Norwegian Gem Thanksgiving 2018

Has anyone sailed on the Gem during Thanksgiving? Wanting to know if we can expect a traditional holiday meal? Are the holiday nights generally more formal attire? Thank you in advance for your feedback...

we sailed the Gem last Thanksgiving. The main dining room had a Thanksgiving option- more inventive than most thanksgiving dinners (like sweet potato mousse, chestnut salad, etc). The buffet had more variety of the standards with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc. We had cruised thanksgiving before and actually decided to do Cagneys this time around and had a great family meal (2 kids with us) and a memorable "family meeting" where we each said what we loved about our family, and what we needed from each other that might be different. My 8 year old son innocently broke my heart when he asked if he could call me "mom" instead of "mommy".

While I haven't been on Gem for Thanksgiving, I've been on Epic. The buffet was the place to go for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, either at lunch or evening meal times. While the MDR had a turkey dish, it wasn't a traditional meal. For the most part, it was just a regular cruise day. Thanksgiving isn't a majorly celebrated holiday.

Not sure

I am going on the Norwegian Gem in November, set sailing from NY so will be on board during thanks giving. Not sure if they do Thanksgiving as this is my first cruise for my 40th:D. I;m from UK so unsure about cruises altogether, so this will be a new experience for me.;p;p

We were on the Gem this past Thanksgiving - the menu for the MDR sounded yummy and our roll call organizers were able to plan a group dinner for those that were interested, but as with a Meet & Greet she went the extra mile to coordinate everything with NCL. We dined at Cagney’s - but I heard so many great comments about their dinner.

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Raggy78 I too will be celebrating my 40th this year (although my birthday is in July) and it sounds like we are on the same cruise....I will hope to meet you at the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet on board we will have to share a birthday cocktail!

we sailed the Gem last Thanksgiving. The main dining room had a Thanksgiving option- more inventive than most thanksgiving dinners (like sweet potato mousse, chestnut salad, etc). The buffet had more variety of the standards with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc. We had cruised thanksgiving before and actually decided to do Cagneys this time around and had a great family meal (2 kids with us) and a memorable "family meeting" where we each said what we loved about our family, and what we needed from each other that might be different. My 8 year old son innocently broke my heart when he asked if he could call me "mom" instead of "mommy".

Isn't that what we are all doing out there on the water or any holiday we take....Making Memories... priceless! Thanks for the info too...

We were on the Gem this past Thanksgiving - the menu for the MDR sounded yummy and our roll call organizers were able to plan a group dinner for those that were interested, but as with a Meet & Greet she went the extra mile to coordinate everything with NCL. We dined at Cagney’s - but I heard so many great comments about their dinner.

 

 

 

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Thank you for the info... do you remember was it formal dress that night?

Thank you for the info... do you remember was it formal dress that night?

We were on this cruise and attended the CC Thanksgiving dinner and I don't remember any special dress restrictions. Although I don't remember anyone being less dressed than business casual. And yes some were more dressy than others. We had a pretty large group at dinner, I think about 60-75 so we took up a fairly large portion of the main dinning room.

Thanksgiving was on our third night on board so it wasn't dress up or not night which is usually the second night.

To give you an idea (I'm male so keep that in mind) I wore khaki slacks, white button up shirt and a sweater. I have yet to pack or wear anything fancier on a Norwegian cruise.

We did the Gem last Thanksgiving and had an absolute blast - wonderful dinner, wonderful atmosphere throughout the entire ship. We ate at Cagneys, which had a traditional American Thanksgiving in addition to the regular menu. We also peeked at the buffet as our son was not a fan of turkey and wanted a late night snack - plenty of wonderful Thanksgiving treats. Plus, the decorations were lovely and thoughtful. You cannot go wrong! We loved it so much we booked again for the Caribbean 2018 Thanksgiving 11 day...am really looking forward to it!

Thank you for the info... do you remember was it formal dress that night?

There are no formal nights on any NCL ships, whether or not it is a holiday. That doesn’t change.

Raggy78 I too will be celebrating my 40th this year (although my birthday is in July) and it sounds like we are on the same cruise....I will hope to meet you at the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet on board we will have to share a birthday cocktail!

