Pandot

On the 4/7/18 sailing it was still Elvina DeMenses. Lovely.

How was that hallway we will be in inside few doors down from that room..was it a noisy area?

 

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Quiet hallway. Only people we ever really saw were the people who “lived” in our hallway and the two room stewards.

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Thank you so much for this review!! We are cruising the Gem in early JUNE

 

One of my kids will go to kids club one to the teen club she just turned 13

 

I found your experience and tips very helpful

 

How will we know what dining venues serve breakfast aside from the buffet??

 

I thought the great outdoors was just seating area? they also serve breakfast?

The places serving bfast will be in your dailies. And great outdoors serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and evening snacks

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We just sailed in the same type of cabin on the gem (8054). Was fine - and hubby and I are not “small” people. We kept luggage in the closest, under the bed and above the closet with the life vests

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Thanks for review ,wondering what arrival time was to Port Canaveral?

We arrived on time - 1ish.

Thanks for your info. Most helpful. Taking our granddaughters in December and could I ask you how you got to Jetty park for 2 dollars? Was there a shuttle or is that what a cab charged? And what did they charge to enter the park?

Also when you said you got conch fritters at the cruise spot was that in the port area inside the fence?

PS we are just off the star in February and had a big concern over the temperature of the food in the buffet also. Warmish meatballs etc.

Thanks for taking the time to post

Took a cab from the port. Was 8 dollars for four of us each way. No entry fee to get into Jetty Park if arriving in a cab. Called the cab to pick us up - same price on return. We tipped 2 dollars each way on top of rate.

Conch fritters were at stand inside fence.

We’ve lucked out, we’ve never been turned away. For those with future Gem cruises, if you want to eat breakfast at the buffet, it is easy to grab tables in La Cucina, or the great outdoors. We found this out the first day and it was so peaceful (fami,y of 7, hard to find seating together elsewhere).

We did eat in La Cucina. The particular time must have been busier than usual. Didn’t solve my husbands hot food problem but definitely a great tip!

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Glad you had such an awesome trip!

Just back from our spring break cruise. While having been on CC for a long time, this is my first "review". Please don't expect the awesomeness of some of our great reviewers - just wanted to put a few thoughts on paper.

Background: Me (38), Hubby (52), Son with autism (verbal, high functioning, age 8), Daughter (4 going on 14); 1 hour car ride to port (we used a car service).

As some of mentioned, was a tough start as the Gem didn't arrive in until after 10 from previous cruise, so boarding was very, very delayed. My son has "special access" so we were allowed to sit away from the crowds and didn't have to stand in line. We were one of the first checked in when check in started and were one of the first on board (after Haven and suites) once they started boarding (between 1230 and 1pm). Thankfully we were prepared with his tablet and managed to wrangle some snacks for him, but it was a tough wait: no one's fault, just long. We were the lucky ones, not having to line up.

We went straight up to the Splash academy to check in. I had read about long waits, and when I called NCL, I was told to get up there as soon as possible to assure a place. As with so many things, turns out registering early had nothing to do with accessing the program or being assured a chance to go. But we got them "registered" and then went for lunch in the dining room. I will talk more about Splash Academy experience in a little bit. This was definitely a bittersweet component to our cruise.

We used tablets a lot in the dining room (with his ear phones) because our experiences for breakfast and lunch at the buffet were less than stellar: very busy and everything was cold. The "omelette/fresh egg" station always had a long line (both in buffet and great outdoors) and the morning we did use the buffet, there was no bacon to be found. My husband was very disappointed because he usually prefers buffets (this is his fifth cruise but his first on NCL). Temperature, lack of seating and lack of variety over the course of the cruise were his biggest complaints. Dining room (and O'Sheehans) on the other hand, had quick service and food was always hot (and there was always bacon). In the end, I lucked out because I prefer the dining rooms, but usually get out voted. My husband and I did have 3 specialty dinners (perk), 2 at Cagneys (day 1 at sea, and day 6 at sea) and 1 at Bistro (Day 4 at GSC). We fed the kids either in dining room or buffet around 5:30 and dropped them at camp. Our reservations were at 730 and each time I got a call from camp around 9 telling me my son was done and wanted to leave. It was good timing. All three specialty experiences were excellent. My husband ended up having the same order both times at Cagney's, he enjoyed it so much.

We had the drink package - my husband doesn't drink alcohol, but does drink soda and when I did the math, it made more sense to choose it (we did get all 5 perks when we booked) and pay the "tips" than for me to buy by the drink and him to get a soda package. Drink service was excellent at bars and in the dining rooms. Wine stewards and a few bartenders remembered us and our order by the 2nd or 3rd night. We were planning on buying the children sodas on pay per drink basis, but never got the opportunity to do so - they always asked what the children wanted and gave us the sodas using our cards. One night, my daughter and I went to a show and stopped to get Mommy a dessert martini - the bartender made her a "kid tini" (chocolate shake) of his own accord.

