Back from the crossing on the GEM

[mike@sea]

Returend home after two incredible weeks on the beautiful Gem, crossing over from NYC to Venice. The weather was good for most parts, the seas relatively calm untill the Azores (two days of rocking and rolling then). I was lucky to enjoy NCL´s suite life and must admit they certainly do it right. Embarkation was easy, got escorted to the cabin before all others, was able to drop my handluggage, off to our own little breakfast and lunch dining experience (next to Star Bar, near Cagneys). Had cabin 9000, category AC all the way upfront with a huge balcony and wonderful balcony furniture (incl large table, two deckchairs and two chairs). Used the balcony every single day (no, it was not too windy!!) and enjoyed it tremendously. Maxi my butler was great and so was Judy my cabin attendant. Ruth the concierge always available and very helpful. Staff on the ship mostly nice. Public rooms very nice. The ship in great condition, still looks new everywhere! Had a ball every night at Bliss, bowled numerous times, drank way too much (which unfortunately showed on my final bill. ;-) Never left that much money on a ship to be honest, but it was worth it. No regrets. The food was good, liked the buffet (that´s a first!!). Thought it was well layed out with excellent options three times a day. Main restaurants were good, preferred Magenta over the main Grand Pacific which was way too noisy. Ate at Cagney´s which I did not care for at all. Thought the steaks were even better in the main dining room, the lobster awful (had suf&turf). Would not go again. Went to Tex/mex which was good. Italian was good. Orchid Garden was definitely the best dining option. Went there twice, once for Sushi, once for Asian food. Did not do Tapanyaki or Le Bistro. Special restaurants were never full and always easy to go to, whenever you wanted. No waits! Shows were OK. Singers I did not like, dancers were better. Did not see every show though. Had a White Party which was not good due to the DJ who played horrible music ( couldn´t even play ABBA right and played a cheap Phillipino cover version of Dancing Queen instead which is an absolute NoGo !!!! ). Had a nice CC Meeting on day 2 with officers and CD and captain attending. Thank´s again Kate for all your great work!!! CD was somewhat lame but had worse ones on other ships. The Spa was the best I ever had at sea. Loved every minute in there and found staff there extremely nice. It was always clean, always fresh towels available and the saunas hot. Great job! All in all a great vacation, alos due to the fantastic people I met and hung out with. After 22 cruises on RCCL/Celebrity it was time for something new and I can definitely say that NCL compares to Royal, is stronger in quite a few aspects and only a little weaker in other aspects. Freestyle works great in contrary to RCCL who try to do both traditional and My Time Dining (which translates THEIR time dining) which just does not work. Suite life on NCL is where RCCL can definitely learn a lot from. Way to go if you get a chance!

[OceanDreaming2]

Returend home after two incredible weeks on the beautiful Gem, crossing over from NYC to Venice. The weather was good for most parts, the seas relatively calm untill the Azores (two days of rocking and rolling then). I was lucky to enjoy NCL´s suite life and must admit they certainly do it right. Embarkation was easy, got escorted to the cabin before all others, was able to drop my handluggage, off to our own little breakfast and lunch dining experience (next to Star Bar, near Cagneys). Had cabin 9000, category AC all the way upfront with a huge balcony and wonderful balcony furniture (incl large table, two deckchairs and two chairs). Used the balcony every single day (no, it was not too windy!!) and enjoyed it tremendously. Maxi my butler was great and so was Judy my cabin attendant. Ruth the concierge always available and very helpful. Staff on the ship mostly nice. Public rooms very nice. The ship in great condition, still looks new everywhere! Had a ball every night at Bliss, bowled numerous times, drank way too much (which unfortunately showed on my final bill. ;-) Never left that much money on a ship to be honest, but it was worth it. No regrets. The food was good, liked the buffet (that´s a first!!). Thought it was well layed out with excellent options three times a day. Main restaurants were good, preferred Magenta over the main Grand Pacific which was way too noisy. Ate at Cagney´s which I did not care for at all. Thought the steaks were even better in the main dining room, the lobster awful (had suf&turf). Would not go again. Went to Tex/mex which was good. Italian was good. Orchid Garden was definitely the best dining option. Went there twice, once for Sushi, once for Asian food. Did not do Tapanyaki or Le Bistro. Special restaurants were never full and always easy to go to, whenever you wanted. No waits! Shows were OK. Singers I did not like, dancers were better. Did not see every show though. Had a White Party which was not good due to the DJ who played horrible music ( couldn´t even play ABBA right and played a cheap Phillipino cover version of Dancing Queen instead which is an absolute NoGo !!!! ). Had a nice CC Meeting on day 2 with officers and CD and captain attending. Thank´s again Kate for all your great work!!! CD was somewhat lame but had worse ones on other ships. The Spa was the best I ever had at sea. Loved every minute in there and found staff there extremely nice. It was always clean, always fresh towels available and the saunas hot. Great job! All in all a great vacation, alos due to the fantastic people I met and hung out with. After 22 cruises on RCCL/Celebrity it was time for something new and I can definitely say that NCL compares to Royal, is stronger in quite a few aspects and only a little weaker in other aspects. Freestyle works great in contrary to RCCL who try to do both traditional and My Time Dining (which translates THEIR time dining) which just does not work. Suite life on NCL is where RCCL can definitely learn a lot from. Way to go if you get a chance!

 

Thanks for your mini-review. We're doing the return trip from Venice to NYC in November - along with a 7 day Venice roundtrip. Gem will be new to us - but we've been on the Pearl 3 times.

 

Can't wait - under 6 months now! :D

[rrobynec]

Thanks for your review.

I am looking forward to the being on the GEM this summer.

Who was the CD? Was it Andy, or Brett (not crazy about either of them).

Was Duncan the ACD? IMHO, he would be a better choice for CD.

Do you have a copy of the Dailies that you would mind sharing?

I am wondering if the shows have changed at all since Oct 09 (and July 08).

I also have a question about corkage fees when boarding at the ports.

I heard from fellow passengers in Oct that corkage was not being offered. You had to surrender your wine, as you would any other liquor.

I would really love to bring on and consume some lovely italian and greek wines!

[mike@sea]

I think the CD was Brett, but not sure. Could be wrong. Did not pay attention to him. Sorry did not collect the dailies. Regarding corkage fee. I brought two bottles of wine on board (carried them openly ) in New York. Was never bothered or questioned or asked to pay anything. Maybe because I was travelling in a Suite, but not sure. Did not bring any wines on board during trip but noticed that at some ports like Malaga where they had security in the terminal (done by port authorities, not NCL), you did not have to put your bags through the scanner on board anymore, that means you could have brought ANYTHING back to the ship. So pay attention when you leave the ship who does the bag check when you get back ! Found NCL very easy and consumer friendly with most rules on board by the way. Much in contrary to RCCL.