Norwegian Sky Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I had a great time and experience and cant wait until we book another cruise. The staff was so wonderful and helpful. Everyone was so nice. The dinning experience was a great. I had such a good time on my first cruise. I am so happy I chose this cruise line.

This was our very first cruise and our first time traveling out of the country. We were impressed with the loads of information received. We felt prepared to travel and were excited. Our stateroom was always clean. Each time we returned to our room our bed was nicely made, our blankets were folded and our towels were fresh. Even if we sat on the bed for a few minutes and left the room, when we returned, the bed was smoothed. This made us feel relaxed and comfortable. It's the little things! We very much enjoyed our first cruise. The staff was a lot of fun and there was always something to do. If you were bored, it was your own fault because there was always something going on onboard. There was truly something for everyone! We indulged in the specialty dining upgrade package. Our food was AMAZING. We were so impressed with Cagney's Steakhouse, that we dined there twice! The service was exceptional. We laughed because we weren't allowed to pour our own wine. We aren't used to that type of service, but it sure did make us feel special and fancy once we learned the "rules". We will definitely be going on a cruise again...soon!

My wife and I have taken a couple of other cruises and had experience to compare. We really enjoyed the staff and relaxation offered by the Norwegian.

Cleaning staff was not efficient compared to other cruise lines.  We really got sick of eating the food.  They used the same food items over and over, with no choices.

The cruise was very enjoyable. If you've been on other cruises, you might notice that it doesn't have a rock climbing wall, or water slide, or whatever else you might be familiar with. But, the customer service was phenomenal. A couple of less than favorable interactions notwithstanding, the staff on the cruise was a pleasure to interact with. Their private island at the end of the trip was fantastic.

Things to know:

They charge about $14 per night for housekeeping, so if you're cheap like me, bear that in mind.

Parking is $20/night, totaling $80

Internet is expensive, but in the Bahamas was smoother than expected. I was able to have a smooth hour-long skype conversation with just a couple few-second hiccups. Details for the pricing can be found on the ncl website.

If you're interested in attending the art auctions, do your research on Park West beforehand. Based off of what I read, I am confident that they overcharged for the work I bought. The staff and their presentations were exceedingly informative and at the very least you can learn a lot by going to the auction, at best you can win some free artwork with their raffles.

Shore excursions are overpriced, and I think you can do mostly the same stuff independently or through some other company. Snorkeling, for example, as a shore excursion was about $40-50, but bring your own goggles, rent a $5 life vest, and you can go do it on your own. This way might not be as world-class, but on their private island, you can easily swim out (very close) to some interesting coral and see some beautiful fish. I saw a stingray and a barracuda (I think) as well.

Doing the shore excursion will guarantee you: 1) you will definitely get what you pay for 2) you don't have to worry about other variables (i.e., taxi drivers, bargaining with Bahamians, etc.) 3) give you access to otherwise inaccessible things (like dolphin swimming, stingray city, etc.)

Speaking of bargaining with Bahamians, I easily found jet skiing on Nassau near the cruise for much cheaper than the shore excursion, but they said they'd give me 30 minutes, and wave me in when my time was up. They gave me just under 20 minutes. So again, that's something you won't have to worry about with the shore excursion, if you choose to do that.

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In conclusion, if you are looking to travel on a budget, I think it can be done, but understand the aforementioned. I was expecting a roundtrip cost of $700 (~$450 for the cruise, plus some activities/souvenirs). For whatever reason, I think it was closer to $1,500. The internet for the trip was $100, the housekeeping an extra $50, parking was $80, unlimited soda was about $50, expensive taxi ride the most beautiful beach I've ever seen (Gold Rock Beach) for 5 people was $150, art work was $200, gambling was $150, plus gas driving to Miami, plus on island purchases, and so on... Surely, you won't incur all the same expenses, but be aware that it piles up quickly and quietly...

This is the second time travelling on the Sky. The first was, lets do everything to do and that just wore us out. This time was lets just do a few things and go with the flow. Everyone on the ship was great and always greeted you or smile from the Officers to the maintenance guys painting the ship. Cruising, you get what you put in, it's up to you what you want, and this is the ship to do it, weather to take it easy or go all out. I have been on Carnival, Princess, RCL and NCL. I prefer the Free Style, you go at your own pace and not at the a set time as all the others.

