Admittedly, we sometimes cruise for the ship and not the journey, as was the case during our recent (10/3/08) weekend to the Bahamas aboard the NCL Sky. Since the rates were incredible we booked an inside cabin and looked forward to a cruise on a ship we had never sailed before. All in all, we give it a moderate thumbs up.
EMBARKATION: Smoothest ever. From the time I stepped out of our car to the time I stepped foot on board, it was 22 minutes. We were totally impressed. The worst part of embarkation was dragging our two suitcases down the stairs in the parking garage, and whose fault is that? Next time I better park nearer to an elevator. When we boarded we were greeted with a glass of champagne, which is a nice touch. Celebrity has been doing it for years, so it's good to see that NCL has started to do the same.
SERVICE: The staff was very friendly, actually better than I had expected, with one exception. On our last night we dined in the Palace main dining room, the service was haphazard at best, and we felt like they couldn't wait to get rid of us. On the first night, we dined in the other main dining room (Crossings) and found the service to be very good. Both nights we ate around 6:30, so it wasn't very busy. The only other service issue was with our room steward, whom we NEVER MET. That is a first in our cruise history. He/she took their time doing our room, which was not the greatest, but they did the job so that much was good. Most of the staff greets you, but not all the time. When it comes to saying hello, Celebrity still beats everyone hands down. As I said, the NCL Sky staff was better than I had expected.