Pens fan

I really just wish NCL would forgo this promotion.  We all know nothing is actually free.  They have built the cost into the cruise fare, as they do with all of their promotions.   I'd never let a cruise line book our air for me.  We prefer to be in control of that ourselves.  I wish they would just skip the air promos and go back to offering OBC instead, as it's something we would actually use.

I think the the non Haven suites on the Jewel class ships are the best suite deals in the NCL fleet.  We were in an SF on the Gem last October.  Just like the previous poster, we saved about $2K by forgoing the Haven (and no, we did not have access).  It was a 12 night cruise with only 2 sea days, so missing out on the the Haven was no big deal.  We wouldn't have had time to use it anyway.  We still received all of the other suite perks that the Haven guests enjoyed, and got to enjoy our fabulous aft balcony.

I do remember seeing a thread on here awhile ago stating that NCL was changing up some of the Jewel class suite configurations and not all of the SF's and SE's were going to receive the same amenities in the future.  But that wasn't supposed to take effect until a year or so in the future.  We are in an SF this Fall on the Jade and can't wait to enjoy all it offers.

We had no luck finding Penguin games on the Gem last October.  They did have a hockey game on a couple of nights, but you weren't given any choices on channels.  It just depended on what their (few) available channels were showing.

I, too, was apprehensive about using the laundry service.  Our last cruise was for 12 nights, so rather than pack that much clothes we gave it a shot.  They offered two separate fill the bag specials during the cruise and both times our clothes came back clean, folded and in great shape.  We were very impressed.   I'd much rather pay the $20 a bag and have it done for me vs fighting for a self serve laundry machine on my vacation.  😎After our next cruise we will be platinum and I look forward to having that free bag perk.

I had the tuna steak on the Gem last fall and it was excellent.  Highly recommend!

I really hope they do end the "free" air promo soon.  While we normally fly to port, we definitely prefer to book on our own.  We all know that nothing is actually free, so for us we'd definitely prefer to leave the airfare out of NCL's control (and out of the cruise fare). 

It will be interesting to see if cruise fares actually do go down when and if the air promo ends.

Same issue with both Safari and Chrome.  Honestly if weren't for our amazing roll call for our next cruise, I'd just give up on this site.  It used to be my go-to for cruise info, but ever since they revamped it, the technical issues have made it so frustrating it's really not worth it anymore.

We sailed on Disney several times when our son was younger, always in regular balcony cabins.  We loved each and every cruise, but now that our son is an adult and often doesn't even come with us, our last two cruises (and our next one) have been on NCL in suites.

Honestly, yes, you are paying for the Disney touch - the characters, the Disney shows, Disney themed dining experiences, etc.  We found service to be comparable on both lines and the food to be considerably better on NCL.  Disney's food isn't bad, but it definitely is aimed at families with small kids - pretty bland for our tastes.   Disney entertainment is better, quality wise, in my opinion, but it's also geared more towards children and the Disney obsessed.  

All that being said, I'm sure we will sail Disney again at some point.  But we are big Disney fans, so occasionally it's worth it for us.  The fact that we can sail in a suite on NCL for the same or less than a balcony on Disney makes it awfully hard to go back, though.

Edited to add:  Keep in mind there are no casinos on Disney, if that's important to you.  I also think that's at least part of the reason they are so expensive, as they miss out on that extra revenue.

NCL Concierge Contact info:

NorwegianConciergeDesk@ncl.com

1-855-625-4283

On our October cruise the pre-cruise dining reservation system was a mess.  By calling the concierge they promised our reservations would all be taken care of once on board.  They were.  I'd call them today before the system opens up to everyone else and see if they can help.   Hopefully they can.  It worked for us. 

I just booked a tour through Rome in Limo called Rome Highlights and the Catacombs http://www.romeinlimo.com/tours-of-rome/ancient-rome-and-catacombs.htm for our pre cruise stay in Rome.  Like you, we decided to forgo the Vatican to spend more time on the ancient sights, and this fit the bill perfectly for us.  They also offer this tour from Civitavecchia, though it's more expensive due to the extra travel time.  The earlier suggestion about sharing with someone on your roll call is a good one.  

