This is not a comprehensive review. This was our eleventh cruise, the third on Norwegian, and the second on the Sky. I will discuss several areas that were of particular interest to us as we returned to this ship in a new itinerary.

Arriving
Our travel documents arrived about 2 weeks prior to our departure. We were scheduled for a 2-day pre-cruise stay in Seattle before sailing on the Norwegian Sky on Sunday June 11th. NCL did not include luggage tags with our documents, nor did they have us listed as Latitudes members. A phone call to NCL corrected the latter. We were told we could pick up our luggage tags at the hotel. NCL put us on US Airways. We had convenient flight times and were seated together. We landed at 11:10 am in Seattle. We went to claim our luggage and find NCL’s rep for our transfer to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. There was no rep in sight so I checked with Airport Information while Frank waited for the luggage. The Information person sent me to a location where the Galaxy had a large sign on the wall to signal their arriving passengers. I still couldn’t find anyone from Norwegian. Finally, I noticed a young man in a red blazer standing amid a crowd of people behind the luggage carousel. A quick check of suitcases confirmed they were sailing with us on the Sky. He told us to gather our suitcases and they would load them on the bus for us. I asked him if we needed our missing luggage tags at that point and he emphatically said yes. He had no tags nor did any of the other NCL people who later appeared to transport luggage. It turned out that this was an escorted group and their TA had extra tags that we gratefully filled in and put on our suitcases.

The NCL rep moved most of the group passengers and their luggage out to curbside to await their bus. He told several of us to wait in the terminal and he would return shortly to get our bags and us. 45 minutes later Frank went outside to find him and was told that since the group’s bus was now filled we should take our own bags to the Airport Express departure area and use their shuttle to the hotel. We schlepped the suitcases once more only to be told by Airport Express that they couldn’t transport us; that was NCL’ s responsibility.

Numerous conversations and 45 minutes later, we boarded an Airport Express Shuttle and were delivered to the curb across the street from the Crowne Plaza. Again we hauled our suitcases across the busy street and into the hotel. Three very friendly ladies from NCL greeted us. It was now nearly 2:30 in the afternoon. The room was not ready so we left our bags with the NCL folks and went in search of lunch. Upon returning 40 minutes later, we got our keys and went to our room, to be greeted by a surprised housekeeper who had just begun to clean up from the previous occupant. We returned to the lobby to wait another 15 minutes until the room was available. The bell captain assured us the bags would be delivered to our room, but Frank ended up bringing them up himself. This also happened during our pre-cruise stay in Miami. Bellhop tips were included in the price but the bellhop never delivered the bags.

The room itself was clean, spacious and comfortable, with a nice view from the 21st floor of downtown Seattle. We received written instructions in our key envelope about when and where to put our luggage for Sunday’s transfer to the ship. On Sunday our bags were loaded onto a truck and taken to the ship before the buses arrived to pick up the passengers. We left the hotel at noon, checked in at the Latitudes desk, and were in our cabin by 12:30. Check-in was short and sweet!

The arrival problems were not serious, but they were confusing and frustrating. I suspect the newness of the NCL itinerary in Seattle has resulted in a slow learning curve for them and for the airport transport personnel.

The Ship
We were pleased to see that the Norwegian Sky was clean and in generally good repair. One atrium elevator was out of service for several days, and the ATM machine near the casino entrance did not work throughout the cruise. But the carpets were clean, the brass was polished, and she generally looked good. They haven’t figured out how to enlarge the cabins and increase storage space, but we were prepared for the tight quarters. The lamps above our double bed were still affixed too low to read comfortably in bed, but we each still managed to finish several books during the week. Most of our time, however, was spent with binoculars on our balcony.

For the curious, the Port of Marshall, Missouri is still represented aboard the Norwegian Sky.

Open Seating Dining
We thoroughly enjoyed the open seating, as did most of the people with whom we talked. We had several conversations with our waiter from the GGC2000. He said that he and many other waiters really miss the rapport they used to have with their weeklong guests. They also are still a bit uncomfortable with the team tipping approach. It is true that they no longer have to endure the envelope grope at the end of the trip, and they don't get stiffed as easily, but neither do they see much in extra service bonuses unless an individual tips them separately - which is not done much at this point.

