A Winning Pair: Caribbeab Sea, Norwegian Sky

Many new ships are boasting cyber-cafes in response to passenger demand, but Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sky is the first with an Internet cafe that allows passengers to read and send e-mail or go online in a coffeehouse atmosphere with a bar selling coffee and soft drinks. All the others, even Royal Caribbean’s gigantic Voyager of the Seas, offer the computers but not the cafe.

NCL’s 2,002-passenger vessel, which made its debut in Europe in August, is spending this winter in its home port of Miami, alternating between eastern and western Caribbean itineraries. The eastern schedule, departing Jan. 23, for example, visits Eleuthera in the Bahamas; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Great Stirrup Cay, NCL’s private island. The western schedule, sailing today, calls at George Town, Grand Cayman; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Nassau, Bahamas; and Great Stirrup Cay. The two itineraries will alternate weekly until the April 9 departure. Beginning May 7, the Norwegian Sky will cruise Alaska on round-trip, seven-day sailings from Seattle that visit Haines, Skagway and Juneau in Alaska and Vancouver, British Columbia.

The 80,000-ton ship’s handsome public rooms include a dramatic central atrium, four glass elevators, a two-deck nonsmoking show lounge and a sports bar.

The dining rooms are elegantly appointed and generous, with tables for two. We especially liked the intimate Horizon restaurant, a long, narrow room connecting the two large dining rooms, with a row of tables for two by the windows and raised booths for four across the aisle with the same ocean view. Reservations for this restaurant can be requested in advance, but cannot be confirmed until a week before sailing.

Other concessions include a large Steiner spa and beauty salon and the first-ever seagoing gift shops run by Colombian Emeralds International, a Caribbean retailer. Cashing in on current (but perhaps waning) trends are Churchill’s Cigar Club and the adjacent Windjammer Bar, whose 30 kinds of martinis do not include a single classic version. A drinker seeking a real martini will have to order the Cajun martini and tell the bartender to hold the jalapen~o.

There’s fine on-board entertainment, especially Jean Ann Ryan’s salute to Cameron Mackintosh called “Hey, Mr. Producer,” with performers singing, dancing and acting in highlights from 30 years of Mackintosh hit shows. The swinging, soulful Jane L. Powell & Company’s jazz and pop favorites are also highlights.

A pair of alternative restaurants offer nightly dining options. Ciao Chow offers Italian and Chinese specialties at dinner and serves as a pizzeria throughout the afternoon. Le Bistro has a French bistro menu nightly and doubles as a venue for “elegant teatime.”

Unfortunately, at least during the inaugural sailing, most of the specialty cuisines reflected a Miami catering operation filtered through an Austrian kitchen on a Norwegian ship. The menus read beautifully, but the execution of the dishes ranged from institutional (a creme bru^lee that tasted like packaged pudding) to downright strange (a Caesar salad with scallops and mandarin oranges).

The new ship is an interesting design hybrid, a mix of the classic French ocean liner styling of the Norway--the former France--with an Italian accent reminiscent of the CostaVictoria. That’s hardly surprising because the hull of the Norwegian Sky was intended originally for a Costa sister ship called CostaOlympia. When Germany’s Vulkan Group shipyard declared bankruptcy, NCL purchased the unfinished hull and completed the ship in Bremerhaven, Germany, in a record 1 1/2 years.

Costa design elements that were retained include oversize portholes and painted scenic backdrops that cover the dining room windows in the evenings. An added NCL feature is a two-deck overhang that allows private balconies on 258 suites and cabins.

The most expensive cabins are the four owner’s suites, each with balcony and hot tub, which cost as little as $418 a day per person, double, with early booking discounts in the Caribbean. These are ideal for families with young children because the living room contains a queen-size sofa bed and pull-down bed in addition to the bedroom’s queen bed.

Slightly less expensive are the 10 penthouse suites with private balconies, which with early booking discounts in the Caribbean cost about $265 a day per person, double. If you don’t mind balcony views of where you’ve been rather than where you’re going, the penthouses located aft are bigger than the forward ones. Here the whirlpool tub is in the bathroom rather than on the veranda, and there’s a sitting area rather than separate living room, but these suites also offer butler service.

The remaining 244 accommodations with private verandas measure about 150 square feet (plus veranda), small but adequate. Each contains a twin or queen-size bed, love seat, small coffee table, chair and desk/dresser with mini-refrigerator. Bathrooms are compact, with shower only, and there is a dearth of storage space.

Other cabins throughout the ship are generally the same size but have no private balcony. They do, however, contain a mini-refrigerator, safe and hair dryer.

The line’s published early booking prices knock the brochure fares down to half price but fail to designate which sailings are available at those prices and how early one has to book to get them. Most cruisers, however, will think it’s worth booking six months or more in advance to snag a seven-day cruise in Alaska for as little as $1,139 per person, double, or a week in the Caribbean for as little as $899 per person, double. Add-on air fares are available.

The Norwegian Sky should perform well in Alaska’s climate. There are many covered or sheltered deck areas outside and expansive windows in the restaurants, lounges and cafes from which to view glaciers and marine mammals on chilly days. On the other hand, sun worshipers in the Caribbean will enjoy four spa pools and two swimming pools, plus generous sun lounges and the biggest deck bar at sea.

For a brochure, ask a travel agent, call NCL at (800) 327-7030 or go to https://www.ncl.com.