NORWEGIAN SKY
December 1-8, 2002
Southern Caribbean
by Jim
MacQueen
The headline on this review ought to be
"value cruise line takes the lead"! Many people, including
veteran cruisers, tend to discount Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) because like
K-Mart, NCL often offers lots of "blue light specials". What they
overlook, I think, is that there is often great value in good deals. Certainly our cruise on the Norwegian Sky "exotic Caribbean" itinerary
December 1-8 2002 was a great example of a good deal. And in my opinion,
NCL continues improve itself and raise the bar for other "value"
cruise lines such as Carnival and RCCL. The plain fact is that this cruise
was much better than our recent cruises on both Celebrity and Costa, two lines
which try to position themselves as a step up from NCL.
A few words about us. I am in my mid-50s and a professional event planner. While not truly a travel agent, there are major travel components in many of my
events, and we get around. My wife is on the management team for a group
of world and US champion motorcycle racers, and we also get to see some of the
world through their eyes. We are extremely experienced "foodies"
due to our travel, and have been in some of the finest restaurants in the US
(think Trotters, French Laundry, Inn at Little Washington, etc.) so food is a most
important component of the trip for us. We'll eat ANYTHING, but it had
better be good. We started cruising in the early 80s, and this was
our seventh cruise in the last two years, having recently been on the Carnival
Sensation, RCCL Voyager, Costa Atlantica, Celebrity Century, and the NCL ships
Majesty, Sun and Sky. On this particular cruise, we also took with us our
24-year-old son, who was getting his first true vacation in seven years and first
cruise since and adventure on the Big Red Boat about 10 years ago.
We booked this trip almost a full year ago while on the NCL Sun. It was
our first experience with onboard booking, and it worked out well. The
booking was credited to my travel agent account and commission was paid (I split
with my agent because of our arrangement). The price dropped a little
during the summer, and NCL gave us the credit without asking. We are
Latitudes members and we received all the perks with no problem, including a
lightning fast embarkation check-in, the usual Latitudes cocktail party, our
commemorative pins, and drink discounts in the Windjammer Lounge. We chose
this version of the exotic itinerary (San Juan, Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica,
St. Kitts and St. Thomas) because we had been to Tortola, Antigua and Martinique
on our NCL Majesty cruise. In retrospect, we were SO glad, because there
was not a disappointing port call on this entire trip.
The Sky does alternate itineraries each week from San Juan. We flew in a
day early, as is our custom, staying at the Wyndham Hotel in Old San Juan. This turned out to be a great choice, as, to our surprise, the Sky was docked
directly across the street on the closest wharf to the hotel… on Sunday
morning, we simply checked out and dragged our stuff across the street where the
dockside checkers took the bags we did not carry on. As I mentioned, check-in was very quick and we onboard before noon even though the formal
embarkation is not supposed to start until 1:00pm. All our checked luggage
was delivered to our stateroom by 3:30pm, so the whole process could not have
been smoother.
About San Juan. We took a cab from the airport. There is a "cab
starter" at the airport who writes out a trip order for you. This
guarantees you will not pay more than $18.00 for the trip downtown. With
tip (10 bags, after all!), we did it for $25.00, and since we didn't need a cab
from the hotel, this was a really good value. The Wyndham runs $350 a
night, but we got our room for $165. After my wife and son won $50 in the
casino, we were REAL happy with the deal. We did our usual exploration of
the Old City, stopping by Butterfly People to buy another of their wonderful
displays. I would have liked to try one of the local upscale cuisine
restaurants, but the kids were tired so we ate in the hotel. Frankly, It's
just average, with a big emphasis on the seafood buffet Saturday night and on
the breakfast buffet every morning.
Back on board, our stateroom proved to be much smaller than expected. When
we were on the Sun, we learned that the Sky is her sister ship and the layout
is, indeed, very similar. However, we had been told the Sun had been
revised to better suit Freestyle Cruising, and this sure proved to be true,
starting with the cabins. We had an outside with balcony on Deck 9, and
with the total floor space of both inside and outside added together, it was not
as large as our master bedroom at home. I would say it was easily the
smallest cabin of ANY we have ever had on a cruise, and it really was a tad too
small for three adults. We were pretty much always in each other's way,
and there simply was not enough storage… much of our clothing stayed in a
couple of the suitcases, under the bed. The cabin was arranged with a
"queen" size bed for my wife and me, and a foldout sofa bed for son
Chip. One nice touch was a curtain that could be drawn completely across
the cabin to separate the beds, giving the heir to the family nickel a touch of
privacy. Luckily, we were on the starboard side, which proved to be the
more scenic side in all but one port. The balcony got a lot of use,
although my wife and I are not finicky about these porches, and often actually
prefer inside cabins.