We were able upgrade our 250 minute internet package to ultimate unlimited for 117 dollars on the first night. Only one device on at at time. We could kick on device off when logging on another. Some of our devices were more reliable than others (iphone 5, iphone 4, two ipads). Though it offered to remember our login and passwords, it never seemed to work, and we had to reinput the info manually each time. Over all worked fine and we were able download a few things, stream some netflix and youtube and use all our apps and internet.

We did our own thing at the ports: Jetty park in Port Canaveral (2 dollars per person each way from port) and went to Saunders beach (20 dollar cab each way) in Nassau. We could have used the bus for 5 dollars each way (total) in Nassau but cab was more convenient for us at the time. We got conch salad and fritters at a spot inside the "cruise space" because our kids were fried and didn't have the energy to hold up at either the Fish Fry or Bahamian Cookin' (our original plan). We didn't use our excursion credit in either of those stops. At GSC, we rented a clamshell (which we didn't really end up using because we spend so much time in the water) and a mat. Clam shell was 35 and mat was 15. I am silver, so got my discount (10 percent) but they still gave us our 50 dollar excursion credit. (So I guess I made 5 dollars). My kids were happy with the beach time - they love the water! While we had a great time, my husband preferred the Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk and Freeport stops from our last cruise (Carnival Pride) a little bit more.

Splash Academy: Pros - the kids loved it. They actually asked to go, even at times when we had no intention of sending them. The staff was funny and loving and ran a lot of fun activities. My kids loved the circus day on the last day!

Cons - capacity and lining up. There were 800 children on this cruise. 400-500 were between the ages of 3 and 12. The capacity for Turtles (3-5) was 25 children, Seals (6-9) was 50 children and 9-12 was 35 (I think - didn't pay as much attention to this as it was not the group that impacted us). Other than port days, the hours were 9-12, 2-5 and 7-1030. The evening component was obviously the most popular as was the morning and afternoon sessions the last day for the circus. In order to assure a spot, we discovered you either needed to line up 30 minutes before they opened or spend 30-45 minutes on line if you joined the line as they opened. Depending on your age group, you risked not getting a spot even if you were on line at the opening (especially in the evening). Then at pick up, it took 15-30 minutes on line to get them unless you picked them up an hour before the program closed.

I kept track and I spent 8.5 hours on line at Splash academy over the course of the week. I went to the meet and greet and had received the contact information for various officers. After the second day of lining up, I called and spoke to Alfie (Guest relations head) and Smiley (head of Splash Academy). I made sure to mention that it was not the program itself that was the problem and the staff was great but the system definitely had problems. They knew they were going to be that many kids on board: why hadn't they planned for additional staff? Turns out they had brought on more staff but are limited by space in the kids rooms. I have been on many ships that used space other than the kids club, why were they not doing that? After the speaking with them, they did put a staff member out on line, speaking and schmoozing with guests on line and trying to have the guests ready with appropriate cards etc, but while appreciated, this had no change on the number of spots or much change on the "waiting on line" time.

Because my children so enjoyed the program, we made sure we were always there early to get a spot, except for the last night, when dinner went a little long. We got on line at 710 and sure enough, my daughter could not get in to the Turtles. So in addition to a very sad little girl who could not go play with her friends she had made, there was also no waiting list, buzzer system or way to know when a spot freed up other than camping outside the Splash Academy doors. So that night, we did. After an hour, they offered us to go play in Guppies room (parent supervision) and they offered to hold the spot when someone checked out for us and the other little girl who had stayed and waited. At 9 pm, two kids checked out and they were allowed in. Because the guppy room is accessed by the pool, and we couldn't go through to the kids area, we had to go around. By the time we got to the entrance, sure enough there was another little girl crying because she couldn't get it (and an understandably mad mom, who thought we were jumping the line). In the end, someone left and all three got in, but I couldn't get over the process and how it was run. Had it not been the last night, I would have not stayed for my daughter, but she really wanted to say good bye and I didn't want it to be her last memory of "CAMP".

Again - the program was fabulous as were the counselors but the system they have in place for capacity, entering and exiting and lack of "waitlists" leaves much to be desired. There is a reason I don't do Disney - lining up is hard, especially for my son. 8.5 hours on line in a 7 day period (not including embarkation because you can't do anything about that) was a lot more time than I wanted to spend.