On the other hand, he said that the pressure is now off the dining room staff to hurry people along. There is a crush of people at 6:00 p.m. who want to be seated, sometimes resulting in long lines. But any time after that the wait is negligible. The other nice aspect for the wait staff is they no longer are rated in competition with one another. Before the start of open seating and team tipping, they were punished with extra duty if their ratings were poor in comparison with others. Now it is truly a team effort to make sure they all are performing well.

Frank and I ate dinner twice in the Bistro, once in the Ciao Chow, three times in the Horizon, and once at the buffet in the Garden Cafe on deck 11. We waited a few minutes for seating in the Horizon and once ate there with another couple. It was lovely to be able to enjoy the intimacy and beautiful views afforded by that restaurant. Previously it was assigned seating for honeymooners and people who requested small tables. The Garden Cafe was well used in the evenings, especially by people with children or who wanted to remain less formal. The wait staff was in evening whites and there was a wine steward available. The dinner food was actually very good the night we were there, what a surprise!

Although several people said they had long waits in the main dining rooms for dinner service, we didn't experience any service problems. We enjoyed the large dining rooms for breakfast and lunch and met lots of very interesting people. The service for us was never surly or particularly slow, even on the last morning. We enjoyed meeting and conversing with a number of the waiters and busboys. We spoke with one man who was with 18 people who wanted to eat together each night. They had a group of tables set aside for them at 7 each evening in one of the large dining rooms. This allowed them to eat as a group, but to sit with different people within their group each night.

There were only two real dining disappointment during the week. First, afternoon Tea in the Bistro was so crowded that the wait to get in was long and service was rushed. One serving and you were then ignored. Milk was not on the table during tea and we could not get anyone's attention to bring some. They were very pressured to make room for everyone. As a result it was difficult to have a leisurely tea experience. Second, they did not offer coffee and cinnamon rolls at 5:30 a.m. in the pizzeria. Since the Outdoor Cafe had 24-hour coffee and snacks, they no longer bake the huge cinnamon buns in the pizza ovens for early-risers. They serve smaller cinnamon rolls at breakfast in the dining rooms, but it’s not the same. We overcame our disappointment by sleeping later. J
The Weather
Our week’s weather was chilly. We wore pants and long-sleeved shirts most of the time and were very grateful that we had our parkas and winter gloves. We saw a few hardy souls wearing shorts and light shirts as they exercised on deck – and they looked cold! The sun rose shortly after 3 each morning and set close to 9:30 at night. The curtains in our cabin did a good job of shutting out the light so sleeping was no problem. It rained heavily several nights and lightly several days, but not enough to interfere with excursions or enjoying the scenery.

Departing
NCL has not begun their announced policy of letting you stay in your cabin until you depart the ship. They ask you to be out of your room by 8:30 in the morning. We ate early in the dining room, cleared our room, and only had a short time to wait before we could leave. Because we stopped in Vancouver, B.C. the day before disembarkation in Seattle, Canadian and U.S. Custom agents cleared all non-U.S. or Canadian citizens in that port. As a result, there were no calls for non-citizens to clear customs on Sunday. There was only one call for someone to pay her bill. Disembarkation began shortly after 8:00 a.m.

We were in the fifth group to leave. There were numerous porters to help move luggage to the waiting buses. At the airport, passengers and bags were dropped outside the arrivals level of the terminal. Some airlines had portable check-in counters next to the buses. U. S. Airways did not. We again moved our own luggage through the terminal and up one level to check in at the departures counter. The rest of the trip was out of NCL’s realm of responsibility. Weather kept us in the air and on runways an additional 4 hours so we got home about 3:00 a.m. Monday morning. Our luggage was delivered later that afternoon. Alaska was all we remembered and more. NCL’s relaxed dining and dress policies made this an especially comfortable trip for us. It was a great way to greet the summer! Please ask if you have any specific questions about the cruise.

Susie in NH