Sky Review 8/22-8/25/08

[Shiney143]

This was our first NCL cruise. We have been on Disney three times and HAL twice. We were in the Owner's Suite and the room was very nice but the bed was hard and uncomfortable. The suite was forward and the balcony had a hot tub and was huge. The concierge was outstanding and the butler was good. We only ate at the 3 specialty restaurants and took advantage of being able to eat at Cagney's for breakfast and lunch as well. The food was good in the specialty restaurants but not as good as we expected for having to pay a premium.

 

We did not cut and paste our luggage tags together and attach to our bags. It wasn't necessary, at the Port, the Porter gave us NCL luggage tags and we wrote our name and cabin number.

 

The private island is not as nice as the Disney and HAL private islands. There are very few lounge chairs and unless you arrive early, you will be stuck with a small chair. There is no shade on the beach and you can't even rent a beach umbrella. Boarding the tender to the island was an hour or more wait and we took advantage of the boarding priority for suite guests and did not have to wait. If we had to wait, we probably would have skipped the island.

 

We did not encounter any AC/plumbing problems....but...we met people who were on the 7th deck with an ocean view room and an inside cabin across the hall and the inside cabin flooded with waste water. NCL moved them to a penthouse suite on our deck, which was a substantial upgrade at no cost. They were told the people who reserved the suite did not show up.

 

We enjoyed the comedy shows but the only band music was latin or big band. My son liked the kids' club, but only went one night because he made friends outside the club. The spa is not the type of spa I expected. There is a complimentary sauna room and steam room. The sauna wasn't on and the steam room is a prefabricated kind of plastic and is uncomfortable and unappealing. Certainly not the nice steam room the other lines have. There is no thermal pool or heated lounge chairs. I look forward to those and have never encountered a ship that didn't have them. Very disappointing.

 

Overall, a nice cruise, but I don't think I would have enjoyed it if we weren't in a suite. I'm not sure we'll book NCL again. And if we do, it won't be this ship.

[mr jailerman]

This was our first NCL cruise. We have been on Disney three times and HAL twice. We were in the Owner's Suite and the room was very nice but the bed was hard and uncomfortable. The suite was forward and the balcony had a hot tub and was huge. The concierge was outstanding and the butler was good. We only ate at the 3 specialty restaurants and took advantage of being able to eat at Cagney's for breakfast and lunch as well. The food was good in the specialty restaurants but not as good as we expected for having to pay a premium.

 

We did not cut and paste our luggage tags together and attach to our bags. It wasn't necessary, at the Port, the Porter gave us NCL luggage tags and we wrote our name and cabin number.

 

The private island is not as nice as the Disney and HAL private islands. There are very few lounge chairs and unless you arrive early, you will be stuck with a small chair. There is no shade on the beach and you can't even rent a beach umbrella. Boarding the tender to the island was an hour or more wait and we took advantage of the boarding priority for suite guests and did not have to wait. If we had to wait, we probably would have skipped the island.

 

We did not encounter any AC/plumbing problems....but...we met people who were on the 7th deck with an ocean view room and an inside cabin across the hall and the inside cabin flooded with waste water. NCL moved them to a penthouse suite on our deck, which was a substantial upgrade at no cost. They were told the people who reserved the suite did not show up.

 

We enjoyed the comedy shows but the only band music was latin or big band. My son liked the kids' club, but only went one night because he made friends outside the club. The spa is not the type of spa I expected. There is a complimentary sauna room and steam room. The sauna wasn't on and the steam room is a prefabricated kind of plastic and is uncomfortable and unappealing. Certainly not the nice steam room the other lines have. There is no thermal pool or heated lounge chairs. I look forward to those and have never encountered a ship that didn't have them. Very disappointing.

 

Overall, a nice cruise, but I don't think I would have enjoyed it if we weren't in a suite. I'm not sure we'll book NCL again. And if we do, it won't be this ship.

Glad you at least had that NICE Suite to enjoy..:) How did you like the front Balcony ? Did you get a chance to see anything in the smaller "AC" Suite next door ? How was the motion up there ? Did the wind keep you guys from enjoying your Balcony at all ? Thanks for your time and have a great night..:)

[travel_mom_1]

If you do decide to give NCl another try, I would suggest the Pearl or a similar newer ship. The thermal suite in the spa is heavenly on the Pearl with a great view out to sea. Aah! I only wish I had spent more time there.

