Who's back from the Gem today 2/3/10?

[pixiedustdawn]

We are leaving on February 13th, and just wanted an update on what is happening on the Gem.

 

And most importantly, how much you enjoyed your cruise. :D

 

[JoeWill]

We are leaving on February 13th, and just wanted an update on what is happening on the Gem.

 

And most importantly, how much you enjoyed your cruise. :D

 

 

 

Okay, here goes. You don't state your cabin, so I'm assuming you are more concerned with the basic amenities. We just returned today, but we only travel VIP so I can only speak from that perspective.

 

If you are young and have not cruised very many times then you will have a blast. The Gem staff and crew, to a person, is very friendly. The primary gathering areas (pool and Garden Cafe) are extremely congested. Fend for yourself and hope for the best.

 

Happy sailing.

[pixiedustdawn]

Okay, here goes. You don't state your cabin, so I'm assuming you are more concerned with the basic amenities. We just returned today, but we only travel VIP so I can only speak from that perspective.

 

If you are young and have not cruised very many times then you will have a blast. The Gem staff and crew, to a person, is very friendly. The primary gathering areas (pool and Garden Cafe) are extremely congested. Fend for yourself and hope for the best.

 

Happy sailing.

 

Hmm... Did you have a good time?

[rzdj96]

Okay, here goes. You don't state your cabin, so I'm assuming you are more concerned with the basic amenities. We just returned today, but we only travel VIP so I can only speak from that perspective.

 

If you are young and have not cruised very many times then you will have a blast. The Gem staff and crew, to a person, is very friendly. The primary gathering areas (pool and Garden Cafe) are extremely congested. Fend for yourself and hope for the best. Happy sailing.

 

Yup! In a word, we found the Gem extremely "dysfuntional" in comparison to other cruises (including the Spirit and Crown). I'm not refering to the crew, just the ships lay-out. Beds on the port side pool deck was ridiculous! Charging $11.95 for a PPV movie is a bit much and my laptop has a larger screen on it that the cabin TV. Just to name a fraction of things.

[Momma Donna]

I was on the Gem cruise...very nice...small rooms and not a thing on TV..yes I do like to relax in the peace and quiet in the room. Ship is huge but very congested in pool area only 2 little pools and food area. 1 side only for dining in Garden Cafe buffet. Sat mostly on the aft area which is very nice and not too crowded (missed a pool back there though) if it had a pool off the aft the trip would have been a 10. I haven't given my full review yet...will come soon. Probably this weekend which we are expecting a snowstorm...UGH

[pixiedustdawn]

Okay, here goes. You don't state your cabin, so I'm assuming you are more concerned with the basic amenities. We just returned today, but we only travel VIP so I can only speak from that perspective.

 

If you are young and have not cruised very many times then you will have a blast. The Gem staff and crew, to a person, is very friendly. The primary gathering areas (pool and Garden Cafe) are extremely congested. Fend for yourself and hope for the best.

 

Happy sailing.

 

You say you always travel VIP, because you always get a suite, or because of latitudes level?

 

What cabin were you in on the Gem?

[Got Tequila?]

We are leaving on February 13th, and just wanted an update on what is happening on the Gem.

 

And most importantly, how much you enjoyed your cruise. :D

 

 

Hi Dawn,

 

We had another awsome cruise on the GEM...I'll copy and paste a partial review.

 

The crew on the GEM seemed to go above and beyond, as usual. We've been on the GEM many times, and we had the best cabin stewards we've ever had. We were greeted by name from day one, and they smiled and chatted with us each time we encountered them. We had a couple of special requests, which were handled quickly. We had a problem with the TV in our cabin and a call down to the desk was all it took. They sent up a crew member within 5 minutes, and he checked a couple of things including the batteries in the remote and informed us it wasn't something he could fix so another crew member would be up shortly for the repair. We were heading out to dinner so we informed the cabin stewards of the situation and they said they would make sure it was fixed asap....and assured us there was no need for us to wait in the cabin. When we returned after dinner the tv was on and working once again.

 

We did find the main dining rooms to be crowded at 5:30, with people lining up before opening. I believe this had a lot to do with the older crowd that was on board (I know there were at least 200 guests booked together from one retirement home), who tend to like to eat early. Without the 2 for 1 pricing in the specialty restaurants they didn't seem to be filling up as usual, and we had no problem getting reservations throughout the cruise...for any time period. We managed to eat at Cagneys, Tequilas, Italian, Orchid Garden, Garden Buffet and Le Bistro as well as both main dining rooms. Food is very subjective as we have seen on the boards here, but I enjoyed all the restaurants with Le Bistro (new menu) being my favorite meal of the cruise. The price of Le Bistro, which was $25 on our December cruise, is down to $20. :)

 

We didn't do any of the shows, but heard lots of great comments on the Hypnotist who also did some relaxation and quit smoking seminars on the ship. We did the behind the scenes tour and during the back stage part we found out from one of the dancers that in their contracts they aren't allowed to gain or lose more than 5 pounds on the ship.....which must be quite a challenge for them. :eek:

 

We were in the long line for the self disembarkation, luckily it moved along pretty quickly once the ship was cleared. It seemed a bit hectic with people rushing the doors who didn't seem to think the lines were meant for them. There was also a bit of a problem with people rushing onto the elevators as soon as the doors opened, forgetting their manners and not allowing others to get off first. :mad:

 

Steve and I were on the GEM to relax, and we did. I don't think we glanced at the Freestyle daily more than once or twice. We lounged around the ship, enjoyed chatting with crew members and other guests. We didn't do any planned shore excursions, but fell into a couple of nice tours along the way. We enjoyed our time together and don't sweat the small stuff, not letting anyone else's complaining affect our vacation. I gained a few pounds, so the food must have been good since I'm typically a picky eater.

 

We aren't really pool people, but do enjoy lounging around in the shade on deck. One of the things that I forgot to mention to the officers on the ship was that I thought the lounge chairs on deck 7 were quite uncomfortable...since the backs don't adjust, and they are quite hard to get out of once your laying down in them. I think a few of the pool lounge chairs down on deck 7, along with a few regular chairs would be nice.

 

Overall we had an excellent cruise, and it felt like we were at "home" on the GEM. We currently don't have another cruise booked on the GEM, I guess we need to pull out the calendar soon and do something about that. :)

[Maryfrei]

Sounds wonderful, thanks for the review Got Tequila!:)

[avid]

Another review is posted here..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1136912

[mimi217]

Was the cruise Florida and the Bahamas? I'm thinking of booking the Gem for the end of Feb. but I wonder how the temp. would be. Also what kind of excursions are there in the Port Canavral stop.

[avid]

Was the cruise Florida and the Bahamas? I'm thinking of booking the Gem for the end of Feb. but I wonder how the temp. would be. Also what kind of excursions are there in the Port Canavral stop.

 

temps are usually low to mid 70s after 2 sea days once the cruise gets to Fla and beyond...

Excursions out of Port Canavral can be found here:)

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/shorex.html?destinationCode=BAHAMAS+FLORIDA&previousValue=ALL&portCode=PCV&startingRowNumber=0&selectedDateRange=&priceProgramCode=BESTFARE&packageId=&shipCode=&dispatch=shorexSearch&dispatch=nonItinerarySearch