Wonderful cruise on the Gem -- Long review

[ROCruiser]

NCL Gem – 14-day Adriatic, Turkey, and Greece (June 26~July 10, 2010)

Pre-cruise: We were a group of 8. Six of us rented a van to drive from Frankfurt to Stuttgart to visit the Porsche Museum. We spent a night at Lake Konstanz. Passed through Zurich and spent another night in Milan. On our way to Venice we made a short stop at the very crowded Verona to see Juliette’s house. We stayed one night at the Venice Plaza Hotel in Mestre right across from the train station. We had 2 triple rooms which were huge and came with 2 bathrooms each. Breakfast was good with hot food, eggs, cold cuts, and different kinds of bread.

Embarkation: Driving to the port can be confusing. We did end up at the luggage drop-off area and left our luggage there. Then some of us walked to the terminal which was about 10 minutes and my brother and SIL went to return the van at the parking area. It was around 12PM when we went inside the terminal after meeting my niece and her husband who were on their honeymoon. They accidently booked the same cruise but only for the first week. We checked in at the Latitude Line but the regular line was empty also. There were a lot of people waiting for their numbers to be called. Our number was 15 so we just sat and waited. I have to say that the embarkation process was painless. It seems that they have worked out the problems that they had before. By the time we got to the Grand Pacific it was a little before 1PM. They tried to get everyone up to the Garden Café but we just headed towards the Grand Pacific to avoid the crowds. We had a nice, quiet, sit-down lunch before going to our cabins which were ready by 2PM.

*In transit between cruises—Get to get off the ship when the first color called. They asked that return guess do not come back on board until after 12pm but before 4:30. Do not need to participate at the muster drill on the second week. When checking back on board just let security know that you are “in transit” and they’ll let you right on.

Muster Drill at 4:30 was easy. Our station was at the Stardust Theater. We did not even have to take the life jackets. They just checked off our names, we sat comfortably and listen to the information and demonstration then we were off to the sail-away party.

Sail-Away: Some good spots for sailing out of Venice—Sun Deck, 7th Deck Aft, Great Outdoor (if you can get a table by the railings), Deck 13 Aft. These are places where you can see both sides when sailing out.

Food: We did not feel that there is a need to go to any specialty restaurant. The buffets are basically the same everyday, except maybe the carved meat section. The food is OK, like any other buffets. I enjoyed their hamburgers and fries which were made fresh continuously. They have many selections of ice-cream everyday. The Great Outdoor may have a little variety sometimes. We had dinner at the Magenta and Grand Pacific most nights, plenty of choices there. In fact, we enjoyed the shrimp cocktail, ceasar salad, and sirloin steak on the “available everyday” menu that we ordered these many times. I personally think the halibut they served on the 2nd week embarkation day was excellent. We agreed that the best dinner we had was the night we were in Santorini. If you like seafood, don’t miss this one. We had huge mussels for appetizer, and the seafood linguini was wonderful. The menus for both weeks may be similar but not exactly the same except for lobster night.

*They did have a 2-for-1 special in the Specialty restaurants for Back-to-Back guests who are taking the 14-day cruise on the evening out of Venice on the second week (excluding the Teppenuaki). You will get a letter in your cabin about the special.

Services—

Room stewards—our room stewards were great. Cabin was cleaned, ice-bucket filled everyday. Towel animals were left in the cabin most nights. The times that we had problems with the toilets we just left a sticky note on the mirror and it was fixed when we came back.

Waiters and waitresses in dining rooms were mostly OK except maybe the Blue Lagoon.

Tips on ports:

Ports that need to be tendered—Dubrovnik, Santorini, Split, Mykonos. Get in line early for your tender tickets at the Art Gallery. If you want to get tenders #1 or #2 line up at least 45 minutes before distribution time. I was the first in line for 3 ports when I started the line an hour before distribution. They usually start giving out tickets 15 minutes before scheduled time.

(It’s easier to get breakfast at the Blue Lagoon on days that you need to get on shore early. The service may not be desirable but you still get your breakfast without the hassle being at the buffet. It’s usually not busy.)

