I'm looking for feedback on the N. Sky (any tips to make the cruise more enjoyable) and I have a few questions. My wife and I are planning on taking our 5 boys on a 4 day Bahamas cruise next year. The questions are:

1) is the soft drink program worth the money? Can the boys each order more than one soda at a time? If they have an insulated cup may they have that filled up with soda?

2) What is there for them to drink (for free) between meals? At meals may they drink juice for free or must it be paid for? (I want to make sure our budget incorporates everything it needs to in order to enjoy the cruise without having to worry.)

3) Are there public beaches within walking distance of the port in the Bahamas?

4) Are self-serve laundry services available on the ship and how expensive is it?

Anything else a family relatively new to cruising should be aware of? Thanks in advance for your insights!

Let's try to answer your 4 questions one by one.

(1) There's different soda card programs available. Whether it is worth it or not depends upon how much they drink, and their ages. Here's a link to NCL's soda carda:
http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=BonVoyageGifts

Children's Soda Program (ages 6 months - 12 years old)
Unlimited Fountain Soda
Includes: Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Tonic Water, and Soda Water. Prepaid @ $4.00 per person per day x Cruise days plus 15% gratuity
and applicable taxes. Souvenir Thermal mug included in the purchase of the program.

Adult and Teen Soda Program (ages 13 and older)
Unlimited Fountain Soda
Includes: Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Tonic Water, and Soda Water. The entire cruise must be purchased. Non-Refundable. Prepaid @ $6.25 per person per day x Cruise days plus 15% gratuity and applicable taxes. Souvenir Thermal mug included in the purchase of the program.

Teen Passport Program (13-17 Years of Age) $34.50
20 non-alcoholic drinks, including non-alcoholic smoothie in a 12-14 oz. glass.
The teen and a guest are entitled to an afternoon dance party with the D.J., pizza and unlimited non-alcoholic drinks. The Teen will also receive an invitation to a "Farewell Frat Party" on the last evening of the cruise. Passports are not replaceable if lost.
***Purchase of this package does not serve as the required registration for the Teen Program's activities. A parent or guardian must register their teen by seeing any member of the youth staff once onboard.

The Kid's Crew Backpack includes the Kids Soda Program.
3-day cruise package $30.50
4-day cruise package $33.00
7-day cruise package $39.50

(2) In the buffet and the restaurants there will be free glasses of water, ice tea, milk, and juices available.

(3) Free public beaches are within walking distances from some of the islands, but not all.
I suggest surfing to a port of call forums to discover which.

(4) The Sky does NOT have a self service laundrymat. It does have valet services using a ship's laundry. Here's an old Valet Services order form, although the prices should be similar this year.



On longer cruises, NCL usually has a fill a laundry bag special for $20 once. For the Sky's shorter length cruises, I'm not sure whether they will have it or not. We'll have to wait to hear from passengers from its first few cruises, which start next month.

Thanks for the info Ron! I'm looking forward to seeing the feedback on the Sky. So far my only cruise experience was on the Dream's CTN and as you may have read service was slow. I also appreciate the info on the laundry as we may have to pack lightly because of airline surcharges. Hopefully they will offer one of the $20 deals during the 4 day cruise. Thanks again!

Ooops, forgot to ask (I feel like Columbo when I do that), is chocolate milk available?

quote:

Originally posted by sparks1093:
Ooops, forgot to ask (I feel like Columbo when I do that), is chocolate milk available?

Yes, chocolate milk should be available.