Only other cons we encountered on our cruise was a limited variety of activities for adults (specifically, my husband - I am happy with a drink and a book). While there were shows, they timing was tough if the kids wanted to do SA and we wanted to eat dinner (anywhere). During the day, most of the activities were either "additional cost" or "seminars" about spending money on board (shopping, spa). There was trivia but very, very busy in the atrium. My husband was definitely disappointed on this front.

We have a large family/friends trip planned on NCL Escape in 18 months, (A) because it is Bermuda and (B) because NCL has the best group perks. However, going forward, I am not sure that my husband and I will choose NCL over Carnival or RCL (or Celebrity or Princess for that matter) for our immediate family trips unless the activities and SA capacity/lining up issues are resolved. While they seem like small (first world) problems, they did impact the overall feeling of our vacation and as we are only able to take a vacation every few years, we will need to take them into account. The good news is we don't need to worry about that for another 2-3 years, so lots of time to see if they fix it.

I think that's it. As always - this was just our experience, others I am sure had a different trip all together. Feel free to ask questions. I hope that something in this, helps someone with their planning, as so many other reports have helped me.

Thanks so much for a enjoyable and informative review!

Haven’t heard anything yet. Doesn’t look good lol. Come join our roll call!

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Thank you everyone for your responses.

I have never organized a meet and greet/mingle and didn't realize that this topic would cause such a ruckus. On land, I bring a gift to the host of a party - wanted do the same for the officer's attending the M and G. I will write thank you notes and call it a day.

Apologies to all those who I somehow upset with my question.

Happy cruising!

Thank you.

No offense, but why bring the officers on a ship a thank you note and a gift? Do you bring your airline pilot a gift? This just makes no sense to me. It's their job, and a well paid job.

 

 

 

What are you thanking them for, exactly?

Pilots generally don’t spend time out of their busy day to host questions or gatherings. It is merely a gesture of thanks for attending the meet and greet (whichever officers they might be).

Cash for stewards, bartenders etc but that is inappropriate for an officer.

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In addition to a thank you note? Anyone have ideas of Small everyday things that may be hard to come by on board that they might appreciate?

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Searched before posting and couldn’t find the answer. Searched after asking and low and behold - the answer. I can use a 5. It is apparently 1.25 pp (my mistake).

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Does that mean, I need exact change because they will not give me any money back OR I must use exact coins for each person?

Traveling with family of four so exact change is 6 dollars (4 x 1.50). Easier to carry as 5 and 1 :)

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Last time we made it to Bermuda, I was travelling with a two year old boy with special needs: we didn't get to the east side of the island: just horseshoe bay, snorkel park and BAMZ.

This time, we are travelling with the same boy but he will be almost 10 (and is much more manageable) and his 6 year old sister. We really want to see some of the East end of the island(s). We are water people, so I thought a whaler rental would be great. What would you recommend seeing in the whaler (renting from BHW at grotto bay)? We love to swim and the kids would love to snorkel! We plan on finding the blue hole in TMJ but unsure if it is easier to do by water or by hike. We will also pop in to the Cathedral cave (shh) since we are at Grotto Bay for the rental.

Looking for input on places to go in our whaler (given the 4 hours). We will be doing it day one or two of our trip (Escape) so no time crunch. Thanks in advance.

(We plan on ferrying to St. George's and bussing to grotto bay).

Small buffet has been closed since construction of the lagoon area. There is a fence blocking that bar/buffet /lagoon area off.

 

 

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Thanks. That’s what I figured.

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Can anyone confirm that they are still using the small buffet even if the lagoon is under construction? We are travelling in April; don't have a cabana but interested in heading out to that quieter area (for a vented clamshell). Just don't want too much of a walk to the food for the kiddos (walk there and back once is fine but they will definitely complain if we need to do it more than once).

Our first cruise with our son was my sister's wedding cruise to Bermuda. He was 2 (and newly diagnosed with autism). We did Horseshoe Beach but stayed in the baby beach area. We also took the ferry to Hamilton and then a taxi to the zoo and aquarium. Finally, we paddled a bit at Snorkel Park. There are other things that are definitely doable with a toddler but those all worked for us. Quite enjoyed the zoo and if he hadn't developed an instant and paralyzing fear of buses (sigh), we would have done a small beach up that way to fill out the day.

Loving your review Nicole! Thanks so much for sharing!

Currently available on my gem trip for April 475 and 425

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Thanks for the insights! I will just have to await my next cruise on the Escape to check it out. We will use the dining room on the Gem.

Happy Cruising!

There have been posts about a seaday lunch buffet at Moderno but

a) don't know if that is still occuring

b) don't know if that is on the smaller ships like the Gem.

Any insight?

Thanks.