First, let me say that we had a fine time. We relaxed and enjoyed each other's company as family and friends. We laughed and joked and generally had fun. That had very little to do with the ship, and more to do with who we are as people. We didn't gripe or complain or let the little things ruin our vacation, but I do want to inform people so they aren't expecting something different and then get disappointed. So here is what a dozen of us found on our Sky cruise.

1. The cabins are tiny, with no place to put your clothes- 3 small drawers and 36" of closet rod. Luckily we pack light with only one carry one per person, but beware the traveler that over packs! They are comfortable enough and clean and only one in our group had a couple of crew guys in there with the bathroom in pieces for the first day. We were in the balcony cabin 9017, inside cabins 9122, 00317, 00319, and outside cabin 8003. We had No DVD player as advertised, an almost functional hairdryer, a fridge stuffed with alcohol that barely kept that cool, so you can't use it for your own stuff. None of them stunk and all of them flushed. Most of them had a light bulb out, broken hangers, closet doors that didn't close or bathrooms with cracked mirrors. Functional but not extraordinary. All but one already had egg crate foam pads & that one was added during the cruise. The balcony was small but usable with furniture that was in fine shape but not new. We had a great view of the tendering fiasco in Cozumel (more on that later). There was not much noise from the cabins beside us (like we had on a couple of Disney cruises) but I met our neighbors and they seemed like quiet types. Even so, we never heard their TV or talking from their balconies. It was impossible to bungee the door open, but I really recommend a door wedge. A shoe works OK, but a wedge would be less cumbersome.

2. The food was up to cruising level quality- that is, we weren't disappointed in the quality of most of the offerings. The buffet was a nightmare in its layout. Half of our group had high level food service experience of one sort or another and were so frustrated by the disorganized chaos they couldn't even walk through. The hamburgers cooked out on the pool deck were delicious, but getting tea or water was difficult. The service level at the buffet was marginal at best. The salad bar was yummy, but I had a hard time getting a six year old & myself through the line without getting knocked down, especially since there were no trays and no assistance from any of the six employees standing around directing traffic unsuccessfully. My 10 yr old was disappointed in the cold soup choices. Each one was sweet and fruity, like a smoothie in a bowl. We enjoy the cold soups, but like the ones like gazpacho, cucumber, vichyssoise, and borscht. There were never any of these- just fruit pureed. The dining room staff was competent, but not exceptional and rarely smiled. They looked overwhelmed. Breakfast in the dining room is still a treat as they cut your grapefruit into segments and offer salmon each morning & I'm certainly not going to do that at home, lol. The staff seemed unfamiliar with the offerings and we had to repeat our orders several time (using the titles printed on the menus) and still ended up pointing quite often. The day we were in Key West, we couldn't get off the boat until well after lunch, yet they had no cook-out at the pool, no hamburgers at the back end of the buffet, and only one regular restaurant opened. To top that off, there were not enough staff scheduled and they had a few of the bar staff bussing tables and even a couple of the officers in there changing the linens and refilling water as we waited for 45 minutes to an hour for a cheesesteak sandwich with potato chips. Don't even get me started on the ice cream... they could have made it self serve and we would have gotten our dessert faster and they could have used the two or three people in there to help with service in the buffet area. I guess we just prefer the soft serve out of a machine at the back of the boat better. Again, functional but not extraordinary. Read more