[Shiney143]

Glad you at least had that NICE Suite to enjoy..:) How did you like the front Balcony ? Did you get a chance to see anything in the smaller "AC" Suite next door ? How was the motion up there ? Did the wind keep you guys from enjoying your Balcony at all ? Thanks for your time and have a great night..:)

 

 

The front balcony was awesome. We hated to leave that balcony. We did not have any wind problems. I think because the way the balconies are designed. The motion was not bad at all. I did not notice it. I did glance in the suite next door and it looked like the bedroom and sitting area were in the same room and were not separate like our room. I did go in the aft penthouse suite on the same deck that the people we met had been relocated to. The consensus was that we could feel the movement more in the aft section of the ship. That suite did have a separate bedroom and sitting area so I think there is a difference between the one next to our room. From the little I saw, the suite next door looked very nice.

[Shiney143]

If you do decide to give NCl another try, I would suggest the Pearl or a similar newer ship. The thermal suite in the spa is heavenly on the Pearl with a great view out to sea. Aah! I only wish I had spent more time there.

 

I think you are right. I did not realize that the spa was limited. Next time we want to book a cruise, I will review postings beforehand in order to make an informed choice about the ship! Thanks for the suggestion.

[Nemo2005]

Can you say which deck you were on for that suite?

[monn_a]

We also just returned from the sky this morning...we had a much better time then I expected. We had a balcony cabin on deck 9 Forward. We had no problems whatsoever, but the rooms were extremely small, much smaller than other balcony classes on other ships.

 

As for freestyle dining there are pluses and minuses, but overall I can deal with it. I am a Royal loyalist, but I would definitely sail with NCL again...

[Shiney143]

Can you say which deck you were on for that suite?

 

We were on deck 8, suite 8001. We were directly in front and the bridge was above us. We took lots of photos of the room, if interested, I will try to get my husband to post them.

[Shiney143]

Can you say which deck you were on for that suite?

 

I have heard wonderful things about Royal Caribbean. I will look at them next time too. Glad you enjoyed the cruise. Thank you for the input!

[mr jailerman]

We were on deck 8, suite 8001. We were directly in front and the bridge was above us. We took lots of photos of the room, if interested, I will try to get my husband to post them.

Those photos would be great Shiney !! Thanks for mentioning about the Suite next door as I keep bouncing back and fourth If I want to go that route ($$) or stay with my Balcony cabin.. I would be very fine with the balcony cabin as I really only care about having a Balcony but that cabin is SOOOO small @ 154 Sq Ft.. Back to thinking about it..:rolleyes: :D On a side note I just came off of Royal Caribbean last week and It was great !! I did the Four night "Enchantment of the Seas" out of Ft Lauderdale going to Key West and Cozumel. What a great ship.. For that I had a Junior Suite (245 Sq Ft plus a 58 Sq Ft Balcony) Very Nice and that was my first RCI cruise as well.. Prior I have only sailed with Carnival and always had fun with them..Come to think of it..It will be spring Break time when I go on the Sky !! I had better give that Suite some more thought as I will be avoiding that pool deck if it's loaded with drunken Kids..:)

[TITISSA]

Just back from the Sky yesterday. Let me start by saying that I was expecting to have a "problematic" cruise due to all the a/c and toilet problems. However, it was much better that I expected:)

 

Embarkation was very fast. There is a separate room for suite guests to check in. One different thing was that usually the concierge himself escorts you to your room and your buttler shows you the cabin. But maybe because we arrived around 1:00 PM we were escorted by a crew member who was not in charge of Suites. Of course she asks is this your first time with NCL and we say no and blah blah blah and my daughter asks her if she likes this ship and the woman actually says no and I ask her why not and she replies you will see. How odd is that:confused: Too bad I didn't see her for the rest of the cruise. I would have told her that I loved it and maybe she should ask to work on another ship....

 

We were on a Owner's Suite 9201. I will not compare this suite to the other suites I have stayed in because after the Garden Villa nothing comes close. But, as my husband said it was very cute and nicely designed. We loved the tub for two on the balcony and used it morning, afternoon and night:D

 

It was the first time that we were at the bow and truly loved seeing the view in the front of the ship. When we made our way back to Miami, the ship sailed west right into sunset and the view was absolutely magic. I didn't feel any movement at all. The ship moved so slowly. Even after more than 20 cruises I still get seasick and I didn't feel anything.