All the crew were wonderful.  I didn't think much of Freeport as we were docked far away and not much there.  I was unhappy that there was not an elevator to our floor as my husband is handicapped.  There are not enough activities for smaller (8 year old) children even the arcade was aimed at older children.  Perhaps a family movie after dinner would be nice as there is nothing for children to do after dinner.We spent most of our time around the pool once again because there is not much for kids to do.  NCL's private island was wonderful.  We rented a cabana and NCL gave us one near the beach so it was very convenient for my husband.  They even brought lunch to the cabana because it was too far for my husband to walk.  Overall it was a great trip, beautiful weather and once again wonderful crew.

My wife and I had our first cruise on the Norwegian Sky.  It was a very enjoyable experience, which we would do again.  I was surprised at how well organized and simple was the process for embarking and disembarking and boarding during stops.  Our stateroom was very comfortable and our steward very friendly and helpful.  While there were numerous activities on board, our goal was to relax, which we did.  We found booking tours of our ports through the excursion desk to be helpful, easy and worth the cost. The tours of Freeport and Nassau were very interesting.  The highlight of our cruise was the Ultimate Dining Package.  Each night were enjoyed a truly outstanding meal in a very beautiful setting.  We also enjoyed the private beach at Stirrup Cay.  A totally enjoyable experience.

This particular cruise ship is more for the older generation.  There is not much for children and young adults to do, besides the islands and pool.  With only one pool t gets rather crowded.  I recommend finding a different ship if you like the night life and hanging out with friends.  The islands were beautiful but if you do any shopping use cash not credit card or debit card as they will charge you a VAT, and possibly charge you twice.  On Freeport beach and Nassau beach the natives are constantly hustling you to buy stuff (alcohol, hair braiding, clothing, etc) which makes it impossible to just relax and enjoy the beach.  In Freeport it was very difficult to find a spot on the beach to sit our beach blanket down and relax.  Every time we got ready to sit down someone was there explaining it was resort property and we had to pay extra resort fee (hustling,I am sure).  We just left the beach an went back to the ship for lunch.  Be aware you will get hustled every where you go.  Great Stirrup Cay (private island) was the only beach/island where we could relax and enjoy time on the beach.  I am not bitter.  I had a good time relaxing in my balcony room while on the ship but I do not like being hustled.  If you want to book shore excursions wait until you are on the island because they will give you lower prices that you can find online and the activity is the same.  Just my personal opinion.

The ship was very clean and updated.  Our bed was very comfortable and the room was nicely maintained by the room steward.  Unfortunately, the food & entertainment left a lot to be desired.  The evening entertainment & the dinners were only fair at best.  The dinners were well presented but the taste just less than desirable.  Often bland ...nothing special at all.  The comedian in the adult comedy show wasn't even funny.  Audience members steadily walked out after 15 minutes or so because the comedian's stories couldn't draw laughter from the audience.  Frankly, the material wasn't even very 'adult' material.  The other evening entertainment in the main theatre was also only 'ok'.  The shows reminded me of a high school musical.   I was glad we only went on the 3 night cruise and not a 7 night cruise!    

This was my husband and I first cruise. It was a wonderful experience. I highly recommend Norwegian Sky. The food, service, and everything about them was great. I will cruise with Norwegian Sky next year.

My 1st experience cruising with Norwegian sky was awesome.  The food was good.  The place was super clean.  The staff was off the chain.  They were so pleasant. It felt like family. Our cruise director Tyler is the one of the best in the game and it was only is 2nd week on the job.

Only downsides were the cabin quarters were really small and shops and events were finished or closed by mid night in comparison to other cruise lines. I would say this cruise line is a mix of carnival's party atmosphere and royal caribbean's classiness.

Other than that thanks for the awesome time Norwegian and thanks to my booking agent at cruiseoutlet.com

