The Bahamas – Our Honeymoon Cruise on the Norwegian Sky

Posted by Ryan Stemkoski

November 30, 2009

For those of you that follow this blog on a regular basis you may have noticed I have been away for quite some time. The last 3 weeks have been very busy. Kayla and I got married on November 14th. Then we went on a honeymoon to the Bahamas which was immediately followed by a trip to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving.

Now I am back, and finally back to work. For my first blog post I am going to give a quick review of our crusie on the Norwegian Sky. This trip was our first trip to Miami, our first experience riding in a taxi (with a driver that didn’t speak English), and our first cruise. We had a great time but as with any trip there were ups and downs.

Things we liked about our trip to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Sky

We liked the freestyle dining options although would’ve enjoyed more variety in food
The ship was clean
The staff was friendly and helpful although often hard to understand
The comedian was great and is a must see
The beaches and caves tour (Not super exciting but gave us a chance to find a private area on the beach to relax for a few hours)
Private island was busy but fun (If you go I suggest walking along the shore towards the neighboring island. We were able to find our own private area on the beach. At least for awhile.)

Things we didn’t like about our trip to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Sky

Lack of free Wi-Fi or other free or affordable Internet use options. (The price of Internet usage is extremely high and comes with an “activation fee”. The price was even higher than what I had read on the NCL website prior to reserving our tickets. The lack of affordable Internet access is a real downside for me. I may have to choose other vacation options in the future because it is difficult for me to be away from the computer for such an extended period.)
The food was very similar in all of the “free” dining rooms including the buffets. Each night there were a few options but basically wherever you went you were having the same food. I would have enjoyed some more variation which from what I understand you can find on some of the larger, newer ships.
Almost any activities available on and off the ship have additional fees often with price tags that don’t justify the activity. I personally would rather have the price for a number of events rolled into the initial cost of the cruise like they have done with tipping so I don’t feel nickel and dimed during the entire trip.
Exiting the ship was a complete mess. There was insufficient instruction and the staff at the customs area was very rude. Once we got off the ship it was a complete free for all with very nobody directing traffic. I got the feeling as soon as you stepped off the ship, Norwegian Cruise Line said goodbye and you were on your own. It would be nice if they had some sort of a system setup to help people find taxis, load their bags etc. We saw lines of people who didn’t speak good English waiting for Taxi’s far from where they actually were because there was a sign that said Taxi. I hope at some point they figured out where to go and they are not still standing there waiting.

Outside of the experience on the Norwegian Sky we spent some time in Miami. I must say we were less than impressed with Miami. Most of the people we encountered were unfriendly. Our Taxi driver didn’t speak English and couldn’t understand any of the 4 families in our Taxi. We had to direct him turn by turn to our hotel. Had we not had my iPhone we would’ve been completely lost. The worst part of the trip was the Miami airport. It was dirty, confusing, and lacked power plug-ins for laptop computers.

I was extremely thankful to return to Sea-Tac airport where there is free Wi-Fi, abundant power outlets, and decent food options. Overall we had a good time and were able to get some good photos of our experience. I have posted a number of these below for you to check out. If you have any specific questions about our trip please leave a comment below and I will respond.