toyotamom

We will be joining you. I am interested to see pics and comments in the week ahead.

It has been a while since we traveled in the GV on the Gem but I will try to help a little. I believe all the GV's on the Jewel class ships have a small steam room. I can't remember about the Star and Dawn but their balconies are so amazing I believe they must have. We have never had a pre concierge reach out to us before a cruise. Only once did I make a request before we boarded the ship and after that decided it really wasn't worth it. We just do everything once we get on board. We have stayed in both 14000 and 14500 on the Jewel class ships and I don't think there is a difference. On the Star and Dawn one has a galley and one has a bar and the wall between the two can be opened to make one huge room. This can't be done on the Jewel class ships because there is not a common wall. You get 6 bottles of liquor but I don't have a list. We have never had 7 people stay in the room so no help really. If I'm not confusing the ships the master bedroom has a chaise type lounge that can be slept on and one of the bedrooms has a chair that makes into a twin bed. Sorry not more definites on my answers. Hope you have a great time. We haven't cruised since Covid and will be on The Bliss next month. We are ready. Just disappointed there aren't GV's on the larger ships.

We have never been on either of those specific ships but think you will have a great time on either of those lines.

You must be hanging around the wrong boomers. When I hit 50 (14 years ago) it was like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders. I didn't have anything to prove to anyone any longer and drama was no longer for me. At the old age of 58 I started a nonprofit that supports students in our local schools. We currently distribute over 500 articles of new clothing and shoes weekly and 1295 weekend food bags for needy students to take home each Friday. These are needs that are seen by educators and they relay the needs to us. I don't have time to be battling with anyone. I'm to busy raising money for underwear and ramen.

You are my new best friend.

Actually, we are Boomers. Born 1957 and 1959. We love cruising and have cruised Carnival, Princess, Royal, Holland and Norwegian. Since first cruising NCL in 2007 it has become our go to.(As stupid as it sounds I never wanted to cruise them because I thought the outside of their ships were ugly. A travel agent convinced me to give them a try for my husbands 50th birthday.) We have traveled some of the other lines since then but always compare them to the rooms and service we have on NCL. We haven't found anything to compare. We have had great cruises on some of the other lines though. Cruising is definitely our happy place.

We have done Alaska on the 3 lines you are thinking of. The only one we would not consider doing again is HAL. We did HAL twice thinking maybe the first time wasn't typical but the second time was the same. It was a very stuffy feeling group on board. The funny thing was both times we took it, it was because it was the cheapest. But the passengers all acted like it was a country club, not the bargain cruise it was. The people didn't have a reason to be uppity. We are very laid back travelers and getting dressed up for meals isn't a vacation for us. Unless HAL has changed they were very rigid about that. We had a great time on both our Alaska cruises on Princess and have been numerous times on NCL and will be going again in July. We will be traveling with family and friends on this one with passengers ranging from 21 months to 90 years old. NCL has always been a pleasure no matter the age of the travelers. I hope you have a wonderful time on the cruise you choose.

Thank you for all the responses. I will show them to my sons and I am sure they will understand them a lot better than I do.

There are 44 of us ranging in age from 1 year 9 months to 90 years 8 months. Keeping this group together would not be a vacation - it would be a challenge I don't want to undertake.

I'm sure this is something I should know but don't. We will have a group of 44 on the Bliss in July celebrating my son's 40th birthdays. They ask me last night how they could communicate with the whole group at once while we were on the boat. So basically I think they are wanting to know the way to set up a group chat. Any help would be appreciated so I don't look to technically challenged.

We have had people disembark early from ports in US as well as foreign ports. We have never had an issue with it. Our son and his wife once flew home from a foreign port and returned 3 days later to another foreign port. And we love Kauai. We stay at the Grand Hyatt. Even if you are staying somewhere else it is a beautiful place to have an evening meal. (Of course in Hawaii there are many places to have a beautiful evening meal.)

Our group booked 11 Haven rooms for Alaska next July since they removed the vax mandate. Ready to get to cruising again. Realize there may be some issues with Canada but will see what it looks like before last date to cancel with 100% refund.

We have had them make duplicate keys for us before with no issues.

We have sailed in the GV on several ships and never been told we couldn't use the hot tub at any particular time. We once had a sea gull get caught in the space between the hot tub and wall. That was kind of exciting. We did get him unwedged and sent him on his way.