No Private Island

Item: Norwegian Sky
Rating: 3
Author: bobbiewilliams

Norwegian Sky Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

bobbiewilliams

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 25

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

4 Night Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 10, 2017

Ship: Norwegian Sky

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9218

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Almost everything about the cruise was top notch. The embarkment and disembarkment processes, the room, the service, entertainment, activities, food, drinks. All above our expectations....BUT, we ended up sitting between two ships at the Nassau port for 33 hours, which made our balcony unusable! They claimed that the seas were too high to go to the private island. The weather was absolutely gorgeous on our entire trip, and we know they skipped the private island a few weeks back, and at least one other time this year. How often does this happen?! I would imagine it's a huge cost savings for them to stay in port an extra day. Extremely disappointed in this and we went from researching our next cruise on that ship, to saying we're not sure we can ever risk cruising with them again.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Clean and comfortable. Plenty of pillows and very comfortable bed for us, and we like the mattress to be on the softer side.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

2 out of 5

Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

2 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

2 out of 5

Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas

1 out of 5

Did not get to go.

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Traveler Photos

7 Comments

shelenac 7 years ago

sorry bout the typos. it won't let me edit those lol. also if you look at my photos, the very last one shows the little canal the tenders go in at that port with the ship anchored out in the water if you need more of a visual of what I'm saying

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shelenac 7 years ago

it happens at random. the week we went over Christmas they canceled thay stop 4 or 5 times prior to out date and I was really worried that we would miss it also. they had a meet and greet with the captain the night before and jokingly I said don't skip it, he laughed and explained that when water it rough or wind is high that the tenders that take you from the ship to the island travel approximately 30 miles from a larger island, they don't stay there and because of their small size they can't handle what seems to be minor weather. conditions have to be perfect for them not necessarily the cruise ship. we did make the stop. and when you are tendered in on the small tenders the canal that leads to the port is pretty narrow and makes a slight s curve with larger rocks on the sides. if it is windy or choppy they can not get in and out of this narrow canal. hope that information helps you understand. just cross your fingers and hope for the best

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bobbiewilliams 7 years ago

Thanks for the feedback, but I would still like to hear from more people with facts so we can make an informed decision going forward. Does anyone else out there know of this port being cancelled? Wondering if there's a month of the year that it's never been cancelled?? We asked a few staff members how often it happens and they are clearly trained to say "this is the first time". Every single one looks to the floor when they say it (assuming because they don't want to look you in the eye and lie) and I called one of them out on it because I know that is not true, and she said "well, it IS the first time this month". Our trip started on the 10th of this month.

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lennydebbie 7 years ago

At least you got to go to a different port! We ended up missing our last port of call to Grand Turk (the main reason I booked that itinerary!) due to high winds and had to spend a day at sea. We couldn't even enjoy the ship's decks due to high winds. They had to remove all the water from the hot tubs and pools because the ship was rocking so much. And the weather was not nice enough to be outside even on our balcony. BUT with the money we saved in port fees, I won $300 at the casino! Life happens. You just need to roll with it and make the best of it.

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emprenger628 7 years ago

Passengers safety is their number one priority. They also have to return port fees to the passenger if a port is skipped so they are probably losing money

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picalo 7 years ago

private islands are canceled alot, but I think it's cool to spend the night in Nassau, you have 24 hour gang plank privlages and I think Atlantis at night is wonderful...free aquarium, no crowds, I'm just Careful at night downtown

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olldbob 7 years ago

itineries can be changed at short notice, read the small print. an extra day in one port incures extra berthing fees and is in no way a cost saving measure. more money is made on their pvt island so must have been good reason to miss it

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Other reviews of this sailing

Great cruise

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