 

I thought the ship looked a little tired but it was clean and well maintained. There were some parts of the ship where you could smell a sewer smell but by no means was it all over the ship. The crew was very friendly. We only ate at the specialty restaurants. Service was very attentive but each dinner took about 3 hours. I don't know if they were short in the kitchen but it took forever. I would like to point out that in Cagney's and Le Bistro there were some tables that felt hotter and stuffier than other tables. Since I have "hot flashes" I was always looking for a table with good air conditioning and asked to be moved on both restaurants and that was never a problem. I also notice that the last room at Le Bistro felt warmer than the others and a lot noisier.

 

Our concierge Virginia was very good and so was our butler Doca. They took very good care of us.

 

My daughters had a great time at the White Party dancing the night away. The 4 of us were wearing white but a lot of people were not. We didn't have time to go to the shows because we were always late eating dinner. 3 days is a very short time to really enjoy the ship but we managed to sit by the adult pool one afternoon and it was really pleasant. At least while I was there I didn't see any kids sneaking in. The water was delicious. Actually, I didn't see a lot of kids on this cruise. My daughters (17 & 15) said that there were no teens on board which I loved because they spent the evenings with us "bonding" with mommy and daddy. They go back to school tomorrow.

 

One thing that we did on this cruise was - we sailed from NY to Fort Lauderdale got a car service to drive us to Miami and since our return flight was only late at night we bought "A Day At The Beach" at the Pelican Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. We loved it. The hotel is very quaint and I will stay there again every time I sail from FLL.

 

In summary, it was a very nice way to end summer. I'm very happy we went. Those who are booked should have no worries.

[debbie726]

Just back from the Sky yesterday. Let me start by saying that I was expecting to have a "problematic" cruise due to all the a/c and toilet problems. However, it was much better that I expected:)

 

Embarkation was very fast. There is a separate room for suite guests to check in. One different thing was that usually the concierge himself escorts you to your room and your buttler shows you the cabin. But maybe because we arrived around 1:00 PM we were escorted by a crew member who was not in charge of Suites. Of course she asks is this your first time with NCL and we say no and blah blah blah and my daughter asks her if she likes this ship and the woman actually says no and I ask her why not and she replies you will see. How odd is that:confused: Too bad I didn't see her for the rest of the cruise. I would have told her that I loved it and maybe she should ask to work on another ship....

 

We were on a Owner's Suite 9201. I will not compare this suite to the other suites I have stayed in because after the Garden Villa nothing comes close. But, as my husband said it was very cute and nicely designed. We loved the tub for two on the balcony and used it morning, afternoon and night:D

 

It was the first time that we were at the bow and truly loved seeing the view in the front of the ship. When we made our way back to Miami, the ship sailed west right into sunset and the view was absolutely magic. I didn't feel any movement at all. The ship moved so slowly. Even after more than 20 cruises I still get seasick and I didn't feel anything.

 

I thought the ship looked a little tired but it was clean and well maintained. There were some parts of the ship where you could smell a sewer smell but by no means was it all over the ship. The crew was very friendly. We only ate at the specialty restaurants. Service was very attentive but each dinner took about 3 hours. I don't know if they were short in the kitchen but it took forever. I would like to point out that in Cagney's and Le Bistro there were some tables that felt hotter and stuffier than other tables. Since I have "hot flashes" I was always looking for a table with good air conditioning and asked to be moved on both restaurants and that was never a problem. I also notice that the last room at Le Bistro felt warmer than the others and a lot noisier.

 

Our concierge Virginia was very good and so was our butler Doca. They took very good care of us.

 

My daughters had a great time at the White Party dancing the night away. The 4 of us were wearing white but a lot of people were not. We didn't have time to go to the shows because we were always late eating dinner. 3 days is a very short time to really enjoy the ship but we managed to sit by the adult pool one afternoon and it was really pleasant. At least while I was there I didn't see any kids sneaking in. The water was delicious. Actually, I didn't see a lot of kids on this cruise. My daughters (17 & 15) said that there were no teens on board which I loved because they spent the evenings with us "bonding" with mommy and daddy. They go back to school tomorrow.

 

One thing that we did on this cruise was - we sailed from NY to Fort Lauderdale got a car service to drive us to Miami and since our return flight was only late at night we bought "A Day At The Beach" at the Pelican Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. We loved it. The hotel is very quaint and I will stay there again every time I sail from FLL.

 

In summary, it was a very nice way to end summer. I'm very happy we went. Those who are booked should have no worries.

