Drink package cancelled!

Norwegian Sky Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 28

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Sky

3 Night Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 16, 2014

Ship: Norwegian Sky

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: GTY

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

We booked this cruise on and were told we could buy a $50 per day drink package, including alcoholic beverages and soda. We were also told both people in the room had to buy it. We tried to add it at the time of purchasing the cruise and were told we could book it on the ship. When we got on the ship, we were told the package was cancelled the day before! Customer service on the ship was not helpful-they suggested we call the cruise line from out room (at $4.99 per minute!) if we wanted to complain.  The customer service agent on board said she could not call the cruise line-her phone did not call out.  This got our trip off to a very unhappy start.  There were people on the cruise who had pre-purchased the package and it was honoured, so if the agent had let us book it when we were booking our cruise, we would have had it. We were also surprised to see automatic gratuities of 15% added to every beverage purchase, even though the documents provided said that bartenders and servers didn't share in the "discretionary" automatically-added gratuity.  Of course they didn't need  a share of that -they were getting 15% on every sale!  Also, if you wanted to dispute the automatic gratuity, there was a one hour window to do so. 
 

On the first day, we were to dock at Nassau.  There were no indications or instructions anywhere as to where we were suppposed to get off the ship.  (it was 12 floors!) We found a staff member (a performer in one of the shows) who told us what floor to go to, and there was one sign with an arrow.  It was very difficult to find our way off.

 

We did not dock at all the second day (on the private island) due to the choppiness or something. We stayed on board, fighting over the very few deck chairs.  Forget about getting into the pools-the capacity of one pool was listed as 17 people, and the other one wasn't much bigger. Totally insufficient for the 2000+ people on board.  The "quiet" pool was fairly empty, but it was also only two feet deep and about 12 feet by 10 feet, so there wasn't much capacity there, either.  

 

There was no soap in our bathroom.  there was shampoo in a dispenser in the shower, and some other (unlabeled) liquid which may have been body wash or conditioner-who know? Our room attendent "snuck" us two bars of soap and said not to tell anybody-it was supposed to be saved for the suites!  He did do a great job of keeping our room tidy.

 

The two shows we attended (comedian Andrew Kennedy and the Vegas show) were good.

 

I have never been on a cruise before and probably will never do it again.  

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
The food was ok, but i may have had high expectations because I've heard food is so wonderful on cruises.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
It was good if you were looking for a disco atmosphere.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
the shows were good. The poolside music was too loud at numerous times.

Children's Programs

n/a

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Bad-"customer service" person; Good-room attendant

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Some floors, you had to go up or down a floor to get across to the other side and then go back up or down to get to the restaurant. It was very difficult to find out how to get off when we docked in Nassau.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
The beds were very tiny. I don't think they were even twin size. The mini-fridge prices were reasonable.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5
We stayed across from the Bayside complex which was close to the port and a pretty nice tourist attraction-shops and restaurants.

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5
it was raining. Drinks at the beach were cheap-3 beers and 3 shots for $10-need I say more?

Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas Did not visit port

Did not dock here due to weather or something.
Was this review helpful? 28

6 Comments

glomarrone    9 years ago

I was so sorry to read that you had such a bad experience on your first time cruising.  Please don't judge cruising by this one experience.    It is hard to believe that a Cruise Line cannot give a small bar of soap in each stateroom.  But, I know that it happens.  And then cruiselines wonder why they have such a problem with the norovirus. I suggest that you try an another cruise line and see if you experience is different.  Good luck and be sure to post again if you choose to give cruising a second chance.

noname111    9 years ago

When a cruise gets off to a bad start, it is difficult to recover from... especially for a first timer who took a leap of faith often based on glowing reviews of how wonderful cruising is.  That said, booking with a company like Priceline may seem to be a good deal, but they are not in the cruise business. The agents there don't really understand the ins and outs of cruising (e.g., when to book beverage packages). They work on throughput; the quicker they can get one customer booked and on to the next, the better.

I hope you try cruising again.  We've cruised for years. We've had great cruises and also not-so-great ones but we have not allowed those less than stellar experiences keep us from booking again.  We just move along to another line and try again.

 

JusMe    9 years ago

Sorry you did not enjoy every aspect of your cruise.   Try a different cruise line.  Different lines cater to different clients.   for fun you can try this quiz to see what is the rite cruise line or you.  http://cruiseline.com/advice/how-to-book/pick-a-line/quiz-what-cruise-line-is-right-for-you.

It can take a few to find the one you like,  as you get older your choice od cruise lines can also change.

Bubba54    9 years ago

Sorry you had a bad experience. Don't let it turn you off to cruising, you can try a different line.

MrChocoholic    9 years ago

We were on that ship less than a year before you and experienced NONE of what you described. It's kind of a shame you missed out on a great time at Great Stirrup Cay. My kid loved the water slide and wave runner. The food at the tropical barbecue party was actually damned good, especially the salads. 

twinmom042195    10 years ago

Don't let one bad cruise turn you against all cruise lines! We have always cruised carnival and had NO issues at all! We had issues from the moment we entered the port security.....try Carnival...seriously, they have always been excellent to us. We had thought that we would try the different cruise lines and decide which one we liked best and Carnival has own by a landslide, so far. Our review was on the soot on the balcony... Interesting read..lol

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