WeehawkenCruiser

Hi everyone! 2 weeks to go 🙂 

My family (my husband and I, my father and my 3 kids ages 2/7/8) and I will be coming from NJ. 

Can't wait! 

We have been to all of these ports aside from Amber Cove...thinking of doing the monkey excursion 

Don't let the bad reviews scare you. We sailed the Venezia to Canada in August and had a fantastic time (happy to answer any questions I can if someone has any). 

They mentioned they will be showing all of the NFL games (there will be quite a few going on this cruise) so looking forward to that. We are a Giants/Dolphins household so some of us are happier than others right now. 

Hi! We will be at GSC on the Gem in January and while I have been there quite a few times we never booked a Cabana. 

Since we will have 3 children (1 infant) as well as an elderly person in our party with some mobility issues we wanted to book a Cabana to make the day easier for all. Does anyone have any experience with the regular vs large vs Silver Cove? Looking for a location that is convenient to everything and has the least walking. 

Thanks! 

1 hour ago, mjkacmom said:

No NCL ships have splash areas for diapered kids.

The Gem has a kids pool area next to the toddler activity room on the pool deck. The water is about an inch or 2 deep and kids can put their feet in it. No butts lol 

Hi all! We are frequent NCL cruisers but haven't been onboard since they moved to Starbucks and I am a HUGE Starbucks fan. I am wondering if it is worth it to get the unlimited Starbucks package but need to know the price of drinks first. Has anyone been onboard recently that can shed some light on this? 

Thanks! 

We have cruised quite a bit with kids of that age. My daughter sailed with us at 12 months and 18 months in 2016/2017 and then my younger daughter just sailed with us in July of this year at 7 months and we are sailing again on the Gem in January (she will be a few days shy of a year old then). 

We also live close to the NYC port and love that we can drive to the ship (so much easier with a baby). As others have mentioned, bring meds/diapers/wipes. (NCL actually offers you to be able to have diapers delievered to your stateroom which saves luggage space if you would like. 

At that age the staff is so great with the kids. They can not go to any kids club activities but there are times when you can do things with them in the kids area. Depending on the ship there are splash areas they can go in as well. On our last cruise we brought a little blow up pool and filled it and she had a blast on the pool deck lol  

Same as others have said kids menu is free for kids up to 12 in all restaurants however most of the people never really care if the kids eat a little of our food and sometimes they actually bring them something special. We have sailed with my daughter who is now 4 every year since she was 1 and they have always been super nice to her. 

We did this cruise in June and I stayed on the ship. It was so nice and quiet and we got to use everything without it being too crowded. Had a spa treatment at a huge discount and then relaxed at the pool. Good call! 

We have been on the Gen 6x and will be sailing again in Nov and the activities have been pretty much the same. 

There is usually Zumba by the pool weather permitting.

The Glow/White Hot party where people wear white and glowing colors and items (usually a fun night)

Deal or No Deal game show 

Bingo 

Trivia, Sudoku various times throughout the ship 

Karaoke 

Art Auctions 

Casino (with tournaments, and lessons) 

Usually a "Caribbean" party if in a warmer climate that is held outside with music and line dancing lessons and food/drinks

Dance Lessons 

Usually a Disco party with 70s music and outfits 

BBQ outside by the pool for lunch 

We just booked the NY - Copenhagen leg of this cruise and are very excited! 

Hoping to find out a lot more about this ship and what they are doing now that it is US based as it gets closer. 

Also looks like this cruise is almost sold out! 

Big fan of the Gem. If you were on here in 2015 not much has changed (even post refurb it was more of an update rather than anything else). Still a beautiful ship with a great crew. 

For a 10 year old I would suggest OSheehans or Margarittaville just because of the food and casual vibe. Not sure if either will have a table for 16 though but you may be able to call NCL now and ask to confirm.

Hi all! When we were on the Gem in May they said there were all new menus coming out this month. Anyone know if this is true? If so...have a copy? :)

I'm on the 12/2 sailing on the Gem and this is beyond ridiculous.

I can be patient and understanding but don't make false promises. If you don't know what is going on then say we are sorry and are working on it and will get info to you as soon as we can. Don't send an email promising to tell us in 2 weeks and then a month later send another email saying we will know for sure in a week then stay quiet.

In any other business if you promise a deadline you have to keep it or at least communicate effectively as to what is going on. They sure had no issue keeping us to our final payment deadline!!!

The cruise will be wonderful no matter what but this is awful!

I will try to address the elephant in the room. You did not state what type of itinerary you are concentrating on, nor the time of year. There are no children's programs onboard for such a small child, and if you would like to search on children in this forum, at the risk of not being politically correct, children that age are not catered to on O. That said, I am sure if you are looking at a port intensive Caribbean , or Alaska Cruise, or a Holiday cruise, there may be several other children of various ages onboard. Not trying to discourage you, but trying to avoid any misconceptions of the age bracket onboard. Usually 60 is young for most O cruisers, although I am not there yet, and meet wonderful folks onboard. You need to decide how low key you like things onboard, as you will probably be some of the youngest on the ship. Please go down through this forum, and check some of the posts about nighttime entertainment, etc. Also, the Casinos onboard, are really tiny with outdated slots,many only a couple of table games, so not really a gambling atmosphere. The food, however is very good, but do not have a children's menu for little ones. I would look towards RCCL for a special time with multigenerational fun! Whatever you decide, have fun, and enjoy your family time together.

Thank you for your candid reply.

We would be looking at the Canada/Bermuda itinerary for the summer of 2018 and this would be my daughter's 4th cruise by then.

