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That week FLEW by!  Thanks for all the great photos!

Pinchos:  You can go a la carte and simply use OBC too, right?    I want a bacon wrapped date NOW! 🙂

@BirdTravels   Thanks so much for taking time out of your cruise to post so many photos and add your running commentary.  We leave in 61 days and this just upped the excitement level. 

Re: Spa -- I can almost smell it.  And that's a good, calming sensation.

Re: Food - Now I'm hungry! Enjoy looking at the menus.

Re: Excercise - I wish there were some aerobic style classes, like step or Zumba.  TRX is not something I want to "intro" on a cruise.

Thanks for the great review again!  It has helped me get a bit more oriented to the Escape before our cruise in June. Also, a bit more excited - as if! 🙂

<OK, don't how how to edit above posting of your photos>

Anywho, I love the dysfunction of the conference room photo with that ONE chair out of place. 😕    That's where my head is tonight. Ha!

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

If you're ever looking for something to do, be it trivia, demonstrations, even some entertainment, the Atrium is the place to be.  The Escape also has a library and conference rooms.

 

 

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

T, been preoccupied on extended family matters as our dearest SIL just passed after an 18 month battle, fought & beaten the incredible odds but Heaven finally took her in, surrounded by us

Henry,

I recall you've mentioned her a few times - Sorry to read this news. I'm glad she was surrounded by a loving family at her passing.

15 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Good question.  Probably a bit scarier than the Escape, which is a really big ship, 20 decks high.  Given the choice, I’d rather be in the Escape than the gem in a 100 knot, 15* heel.

 

That said, I really liked the GEM!  Maybe sail it in warmer months instead of winter months!

I loved the GEM too!  That was our first cruise last April/May that you were also on (and yours my favorite cabin of all on the crawl)

We're sailing on the Escape this June.  I'm sure we'll love it too, but expect it will be a very different experience.  

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

No apology needed.  I thought it was pretty humorous, too!😆

I agree - it truly made me LOL!

Glad you're safe, that all is well, and the rest of your cruise will continue. 

How do you think a smaller ship such as the Gem would fare in conditions like this?

Great to see how proactively they handled the norovirus.   How about in the casino -- all those people touching the machines - were they wiped down frequently too?

We stayed at the Ridgefield Garden Inn last year, and I just booked it again today for later this year. 

Though we had a tough time getting there (Friday, rush hour, pouring rain, confusing highway (all exits are not created equal) ), it was the best way to manage the trip.  Parked the car and didn't have to worry about it for the week while we cruised.

We'll be paying $343 for the one night, parking, and transportation to/from the cruise port.  To park at the port costs $280 ($40x7) so I figure for the extra $63 dollars we are getting a nice room, breakfast, transportation to the door of the terminal, tolls, and a fairly easy pick up to get back to the car. And we didn't have to stress about directions, etc. 

I've not yet sailed on the Escape, only the Gem, and I have to say that sailing out of NYC was awesome.  Whether it's the great architecture or Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, or passing under the bridge, stay outside as long as you can so you can see them all.  There may have been a few tears shed  especially as we sailed by Lady Liberty.

I happened to wake up the night of our return right as we passed her by.  This is a lousy photo but I'm sure glad I was awake to catch it.

Great photos, Henry!   Sailing out of NYC is beautiful.

I don't know if we'll ever be able to cruise as often as you do, but dang, it's a goal worth working toward!  I feel fortunate that we will be able to do one this year again after our first in 2018.

My spa experience so far is only on the Gem, but I assume this will be true for all ships:

• There are lockers in the locker room. You make up your own code to use each time (4 digits or so) and then it will only open to your code.  You might want to try it first before actually putting your valuables in it. 
• If you're in an out of the hot water, be sure to take advantage of the water they have available to drink.  Usually with some lemons or such in it.

One downside for the Gem's spa -- the hot tub was challenging to enter/exit if you are short.  The steps were very far apart for me.  Our next cruise will be on the Escape and that doesn't look like a challenge there.

