We needed a quick get away that wasn't a "stay-cation" and we made the best decision to go on this Bahama cruise, the private Island was beautiful. The staff and accommodations were excellent. Someone at every turn willing to help and guide us. The food did not disappoint and the entertainment kept us wanting to make it longer. So happy we chose this weekend get away. We live in S Florida and this was ideal. If you want to get away and relax the spa was beautiful. A little secret, if you are into working out and enjoy a steam or sauna the spa is open to all guests. I went a couple of days and it was like I had the place to myself. Treat yourself to this weekend get away. It's good for the mind body and soul. You only live once and you cant take it with you so enjoy! Thanks to all the staff, Paul Casmass Read Less

So, first time on NCL. It’s a booze cruise. I’m a regular on royal, and I like that line. Criticism: Nickle and Dimed, water in bottle:not included, coffee (specialty) not included, so it’s different than I’m used to. The lines for a drink are long and served in a small plastic cup, interesting. Rooms with balcony are really small! Balcony chairs no where to put feet up. You get a room cleaning ninja you don’t really meet. Good parts: short, cheaper cruise, stuff gets to your room quickly, put all the silverware and condiments on the table. Food is good, dining room seats quickly we went at 530pm, staff is very nice in dining room. Buffet has back area where the lines are short and the pizza is great. You get on the ship quickly, we showed up at 1pm party of 8. Two dining rooms is nice with a few menu differences, however desserts are not consistent in taste, better first day. Still like royal better. Read Less

My husband and I really enjoy this cruise. This a must if you are looking to party in the sea! There was not a dull moment in this ship, the staff (bartenders) are not as friendly because everyone got open bar but a few dollar tip take you a long way. We stay in a balcony room it was spacious and amazing. I would not recommend this itinerary if traveling with children, this more like a party itinerary, is full all around. It was amazing i would definetly do it again for a fun weekend in the sea. The private island is a very relaxing place. The sushi restaurant is a must is very affordable the bartender Jillmet there is amazing and beyond friendly. Make sure to pack something white for the white party this is a must. Cons- food overall is not the worst but is also not the best, is very average. While in the private island we did jet ski thia was the most exiting and amazing cant wait to it again, and in Nassau we decided to rent a 4 wheeler and drive around the island, this was also very exiting! Love it!! Totally worth it get a bacony room and enjoy the views! Read Less

If we had known it was spring break we would’ve and could’ve chosen a different time to go. Maybe if the travel agent had mentioned spring break we could’ve chosen different. Being trapped on board with a bunch of drunken kids isn’t my idea of a relaxing vacation ! We couldn’t use many of the amenities that we also paid for, because they were being monapalized by the drunks! Cabins were adequate but the bed was not comfortable I got up every morning aching. Staff in restaurants and buffet were kind and courteous. The ship appeared to be well maintained. Guest Services left a lot to be desired they made us feel like criminals, and we’re very snooty. It was our first cruise and I’m in no hurry to repeat it! In your survey I had choose spring break cruise but I would not have chosen it had I known! Read Less