For me it was the Indian section, hands down.  So good!!  We aren't buffet folks and have avoided them on other cruise lines (with good reason).  We sailed the Gem in October and were very surprised at how much we enjoyed the buffet.  That being said....

I know this won't be a popular opinion on here, but I don't get the love for the crepes.  For me they tasted like canned pie filling - not my thing.  But each their own 😀.

This is rediculous.  I use Safari and Chrome and the site has become totally useless in both.  Clearing cookies and cache seems to work - once, but then when you come back later it's back to the same old mess.  Until they fix this, I think I'll just be skipping Cruise Critic for now.  It's not worth the hassle.

We were on the Gem in October in an SF suite (non Haven).  There was only one concierge.  As the previous posters noted, she had a desk set up in Modernos during the suite breakfast hours, though, she wasn't always there on our cruise.  It was pretty hit or miss.  As we weren't in the Haven, I can't say if she had a desk there or not. 

There was also another person who I assumed was her assistant.  He escorted us off the ship at the tender port and ushered us to the theater for priority disembarkation at the end of the cruise.  Other than that, we had no interaction with him.  Our butler was terrific and we saw him daily.  He always made a point to check in with us at some point.  He was a great asset if we had any questions.  Overall, our concierge experience was perfectly fine on the Gem.  It wasn't quite as personal as what we experienced on the Sun (Elvina was amazing!), but we had no complaints and the few things we asked for were taken care of.

Thanks for sharing this!  We had been considering this hotel for the night before our cruise.   I just checked out Trip Advisor as well, and wow!  You aren't the only ones they have done this to.  We certainly won't be booking this hotel now.  

58 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

I highly recommend checking out the live music throughout the ship on the Gem. Not just the theater shows, but the musicians performing at the bars & lounges. I found the Gem to have great live music quite often on my sailing back in June.

I agree with this.  We were quite surprised at the level of talent of some of the musicians on the Gem.  Most nights found us in either Magnums or the Atrium listening to music.  The guitar player was particularly good, as was the band that played a lot of international music.  But all of them were enjoyable. 

We got off the Gem last Saturday.  The main shows were still at 7:00 and 9:00 PM.  

We left the Gem on Saturday after a wonderful 12 night cruise from Quebec City to NYC.  I thought I'd share a few thoughts.  This was our second NCL cruise after five on Disney.  Our last cruise was on the Sun, so we enjoyed the larger size of the Gem with a few more offerings.  

Embarkation:  We embarked on the 8th, but the ship didn't sail until the evening of the 9th.  That meant there really wasn't any hurry to board and it showed.  We were also in a suite, so had priority boarding.  I'd say about 20-25 minutes after exiting our cab we were sitting in Cagney's ready for lunch.  Best embarkation experience ever!

Cabin:  We were in 10166, an aft penthouse suite.  This was just perfect for the two of us. The room was large with plenty of storage - way more than we needed, actually.  We really liked having the separate dining table and chairs, as that was missing on our Sun's aft penthouse  cabin.  The aft balcony gave us wonderful views, though it was quite cold on this trip so we didn't use it as much as we normally would.  I'd seen pictures online of this cabin prior to the renovations and let's just say the decor is much improved!  No more bright, neon colors.  

Crew:  We have been so impressed with the NCL crew.  After sailing on Disney for so long, they kind of make your feel they have this incredible customer service that no one else can match.  Well, for us anyway, we have found the service on NCL to be equal (and sometimes even better) than Disney's.  We had to go to guest services to pick up more Cruise Hero cards as we had so many to fill out.

Activities:  Everyone's different and the enjoy different things.  Honestly, the typical cruise line activities (bingo, trivia, towel folding classes, etc.) really aren't our thing.  The only activities we took part in were the wine tastings (twice - so much fun!) and the officer Q&A.  We missed the dedicated movie theater that Disney has on their ships and really wish NCL would offer more enrichment programs - lectures and such about the area.  Taking that a step further, I think that offering local entertainment and food offerings here and there would be a nice touch.  I get the impression that the food and entertainment are pretty much standard no matter where the ship is sailing.  That's not a huge negative, but I do think it's something they could improve on.

