Muckyduckway

I am so enthralled by your photos - went to Venice in the 80s and had no desire to go back.... until now! That's an atrocious price for the transfer. The return to the airport is much cheaper, on the Day 6 daily they quoted $50 per person for transfer for flights after 1pm. Obviously, you won't need that, but the contrast in price for arrival and departure is worthy of note. In any case, the train is comfortable and the walk to the terminal not far for able bodied folk. We struggled a little with the uneven floor surfaces because of our 4-wheel cases, but any other luggage would be fine.

Wow, you really made the most of your day in Venice. After seeing that market, you might be disappointed in Eataly - it's much smaller and dry goods feature more prominently. You probably already know, but the Gem is waiting for you in the town centre dock. And looks like a perfect day for walking to your embarkation: In fahrenheit and in centigrade Hope all goes smoothly and you have a wonderful start to a wonderful cruise. PS the Great Outdoors chairs are so comfortable, but seemed oddly placed to us - all under cover and not near the railings. Later discovered why- soot! But embarkation day was the only day we saw the soot, so don't be put off!

What a lovely looking day, much nicer than the previous day's clouds. It also doesn't look very crowded, perhaps this was early morning?

Hope you revive enough to enjoy Venice tomorrow. We also had those sandwiches in Trieste, the shape must be a regional thing, it was the first time we have encountered them.

You are very welcome. Looking forward to your review, I hope you like the Gem as much as we did. Those seats at the Great Outdoors are soooo comfortable and the food at the buffet seemed better than the Jade (subjective, I know). If B12 are still on board, don't miss their rock session (if that's your thang). They were good at other styles too but those weren't as close to our taste.

PS forgot to say you need to clip your ticket when you get on the bus, the machine is near the driver. The NCL shuttles drop off and pick up at the same Pile bus stop, they had a crew member there trying to keep order. So don't be deterred from getting to the local bus by a potentially massive crowd, most of them are waiting to be herded.

The cruise terminal at Dubrovnik is Gruz. If you had loads of time you could walk but the buses are frequent and easy to use and as long as you have the means to buy in Kuna (either cash or a card that works in Europe), are absolutely the best option. When you get off the ship the bus station is the white building to the right. Walk through the canopied port arrival point and turn right. The tickets can be purchased at the Tisak! (Recommend return ticket to save looking for ticket outlets in town) Slightly to the right of the Tisak kiosk there's a zebra crossing out to the road, at the road turn right and the bus stop is visible immediately, about 50 yards maybe, see photo. There are bus stops in the station but they are longer distance buses that don't serve the city. Any of the buses that go to Pile are good, so all of the 1s, 3, 6 and maybe 9. I've attached the timetable. When you get off the bus, the Pile Gate is right in front of you. The same stop is where you will return, taking any bus that goes to Gruz. Make sure you walk the length of Stradun, a very straight street (many moons ago it was water!) that connects the Pile and Ploce Gates, check out the harbour area behind the Ploce Gate, and wander at will in the small side streets where you should fall upon the market, where you can sample the local candied orange peel. And of course try the burek. Getting off the bus on the way back is easy as the ship is a pretty decent landmark. But do bear in mind when using buses in most of Europe that a wave or an extended arm to indicate that you want to board the bus is needed as buses do not necessarily stop at every stop, and if the stop sign isn't already illuminated, press the red button before the stop you want to disembark the bus. City timetable.pdf It's quite close, depends whether you want to keep on walking once you arrive and how close your actual arrival is to your chosen checkin time. There's also a nice ice-cream place near the terminal called Jazzin! Trieste has so many nice places to eat but they are fairly spread out. You're almost certainly already aware of this, but it's worth checking Marine Traffic or other site to check where the Gem has docked early on the morning of embarkation. It should be the downtown location but nice to be sure before you arrive. My cruise docs said pier 57 so we were very pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case.

Just back from a Gem cruise, many things to love about the Gem, especially the crew, but the beds were the worst we've had on any cruise ever. A mattress topper resolved that but the experience made me realise that my own pillows are the only thing I truly miss when away from home. And having sufficient space for my knees when using the toilet is something I have definitely taken for granted!

OR you could pop into Eataly, just walk past the terminal and it's the building after the fish market clock tower. Almost everything here is produced in Italy, they have all kinds of food and some cafes and a big wine shop. The cafe is a nice spot for a coffee with a view of the marina and some food and drink samples as you potter around wondering how on earth you could get some of this stuff home with you.