Although everything, including the bathroom and shower, was small, it was also
functional and we had no major complaints. There was water, ice,
California "champagne", fruit and an orchid in the cabin when we
arrived. We didn't drink the water or champagne, and thus did not pay for
them. There was a refrigerator that we never used (I think my son may have
stored some clothing in it!) and the best TV system we have had on a cruise. You may ask who watches TV on a cruise?
OK. We do. We like to
keep up with the news and sports, and watch a movie in the afternoon. The
Sky had the widest variety of channels and movie offerings we have seen. It also had that great bridge cam which allowed you to see if it was day or
night, how the weather was, and what the ship was doing while entering and
leaving ports. Our room stewardess was probably the least attentive I've
ever had--I don't even know her name--but all that means is that our room was
cleaned and made up when it was supposed to be… just no little extras. That's good enough for us.
Now to the most important part of the review: The food! Not everyone
is going to agree with my evaluation, because frankly, a lot of people judge
cruise ship food on the steaks, prime rib and lobster. I personally like a
more creative approach, with more sauces and innovative presentations. I
think NCL as a line, and the NCL Sky in particular, have really taken the lead
in food, and this is especially true if you limit the comparison to the
"value" cruise lines. NCL food in general is much better than
Carnival, RCCL or even vaunted Celebrity. Having said that, I also think
the food on the Sky is better than the food on either the Majesty or the Sun! The exception, to some extent, is the buffet, but I don't like buffets anyway
and try to avoid them at all costs. The younger MacQueen dragged us there
one night because he didn't think the dining room menus looked attractive, but
that particular version of leg of lamb and a million salads certainly kept us
from trying that a second time. As we ate in the Horizon Restaurant on the
Sun, we went back to LeBistro on the Sky, and I thought it was much improved
over the Majesty version. That being said, I still believe that steaks and
hamburgers can NEVER be at their best on a cruise ship.
We split breakfasts between the dining room and the buffet depending on our
excursion schedule for the day. If you want eggs, go to the dining room
and get them to order. If you like cold items, you are actually better off
in the buffet lines where you can get what you want, and as much of it as you
want. To those who have written they don't like NCL coffee, well, you just
don't know good strong coffee! For lunches, we followed our usual practice
of finding a nice place in port to taste the local flavor… I know that doesn't
sit well with people who still think of cruises as "all-inclusive"
vacations, but I just don't see how you can say you've been somewhere if you
haven't tried THEIR food. We did have one lunch onboard… a poolside
barbeque of skillet steaks and wursts that actually was quite good.
Both the Seven Seas and Four Seasons dining rooms proved to be excellent, both
when compared to other cruise lines and even to very good land restaurants. The NCL Executive Chef is inventive with menu planning and recipes, while the
NCL Sky Executive Chef oversees an excellent galley. In my opinion,
presentation is one of the line's strong suits. There is a much wider
range of appetizers, soups and salads than on other lines, and NCL particularly
outdoes Celebrity in this area. With age, the line has really got their
Freestyle dining system down pat. We never had to wait longer than 3-4
minutes for a table, and then only the first night when we wanted to sit with
another party and it took them a minute to find a group to share our table. Generally, we told the
maitre d' that we were flexible and would either sit by
ourselves or with others. Of the five nights in these dining rooms, we sat
by ourselves twice and with others three times, and we enjoyed meeting the new
people. Although there is really not much difference, we preferred the
Four Season to the Seven Seas from a décor standpoint, and there was a
pronounced difference in the waiting time with the midship dining always
underused by the passengers.
My advice to anyone traveling on NCL is to do a little mealtime planning. Each morning, the menus for all the dining rooms are posted in the Deck 5 atrium
near the service desk. If you are really concerned about your food
options, go there and see what is on the menu in the "free" dining
rooms. If you don't see something you want, review the "service
charge" rooms and make a reservation. Our experience was that the
"paid" rooms did NOT fill up on this cruise and that you could make a
same day reservation pretty easily. I don't know if that was true every
night, but I observed empty tables every night I bothered to look. Also,
be flexible. Don't lock in on certain times, certain tables, and certain
dining rooms if you can help it. With Freestyle, you CAN do those things
if you want, but it will increase your chances of having to wait. Frankly,
Freestyle as a concept suits our family and we much prefer it. As time has
gone on, I think the system has really caught on with a majority of cruisers, or
at least, with a majority of NCL passengers, and there is much less complaining
than there was when the change was first made.