Entertainment:  This was a 12 night cruise with 2 sea days and we had activities planned in all but one port.  So our nights were pretty tame.  We never actually made to one of the main shows, and spent most of our evenings listening to music and having drinks in Magnum's.  They had some terrific entertainers on board.  We particularly enjoyed the guitar player, Angel, and usually just ended up wherever he was playing.  

Ship condition:  We thought the ship was lovely and in great condition.  One thing that particular impressed us was how clean everything was.  We also loved the Spinnaker lounge - what a beautiful space!  The only bad thing was that it seemed that was where they always held the activities.  We would have been happy to just hang out, watch the view (remember it was pretty cold to be sitting outside), and read a book.  But I understand that a lot of passengers really enjoy bingo and such, so they can't make everyone happy.

Food:  We really enjoy NCL's food.  After years of the bland, kid-friendly Disney food we find NCL to be a welcome change.   Overall, we were quite pleased with the food on the Gem.  We even tried the buffet a couple of times (we normally don't care for them) and found it surprisingly decent.  I mean, it was still buffet food, but it got the job done.  The MDR food ranged from good to very good.  Service was fast and friendly.  Zero complaints there.  

For specialty dining, we ate in Cagney's twice and both times were excellent.  The fillet was wonderful, as was the tuna steak that I had on the second night.  We also really enjoyed Le Bistro and found it everything that people said it was.  La Cucina surprised us.  I'd read a lot of bad reviews, but we actually quite enjoyed our meal there.  I'd go back again, for sure!  Teppanyaki was our least favorite specialty dining experience, but it wasn't really bad.  The food was fine (nothing spectacular but nothing bad - expect for that awful green tea cake), but it was just so chaotic.  We quite enjoyed this restaurant on the Sun, but it only has the one table.  When we visit hibachi restaurants on land, the tables are more spread out.  On the Gem, you had four tables right on top of each other and it was on cacophonous jumble of noise.  You couldn't hear the servers, the cook, or your companions.  I think we will skip this restaurant on our next cruise.

We also ate at O'Sheeans a couple of times.  Yes, the wings are as good as everyone says!  My one disappointment there was with a salad that I had.  The so-called Italian dressing was pretty awful.  The salad itself was fine, though.  Next time I'll know to ask for something else.  We also ate at the Orchid Cafe (I think that's what it was called).  It was just ok.  The sushi roll we got was inedible - truly awful.  The sashimi on the other hand, was delicious.  We also got some type of noodle dish and it was just OK.  

Wine offerings:  I thought I'd mention this as we normally just drink wine.  When we were on the Sun, we weren't overly impressed with the wine by the glass offerings.  Having the beverage package meant you were limited to those unless you wanted to buy a bottle at a 20% discount.  On this cruse, not only were the wines by the glass covered by the package somewhat improved, but in the dining rooms (both MDR and specialty) you could pay a little extra and get a truly nice glass of wine.  We loved this!  I think we paid between $2.50 and $7.50 a glass, but had some really incredible wines.  If you really appreciate nice wines, this is a great offering.  I hope they continue to offer this in the future.  People that aren't as picky as we are can still get a nice glass covered by the beverage package, but it allows folks like us more options.

Shore excursions - we mostly did our own thing in the ports but due to the shore excursion credit offered by NCL we did book three tours through the cruise line.  We normally aren't a fan of big tours, but quite enjoyed the ones we did on this trip.  All were a pleasant surprise.

Disembarkation:  Well, this really isn't a true picture as we were in a suite.  Let's just say, suite perks plus self disembarkation = 15 minutes from room to cab.  

All in all, this was a wonderful trip and a fantastic itinerary.  Quebec City is just delightful.  I highly recommend anyone sailing to or from there to spend a couple of days in the city.  We did, and loved every minute of it.  The fall colors were at their peak while we were in Canada, and we saw some incredible scenery.  One highlight was the Cabot Trail in Sydney - just spectacular.  Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor was also one of our favorite stops.  Everyone should see the view from Cadillac Mt. at least once in their lifetime!  

