One night cruise on Gem review

[Jacky4]

We did our first one night cruise and also our first on NCL 1/2/10. I searched the boards and couldn't find out much information about one night cruises so I figured I'd write a review...

 

Cost: $535.00 mini suite for 2, $30 parking, extra $ for gambling, alcohol, pictures...

 

Arriving/boarding:We got to the port of NY around 12:00 and moved at a snails pace to park. The weather was freezing & windy. Security did have dogs and we were asked to open our trunk. Check in and security was as expected. The did offer complimentary hot chocolate, coffee and banana bread. The only critizism I had was there wasn't enough seats. Half the people had to sit on the floor until boarding. Boarding went quickly around 1 pm.

 

Lunch:Everyone headed to the buffet. And I mean EVERYONE. The buffet was so crowded that people had to stand to eat. No one wanted to sit outside since it was so cold & windy. On the good side was they had nice variety of real ice cream with toppings, my husband was disappointed the soft serve machine was broken the whole cruise. Around 2 pm cabins were ready.

 

Cabin:Loved our mini suite and we could go out on the balcony since the walls blocked the wind. There was only about 5 tv channels to watch, cartoon network, TNT, TMC, ESPN, CNN so unless you like sports or news you were very limited. They did have 45 PPV movies for $11.99 each.

 

What to do until dinner: We took a nap/relaxed until 4 PM then went on deck to take pictures of departure. Some crazy people were in the hot tubs and they had a band on the pool deck. We stopped at the bar with the bowling but all the lanes were full. We bought two shots for $8 each. The duty free store had a line of about 100 people waiting for them to open. All I wanted was batteries but it seemed like everyone else had to buy their cigarettes or liquor immediately :confused:. Then we checked out the ship.

 

Dinner: If you want a specialty restaurant you need to make reservations as soon as you board and there will be a charge. We used anytime dining in the main dining room. They ask you if you would like to sit alone or with others. The food was like any other cruise food. I liked my sirlion, my husband thought his pork loin was a little dry.

 

Activities: After dinner we headed over to bingo. What a rip off. Bingo started at $60 and went up from there. The top prize was $10000.00, if you got the cover all in less than 46 numbers. We went to the theatre about 1/2 hour early and got great seats. All the seats seemed to have a great view and were very comfortable but it did fill up quick. Show was good, again just like other cruises I had been on. We then went to the lounge to watch Karaoke but really to get seats for the comedy show. Karaoke was very popular and fun. The bar got so crowded (and hot)for the comedy show that the CD told people they could sit on the floor. Quite a few people complained later in the night that the comedian wasn't very good. After that they had a 70s/80s dance party. Around midnight I went back to the cabin and rented a ppv movie. My husband went to the casino to play poker. He had to put his name on the waiting list for a seat but he had fun and didn't get back to the room until about 3:30 am. They brought food from the buffet into the casino. He said he won $10.

 

Morning: I woke up around 8 and since our cabin was on deck 11 I walked up the stairs to the buffet and brought food back to our room because again the place was crazy crowded. Lines moved pretty quick and they did have staff directing people to shorter lines. We left the ship around 10. It seemed like they wanted you out of your cabins around 9 but not much pressure to leave the ship. Note to husband don't stay up all night when you have to be out of the room by 9.

 

If you like to party it seems like a fun time. I don't think I would do it again, for the price we could probably find a 5 day cruise.

 

Cons:no room service, very crowded everywhere, way too cold to spend anytime outdoors, I didn't find the crew overly friendly and some gave us the wrong answers to questions we asked, we went to the bridge viewing room but all the shades were drawn, no soft serve.

 

Pros: Fun weekend, cost is what you would pay for dinner, hotel and entertainment in NYC. If the weather happens to be mild it would be nice to sit on deck and see the city.

[Jacky4]

Hardly any kids on board. I'd say less than 20.

 

Average age seemed to me to be around 30 - 50. I was expecting a younger crowd but cost might have been a factor.

 

Going by license plates at pier most cars were from NY, NJ, MA, CT.

 

NO MUSTER DRILL :eek:

[ddakrt]

No muster drill? :confused:

 

Thanks for the review, I don't think I woud enjoy these one nighters personally, way too hectic.

 

As for the soft serve, did you check the Great Outdoor's? They have a second Taylor machine there.

[Jacky4]

No muster drill but the Captian did give a long speech about it over the intercom.

 

Wish we knew about the second soft serve.

[Badfish]

Hi Jacky...I was on this trip a well and must have played poker with your husband as I was there till around 4:30am playing...a little late but got lucky and did ok.

 

This was my 3rd 1-nighter so I knew what to expect. Good times and would agree with most of what was said.

[mizLORInj]

I like the Gem. We got a last-minute deal for low $300s for an ocean view cabin so we booked it. Buffet was unbelievably crowded as that's where everyone headed upon boarding--esp. since we missed the timing for a sit-down lunch in the restaurant.

Last year on the Gem and Dawn CTNs we got a glass of champagne upon boarding, which we did not get this time! Where was it?!?!

I like the Spinnaker lounge but agree it was overcrowded and the comedian was just eh. Moonlight on the water out front of the lounge (through the windows, that is) was very pretty. Lots of swells but this ship handles very well.

Fun cruise though and I'll be back Jan 23rd for another go!

[Gigsjp]

Would you happen to know if the specialty restaurants are available for lunch or are they only open for dinner?

 

Thanks!

[mizLORInj]

I believe the aft dining room and one other is open for lunch; did not see anyone in the specialty restaurants as I viewed their menus so it's safe to assume they weren't open for lunch. In fact the buffet was so crowded, they let us sit in the Italian upcharge restaurant aft to eat our buffet lunch.

Hopefully this weekend's boarding will go quicker than the Jan 2 boarding did.

[garycarla]

Generally, I have not heard or seen speciality open for lunch on boarding day. The MDR is open, but most people do not go there.

 

One day cruises are different. Folks trying to cram a vacation into one night. Not saying this is bad, but it is a far cry from normal cruising.

 

We often watch some TV while on a cruise, even though some people say they never turn it on. But, on a one night cruise, I doubt we would hardly be in the cabin. Could do that at the Holiday Inn for alot less.