I could go on and on about the food, getting into individual dishes tried and
evaluated. But what's the point? You might not like food the way I
like it, and I guarantee what I like won't appeal to those who judge cruise food
on the meat, potatoes, buffets and pizza.
So, on we go to the trip and the ports. First day out was the one and only
sea day. Saving of deck chairs was about normal, but we got what we wanted
poolside and in the sun. The Sky pools are very nice (don't miss the
secret little splash pool with the waterfall and 'cuz forward on Deck 12!), salt
water, not overcrowded on this trip, and the bar service was adequate. The
wait staff was not as pushy, but on the other hand, not always there when you
wanted a beer. For that reason, a bucket of Coronas makes good sense from
a financial and logistical standpoint. The evening was the optional formal
night and lobster dinner. I would say the majority of people dressed, with
probably a third or more of us in formal wear. We did it because we wanted
a family portrait. A piece of advice is that this a good night to avoid
the Seven Seas and go to the Four Seasons, as an early lobster night on a cruise
seems to cause everyone to want to eat at the same time. As for the
lobster, it actually was the best I've had on a cruise ship! Another note:
If you are a Latitudes member, you are entitled to a 10% discount off all drinks
in the Windjammer Lounge… since this is the "Martini Bar" and the
drinks are bigger and more expensive, this is a significant benefit.
I'll cover the ports in no particular order. On Barbados, you are docked
at a port that doubles as both the freight and passenger terminal. It
actually proves very interesting to watch them work container shipping with some
of the biggest machines I've ever seen on wheels. I thought Barbados was a
beautiful island and the Bejans were some of the friendliest islanders we've
met. Instead of taking a ship's tour, we simply got off, found a taxi, and
asked him to take us on a 4-hour drive around the island high spots. We
got a great guy who charged the three of us just $70 ($80 with tip) which left
us about $40 to the good over a similar ship excursion. After he brought
us back to Bridgetown, we had him drop us off at a local restaurant (keep in
mind these guys get a commission from restaurants and businesses, so don't
exactly COUNT on their advice!). It was adequate, had a great view, but
the food was pretty ordinary… it's an English island and all the food tends to
be "English" for better or worse. Downtown Bridgetown is one of
the larger island cities, with some pretty big local stores among the usual
tourist emporiums. We shopped for local rum, but saved our money for St.
Thomas.
Dominica is to whale and dolphin watching in the Caribbean what Alaska is on the
west coast. We pre-booked all three of our NCL-sponsored excursions on the
Internet, which saved us a lot of time and trouble on Sunday in San Juan and
guaranteed we got what we wanted. As it turned out, we wouldn't have had
to take the whale-watching excursion to see a whale! As the ship sailed in
to Roseau, we nearly sailed right over a momma sperm whale and her calf. What a spectacular surprise.
However, the excursion also proved to be well
worthwhile. They guarantee around a 95% success rate in finding whales and
dolphins, and certainly did not disappoint. First, we found several major
pods of dolphins that loved bow riding and wake surfing our boat. After 45
minutes of playing with them, we went out a little further using the boat's
underwater sounding gear for guidance, and quickly found three more sperm
whales, two of which treated us to those spectacular tail waving deep dives. I won't go on about getting seasick…
it had been 20 years since the last time! I just should have stayed on the bottom deck.
Nevertheless, by the time we
returned to the dock, I was sound again and we found a nice a Caribbean buffet
at a local restaurant for lunch. I should point out that if you go to the
Dominica web sites, you may get the impression you can self-book the whale
watching tour yourself for less money. Only if you jump ship! On the
days the cruise ships are in port, they book all the spots on the boat, and you
can only go if you book through the cruise line. The tour ALWAYS sells
out, so book as early as you can if you want to see these magnificent creatures.
Let's see… if this is Wednesday, this must be St. Lucia. That means the
catamaran sail to the volcano, into the harbor guarded by the Pitons. Ah,
the photo ops. The wife, son and I brought back nearly 750 photos, all
but a hundred of which are digital. You'll see some from time to time if
you keep visiting the Cruise Critic site.
