We just got back from a 3-day Bahamas cruise that sailed from Miami on September 12th. Our family consisted of my husband and myself, both in our mid-50's, our daughter and three grandkids, two boys and a girl, 11, 7 and 6, respectively. This was the first cruise for the two youngest grandkids, as my daughter and oldest grandson had sailed before. My husband and I are seasoned cruisers, having sailed on RCCL, Carnival and Princess. We also sailed last year to Hawaii on NCL's Pride of America. The reason we took this cruise was NCL's "Kids Sail Free" promotion on the Sky. We couldn't pass up the sale. I first have to thank all the Cruise Critic members for their reviews, both the good and the bad, as they've proved to be invaluable on all our cruises. As for the Sky, the first reviews were horrible, talking about no AC, bad plumbing, bad smells, etc., and I had second thoughts about whether or not I'd made the right decision in booking this cruise. However, during the latter part of August and first part of September, the reviews got better and better, and even though I didn't have any expectations, I was a little more at ease. I will try not only to give our reviews of the cruise, but also some tips that will prevent disasters.

Embarkation: We're Florida residents, so thankfully, we didn't have to deal with airlines and were quite familiar on how to get to the Port of Miami. We arrived at the port about 12:30 p.m., and didn't check in any of our luggage. The few pieces we had were easily carried by us. My husband dropped us off in front of the terminal, and parked in the garage for $20 per day. The parking was not prepaid. My husband got a ticket upon entering the garage and was told to pay upon returning. NOTE: Whether or not you prepay your parking, please leave your parking ticket in the car, so that you have it ready when leaving the garage. Should you lose your ticket, they will charge you $220!! Once inside the terminal, everything went smoothly. As Latitudes members, we were shown to a separate check-in desk.

Just when we thought everything was good and we were ready to board the ship, we hit a snag that almost prevented us from going on the cruise. When checking my daughter's and grandkids' passports, the NCL agent noticed that the last names were different. My daughter is married but uses her maiden name and the agent said she needed to see some document that would show the kids belonged to her. The agent said that if there was no document to link the kids to my daughter, they wouldn't be granted access by the embarkation customs agents. Thankfully, our daughter brought along her medical health card which listed her name and the children's names. The agent's supervisor gave the okay and we were very thankful. NOTE: The agent explained to my daughter that in order to avoid future problems, she should always bring the children's birth certificates as well as their passports. For grandparents, they must bring a parental consent form signed by the parents, along with a copy of the children's birth certificates and passports. The agent was super nice and very friendly. Read more