Let me start off by saying that although I have cruised with my hubby over 20 times, I never before felt compelled to write a review. This was our first time straying from Carnival as we didn't want to interfere with our planned milestone cruise. We were planning on a long weekend over President's Day...so comparing pricing to itinerary, we ended up decided on NCL Sky as the price couldn't be beat for a balcony cabin.
We got to Miami port around 11:30 am and we were checked in and waiting by 11:45am. Check-in was a breeze and they took your security photo right there which did actually speed things up later on. We were group 6 which I figured wasn't that bad but we were used to Platinum status on Carnival and it was a bit difficult sitting with "general population" I must say :) The terminal was one of the older ones but the chairs were comfortable enough. We waited over an hour - and by the time our group was called the line was very long to get on the ship. We finally got on board - and at first I was impressed - we boarded on deck 6 near the photo gallery and it was quite nice. There were some staff outside dressed up to welcome us on board - so I was quite hopeful things would go well as we were a bit nervous having never tried another cruise line.
My husband and I normally go straight to the bar when we board the ship and then we get lunch. We found our way to the top deck where there was a bar and we ordered 2 of the daily specials which were Bushwackers. They were frozen drinks and kind of bland served in a souvenir glass - $27 for 2 drinks!! Ok - well maybe it's just the glasses that made the drinks cost so much but wow....so we went to get a bite to eat. We wanted to try the pizza so we went to where they were serving it off to the side of the bar in a restaurant. They were cutting fresh garlic so it looked promising! I had a slice of cheese and a slice of veggie, my husband had the pepperoni. 2 bites in and I had to stop - it was absolutely disgusting...and I am not a picky pizza eater. I couldn't believe it honestly. There was some spice in there that tasted like mold.