Dubrovnik—You will be tendered to port right near the Ploce entrance on the east side of town. Go up to the wall from there and walk down. Beautiful views all around. There is free Wi-fi hot spot down in old town outside of the Lacoste store. People just stood around outside the store and made use of the free internet.

Split—If you are planning to go up to the hill called Marjan, go early before it gets hot. You will have to climb the 250 steps up to the café and then if you wish, you can continue your hike up the hill and then walk the distance to the flag pole. We did not get to the flag pole, but we went all the way up to where the abandoned building at the top. You will be able to see beautiful views of the harbor and the town. Have an ice cream at Hajduk on Matosica Street when you get down (they do accept Euros.) They will dip your ice-cream in chocolate for free. We also tried something called Pita Sir (cheese croissant type of bread) at a local bakery near the fish market as recommended. This is one port that you really need to have some local money.

Corfu—There is a shuttle taking passengers from the ship to the port entrance. Then there is a public bus that will take you from the terminal to the old town for 1.4Euros. The map shows that old town is right near the port. It’s not. Take the bus so you don’t kill yourself walking that long distance under the hot sun. After you get off the bus I suggest that you walk across old town and go to the Old Fort first. It looked more impressive than the new fort. We went to the New Fort and spent about an hour there. By the time we got to the Old Fort we were so tired we didn’t want to hike up there. I am sure we missed some amazing sights not getting up. There’s free wi-fi way up at the top of the new fort.

Mykonos—This is a port that I feel it’s better to tender than docked. The Royal Caribbean docked at the port way on the other side of town about a mile or two away and had to be shuttled in. Our tenders dropped us off right in town. The little hut right across from the tender drop off would be where you can get ferry tickets to go to Delos. They don’t open until 8:30. My opinion is that if you are not going to the beach, Delos is a “must do” in Mykonos. There really isn’t much in town except the windmills and Little Venice. We took the 9AM ferry to Delos (a 25 minutes ride that cost 15euros round trip) and spent about 2 hours on the island (another 5euros for entrance fee) taking the 12PM ferry back. Delos is amazing, don’t miss it. My brother and his family went to the beach in Mykonos instead and they had a great time there. He said the water was cold but very clean and clear. They regret not taking their water-proof camera to take pictures of the fish. We had some local gyros (2.5 euros) from a small family-run restaurant called “Spilia” in town.

Santorini—We were lucky to have stopped at Santorini twice due to the strike in Athens.

We went to Oia the first time there and totally loved the breathtaking views. Take the public bus in town where they have buses going to Oia every 20 minutes. These are big beautiful tour buses but they can be crowded especially coming back. That was what kept us from going there on the second time. We worried that with the crowds there for the sunset we might have problems getting back in time.

Iraklion—This is a short stop. NCL provided shuttles between the ship and the port terminal. Take a city map at the terminal and you are good to go. The map shows 3 different routes to visit this town. If you are not on any excursion, you may take a 15-minute walk to the Venetian fortress just for some photos. Just walk to the right hand side of the port and eventually you will get there. We took the “red route” on the city map and had a nice stroll along the pedestrian street, the market, etc. Souvenir shopping seems to be better here, the prices are much cheaper. Free Wi-Fi is possible at the bus station across from the port and near the town hall area if you have your own laptop.

Athens—Our time was cut from a full day to half a day. We were not able to see everything we wanted but our guide still showed us a much as possible in the limited time. We went to the Acropolis before all the other groups were there, including the ship’s tours. We did not have to get in line for tickets. We used Nikos of Privategreecetour.com. Nikos was great in keeping communication even notifying us about the change and cancellation due to the strike. He then arranged another guide, Stephano of greecetailormade.com, who came with a driver and a big bus for the 12 of us for the half day tour.

Izmir—We used Helloephesus and our guide was Chuck. We had an OK tour. Chuck did not take us to St. John’s Basilica or the Temple of Artemis, which I didn’t realize until after the tour. That was partly my own fault. Lunch at the carpet factory was very nice but the pressure was definitely on when we went on the factory tour. Four employees rolled out one carpet after another in a room trying to convince us to buy. It might be because we were the only group left at that point. Ephesus site was very crowded. Not many people get into the Terrace Houses which requires additional entrance fee.