I don't post on here a lot, but I do read quite a bit and I learned a ton that helped make this cruise all the more special.  So hopefully, this helps someone else who will be sailing on the Gem. 

I find this so intriguing as we had the exact OPPOSITE experience on the Escape last week. The staff was far better than what we had 2 years ago on the Breakaway. Of course we didn't go into our vacation with a negative attitude like some other cruisers did. ;p We booked in the peak of hurricane season and we got a hurricane... such is life. Instead of complaining we chose to eat, drink, get a couples massage, hit the spa, enjoy 6 warm sunny days and had an amazing vacation. Life is what you make of it! :halo:

You sound like someone I'd like to cruise with! When I look back at our travels through the years, some of our favorite memories were the direct result of something going awry. A positive attitude and an adventurous spirit will usually lead to a great travel experience if you just let it. I can understand being disappointed when things don't go as planned, but at some point you have to choose to be happy or miserable. I choose happy :cool:.

While I always try to find vendors with favorable refund policies in the event the ship misses a port, it isn't always possible - especially in Europe. As a back up, I usually buy a travel insurance policy specific to cruises that provides compensation for missed ports.

I was getting this same error earlier in the afternoon, but just tried again and was able to log in. Hopefully they have fixed whatever was broken.

Thanks for your wonderful review. It is very helpful to families with children to hear about the experiences from someone your age. Great job!

When we were in Juneau last summer, we booked a fishing / whale watching excursion through a private company. On our way back to port, our captain took a phone call on his cell. One of his friend's boats was dead in the water. His radio was dead, but he did (fortunately) have cell service and was able to make a call. He had several cruise ship passengers on board his boat and they were in danger of missing their ship.

Our captain took to the phone / radio and found a boat to pick up the stranded passengers and get them back to port and another boat to tow his friend in. Problems solved, but a good lesson. Stuff happens. Better to find out about mechanical issues before you board the boat than after. The OP dodged a bullet and should be thankful for that.

We have been to Alaska three times (twice by cruise, once purely land based) and weather has impacted our plans several times. Once we were stranded in Haines with no way to fly out due to weather - pre internet / cell phone days - and had to jump on the Alaska State Ferry to make it to Juneau in time for our flight home.

Again - stuff happens. Especially in Alaska. That's why it's called the Last Frontier and honestly what makes it such a special destination. You have to be able to roll with the punches. That ferry ride from Haines to Juneau ended up being an amazing afternoon. We met so many other travelers who had also been stranded and we all bonded and had a great sail down to Juneau. It's Alaska. There are amazing things to do wherever you turn. If your first (or second) plans don't pan out, keep looking.

After 5 Disney cruises, we sailed on the NCL Sun last summer strictly due to itinerary. Disney didn't offer a one way Alaska cruise nor do they go to Glacier Bay. The Sun did both. That got us in the door.

What hooked us was the fact that for the same price we were used to paying for a balcony cabin on Disney, we could book a suite on NCL and be spoiled rotten. We also greatly preferred the lack of formal nights and set dining times/places, and thought the food was simply better than on Disney. I'm sure we will wander back to Disney (or some other line) again at some point, but we currently have two cruises booked and they are both on NCL.

I realize that all TA's are different, but I'll share my experience booking with a TA on NCL. Our cruise ended up being cancelled by NCL and we were given several options. After my TA contacted them to book the replacement we chose, we somehow ended up with a better deal than NCL had originally offered in the email we received. I have no idea what transpired, and I'm not going to ask - just very pleased with the outcome. Is it possible that I could have negotiated the same deal on my own? Possibly, but those were phone calls I didn't have to make. :)

We also received the invitation to bid on an upgrade, just as someone booking directly through NCL would.

As long as you are working with someone you know and trust, the reasons NCL mentioned don't seem valid to me.

While we didn't try Le Bistro or La Cucina (for dinner anyway), we loved Teppanyaki and Cagney's on the Sun. Moderno was just ok, though. I agree about making reservations as soon as you get on board for Teppanyaki. It's tiny and we were not allowed to book ahead of time. We were in a suite, though, and I made a request with the pre-cruise concierge so we had no issues getting our preferred reservation. If not in a suite, book as soon as possible on board.