The cruise started out fine.  This is an older ship so be prepared that it really does not have a lot of amenities that new ships offer now in days.  On the 2nd day into our cruise, my niece was taking a shower late at night as we came in late from watching a comedy show (which was excellent), when all of a sudden she yells from the top of her lungs, that the toilet is overflowing for no reason. We flushed it several time to see if it would stop,but by this time it was flowing into the carpet in our stateroom. We rushed to get everything off the floor as this was unsanitary.  Called guest services to send someone up right away as the water now was free flowing under our door by now.  A supervisor and plumber came up and they were in shocked. Should have known something was wrong from the beginning as when we 1st arrived the bathroom smelled like "piss-Pee". Guest services said we would have to move to another stateroom.(REALLY!). Mind you this room was 10333..10th floor....she moved us to the other side, same floor & as soon as we walked in..I went directly to the bathroom & to no surprise, the bathroom reeked of piss smell again.  Obviously they have a problem with plumbing on the 10th fl.  I went down fuming that is was not acceptable. So they transferred us to the 8th fl. with a port hole...at least the bathroom did not smell.  Since it was after 1am when we transferred rooms, we decided to leave our belongings in our flooded room and retrieve the items in the morning.  When we arrived at 7am...the room looked like a war zone...still tons of water floating in the restroom with blowers outside & inside stateroom to dry the un-sanitary water....THE SMELL was disgusting.  It took us over an hour to retrieve our stuff so we had no time to set up for an excursion since we had to unpack in our new room.  I have sailed with Norwegian many times and never had a bad experience until now.  The only thing they gave us for all of our troubles and nightmares, was a dinner on them at the french restaurant "Le Bistro", which was fabulous, but not worth what we had experienced. This does not cost the ship any additional $$ out of pocket.  Poor Guest Services !!!!  Never again.

Night life was not great! White party was not what we expected! Got dressed for nothing" you needed a DJ that group was not motivating enough to get the crowd dancibg" FOOD WAS AMAZING"

PROS:  Staff is very friendly. Never felt the ship moving; very smooth. French restaurant was excellent and well worth the price. Good cruise for those with kids. Good cruise for those who like to drink a lot.

Private island was wonderful!  

CONS:

MATTRESSES ARE HORRIBLE!!

Bathroom not stocked with toilet tissue.  Had to request and was asked how many we wanted.  (Oh, I don't know about 1,000 sheets. LOL)

"Complimentary" restaurants not very good.  Had to send 2 dinner meals back!

Buffet is better, but not great.

Room service was horrible.  Quick service because half of the order was missing! Acts in lounge were mediocre and female singer was awful. I know this is a quick trip to the Bahama's and shouldn't expect much, but I will try RCL next time.  

Pool very small.

SPA:

The actual treatments were wonderful!!  5 Star.  However, you were left to your own defenses when arriving.  Lockers did not have locks.  We were not given robes and had to find them on our own.  They did not have any slippers at all.  The shower, sauna and steam rooms were very good.

Ship was clean, the food was good, entertainment great.  I booked an excursion from the site which was canceled and I am awaiting to see if I get my refund.

Everyone was very knowledgeable. Every time we asked a question, they knew the answer. The ship was clean. Our room was kept spotless.The ship was very comfortable.  Food was avereage. Buffets were so-so. Not laid out very well. Food in the back was hard to reach.

FOOD WAS NOT THAT GREAT AT ALL HAD TO GO TO THE SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS TO GET A GOOD MEAL EVERY OTHER CRUISE I BEEN ON THE FOOD WAS ALWAYS SUPERIOR .

THE ACTIVITIES AND MUSIC WERE ALSO GEARED TOWARDS AN OLDER CROWD.

I had a nice and relaxing time on board this ship.  The staff is very friendly and professional.  The cruise director Tyler was wonderful.  Cagney's Restaurant (steakhouse) is a must! The food is delicious.  Also, there is a 24 hour restaurant on board.  I had a  nice and relaxing trip.

Where do I begin. We checked in at the VIP lounge in Miami and the representatives were very informative. Once our check in process was complete, our butler Rizaldy walked us through security and to Cagneys for lunch. We had a wonderful meal and then we went to our room. The suite was lovely. I loved the special touches. There was fresh fruits, champange, and chocolate covered strawberries everyday. The kids enjoyed the fruits. The VIP invitations from Captain Pelle Fredrikksson was very nice. We were a bit disappointed when we were unable to dock at the Great Stir up Cay because of strong winds but the crew and Tyler the cruise director made our day at sea amazing. Mario, our stateroom housekeeper decorated our room for my husbands and daughters birthday. What a special treat. If you are traveling with small children, we recommend the suites. Very roomy for a party of five age 13,7,8 mom and dad. The food was great. There was a varity of foods to eat. The bands were great and the all white party........SUPER FUN!!!!!!!! LOL I danced like I was a teenager and so did all the other passengers on the ship that attended. I saw all ages and races dancing to the Colombians DJ's music. He was great. ALways had the dance floor dancing. Thank you Captain Pelle for making our first NCL cruise a wonderful experience. We have cruised many times before but as the saying goes....... WE ARE NORWEGIANS NOW!!!!!!!!!