djpk2003

NINE! I'm so beyond excited...there are no words! :cool:

Hoping someone who has recently sailed on the Gem can tell me about the credit card hold OR experience with a cash account. Cruising with family members who have no credit cards and want to avoid use of their debit card for obvious reasons. After calling NCL we were told in order to do a cash account they need to put down $450 per person?!? We have the excursions booked, gratuities and DSC paid in full, and a drink package. Seems crazy that we would need that kind of money.

In terms of a CC hold, how much do they hold and for how long? Or is it just having the card on file to charge as purchases are made? Thanks in advance, this is throwing some major stress into things for our party of newbies and NCL customer support was less than helpful or sympathetic.

Loved reading your review! I am on the Gem April 21st and it can't get here fast enough!! :D Your review made me all the more excited!

I'm a bit confused about what I can and cannot use OBC for. NCL's website leaves a lot to be desired for info like this, thank goodness for cruise critic! :p

Can I use for:

*Arcade

*Bingo or Deal/No Deal

*Room Service fee

*Murder Mystery lunch

*Casino

*Specialty Dining

Any insight much appreciated!!

The taxi is costing us about $28 pp for that 5 hours, and includes water, beer, and soda. We thought it was a good deal. Unfortunately we are locked into 9-2, can't change the time.

Sounds to me like it might be best to just plan for Maho and Mullet Bay. :( Was hoping to squeeze one more stop in, but didn't really think about massive traffic near Maho. I will have to look at the plane schedule. I personally don't much care about seeing Maho, but the kids (ranging from age 8-14) are all excited about it.

Thanks for the insight everyone! Much appreciated :D

Thank you very much for posting the dailies!! :D

We have a taxi service reserved to take our party of 10 around St. Maarten/St. Martin for a 5 hour window on our upcoming cruise on NCL Gem. We are newbies, and having never been to the islands have no idea what to expect in terms of traffic/travel time. We will have the taxi from 9 am - 2pm, if that helps.

Our only two definite plans are to spend a bit of time at Mullet Bay, and take the kids to experience Maho for the airplanes. We would also like to visit the french side, but most of what I'm seeing that I'm interested in looks from the maps like it would be adding in too much travel/drive time. I thought Grand Case looked gorgeous, would consider Marigot to shop and find a nice bakery, and also thought about the Northern end of Orient Beach (rather not have the kids in the nude part!). I also read good things about seeing L'Embouchere Bay. Obviously, I know there is no way to do all of it, but is it even likely to do Mullet Bay for say 2 hours, Maho, plus ONE of these french side options? Are there other good french side options for a large family group that might fit into our itinerary better?

I am open to all of your suggestions/thoughts - like I said, we are all noobs! :D

Lots of great advice, thanks all!

Does anyone know where is a good resource to get printed maps (preferably free ones :D) of our port stops? We will be sailing on Norwegian Gem next month with stops in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Tortola. TIA!:cool:

I apologize if this has been covered, but does Gem have the Murder Mystery lunch? If so, can anyone tell me about it? Curious about the cost, when it usually is, and any feedback about it. This would be right up our alley to check out, if it's offered.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the feedback.

Has anyone had experience with this company? We had been researching using a valet service for our parking on upcoming April 10 day cruise out of Manhattan, and came across a Groupon deal for this company. I reached out to the company and it seems like it would work for us, but I'm hesitant only because I've never heard of them until now. We had heard good things about Valet Anywhere, but the price difference with the Groupon purchase would be $80, so.....? Any feedback GREATLY appreciated, must purchase by today on Groupon!! :confused:

Thanks for the great review, I enjoyed reading it! :)

Do you mind sharing what your child disliked about Splash Academy? We are heading on the Gem for our first cruise in April, and have struggled to find much feedback specifically about the kids program on Gem. I'm very hopeful my two kids (aged 8 & 9) will enjoy it and want to go!

Tell me all about it. I have read the info from the NCL website, but would love to hear about your personal family experiences. We will be traveling with our 2 kids, ages 8 & 9, as well as my nephews who range in age from 10 - 15.

Specifically, did your kids REALLY enjoy it? What did they have to say about it? Will they get bored?

While I'm excited to have plenty of family time on the ship and experience things with my kiddos, I'm also looking forward to the opportunity for adult time while the kids are (hopefully) also enjoying themselves doing kid stuff.

TIA!

I appreciate the feedback. I understand I won't really be able to see and do a lot, but the more I dig into my planning the more I'm realizing just how little it allows time for! I'm definitely concerned that these two stops are so brief. We are thinking of doing the Baths excursion in Tortola thru NCL. We had planned to just do our own thing in San Juan, I just fear we'll spend more time aimlessly trying to figure things out than anything else (hence the planning now).

I am gearing up for my first cruise in April and as I research and plan the things I'd like to do in the various ports, I'm a bit concerned and confused. We will be sailing the Norwegian Gem and two of our stops are only a few short hours. We are in San Juan from 3pm-9pm and in Tortola from 7am-1pm. Are those short, or is it just me? Can you really see and do things in that time period? I am still wrapping my head around the concept and am definitely worried and trying to account for time to get off the ship when we dock and then plenty of time to board before departing. Am I worried for nothing? Do the short time frames limit us to only do Norwegian's excursions?

Awesome photos. We are very excited to participate in this excursion and your photos just make me all the more excited!!!