 

Too bad you weren't on the 8/15 cruise, we sailed with 2 boys, 16 and 20! There were some teens on our cruise but not alot.

[Shiney143]

Just back from the Sky yesterday. Let me start by saying that I was expecting to have a "problematic" cruise due to all the a/c and toilet problems. However, it was much better that I expected:)

 

Embarkation was very fast. There is a separate room for suite guests to check in. One different thing was that usually the concierge himself escorts you to your room and your buttler shows you the cabin. But maybe because we arrived around 1:00 PM we were escorted by a crew member who was not in charge of Suites. Of course she asks is this your first time with NCL and we say no and blah blah blah and my daughter asks her if she likes this ship and the woman actually says no and I ask her why not and she replies you will see. How odd is that:confused: Too bad I didn't see her for the rest of the cruise. I would have told her that I loved it and maybe she should ask to work on another ship....

 

We were on a Owner's Suite 9201. I will not compare this suite to the other suites I have stayed in because after the Garden Villa nothing comes close. But, as my husband said it was very cute and nicely designed. We loved the tub for two on the balcony and used it morning, afternoon and night:D

 

It was the first time that we were at the bow and truly loved seeing the view in the front of the ship. When we made our way back to Miami, the ship sailed west right into sunset and the view was absolutely magic. I didn't feel any movement at all. The ship moved so slowly. Even after more than 20 cruises I still get seasick and I didn't feel anything.

 

I thought the ship looked a little tired but it was clean and well maintained. There were some parts of the ship where you could smell a sewer smell but by no means was it all over the ship. The crew was very friendly. We only ate at the specialty restaurants. Service was very attentive but each dinner took about 3 hours. I don't know if they were short in the kitchen but it took forever. I would like to point out that in Cagney's and Le Bistro there were some tables that felt hotter and stuffier than other tables. Since I have "hot flashes" I was always looking for a table with good air conditioning and asked to be moved on both restaurants and that was never a problem. I also notice that the last room at Le Bistro felt warmer than the others and a lot noisier.

 

Our concierge Virginia was very good and so was our butler Doca. They took very good care of us.

 

My daughters had a great time at the White Party dancing the night away. The 4 of us were wearing white but a lot of people were not. We didn't have time to go to the shows because we were always late eating dinner. 3 days is a very short time to really enjoy the ship but we managed to sit by the adult pool one afternoon and it was really pleasant. At least while I was there I didn't see any kids sneaking in. The water was delicious. Actually, I didn't see a lot of kids on this cruise. My daughters (17 & 15) said that there were no teens on board which I loved because they spent the evenings with us "bonding" with mommy and daddy. They go back to school tomorrow.

 

One thing that we did on this cruise was - we sailed from NY to Fort Lauderdale got a car service to drive us to Miami and since our return flight was only late at night we bought "A Day At The Beach" at the Pelican Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. We loved it. The hotel is very quaint and I will stay there again every time I sail from FLL.

 

In summary, it was a very nice way to end summer. I'm very happy we went. Those who are booked should have no worries.

 

I think you were the folks above us and to our right. I smiled and waved at a gentleman on the balcony one day and he smiled and waved back...sounds like your family. The folks directly above us were a man and woman with no children who were escorted to their cabin when we were escorted to ours, but by a different crew member.

 

We are new to NCL and our prior cruises were balcony cabins. So, we had nothing to compare it to, but were thrilled. You had a different butler, but the same concierge. We didn't have prior experience with either, but really appreciated Virginia. It is nice to hear that Garden Villas are something to look into. We have decided to go on fewer cruises and book suites as opposed to booking more cruises with smaller rooms.

 

We only ate in specialty restaurants and yes, service was slow. One night we actually got our son's meal (which was the extra extra charge lobster) sent to our room because he wanted to participate in a Wii contest and couldn't wait for his dinner! When we returned too the room, he refused to eat cold ($20) lobster and I ordered him a hot dog from room service!

 

Thank you for your input. I enjoyed hearing about your experience.