Yea my cruise sets sail on 15th November from NY. My birthday is actually while i am on the cruise, on 25th November! If you see a pasty white woman with a Scots accent, probably be me, :'):'):');p;p;p

Yea my cruise sets sail on 15th November from NY. My birthday is actually while i am on the cruise, on 25th November! If you see a pasty white woman with a Scots accent, probably be me, :'):'):');p;p;p

Ours too...If we don't find each other, Happy birthday...

While I haven't been on Gem for Thanksgiving, I've been on Epic. The buffet was the place to go for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, either at lunch or evening meal times. While the MDR had a turkey dish, it wasn't a traditional meal. For the most part, it was just a regular cruise day. Thanksgiving isn't a majorly celebrated holiday.

I can ditto that this is also the case on the Dawn, so I suspect that it is fleet wide.

Not sure

 

I am going on the Norwegian Gem in November, set sailing from NY so will be on board during thanks giving. Not sure if they do Thanksgiving as this is my first cruise for my 40th:D. I;m from UK so unsure about cruises altogether, so this will be a new experience for me.;p;p

We were on the Gem for Thanksgiving last year. Had dinner in Magenta and it was a traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the trimmings. If last year is typical, be prepared to wait to be seated. It was very crowded for dinner, I imagine those who usually ate at the buffet wanted a more formal seating for the holiday meal. All other nights we never waited

Was the cruise overly crowded during this time frame?

I sailed on the Jewel out of NYC on Thanksgiving week a few years ago and yes, it was fairly crowded with a LOT of kids on board.

Happiest of birthdays to the pasty Scotswoman Raggy 78 and CalGal777...

Thanksgiving and Birthday - heaven!

Tip - when you are checking in, make sure the person checking you in knows that it is a birthday cruise for you...it's a great way to score a nice bottle of bubbly or a card that has a coupon for a free specialty dinner / bottle of wine. Even nicer things come with Latitudes levels. Last year - not only got a free specialty dinner, but literally more wine than we could drink. We ended up treating the couple next to us to a lovely Chardonnay we didn't want to go to waste.

We are an equally pasty (and sadly, portly) family of three on the Nov 15th cruise - and always looking forward to giving a hearty High 5 to birthday cruisers!

Amy, Mike and Ronan

Has anyone sailed on the Gem during Thanksgiving? Wanting to know if we can expect a traditional holiday meal? Are the holiday nights generally more formal attire? Thank you in advance for your feedback...

We sailed the Gem for thanksgiving a few years ago. It was awesome!! Yes we had a traditional thanksgiving dinner, and I didn't have to cook or clean. <3 my favorite vacation to date

:)

Was the cruise overly crowded during this time frame?

The ship was not overly crowded on that cruise. Not many kids because it is an 11 day cruise during the school year. Even though most kids had a 4 day weekend, I believe parents didn’t want to take them out of school for so many days.

Just want to recommend Justin Golan's shows.  He is SO talented, funny and involves the audience.  I haven't laughed that hard in ages.  He also has a show in NY  December, 2018.  

Patrick Duffy and Justin Golan presents: NYC Piano Bar Showdown!  Come join us for a night of classic singalongs, but stay for the laughs!  This duelling piano show is the perfect gift for your friends, family or mistress. 
Justin Golan the beatbox/piano man

Justin is a professional Piano Bar Entertainer and Beatboxer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has worked for several major cruise lines  as a Pianist, Piano Bar Entertainer and Music Director. With over 15 years experience as a vocal percussionist (beatboxer), Justin pushes the boundaries of the human voice and captivates audiences with his abilities. As a Piano Bar Entertainer, Justin puts on a high energy show with improvisational roasts and toasts, spontaneous beatboxing, and sing alongs!

If anyone is missing NCL Gem's Piano Player/Entertainer/Human Beatbox, Justin Golan, he has added a 3rd show in NY this December 2018!  Details below: 

https://www.purplepass.com/?fbclid=IwAR3luJxjY10vhBb7uslwZ2ziNAWzxWSXvfqZ4hXzK93r1pdZL8512vKpS6U#179206/The_Duplex-Justin_Golan_Live!-The_Duplex_Cabaret_Theatre-December-16-2018.html

It was nice meeting everyone that attended the meet and greet.

Hope the ones that got the Scottish presents enjoyed them!