For some reason my shoulders have ached this week, and all I can think is how better they'd feel if I could stand in the Gem's spa pool and have the thundering water massage them a bit.

• Having the server place the napkin on our laps
• Leaving the table when you're done eating without dealing with the bill
• Pouring over the daily in my jammies, planning adventures for the next day
• the scent of the lotion in the Thermal Spa
• the intense water fall/shower head thing in the spa pool (my shoulders could use that right now)

Greetings from another Rochester, NY cruise fan!  We took our first cruise in April/May 2018 (Gem: Bahamas) to do something special for our birthday milestones (ya know, ones ending in 0) and though we had never had any strong desire to cruise before, we were hooked during the planning process and even more so as soon as we sailed.  We are booked for the Escape to Bermuda sailing next June. Hoping that we can reduce the gaps between cruises in the future.

Thanks for sharing your experiences!  

We sailed the Gem in April/May, and found almost all the food to be very good.  We ate in 3 specialty restaurants (Cucina, Cagneys, LeBistro) and had a couple of dinners in the MDRs.  Of the two, we preferred the Grand Pacific in part because it is such a beautiful venue.   The sushi we had at the sushi bar was fantastic.  The Garden buffet for breakfast - found the food good, no better or worse than you'd expect in a cafeteria --  only gripe was the crowded spaces.  (and then there was the time an elderly gentlemen who was clearly racist shared our table and we got up and left.)

I'm surprised to see so many poor reviews.  As a previous post said -- we didn't have to prepare the food, or wash the dishes.  And someone was always putting a napkin on our laps. 🙂   Sitting by the windows watching the sea and sunset.   Now that's what it's really about.

We sailed on the Gem in April/May 2018. I don't have a comparison as it was our first cruise. What we loved best in no order:

* The spa.

* The series of bars to listen to music in the evenings.

* Breakfast in the Grand Pacific main dining room. It is a beautiful space.

* The 13th deck. Close to the action/feel of the pool but still able to read/doze.

* Stardust Theater -- super venue esp for a ship of this size

* Having a sushi roll before a show, then dinner after that

(My least favorite spaces: walking thru the photo and art galleries)

I bought the passes for the Gem, and it was money well spent. I found the spa so relaxing, therapeutic, and hedonistic. Yesterday I used some of the hand lotion samples they had in the spa -- it transported me back to the atmosphere. :)

On my next cruise (Escape) we'll have a spa balcony which is the same difference in price as buying spa passes.

I'm excited to read this as we have a friend - our financial advisor - on this sailing. We met with her last week and we may have spent more time talking about cruising than finances. And of course, she wants to be sure we can always have $$ to continue our newly-found love of cruising. :)

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We loved LeBistro, LaCucino,and Cagneys - with LeBistro the favorite.

We opted out of Teppanyanki because that hibachi style is fun, but once you've done it (in "land" restaurants) it's not so much about the food. Many reviews of Moderno implied too much meat and too salty; not enough variety/veggies for our taste.

I was surprised about some of the reviews for O'Sheehans - we were not that thrilled with the food, service was meh and in fact thought the Garden buffet's food was better. Every meal in the main dining room was very good. Oh, and 2x we stopped in at the little sushi bar for a cocktail and a roll before heading to a show (and then late dinner) - and wow, was it good!

what are you doing online in the Thermal Spa!!!?? Put that down :)

And for glasses that are over $15, you pay the difference. So for an $18 glass, you'd pay $3 (plus the service charge, if I remember correctly.)

* Pay attention to the musicians that are playing in the Atrium, or in the lounges on Deck 6, or Spinnaker Lounge. This ship is loaded with talent, and there is a tremendous range of musical styles for you to enjoy. The main shows were top-notch, too.

* While the food was quite good in the buffet, finding seating is a challenge, and going to La Cucina for over-flow is the way to go. When we had dinner there later in the week, I was so happy to feel a transformation in the space.

* I *loved* that we splurged on the Thermal spa passes. It was a treat to visit almost every day.