[Shiney143]

Those photos would be great Shiney !! Thanks for mentioning about the Suite next door as I keep bouncing back and fourth If I want to go that route ($$) or stay with my Balcony cabin.. I would be very fine with the balcony cabin as I really only care about having a Balcony but that cabin is SOOOO small @ 154 Sq Ft.. Back to thinking about it..:rolleyes: :D On a side note I just came off of Royal Caribbean last week and It was great !! I did the Four night "Enchantment of the Seas" out of Ft Lauderdale going to Key West and Cozumel. What a great ship.. For that I had a Junior Suite (245 Sq Ft plus a 58 Sq Ft Balcony) Very Nice and that was my first RCI cruise as well.. Prior I have only sailed with Carnival and always had fun with them..Come to think of it..It will be spring Break time when I go on the Sky !! I had better give that Suite some more thought as I will be avoiding that pool deck if it's loaded with drunken Kids..:)

 

 

My dear husband just informed me that we can only email our pics. If comfortable, please give me your email address and I will ask him to email to you tomorrow. I would have loved to have been able to see them before hand. On our Disney (a 3 night, 4 night and 7 night Bahamas/Caribbean) and HAL cruises (both 7 nights, one Alaska, one Western Caribbean), we only booked a standard balcony cabin, which was fine. We still hung out on the balcony and sat on the chairs and read or talked. This was a big step for us. In the owner's suite, and the PH suite I was in with our friends, you could strectch out in a chaise lounge (with cushions) and really get comfortable for a long period of time. There were 2 loungers on our balcony and 1 on our friends. Both had a table with 4 cushioned chairs. When it rains, the room steward runs in to remove the cushions and place them in a deck box to stay dry....it was funny though...she showed up and me, living in Miami, had already run out and stored the cushions to keep them dry....it was ingrained in me.

 

Truthfully, I think I will shop from now on, on all cruise lines, to look for good pricing on some level of suite. As my son has gotten older, it is harder to be comfortable in a balcony cabin. The perks and the VIP treatment were beyond what we ever imagined. We spent more time in our room, on our balcony with drinks, cigars, music, books, company, and in the hot tub, or our son wanted to hang out on the balcony in the tub with a few friends, then we ever have on a cruise. The room invites you to hang out, be pampered and relax. So, stand by for the pics. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks.

[mr jailerman]

My dear husband should be able to get the camera and post the suite pics tomorrow. I would have loved to have been able to see them before hand. On our Disney (a 3 night, 4 night and 7 night Bahamas/Caribbean) and HAL cruises (both 7 nights, one Alaska, one Western Caribbean), we only booked a standard balcony cabin, which was fine. We still hung out on the balcony and sat on the chairs and read or talked. This was a big step for us. In the owner's suite, and the PH suite I was in with our friends, you could strectch out in a chaise lounge (with cushions) and really get comfortable for a long period of time. There were 2 loungers on our balcony and 1 on our friends. Both had a table with 4 cushioned chairs. When it rains, the room steward runs in to remove the cushions and place them in a deck box to stay dry....it was funny though...she showed up and me, living in Miami, had already run out and stored the cushions to keep them dry....it was ingrained in me.

 

Truthfully, I think I will shop from now on, on all cruise lines, to look for good pricing on some level of suite. As my son has gotten older, it is harder to be comfortable in a balcony cabin. The perks and the VIP treatment were beyond what we ever imagined. We spent more time in our room, on our balcony with drinks, cigars, music, books, company, and in the hot tub, or our son wanted to hang out on the balcony in the tub with a few friends, then we ever have on a cruise. The room invites you to hang out, be pampered and relax. So, stand by for the pics. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks.

VERY NICE..:) Thanks..

[Shiney143]

VERY NICE..:) Thanks..

My dear husband just told me I do not have a hosting website to post them, but that I can email them. If you want to email me at work, at DPerera@dpconstructionlaw.com with your email address, I will email the pics to you.

[mr jailerman]

My dear husband just told me I do not have a hosting website to post them, but that I can email them. If you want to email me at work, at DPerera@dpconstructionlaw.com with your email address, I will email the pics to you.

I thank you for your time but I don't want to bother you at work and because I work in Law Enforcement I can't post my e-mail on a public Board. It's just as well as I think I am going to have a LARGE BILL ($$) coming up soon so the Balcony Cabin will be fine for the Two of us.. But I do thank you again for your time and the great info. Have a great night..:)

[ktpc2005]

Of course she asks is this your first time with NCL and we say no and blah blah blah and my daughter asks her if she likes this ship and the woman actually says no and I ask her why not and she replies you will see. How odd is that:confused: Too bad I didn't see her for the rest of the cruise. I would have told her that I loved it and maybe she should ask to work on another ship....

 

 

Wow, talk about first impressions. Not a way crew members should be talking about where they work with the paying guests. That something you keep to crew member discussions.