I recently took a cruise from Miami on the Norwegian Sky. While I do not have any other ships to compare it to since this was my first cruise, I enjoyed the experience and opportunity to explore the ship.
The Sky was about equal in size, or slightly smaller, to the other ships in the port. The ship is easy to pick out of the crowd by the pink and yellow flowers painted on the side.
We stayed in an inside stateroom which was much larger than I had expected. There was room for our two beds, two night stands, a fold out loveseat, a desk, large closet, and bathroom. There was certainly plenty of room for two people and their luggage in the room. It might be a little cramped with kids staying in the same room, but you shouldn’t be spending much time in your room anyway. There were many shelves with railings along them to help keep your belongings organized. However, there was only one power outlet so you may want to bring a power strip if you need to charge multiple items at night. As expected, the bathroom was tiny. Only one person can comfortably fit inside at a time. If you are overweight, you may have trouble maneuvering, especially in shower since it is very small.
The Hawaiian décor inside the ship did show its age. However, the Sky was always kept very clean so it was not a problem. The ship is small enough that you can easily learn your way around. Most activities are on decks 6 and 7 and up at the top on the pool deck.
The food was good, but not great. It reminded me of slightly improved college dining hall food. There was a casual buffet where you could stop in and grab whatever you wanted. There were also two sit-down restaurants included in the price of the cruise. Both of these restaurants were quite fancy, had slow service, and we felt out of place if we did not dress up. The wait for the restaurants was never more than five minutes. We usually ended up at the buffet after dinner to get some more food.
There were three very small pools and five hot tubs on board. It was very cold during our cruise, but I imagine the pools would be packed if it was hot outside. The pool deck area was relaxing and always had plenty of chairs. There was also a variety of places to sit whether you wanted to people watch or relax and read a book. Many sports were available such as basketball, volleyball, golf, shuffle board, and a jogging track. The gym was quite small and packed every time I went in.
Overall, the Sky is a nice cruise ship but definitely not the best out there. We were often parked next to ships with rock climbing walls and water slides, while our boat had none of that. If you are looking for a cheap cruise and plan to spend your days on shore, this boat will do. However, you prefer to stay on the ship during the day, you may want to look for a larger boat with more going on.