Welcome back to Europe! This is long-winded and may be of zero use to you but wanted to try to 'pay you back' for your great reviews. I don't know if you plan to do any sightseeing in Trieste once you arrive by train, or even if you travel light enough to do this. There is a number 24 bus that goes from the square outside Trieste Centrale. It takes you through town and up to the top of San Giusto, where the Cathedral and Castello are located. The small fee to visit the Castle is worth it for some good views of the city from its walls and if the Gem is docked at the central terminal a great view of it too. You can take the bus back down and get off right in front of the Cruise Terminal (again, assuming the Gem is docked there.) A single ticket on the bus (you can buy from machines or any kiosk) costs €1.35. Alternatively, you could walk from the train station to the cruise terminal, via Grand Canal, the Borsa and Piazza Unita (its only about a kilometre) and take in some of the sights as you go. While Cafe Degli Specchi in Piazza Unita is indeed touristy, you get a great view of the ship from a comfy sofa and for the price of a cocktail get three little canapés, a small jar of nuts and a big glass bowl of potato chips (crisps). If it's sunny, it's a nice way to ease yourself unto the ship. There's also a small supermarket (Despar) on the opposite side of Piazza Unita if you need any last minute snacks/supplies. Hopefully you'll find checking in as pleasurable and easy as we did - from the road outside the terminal to the gangway of the ship took 23 minutes and that included 5 minutes waiting for our key cards as we had been upgraded. They were also offering cookies to everyone embarking (havent encountered that before). That trend continued on the Gem, with a variety of goodies on offer from wandering crew in the Atrium and bars, ranging from cookies, to spring rolls to chicken tenders. Hope you enjoy the Gem as much as we did, your itinerary is different to ours but we also visited Dubrovnik (if you take the bus into town, buy return ticket at station, then go out onto the main road and turn right to find the local bus stops (NCL charges 15 - not sure if it was € or $, but the local buses are more frequent and less crowded and only cost 24 Kuna return. We used a fee free card and the cost per person was about €3.25, many cafes and shops will take euros but official outlets such as bus ticket vendors will only take kuna). Recommend having burek if you enjoy savoury pastry snacks, they're very cheap and tasty, we bought from a chain bakery Mlinar but it was good) and Corfu (had wonderful salad for lunch in one of the Liston cafes and couldnt resist a cheese pie from a local bakery for our mid morning snack. The only negative we had about the Gem versus the other Jewel class ships was the lack of power points (most likely to be remedied by impending drydock). Happy travels.

Excellent, thank you

More or less agree with Keith; afternoon tea is something that has evolved to a special occasion treat in a hotel or nice coffee shop. Includes scones, fancy sandwiches and dessert cakes. Growing up high tea was an evening meal that included bread and butter and brewed tea. Again, usually in a hotel.

To anyone who has brought wine on-board under the change in policy - can you bring the wine to restaurants or is it only for in-cabin consumption?

A follow on question, if I may? Do the bars have sugar free syrup for making cocktails? Or sugar free sour mix?

Thanks, I suspected you might be a wanderer; you do the walking but take us with you, so we don't have to... 😉 Will definitely look up that site if our future cruise takes us to Sitka.

That looked like a lovely relaxing day. Do you know the distance you walked? No point in asking how long it took because I suspect you walk a lot faster than us! 🙂

4th or 5th time! Lucky you🙂 That means we won't get the first timer wonderment - although it sounds like you have a real appreciation of the area, so can't wait for this to start. Sad about the glaciers though.

Ready to sail with you... Really looking forward to this one as Alaska is on "our list", but more so because it's a totally different environment to your recent cruises. Keen to see your impressions of the original great outdoors!

Thank you - there have been reports of long queues previously, so good to know that the situation has improved.

Thanks for your review. August is always pretty hot in the Med but unfortunately you got a heatwave this year. What time did you arrive at the terminal in Trieste? It sounds like your embarkation was faster than some previous cruisers.

Darn, not what I wanted to hear, but hey you have plenty to keep you occupied and us entertained in the meantime.

Love your reviews, we were on the Jade twice since 2021 and enjoyed revisiting the ports with you. We're also on the Gem (in October), what sailing are you on? Hoping it's before us this time so we get a sneak peek to build our anticipation!

Noticed on location tracker that NCL Gem is at sea on her way to Dubrovnik when her itinerary had her in Mykonos today! Tracker showed her near Mykonos early am then turned around and sailing around 12 to 13 knots. Anyone?

There were a lot of people drinking the Rum Cake (martini?). It was a bit too creamy for me but seemed popular.

Did you try the BlackBerry Bourbon Smash? Maybe it's not your thing. Definitely go to the mojito bar, almost everything there is good.