In terms of nightlife my husband and I are not the going out type rather prefer to spend the night relaxing with a nice drink and some good food maybe listening to music or watching a movie. We sailed a smaller celerity ship a few years back when we were the only people under 40 on board and had a wonderful time.

This cruise would be much more about what my father would like (but he would not have fun unless we join him).

I guess we will think some more about this cruise as it sounds wonderful and right up our alley in terms of amenities but I do not want to be shunned for bringing a child on board (that is not a fun way to spend 10 days).

We are considering Oceania for the 1st time for my father's 60th birthday next year. We are all experienced cruisers (Celebrity, NCL, CCL, MSC) but have never been on a luxury line and I am wondering if we will enjoy the atmosphere.

It will be myself and my husband, our 2 year old daughter, and my father (plus maybe one of his friends).

My father likes converstions at the bars and making friends, playing trivia, gambling and good food and drink. My husband and I like the same as well as a nice spa day and some sun.

If anyone can share thoughts it would be much appreciated.

We called the upsell number for our upcoming 3/19 sailing on the Gem last week. Upgraded from a minisuite to a 2br family suite (non-Haven) for $600pp. They had 2 of them and some front facing owners suites available when we called. As previous poster had mentioned we didn't get any additional perks (we kept the unlimited beverage package we had along with the OBC) but we do get to take advantage of all of the suite perks onboard. IM EXCITED!

i dont even know if i really heard any loud music on BA. maybe i'm very good at tuning things out. heck i was in the hot tubs late at nite and unsure i heard any music.

 

as far as music in cabin halls..really? wow. ill have to ask my cruisemates if they heard any.

there was definitely better music in the hallway than at the pool. I like to party as much as the next guy but the volume at some of the events at the pool hurt my ears!

Only tried to go to one event in the atrium, cake decorating competition, and couldn't even get near it!

That's $900 per person. I'm used to getting three 7 day cruises for that kind of money.

 

Oh, yeah...And that's cruising solo.

This is a 10 day cruise not a 7 day and when could you get 7 day cruises for $300 per person in a non inside room??

Juices are also banned. It's pretty clear in NCL's policy:

 

https://www.ncl.com/faq#can-i-bring-water-or-soda-board

 

You can give it a shot but be prepared to be disappointed.

It might depend on the age of the child but we just sailed the Breakaway with our 16 month old and they had no problem with us bringing on Juice and bottled water when we boarded in NYC and I always took it on and off the boat in ports (they never gave me a problem)

As others have said it depends on your OBC. We were just on the Breakaway last month and were able to use it for the gratuities.

No pun intended but the Vibe pass is for "The Vibe" if you want a place to relax a bit, socialize, swim, have a drink, etc without the craziness that is the main pool then it might be worth it. If you don't care about it and will sit on your balcony and be left alone then not worth it. Word of caution though, it is chilly sailing from NYC that time of year so that may factor in to your choice.

On my sailing in Dec it was not sold out, however, our ship got to port late so they cancelled it.

The family pool isn't a kiddie pool (and there are no pools or splash areas for diapered kids on any NCL ship).

There were hundreds of infants/toddlers as well as older kids in the kids pool on our sailing.

Depends on what cruises you are looking at. We just booked the Gem on a 10 day Caribbean out of NYC in March and paid $3600 for 4 people including port charges and the drink package (with added charge) in a minisuite. We got $300 OBC plus the free room calls, photo package, 100 min Internet, and 10 pic package.

We just cruised on the Breakaway and parked. We have a person with mobility issues as well as an infant and I am so glad we did. $280 for the week is not so bad and you just get out of the car and go in an elevator to the terminal. We got there around 12:30 and had no trouble finding a space

I have been meaning to share my experience on this cruise for weeks but with the holiday haven't had the time. Overall this was a wonderful cruise. It was my 1st time in the Haven and my 1st time traveling with an infant (DH and I, my daughter who was 15 months, and my elderly father).

Check-in was great only because we were in the Haven. Lines for others was INSANE and lots of people on board were complaining about it all week.

Haven was well worth almost 2x the cost as the weather was cold both going and coming and it was nice to still be able to use the pool. Butler and Concierge were wonderful and they made all of us very happy. Food in the Haven was amazing (seafood Benedict especially). 2Br family suite was a great size and we really enjoyed the free movies, coffee maker and snacks.

No reviews on entertainment as we didn't see any shows.

Taste (main dining room) was good and service was timely. Moderno was by far our favorite speciality restaurant (both Le Bistro and Cagneys were good too) and you MUST try the noodle bar. It's free and amazing!!! Just be prepared to wait for a seat as it is tiny.

Shopping on board was not great as I have been on ships 1/2 the size that had a better selection. Sold out of lots of liquor the 2nd day of the cruise and staff was not nice.

We got some great photos taken of our daughter both on GSC and all over the ship and ended up buying the 10 picture package. Made great presents!!

Ship was clean, elevators were tiny and usually packed.

If you smoke there is a little "smokers pen" by the pool which is just awful. They are cramped in a little box and the wind just blows the smoke over the glass into the pool area anyway.

Only real complaint was the pool. Whoever designed this was asleep or dumb or just didn't care. One main pool with 4 hot tubs for 4000 people!?!? Not enough chairs or space for chairs and they kept kids (even 12 and 13 year olds who wanted to swim laps of just put their feet in) out of the pool and made them go to the kiddie pool. We didn't take our daughter there because it was even more crowded than the elevators!

Would be happy to answer any questions and working on a detailed review which I will link to the his post.

Great review of the ship, the ports, and your experience.

Cruising the Breakaway in 30 days and it will be my 1st Haven experience. Looking forward to it!