Seas2mountains

Here are the dailies. Upgrade is the five person live band. They played in Spinnaker lounge and yes, there were dancing opportunities with them. NCL Gem 021824.pdf NCL Gem 021724.pdf NCL Gem 021624.pdf

Just got off the Gem this morning and we are so happy we get to go back on the Gem in about 21 days. The cruise director is Emma Dalton. We were really disappointed in the poor entertainment schedule. Last night on Sunday night and the last night of the 3-day cruise, the piano guy, Davi, who is excellent wasn’t scheduled for his first set until 9:15pm and the band, Upgrade, didn’t have their first set start until 10pm. There were bingo games and Deal or No Deal but not much else scheduled. Here is a photo of the officers taken on Saturday.

We did not find any cookies in the buffet on the Gem this weekend. These brownies were out on Saturday afternoon.

We are waiting to embark on the Gem in Miami. There are cookies in the Haven/Suite waiting area. Our granddaughter enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies. I’ll report back later if we see them in the buffet.

So sorry to hear about your Mom. I hope she gets excellent medical care and has as minimal pain as possible.

I did take photos on the Pearl in December of this year. These were the plain yellow corn tortilla chips. I added the cheese plate my husband requests. And the chocolate covered strawberries referenced a few times in this post.

We’ve received the plain yellow tortilla chips and the ones you are describing and I think those were a white corn or flour?

If they do come to us like when they come as treats in a club balcony or a suite, we honestly don’t eat them. I used to love cookies and it was my favorite sweet treat but I have avoided food with sugar for a few years and really don’t miss them. I will eat the chocolate covered strawberries but none of the other sweet treats brought to cabins. I’m sad to hear they have been cut as I know so many of you love the cookies. Correction to the last post. This week is cruise #25 not 26 on NCL.

We let the butler know what we like - usually tortilla chips and salsa for me and cheese and cheese and cheese for DH. We will embark on NCL cruise # 26 in less than a week. We have not ever in the first 25 cruises gone to the buffet for a cookie. Cab NCL bring back the breakfast hasbrowns?

The photos on post #55 of the hockey puck hash browns are incredible and I’m amazed that @PistolPete13 can consume that quantity at breakfast and barely gain any weight.

Do you think the 11 hockey puck hash browns had anything to do with that? 🤣 When I saw the photo of them on your plate, I wondered if you might be saving them to take off the ship to sell to NCL cruisers in a port or at least to taunt them around breakfast time. MSC can introduce a new marketing slogan targeted to NCL cruisers similar to Arby’s “We have the meat” but with hash browns instead. Thank you for your great review. While I will probably book again with MSC, you convinced me to stick with YC.

Guessing it is the announcement of the ship coming after Aqua but this one is going to be BIG.

Ditto what tundra1 stated. Definitely book a Kenai Fjords tour on Major Marine tours or Kenai Fjords tour in Seward before the cruise. You will likely see whales and glaciers along with more wild life than you will probably see on the cruise. While you might be concerned about the early time of the train from Anchorage to Seward, your body will likely still be on Eastern time. Agree about spending time exploring the beautiful city of Vancouver and wish Seattle was as beautiful as it was before 2020.

Late August. It’s fun to see the salmon run.

I found if they didn’t have the wine in the Haven or at a bar we tended to hang out at, the bartender or bar servers would find a way to get that wine back in stock by the following day as long as it was somewhere on the ship. We have had servers go to other bars to get the wine we liked when placing our wine order. Of course, we tipped them for this and never asked them to go to another bar, they did this without us asking. For FAS+ or P+, we drink a lot of San Pelegríno so we tend to go through about 6-8 bottles a day for two of us. We also like trying the higher end wines and spirits. After having morning coffee, I like sipping on hot or cold herbal teas from Starbucks while playing trivia. My DH usually gets some sugary Starbucks drink, too. It’s also convenient to grab some of the boxed waters to take off the ship for excursions. We definitely get our $ worth from the upgraded drink package.

