighten the mood for future Sky cruisers. I did have a very good time, I just had better experiences on other lines. Like I said, for the right price, I'll book again.

[ilmsg]

Thanks fir the review.

 

Quick question---Whats the latest you can disembark the ship on the last day?

[JCJR]

Thanks fir the review.

 

Quick question---Whats the latest you can disembark the ship on the last day?

 

We started at 9:45 walking down to the 6th floor deck. The information on the ship contradicts itself. The print (dailies, news letters) states that 9:30 every one should start leaving. The TV infomercial (Cruise Director) says 10 am.

 

While we were waiting for our ride (family pick up) we saw a couple of passengers get off close to 11am. As a matter of fact, I saw a couple of people trying to get on the ship before every one getting off.

 

BTW, the infomercial states to relax on the last day, you can swim in the pool and use the hot tubs morning of disembark but we did not see them open.

[ChicagoCruiser86]

We started at 9:45 walking down to the 6th floor deck. The information on the ship contradicts itself. The print (dailies, news letters) states that 9:30 every one should start leaving. The TV infomercial (Cruise Director) says 10 am.

 

While we were waiting for our ride (family pick up) we saw a couple of passengers get off close to 11am. As a matter of fact, I saw a couple of people trying to get on the ship before every one getting off.

 

BTW, the infomercial states to relax on the last day, you can swim in the pool and use the hot tubs morning of disembark but we did not see them open.

 

 

Do you remember if the pools were open when you got on the ship? I thought I read on a previous post that they were not.

[ilmsg]

We started at 9:45 walking down to the 6th floor deck. The information on the ship contradicts itself. The print (dailies, news letters) states that 9:30 every one should start leaving. The TV infomercial (Cruise Director) says 10 am.

 

While we were waiting for our ride (family pick up) we saw a couple of passengers get off close to 11am. As a matter of fact, I saw a couple of people trying to get on the ship before every one getting off.

 

BTW, the infomercial states to relax on the last day, you can swim in the pool and use the hot tubs morning of disembark but we did not see them open.

 

Thanks. We are staying in Miami in a hotel on disenbarkment day so I wanted to leave as late as possible. At the ports, what time did you have to be back on the ship everyday and when did you leave the ship in the morning? Was it 8-5 like on the iternerey?

[ilmsg]

Also what did they serve at Great Stirrup Cay at the BBQ? Is it free?

[ilmsg]

I keep thinking of more questions!

 

What's the difference between crossings and the palace? Which is better?

 

What kind of foods are served at the buffet?

[DAGVBSB]

The Sky is a smaller ship. She was one of the last ships built before the Freestyle era. She does not have as many specialty restaurants and hence the lines seem to be longer and reservations harder to get.

 

Before you write off Freestyle completely, may I suggest a larger NCL ship (Dawn, Star, Gem, Jade, Jewel or Pearl) to get the full experience of Freestyle where there are more specialty restaurants.

[pyrogy]

It was a poor attempt of humor and trying to lighten the mood for future Sky cruisers. I did have a very good time, I just had better experiences on other lines. Like I said, for the right price, I'll book again.

 

You are right of course and not such a poor attempt! Somehow I missed the very first line even though I read the rest. Strange how the eye can skip over something.

[Islandbuoy]

LOL, you are welcome! I'm glad you brought the umbrellas, they come in handy don't they?

 

Sorry to hear you had a few problems but over all it seems the cruise went pretty OK. Glad you were able to enjoy it!

Blackerbys- I missed your post. Are there no umbrellas on Stirrup? The pictures all show nice blue umbrellas?

[storm15]

thanks for the review. It sounds like although it wasn't your favorite cruise it was still fun. I think we will be ok as this is our first and we have nothing to compare it too. :)

[gjsmth]

Can someone explain the umbrella thing? What type of umbrellas did you bring?

How did you manage to get the 3 flasks of rum aboard? Did you put them in your checked bags or carry on? Thanks for the review and we're looking forward to our 8/11 4 dayer.

[blackerbys17]

Blackerbys- I missed your post. Are there no umbrellas on Stirrup? The pictures all show nice blue umbrellas?

 

No, no umbrellas. Apparantly they had them at one time but it seems that when it got very windy they would fall over and sometimes hurt people so they removed them. There is NO shade on the beach though there is some shade by the pine trees in the back. We took canopy chairs (google them) that provided great shade and we were the only ones with shade on the beach. Someone here said they found a beach shade canopy contraption as well and that seems easier to carry than our 2 chairs. If not, I suggest bringing either umbrellas or chair umbrellas. They attach to chairs and are normally sold at Publix. Whatever you do, bring some sort of shade. :)

[ilmsg]

I thought someone posted that if you go across the bridge to the less crowded area the less crowded area there was shade in the back. Am I mistaken?

[HappyTRIPs]

There are no umbrellas on the island. I got the idea to buy a beach sun tent. I got this one at CVS in Fl. It was $15. Easy set up if you understand telescoping poles. It folds up and is in a bag the size of a beach chair. Very lightweight. 2-3 of the beach chairs on the island fit easy under the shade. Also the kids could play in the sand under the shade from the tent. Many people asked me if they could rent one while we were on the island. I will look for it on-line and post a site. This island is fun but there are very few lounge chairs but lots of the small chairs. I also bought several blow up floats and balls for the kids. Don't forget your swim goggles if you don't have room for snorkle gear.

[JCJR]

Do you remember if the pools were open when you got on the ship? I thought I read on a previous post that they were not.

 

I can't remember if they were open but my wife said they were. I know they were open later that day around 4pm.

[JCJR]

Thanks. We are staying in Miami in a hotel on disenbarkment day so I wanted to leave as late as possible. At the ports, what time did you have to be back on the ship everyday and when did you leave the ship in the morning? Was it 8-5 like on the iternerey?

 

You had to be on the ship 1/2 hour before sailing time.

Freeport 4:30

Nassua 5:30

Stirrup Cay last tender 4:30

 

I kept all the Dailies so these were the times on our cruise.

 

Once in port you have to wait for the all clear message. It was always 1/2hr to 1hr after the published time. SInce we did not take any excursions, I can only assume that they let the passengers with the excursions off the ship first and then the rest of us. Always give yourself at least an hour on both arrival and departure times in port to be safe.

[vrjenia]

I don't know which I am more impressed by ...the fact that you brought your own umbrellas and snorkel equipement for Stirrup Cay... or the fact you brought your own BLENDER!

 

That is AWESOME!:)

 

Very good review and very assuring for future Sky cruisers like myself, thank you!

[JCJR]

Also what did they serve at Great Stirrup Cay at the BBQ? Is it free?

 

BBQ was free. Fruits, potato salad, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, corn on the cobb were the basics. Water and tea were the only free drinks. I can't remember if coffee was available but since we brought a collaspable cooler, canned sodas, water bottles and our flasks, there were no need for drinks.

 

I have been on RCCL and they served ribs in addition to the above along with lemonade and fruit punch.