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Norwegian Cruise Line

MS Norwegian Sky

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: K. Luck
# previous cruises: 4
Date of Trip: February 15, 2004
Itinerary: Caribbean - Eastern

Had our typical excellent time on Norwegian's Exotic Caribbean cruise during school vacation. The ship was sold out, but could still adequately accommodate the 2000+ people who were on board. With five ports of call, there was always plenty to do. Weather was fine and, as usual, the service was usually top notch.

There are two promenades on the ship--one on the top deck and one on deck six. Both are fine. The one on the top deck isn't always accessible if beach chaises are out. The casino is pretty well outfitted, although the craps crew is more surly than other crew I've ever encountered. All other public rooms are quite comfortable and usually spacious enough to allow you to do what you want to do. Our favorite spot on the ship was Gatsby's Wine Bar on deck 12, which most people didn't discover until late in the week. Service was excellent and it was a nice quiet place to debrief and watch the ship leave port during the late afternoon.

The ship has two main dining rooms which can seat around 1300 at a time. Norwegian uses what it refers to as free style cruising, which means that you eat meals when you want to (within a 4-hour window) and with whom you want to. This is a pretty good idea in theory, but we had to wait (up to 30 minutes) for an available table frequently at supper. (Two couples traveled together.) There are three "specialty" dining areas which carry a cover charge. We tried the French one, Le Bistro. The food was as good as at the main restaurants, and the service wasn't as good.

We were satisfied with our cabin. Larger ones are available on this and other ships. We were fortunate that we had brought along a hanging suitcase, which we left some clothes in during the week; without it, we would not have been able to fit all of our clothes in the rather limited drawer space of the cabin. The bathroom is roomy enough. We had a small balcony, which was quite nice for our purposes. Younger people tended to loiter in the halls, making the corridor seem like a dorm--certainly the worst aspect of the trip. Security in this regard seemed fairly lax.

We saw the young singing and dancing troupe perform in two revues. They were quite good.

As stated, Norwegian likes to have many ports of call. This one had five between starting and ending in Puerto Rico: St. Thomas USVI, Antigua, Martinique, St. Maarten, Tortola BVI. Shore excursions at all stops were varied and enjoyable. The pools on the ship are fine. Wife enjoyed the many physical fitness classes that were available.

Passengers were eclectic. Very young children were on the ship (Norwegian indicates that no one under the age of six months was to be allowed on board, but this restriction was violated.) along with octogenarians and every possibility in between. It's unlikely that we'd invite any of them to dinner, although they weren't horrible by any means.