This catamaran sail is a pretty
complete tour of the best parts of St. Lucia, which is a beautiful island but
which is also bogged down in some degree of native poverty. Sailing down
the west side of the island from Castries (where you dock) to Soufriere, you see
endless rain forests and sheer cliffs interrupted by attractive inlets and
beaches. The southern port, which handles some of the sailing cruise
ships, offers relatively easy access to the "drive-in volcano" and
Diamond Falls, the mineral baths, and the Botanical Gardens where the French
Empress Josephine is said to have bathed. On the way back, the all-day
excursion offers some swimming and snorkeling time as well as a couple of
additional visits to marinas and resorts. The trip includes lunch, but
precludes any meaningful time in the town of Castries where the Sky is docked. The local beer, Pitons, sampled on the sailboat, was excellent.
The next stop is St. Kitts. Personally, I though this was one of the
nicest islands I've visited. For one thing, although formed by three
different volcanoes, the terrain has been gentled and the island is still ideal
for sugar cane farming. We took a driving and hiking tour operated by
Greg, which included exposure to St. Kitts native life, a visit to the Batik
factory (a beautifully restored old plantation property next to the rainforest
National Park) and a 2-hour hike through the rainforest. On our return to
Basseterre, we followed Greg's suggestion (his father owns a hotel, but it's out
of town so he sent us to a local establishment) and found a really nice upstairs
restaurant where I had the best seafood meal of the trip. St. Kitts is the
home of Carib Beer… don't pass it up! It's the island version of Corona,
lime wedges and all.
Finally, St. Thomas. I am NOT a big fan of St. Thomas, perhaps because
I've been there four times in the last 18 months, but I am a photography
enthusiast and had something in particular in mind from the duty free shops. I had to try three of them, but acquired a $125 battery pack for $90, tax and
duty free, so it was worth the work. The wife acquired her token jewelry
(ring and tennis bracelet this time… the OTHER reason I fear St. Thomas!) and I
believe young Brian Colin did his Christmas shopping. Oh, and all of this
before 10am at the Havensight Mall. Which left us plenty of time to sample
a different St. Thomas beach. We've been to the others, so we went to Coki
Beach this time. The local dive shop in Havensight offers discount tickets to
Coral World, and while you don't NEED to go to Coral World to sample Coki Beach,
this aquatic them park has the best facilities. We had a very nice day
here, watching the people using the "snuba" gear, swimming and
snorkeling, and finding a great little beach shack cookery which did up a truly
excellent lunch. I always thought I liked Megan's Bay best of the island
beaches, but I think I've been converted to Coki, which is less crowded and has
better snorkeling.
All good things must end, and so after wandering around in the sea between St.
Thomas and San Juan (it's only 90 miles… they could get there in 4-5 hours if
they wanted) it was time to return home. Got to see them hook up the
refueling barge, and that was a first despite all the cruises I've been on
before.
Just a few comments about the Sky.
She has just come out of
dry dock after her summer in Alaska, and has been beautifully refitted. She has new carpets and paint where needed, some new furniture, and is generally
in tip-top condition. NCL made a good decision when it made changes to the
Sun to make it better suited for Freestyle… the Sun has more restaurant choices
and less "multi-use" spaces (for instance, the Sky has a space in the
sports bar that also serves as the disco AND one of the alternative restaurants,
depending on time of day). One other criticism of both ships is that they
have only two elevator/stair stacks, and it is a looooong way between them. The crew was extremely friendly and the service generally top-notch.
I
have found that the pooling of tips for Freestyle has done nothing to diminish
the level of service, and I have never received better service on Carnival, RCCL
or Celebrity. The only line with better service, in my opinion, is Costa.
To close, we booked our own air as we always do for these trips. While you may have a better chance of having everything work out time wise
through the cruise line, nobody can understand your flying needs better than
yourself. That being said, this was my most unpleasant experience with
self-booked travel through an Internet provider. Despite the fact we
booked these flights 9 months before the trip, we were apparently the last
people assigned to seats, and on one leg, all three of us were in different
rows. I can't complain about the price, and with my Platinum card,
Continental gave us access to the President's Clubs in all three airports, but I
just couldn't get past this seat assignment issue when we were so far out in front on
our booking and I reconfirmed the flights twice in the week before the trip. One thing I would say for those of you planning your own flights…
you probably
can count on getting off the ship in San Juan by 9am and getting to the airport
between 9:30 and 10am. I switched my original 11am flight to a noon
flight, and wished I hadn't. All in all, and excellent vacation with the
little negatives hardly worth mentioning, and all our really important
expectations met or exceeded. I hope this helps future NCL passengers. If you need any other tips, feel free to ask!
Jim, Kathy and Chip MacQueen
Tallmadge, Ohio
Socerjim@aol.com
Photo Courtesy of Norwegian
Cruise Line
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