This was our first cruise and overall it was great! We would defintley go Norwegian again. Theres a few things i wish they would change but these changes aren't really realistic, im just grasping at straws because like i said the cruise was great. These are just things i think would improve the experience. Small things I noticed: The breakfast was a bit repetitive and there's no ice machine so if you want ice at 2am you need to call room service. Not enough pools or hot tubs for the massive amount of people, you feel crammed like your in a sardine can. The shower curtains ABSORB, they aren't water repellent at all so after a shower theyll drip all night and you'll have a wet musty bathroom by morning. The pricing of beverages is WEIRD. Alcohol is FREE you can have as much as you want, but you have to pay for water bottles.. and soda. Its just so strange to make something people would pay big money for like alcohol completely free and make water and soda (which cost virtually nothing) cost like 3-4$ each. I just dont understand the logic. You cant find sunblock anywhere. We got into a situation multiple times where we needed sunblock but the gift shop was closed and nothing is open on the island yet so instead we just had to burn.. you would think there would be sunblock on every corner. We figured on the islands they would force people to use eco friendly sunscreen to protect the waters/wildlife so we didnt bring any assuming that wed have to buy theirs. But no. They dont care about what you use. So we were without sunblock for hours. Bigger issues: They load you onto the boat HOURS before your room is ready. You have to pray you can find somewhere to sit in the shade and wait it out until your room is ready. Id rather wait in the room where the boarding groups are called instead at least i wouldnt be stuck with all my luggage, exhausted in direct sunlight. The grand Bahama island is the 1st stop and its DEPRESSING, it was hit really hard by hurricanes so if you go a tour on shore with a tour bus your going to see a lot of toppled buildings and boarded up windows. I wish the 1st stop was the Florida keys, they were beautiful! Its just not the best 1st foot to start on seeing a hurricane torn area. They announce exactly how to get off the boat around 8am every morning, its a bit frustrating to not get very specific info in ADVANCE and to have to spring out of bed everyday to know what to do to get off the boat. It would be nice if they could just post a daily bulletin near the elevators or something so i could crawl out of bed at 10 am and on my way out could read what i need to do instead of approaching staff with questions or going down a few floors to guest services to get the info. Not very informative for newbies, there was many times where we were surprised by info. Like a mandatory US customs review at 8 am or the fact that you need to take a little boat from the main boat to get to a destination, why cant these things be announced the night prior so you can mentally prepare? Theres the daily info sheets they put on your door yes, but they never have specifics, only vague floofy written stuff that romanticizes your day and doesnt actually give you clear, concise directions. There was one day where we were visiting a private island owned by Norwegian, not only did they not explain that you had to get onto a smaller boat to get to the island but that you had to get a boarding group ticket.. they only told you this stuff at the crack of dawn the same day so you need to rush to get boarding passes and get onto the little boat. They only have excursions by Norwegian on that specific island and they dont tell you that so you think you can get on the island and go with another company so your in no rush to book tours. By the time we found out we could only book with Norwegian it was too late most of everything we wanted to do was filled. Luckily when we got on the island they were able to squeeze us in but its frustrating to not be told in advance that you can only do tours with Norwegian. Lastly, some of the employees have very heavy accents so it can be a little hard to get very detailed information sometimes. Listen carefully. The tour descriptions are the same, fluffy, romanticized verbage which paints a different picture then what you actually get. Example 1: the swim with pigs tour gives you the perception that there's a beach where pigs run free and you get to just leisurely hang out with them, when in fact, you get to a beach, lay around for 2 hours, get guided out to stand in shallow water in direct sunlight while a tour guide repeats the same info that you heard on the bus for 20 minutes before you finally get to see the pigs for maybe 30 minutes. Example 2, the wave running tour description paints a picture of you getting a wave runner and being able to leisurely ride around the islands, hop off and see star fish, instead its a guided tour where your expected to keep up with a group going like 40 mph in the water, its terrifying and filled with pressure to preform.. not what we wanted at all.. so better tour descriptions without all the fluffy words would be great. Announcements aren't inclusive. They only make announcements in English, and there were even very important announcements for MANDATORY events that weren't being announced in other languages. It just feels sad seeing the cultural diversity on the boat and knowing that some passengers are probably very confused because they don't understand the announcements. Read Less

Cruise was fun, food was good, service was good, the ship was nice and easy to get around. Only thing for me was that the music was really loud around the pool, I wanted to hang around the pool more but music was supper loud. I liked the music just now that loud. It was so loud couldn't really even talk. Everything else was great! Read some reviews that the Norweigan Sky was out dated, but we didn't find it like that, I think it had just been redone, everything seemed new and nice. We ate at 2 of the special restaurants, Cagneys, and the Bistro, they were both great, I liked the Bistro the best.The rest of the food was great, sometime found it very jammed up at the buffet, that area was a bit small flow seemed very crowed at times, but food was good. I guess you could say the room was small but we have never cruised before so didn't know what to expect. Loved the balcony, probably wouldn't cruise without a balcony, it was great! Overall the cruise was great, liked at the stops, Key west and the private island were our favorites. Read Less

