My husband and I just returned from a Norwegian weekend cruise on The Sky. We had a perfectly good time, but I'll go back to cruising with Royal Caribbean from now on. The Norwegian weekend cruise on The Sky is probably best for new cruisers or people with very low expectations. Here are some highlights and some comparisons if folks are trying to decide between the Norwegian Sky or Royal Caribbean's (Monarch or Majesty) weekend cruise.

Going/getting back: Embarkation was very easy at the Port of Miami. We had no problems and there was no wait (we arrived at Noon). Parking was $60 for the weekend. It was also easy to walk from the parking garage to the port. Upon arriving back to Miami, disembarkation was the easiest we've ever had it. The Port of Miami has Port Canaveral beat with the ease of getting through security. In fact, there were no lines at all to get off The Sky. We opted for the 7:45am walk-yourself-off and it worked out perfect. We wait at least 45 minutes to get off ships in Port Canaveral. Norwegian/Port of Miami was great about disembarkation and was the best surprise we had all weekend. Well done Port of Miami!

Food: Overall, we enjoyed the food very much, with one exception. We checked the menu's at both dining rooms each night. There are very few differences. One night, only one cut of meat was different. The menus were the same each night with different nightly specials highlighted on the left side of the menu. Upon arriving to the ship, we headed straight to Il Adagio for the Pizza and Pasta lunch (normally an upcharge for dinner). I really liked eating here because not many people knew about the complimentary lunch and thus was not crowded. The pizza was NOT worth the upcharge. But, the made-to-order pasta was one of the best things I ate all weekend. I would recommend Il Adagio for lunch. We also ate in the main dining room for lunch one day. It was perfectly lovey with a good selection and great service. The beach BBQ on Great Stirrup Cay was very good and the ribs were the best. The most disappointing meal we had was at the upcharge, Cagney's Steakhouse. I would not recommend it. I had read so many wonderful reviews about it, but we didn't have good service or good meals. My husband found his lobster bisque inedible, my wedge salad was very watery and tasteless, and neither one of us liked the small onion rings. We were part of a bigger party of eight, but even with the crowd, the service should have been better. I would not recommend Cagney's Steakhouse. We ate all our breakfasts in the Main Dining Room. The food was good but the service was VERY, VERY slow. I was happy we didn't have anywhere to be. We tried to avoid the buffet on the 11th deck as much as possible. It was VERY crowded, limited seating, and just not laid out conducive to crowds. In my humble opinion, the food on The Sky is comparable to the food on Royal Caribbean, but Royal Caribbean has it beat for buffets, service, (and prompt service). Read more