3 day Bahamas cruise on the Sky. Introductory cruise for my 20 year old daughter, and a happy birthday present to me! I have cruised a few times before, the most recent being last summer on the Carnival Destiny. The Sky was not my best experience, though not a horrible one by far. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, and were met at baggage claim by NCL reps who guided us to the shuttle. The cost is about $25 per person to the Port of Miami, which you need to arrange for ahead of time. Smooth, no problems, but about a 45 minute wait for the shuttle to arrive. We got into Ft. L at about 11:00 a.m., and were lunching on the ship by 1:00 p.m. We were shocked to see what looked like a thousand people waiting outside the embarkation office when we arrived at the port, but they were actually waiting for the Dawn, not the Sky. Our embarkation took less than 10 minutes.

Ship Info - The Sky is recently remodeled, and the remodeling left the footprint of the ship rather awkward. You are pretty much constantly walking to the opposite end of the ship for whatever you want to do. It is very clean, showing a tad of wear (loose trim on the bedside tables, worn material on the sofa), and very colorful. The layout is not the best. The buffet is awkwardly positioned, and does not have abundant seating because it only takes up one side of the ship. Plenty of seating outside, but this could be a real problem if the weather was bad, or lots of people were eating at once. Our stateroom was an oceanview with a large port hole. It was fine for daughter and I for this short cruise, but I prefer a balcony. Room was clean, bathroom roomy for a cabin this small. Be aware that deck 4 is the lowest cabin deck, and you will hear engine noise if your cabin is on this deck. This is a smaller ship than some, and we really felt it rocking back and forth. Be sure to take Bonine or some sort of seasickness medicine. You WILL feel this boat move!

Activities/Entertainment - We played a few dollars in the casino, which was generally pretty busy when it was open. Saw one show in the theater, the Broadway one. It was excellent. We heard that the comedian was hysterical, but never made it to one of his shows. We did see him out and about around the ship several times and he was always friendly. Didn't really do any of the other on board activities. Be prepared to be photographed every time you turn around. Photos are available for sale, and relatively expensive. No pressure to buy them, however. Read more