Conclusion—All in all, this was an excellent trip with amazing ports. NCL Gem was not perfect but we did not let the little things interfere with the time we had on this great cruise. My brother and his family, my niece’s new husband all enjoyed their first cruise that they have cruises plan in the future.

[Sauer-kraut]

Thanks for your review, I enjoyed reading about the ports and the helpful tips on what to do in each one. :)

[travelling fools]

Great info on ship,ports and the wifi hotspots.

Thanks !

[pictonite]

We're doing the Greek island part in October. Thanks for all the information - especially about the bus in Corfu! That's one place where we do not have a tour planned. Good to hear that the cruise was a success.

[ROCruiser]

Thanks for the positive comments.

I did not mention anything about entertainment on the Gem because we only saw one show during the 2 weeks. Most of the time we just wanted to relax and enjoy quiet time. The Spinneker Lounge is a great place to be if nothing is going on there. Love their funky lounges/sofas/beds. It's a cheap alternative to the spa.

Also, we never had to wait for tables when we dined at 6:30 or 7:00. There were many Europeans on board and I believe they like to have dinner later in the evening. The dining rooms get crowded around 8.

[ROCruiser]

 

Trying out posting pictures here. Main street Old Town, Dubrovnik from the wall.

[LJH1]

ROCruiser thanks for your detailed review. Can you give some in on "euro" situation, such as should you buy some before leaving home, were you able to exchange on ship?

[Freckles_51]

Thanks for your review and great tips :)

A few questions...

 

Which night was lobster night for each week?

 

Which of the 2 MDRs is the more casual one?

 

Can you remember the time that they gave out tender tickets for Dubrovnik....just asking because our M & G may be that morning and we don't want to miss early tickets ;)

 

Do you have Dailies for the Dubrovnik/Greece/Turkey week that you could possibly scan and email?

 

Thanks

[Freckles_51]

ROCruiser thanks for your detailed review. Can you give some in on "euro" situation, such as should you buy some before leaving home, were you able to exchange on ship?

 

The ship charges $10 commission per transaction :eek:

[LJH1]

The ship charges $10 commission per transaction :eek:

My x wife didn't even charge that much. Ridiculas!

[ROCruiser]

ROCruiser thanks for your detailed review. Can you give some in on "euro" situation, such as should you buy some before leaving home, were you able to exchange on ship?

 

We brought euros with us. Did not do any exchange while in Europe.

[ROCruiser]

Thanks for your review and great tips :)

A few questions...

 

Which night was lobster night for each week?

 

Which of the 2 MDRs is the more casual one?

 

Can you remember the time that they gave out tender tickets for Dubrovnik....just asking because our M & G may be that morning and we don't want to miss early tickets ;)

 

Do you have Dailies for the Dubrovnik/Greece/Turkey week that you could possibly scan and email?

 

Thanks

 

 

Lobster night was the 2nd "dress-up-or-not" night of the week.

 

Magenta is the more casual main dining room.

 

I believe they scheduled 9am for tender tickets distribution for Dubrovnik. Usually they begin 10 or 15 minutes before scheduled time. If you want to be on the first 2 tenders, I suggest getting in line at least 40 minutes before start time.

 

I collected all the dailies until the last day when I had to throw them all out because of luggage space/weigh. Sorry.

[Freckles_51]

Thanks for the info ROCruiser....lobster looks yummy! I don't suppose you can remember if this was served on the same day as Mykonos port? We're planning specialty restaurant that day to celebrate my friend's b'day, but might change the specialty night so as not to miss the lobster.:)

[ROCruiser]

Hi, Freckles 51,

 

If I remember correctly, lobsters were served on Thursdays both weeks. Which means it was the day for Napflion (for us it was the half day in Athens), and the day for Iraklion.

 

Enjoy!

[Freckles_51]

Hi, Freckles 51,

 

If I remember correctly, lobsters were served on Thursdays both weeks. Which means it was the day for Napflion (for us it was the half day in Athens), and the day for Iraklion.

 

Enjoy!

 

Great...thanks again :)