Booked the NCL Sky for a quick getaway from Miami. We have been on ship twice before for 15 days in 2000 (Panama Canal) and 11/2013 for a Thanksgiving Day weekend getaway. Our experience in 2013 was just "ok" . We are Latiitudes Platinum members and have sailed many times with NCL on most of their ships - Sun, SKY, Star, Jade, EPIC, Breakaway, Norway, Leeward, Westward, Windward, Dreamward, Crown, etc.

Our embarcation was 45 minutes from curb to stateroom - we wnet through the Platinum line which did not move any faster than the regular line because Platiunum desk also manages the foreign visitors of which there were many on our 2/20/15 sailing. We immediately went to make Bistro reservations anticipating that we would have one free specialty restaurant because of our Platinum status - not any more they have changed the benefits for short cruises, be aware the perks are greatly reduced. Our stateroom was a room with a large circular window on 5 deck. It was spotless and in excellent condition, with one notable exception - the matresses on both beds were terrible - no cushion left , they were terribly uncomfortable. Overall the ship was spotless and appeared in much better repair than two years ago, Much of the deck furniture appeared to be new and the interior furnishing appeared to have recently udnergone refurbishment. We were genuinely surprised and pleased given the ratty and somewhat deferred maintenance appearance of 2 years ago. We ate at Il Adagio and it was very good for the first night, Second night was at The Bistro and the food was amazing while the service lacked conistency and polish, the last night at the steakhouse was good - nothing spectacular but good it also has the highest price cover at $30pp so we felt the Bistro with better food was a better deal at $20 pp. Breakfast in the dining room was very good although everything ordered tended to appear at once. The Great outdoor restaurant/area is a favorite on a number of ships and the Sky's is excellent. The cover appears new and offers excellent shade while eating lunch or tea (as we did). This is one of our favorite locations. One note - the teak decking on this ship appears to be troublesome for NCL as it has been under reapir near the pools since 11/2013. Pools were well maintained and cleanm. The men's locker room wioth steam and sauna was spotless and appeared to ahve recently been renovated - though they seitched the men's and wom,en's space since our last cruise - both were so much cleaner and nicer. The outrigger room is gorgeous and under utilized - we love the deck just outside of this room over the bridge - most fellow passengers never find the space. Casino was bvery busy and smokey but this was the only location where cigarette and cigar smoke was a problem. Given what we paid and the general upgrade in service and the ship - this appears to be a far superior product to the old Majesty of the Seas (which looked very unkemopt when she sailed just before us) and the horrible Carnival Ecstacy ( which just looks crowded and terrible - and yeas we sailed on her and will never do so again despite being fans of other Carnival ships). We were very pleasantly surprised and had a delightful experience on the lovely NCL SKY.