Enjoying your live review. They have the hockey puck hashbrowns?!?! 😲 Wow. I guess I need to consider MSC again for a future cruise. What are you missing from NCL? For us, it was the evening musical entertainment in lounges and knowing the start times. We liked how NCL would post the specific times in the daily. For MSC it is a several hour time range such as 7:00pm-11:00pm and we would often arrive during a break and had no idea when they planned to resume performing. Have a great cruise!

Thank you for your very entertaining and real review. It’s been great to follow along this past week and on your past live reviews. You are a very talented writer and I appreciate your honesty. Hoping you keep writing and find a place where we can keep following along!

We were on the Pearl for the December 9-18 cruise. The WiFi was stable and we had no problem with emails and using apps and websites. The exception was when the clouds were low and it was really foggy. Once the clouds lifted and it wasn’t as foggy, the WiFi was back to normal. I’m sure the Starlink system doesn’t work well in foggy conditions. Since the Pearl has Starlink, you will be good with emails.

For each person who says they will tip, there will be a person who says they don't tip and both are right. It's a personal decision. We tend to be the type of couple who tips for excellent service and we also tip when getting bad service. There are times we know the person may have some outside factors impacting their ability to provide better service so we give the benefit of the doubt in those situations. Some room stewards may be helping to cover for a friend who is sick or needs a break off the ship. The restaurant server might be covering too many tables due to staffing shortages. On NCL, we have typically received excellent service and the bad service doesn't happen too often. When I was younger, someone told me if you tipped generously, the money would find its way back to you in different ways. I tried this and can say that this theory has been proven true for me and my husband. Anytime my husband or I hesitate about if or how much we should tip, we remind the other that the money will find its way back to us. We appreciate how the people providing us with such a great vacation are working seven days a week and sometimes 10-12 or more hours a day. It makes our vacation extra special to see the smiles and to have them come back to tell us how much they appreciate it. It is even better when we run into these crew members on other ships or when we return on the same ship. Life is too short and you don't get to take the money with you.

We were on the Encore in Feb 2000. The Superbowl was on screens in multiple locations. It was very crowded in all locations but the District was the best place to see what was happening.

Thank you for your review! I loved reading your past live reviews. Sorry about your missed excursion. Sounds like you had a wonderful time!

I agree with @vacation44 about the Club Balcony Suite being worth the upgrade for $200 and for us it’s to have the larger bathroom. The laundry is also nice for new cruisers who aren’t at Platinum but they also tend to offer a special offer for $29 to fill a laundry bag that is available to guests in all cabin categories. We like the chocolate covered strawberries but typically don’t eat the other treats. We have never opened the bottle of sparkling wine as we have other preferred wines we get from the bars or restaurants with FAS and P+. Tip - bring a plastic garbage bag to condense the clothes to fit more in the paper laundry bag and to keep it from tearing. Have a great cruise!

That’s great to hear. The military packet is really neat and we like collecting the patches. My husband and I are both military veterans. We have also enjoyed attending these military receptions. Our first one was in March 2023 on the Gem and they were on also on Sky, Escape, Spirit x 3, and Pearl when we were on those ships last year. They started really small - about 15-20 people but on our December Pearl cruise, there were over 100 people, Each one seemed to be a little different as some cruise directors asked for a few or for all veterans to speak. Did they have your husband pose for a photo and tell you to pick up a copy or offer to deliver it to your cabin?

Thank you for posting the daily. I like seeing the musical entertainment on the ship to keep track of my favorite musicians, duos and bands. We love Prelude Duo. Enjoy your sea day. Looking forward to following along.

@YVRteacher looking forward to reading your Alaska live review! I will need to go back to read this review again as we booked a Norway/Iceland cruise for June 2024 on Prima. Your photos and review inspired me to convince my husband to travel there. The Forest Lagoon has been added to my list.