Norwegian is Not for Singles

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 5

Review summary

Here's what I thought about my four-day Norwegian Sky Caribbean Cruise that began on Sept. 29, 2008 out of Miami: I am single and usually have a great time on Carnival cruises; I only had a good time on the Norwegian Sky. Norwegian charged twice the per person rate for single occupancy, instead of 150%, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. My inside cabin was too tiny with the 2 beds together and placed in the center. The bathroom was small, as expected, but had nice big storage shelves, good water temperature & flow. The air conditioning was quiet and the thermostat worked well. The TV was a small size tube TV, not an LCD. There was no financial channel, such as CNBC. The small in-room safe worked well, but instructions were on the inside of the closet door, not in view of the safe itself. A small in-room frig was an unexpected nice touch, but it was stocked full of unwanted stuff. Self-service ice was not available near the room. A coin laundry was also not available, neither was an iron. Pizza was only available 2 1/2 hours a day, starting at noon, and ice cream availability was also for a limited time; Carnival has 24-hour availability of both - a big, big, big plus for me. Three of the five restaurants were not free ($10-$15 extra per meal), but the food was very good in the other two. Portions there were generally small, but you could order two of each, if desired. You must make reservations for dinner or you have to wait for a table during peak hours - that's not my idea of free style. The self-service Buffet hours are much too short - that's not free style either. The buffet food was warm, not hot. There is no self-service food at all after 10:30 PM for us night people. There were not enough self-serve free drink stations (juice, punch, iced tea, etc.). I found only two, both inconveniently located, not close to the pool. Neither one had all beverages working at all times. Self-serve food and drinks were located too far at the back of the ship. The Dance Club had only Salsa dancing until about midnight, limiting the hours for freestyle club dancing, which was in the same place, but after the hours designated for Salsa. It would be nice if these were simultaneous in two separate venues and at least the freestyle dancing would continue until well after midnight. It would also be nice if there were free gaming lessons scheduled at various times in the Casino, especially for table games like craps. There were no trashcans around the ship, but it was generally very clean. More FWD-AFT directional signs would be nice especially at the elevators and stairs. There were no poolside contests or activities; lying out at the pool became boring at times. Karaoke was fun, and the first half of the comedian's show was very funny. The crew was friendly, but somewhat impersonal, and I wondered if some of them even understood me when I spoke to them in English. Embarkation and disembarkation procedures were well organized.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Pros: Nothing was outstanding compared to Carnival Cruises

Cons: Food availability

Recommends Norwegian Sky? No.