I was the Free Cruise winner in the Bingo Game on our last cruise. I had minimal cruises to choose from and this cruise had two ports my husband and I hadn't visited, so it won out. Also, the "free" cruise I won cost me $800, as it was for one person only, plus port fees, plus gratuities and, understandably, any cabin upgrades. The Free Cruise was for an Inside Cabin but we chose to upgrade to a Oceanview Picture Window Cabin. The room was surprisingly comfortable in size and the closet had ample space for our luggage. No need to wedge it under the bed. The Sky is an older smaller ship but is really great. We loved the layout and ease of finding our way around, although we did miss the larger atrium setting and O'Sheehans Irish Pub. Sending a special shout out to Chris, our cabin boy in housekeeping. He was the first to actually introduce himself to us and chatted us up daily. But not everything is perfect. The scrambled eggs served in the Garden Cafe were always runny, half cooked. And I mean always! And if you opted for the Eggs Your Way/Omelette Station, as many guests did, be prepared to wait. We had our evening meals in the Palace Dining room. We had to wear our hoodies as it was always cold. We found the soups very salty and other dishes lacking in flavour. The seating in the theatre is horrible and needs to be changed/upgraded. The chairs are swivel club chairs which proved very difficult to walk past seated guests, with little to no space to "swivel" out of the way to allow guests to pass. And with only one show per night, as opposed to two on other NCL ships we've been on, the theatre was often packed, with people standing instead of having to fight their way to a seat. Lastly, our disembarkation went well until we were actually off the ship. We waited on the pier over 45 mins for bus transportation to the airport. When we asked where the bus was, we were told it was on its way. Quite a few passengers were grumbling and wondering if they were going to make their flights. We've never experienced a delay when leaving an NCL ship. This was a first. Overall, we enjoyed our cruise. As usual, all NCL staff were very friendly and helpful and the ports of call were fun. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the all inclusive experience! It was advertised as the “freedom” cruise. We wanted something fun but without being tied down to dinner times or schedules. We researched all of our stops beforehand and knew exactly what and where to hit for the best all around fun in the time at ports. Pirates cove was perfect!! Minimal fees and beautiful beach! We had already been to Key West so we enjoyed the day poolside on the ship. Every stop was perfectly timed without feeling rushed. The wait staff were friendly and knew our order without us saying by the last couple days. Our room Was very comfortable and quite comfortable for an inside room. Last year we had a balcony but figured with 4 stops we wouldn’t need it. We didn’t! Boarding was a breeze. Everywhere we went, we saw smiling faces! Enjoyed celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary!! We will be back!! Read Less

We chose this cruise because it fit perfectly into our schedule. The cruise itself was wonderful. We loved all the ports and excursions. The only problem was the food. The whole reason we switched from Royal to Norwegian was the food. This trip we saw the same shrimp in a dish most nights. Our favorite lava cake dessert, which is usually offered nightly, was only offered one night. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Our room was extremely small, but our room steward was excellent. We had a great time in the casino, the dealers were very friendly. I was very impressed with the life guards around the pool. I had never seen them on prior cruises and always thought they were necessary. These lifeguards made sure parents controlled their children and kept the drunk people from drowning the 7 foot deep pool. Getting on and off the ship was a breeze. Read Less

This is my first cruise so keep that in mind as you read. First, I didn't not smell any sewage on the ship ever (I was really worried about that after reading some reviews). The ship recently was in dry dock and it looked fantastic and was very clean. There were not many kids on this cruise so I would not recommend it to people wanting to vacation with their kids-I think there are other ships that would be more fun for kids. I've been told it is a smaller ship carrying about 2000 guests so if you want a bigger ship then you should take that into consideration. Personally, I thought the ship was huge so I can't imagine what a bigger ship would be like! Staff was warm and welcoming, food was what I expected (not 5 star, but I don't believe 5 star food is possible with this many guests). The food in the dining room tasted great, especially the roast beef. As far as the buffet goes, again, it was what I would suspect at a buffet-quite a variety of food that should satisfy most people and I thought it all tasted pretty good. We stayed in a deck 10 balcony room and was very happy with it. I don't have anything to compare it to in the cruise world, but as an avid camper who pulls and RV around the country I have to say, it felt pretty spacious to me! Would definitely get the balcony again as that ended up being my favorite place on the ship! Pool area was great-there are plenty of deck chairs scattered about so you can sit near the action and music or find a place that is quieter. The itinerary was great b/c we had a stop everyday and it was a 5 night cruise. Freeport was beautiful, but hasn't recovered from the hurricane so I would recommend going to a beach rather than Port Lucaya-there is nothing to see there and the people were not as friendly as other places. We were told to avoid Lucaya Beach because it was a safety issue and there were not security officers (even thought it was behing the police station-kind of weird). Read Less