Norwegian Sky Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This four night cruise on NCL's Sky was a great value price point at $200/pp for a GTY Inside cabin. I didn't have high expectations and was wary of a ship with short cruises to the Bahamas as being a low quality party cruise. But I was pleasantly surprised with most aspects of the cruise.
The itinerary was Freeport/Nassau/GSC. While the port at Freeport is a commercial eyesore, an excursion to Paradise Cove provided excellent snorkeling that is worth a return visit. Nassau is a horrible port, too bad every Bahamas cruise stops there. GSC was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting good snorkeling but the private island delivered.
Since distances are so small between destinations, the ship is always moving really slow and there is no boat motion at all (at least during our trip when weather was good all four days). That might be great for a first time cruiser but we like a little boat motion!
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Inside
The cabin was clean and orderly, everything worked and functioned as designed. We heard no exterior noise at any point during the cruise. Location is excellent with fast access to the aft stairs and elevator. Room size and space are extremely small but that is to be expected. For comparison, the room was slightly smaller and tighter than a similar mid-ship inside cabin on the NCL Dawn.
Port Reviews
Great Stirrup Cay
We had an awesome visit to Great Stirrup Cay!! The private island was clean and well maintained. Snorkeling was really good, I was not expecting to find such good snorkeling here! Lunch layout left something to be desired as it was a confusing setup that didn't move people through the line quickly. But the food was great. There are some rocks on the beach so beware, I severely jammed my toe on a rock while walking near the shore and not watching my step.
Nassau
We visit Junkanoo Beach which is a short mile walk from the port. Vendors near the port, along the road to the beach, and at the beach were all relentless and didn't want to accept a polite "No, thank you."
Junkanoo Beach is not a great location. The beach is along a busy road so you can constantly hear traffic buzzing and honking. The vendors are numerous and aggressive in seeking your purchases. The beach is very rocky and not well maintained. Swimming is not great with a rocky shore dropping off steeply and not much sandy water before sea grass. Sand was not the most pleasant underfoot. Definitely not a place we want to return to.
If we ever return to Nassau (which would only happen for a value priced cruise with two other good quality ports on the itinerary), I'd probably opt for an excursion to one of the beach resorts on Paradise Island or Cable Beach. And I do not like resort beach excursions at all but that seems like the best option for a beach day. Or better yet, Nassau may be the only port I'd rather stay on the ship than visit.