Choosing a cruise is difficult. Everyone has different wants and needs. Food, entertainment, ports, service, it goes on forever. The "open bar" was the main reason we choose the Sky. We were pleasantly surprised with the Sky beyond the open bar. We've been on several Carnival cruises and a couple RC. This was our first with NCL. The reviews almost scared us from booking. Getting on and off the ship took minutes. The ship is older but clean, well maintained and easy to get around. Our inside cabin seemed bigger then other ships. Comfortable bed and hot shower .... all we need! Dining - Amazing! We just don't get the whole eat yourself to death mentality cruisers have. We had a fresh made omelet every morning. Light lunch - salad, panini or some finger food for lunch. The afternoon BBQ was hot, fresh and tasty the three nights on the ship. We ate dinner once in the Palace. Our prime rib was better then anything at Outback, Longhorn, etc..

The comedian was professional. The show, "Rock On" was high energy and entertaining. Did the dancers miss a step, who cares. You're on a cruise, it's not a $150 per ticket Vegas show. Service - Unbelievable! Probably the best part of the cruise. We could not find someone who didn't say hello. It seemed the ratio of staff to cruisers was 1-1! Back to the bar - we were never drunk. The best part was the variety of drinks. We had everything from sodas to mojitos, mixed drinks, shots, everything but wine or beer. The pool side service was awesome! A few times we were at the bar, line maybe three deep, and one of the servers would come up to us and get our drinks for us so we didn't have to wait! It was a younger crowd, we did meet a group of college kids from a Ivy league school. They had better self control then most forty year olds.

We didn't do either port. We've been there, not interested. The private island is great if your into the beach scene. We didn't expect much. Basically a spur of the moment getaway. We had a great time. Maybe you get what you give as far as attitude, smiles etc.. One last comment .... our one night at dinner there was a fifty something couple at the table next to us. The bitched and complained that the wine on the ship "wasn't drinkable". At least a half a dozen different staff attempted to make this couple happy. Wasn't going to happen. Maybe this couple should've used their $1000 on a bottle of wine instead of two tickets on the Sky. You get what you pay for. We got lucky and and got more then we expected on the Sky. We'll be back, sooner then expected!