Picked this cruise purely for its itinerary. Luckily, our time on the islands made up for short falls in the quality and quantity of the food, since our last cruise on Sky. The passenger demographic, sailing from DR did not work for us.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Another immigration form to fill in and payment to leave before boarding made for a chaotic port! Check in and boarding pretty quick after that.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
In general, sadly quantity and quality of food had gone downhill since our last visit on Sky 12 months ago. Happy to say their drinks remained as strong as ever.
We favoured Great Outdoors over the inside buffet, less manic. Excellent omelettes to order, if you were prepared to wait.
However, having only 1 venue open for dining when people returned to ship on port day made this venue a total bun fight. Yet they still kept closing one side 15 mins early!
Did not try The Local as reviews from other passengers weren’t good.
Garden Cafe
2 out of 5
Avoided at all costs after 1st breakfast, packed to the rafters.Overall buffet for dinner was poor, meat quality not that good with the exception of the ribs and brisket.Constantly served 2 lots of pasta with no sauce, no choice of potato. Turkey dinner turned out to be turkey & cranberry sauce, no other accompaniments.Cakes were dry and tasted of nothing, jelly contained too much gelatine
Palace Main Dining Room
3 out of 5
A lot of soups and salads for starters, cheap food. French Onion soup was still very good. Steak came out over cooked 3 times, one looked like it had been cut in half, served with very small portions accompaniments, unlike last visit. However, the lamb shank was amazing. Uninspiring specials and desserts. Service was good but food lacking.
Cagney's Steakhouse
5 out of 5
Superb food and excellent service
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Noticeably less activities than last time. Sea day filled with money spinners like Bingo etc. Poolside games were exceptionally loud even from deck above
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Decent magician and comedian. Shows not to to our taste.
Musicians were average cruise fare apart from Sonata, who we were excited to see again, they were outstanding! Sadly they didn’t do enough late sets on a evening.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Could not fault any of wait staff etc. very friendly and efficient. Yet again the only let down was the Guest Services.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Smaller ship with and easy to get round layout. Given the age of Sky all areas are looking exceptionally well. Only area that needs improvement is the buffet, needs total redesign.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Decent size ocean view cabin, well maintained and spotless. Plenty of storage.
Ship tip
Smaller and older ship, chose for itinerary not for bells and whistles. Expect good service from excellent crew
Caught taxi up to Playa Porto Mari, (Pig Beach) for $120 return. $3.00 entrance and $3.50 chairs. Showers, changing facilities available. Did some fantastic snorkelling, very easy for beginners too. Water so calm and huge amount of fish. Bar hires snorkelling gear for $10. Water shoes useful. Pigs appeared later on for a lazy in the sun.
Aruba’s beautiful beaches never disappoints. Caught taxi from port to Palm beach for $15. Sun loungers $10 each, umbrella’s a whooping $60! So we set up next to De Palm pier and caught some shade with some cocktails in the the bar when we needed.
Spent the day at Harbour Lights on Carlisle Bay. 15mins from port. Took the snorkelling trip with 2 sun loungers for $35 each. Fantastic swimming, powder white sand easily one of the best beaches in the Caribbean. Very quiet day and we had the boat to ourselves for the turtle snorkel, so got loads of time in water. Fantastic trip and easily worth the $$ compared to ship excursions.
Highly recommend the rum punches in the bar at port (we’ve never made it past 3)🤪
Caught taxi down to Cockleshell Beach. Taxi fare $20 pp return but be warned taxi were trying to charge double that. Went to Spice Mill for our usual sun loungers and Hibiscus rum. Highly recommend Jenelle for a massage.
Taxi drivers kept trying to take us to the Carambola beach resort as they get kick back from it, but cruise ship excursions go there and drinks and chairs expensive.
Great port for duty free and jewellery shopping, highly recommend Vinnie at Royal Gems.
Took ship excursion to Pigeon Island, as it was cheaper than taking taxi. Chairs were included. Beach right next to Sandels resort was small but fantastic for swimming. Guy on boat kept us well stocked up on rum punches, 2 for $10.
Nice shops and stalls around port for shopping.
Took ship excursion to Cane Garden Bay. Stunning drive with amazing views. Beautiful beach with great swimming and plenty of bars. 2 chairs and brolly $20. Pain killer cocktail a must here.
Shops and bars have got very expensive at port.
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