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Gem delay for 12/11/10 sailing

Planer's Edge

By Planer's Edge,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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njhorseman

njhorseman

Posted
Posted
Sailed the Gem on 11/27 and we were delayed after returning to NYC due to a sick passenger. We left well after 7pm and made it to Orlando by noon on Monday. To me this smells of a just an extra sea-day to generate more income! I don't like the approach of what NCL is pulling ................

 

They're skipping GSC, which is also an income generator for the cruise line, so I don't agree with your conclusion.

 

After seeing the rescheduling of the Jewel last week and the Gem this week, my guess is that after the installation of the azipod thrust bearings they can't immediately go full-throttle as perhaps there is some break-in and testing that has to take place.

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Crusin6

Crusin6

Posted
Posted
I know this sucks for those traveling, but you really have to feel for some of NCL's staff. Another week of shuffling things around and dealing with unhappy customers. Better than last week, but still some real hassles.

 

Like a few others posted - no way in h e l l are they gonna turn that thing around in two hours. Why would they even post that?

I agree...but if they are using their brains they may have stocked the galley in Boston and let's not forget that the cabins are unused and the staff should be getting everything in order while they sail down from Boston...they won't though and it will be a massive delay and a madhouse in NYC...especially at 5pm on a Saturday night two weeks before Christmas.

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enjoying travel

enjoying travel

Posted
Posted

The site is MarineTraffic.com

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?centerx=30&centery=25&zoom=2&level1=140#

 

This site shows the Gem sailing at 21.9 knots and she is currently south of Eastern Suffolk County,NY. Unless she slows down dramatically before reaching the harbor, she should get to the pier before 5PM. Of course I am going to be a passenger I am not a sailor. I am just telling everyone what I see posted

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Planer's Edge

Planer's Edge

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Any word on when the Gem did leave NY yesterday? NCL will never be able to please everyone no matter what they do, but hopefully most of the passengers can get past the delay and have a great time.

She left a little after 9pm EST and was last marked at just east of southern Delaware puttering along at about 17 knots.

 

PE

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arielmurphy

arielmurphy

Posted
Posted

They pulled away at 9:24. I was told that almost everyone was in good spirits. They didn't start loading all the passengers until after 6:00 because they were loading up the stores first. They had done as much IT work as possible beforehand to make embarkation as quick as possible.

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camz

camz

Posted
Posted
Sailed the Gem on 11/27 and we were delayed after returning to NYC due to a sick passenger. We left well after 7pm and made it to Orlando by noon on Monday. To me this smells of a just an extra sea-day to generate more income! I don't like the approach of what NCL is pulling ................

 

Sorry, however, I don't see this as logical with NCL's prospective. GSC is a major money maker for them. I could see a concern if they took away time from Nassau or other ports, however, not their own. I agree with another poster that they do not want to over push the engine work that was just performed. That would not be a good idea at all. The $100 onboard credit is another good faith effort from NCL, which I believe should be given praise on their part. Travel plans of all kinds from time-to-time get delays. Airlines delay or cancel flights all the time. Once in a while cruise itinerarites need to be changed as well. It may not be all that often, however, circumstance sometimes warrant these changes. All-in-all NCL stepped up once again to accommodate their passengers the best they could given the circumstances. :)

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krzjaz11703

krzjaz11703

Posted
Posted
Can we request a full refund because of this? I mean it does change things quite a bit. Personally based on the weather this upcoming week, i rather go to warmer skies.

I aggree, we should get a full refund! We left even later than they stated after each of the delays, no great stirrup cay, florida nobody cares about it was frozen any you could drive there, and only 3 hours of sun off the ship in the nassau because of " local protest, ship papers not in order, labor dispute" depends on what crew memeber you ask! This was a trip to nowhere! Thats not what I paid for!!! Wii Wall was rarely open, only when you begged and it was only open 45 min every other day or so. It was only an NCL advertizing comercial Wall! Rock wall was hardly ever open, again we had to complain to even get to use that. Not to mention the lines for the Wi and Rock wall. The soda card was a waste of money!!! And the "automatic optional gratuity" is BS considering the charge an additional 18% gratuity. They lost our luggage for several hours and ruined our first night, we could not shower or anything with out our clothes! anbody a lawyer? What about that class action law suit we all wrote our names addresses and phone numbers down for? Anybody hear from him yet?

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bob brown

bob brown

Posted
Posted

I was on that cruise. You cannot blame NCL for the unseasonable cold weather we had. As far as rescheduling....under the circumstances, I think NCL made the best choice. True, whatever they chose, some would be unhappy. By slowing down and arriving early on the third day, those going to the Orlando theme parks had a longer than normal time to enjoy those venues. And it was really too cold to spend a day at the beach at GSC. So Nassau was a good choice, and it warmed up enough to enjoy our time there for the most part. And we got back on schedule

Those on the Jewel the previous week got back 1/7 of their fare in addition to the $100. OBC. But they sailed over a day late. We only sailed about 5 hours late, and we got the $100. credit. So I think thats pretty fair. I didn't lose anything on shore excursions, as I did not book any. Perhaps those that did might be entitled to a bit more compensation.

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kwokpot

kwokpot

Posted
Posted

I was also on this cruise, and while I had an OK time, I will make the following observations:

* Service In the Grand Pacific Dining Room was slow and disorganized. Slightly better in Magenta.

* Service In La Cucina was terrible (long waits, wrong/missing items) ossobucco entre very good; steak was very fatty & gisly.

* Spa was excellent & worh every penny. Tile loungers very relaxing.

*Buffet food quality wasn't very good, and was exactly the same every day.

*Stateroom attendant and assistant were excellent.

 

The next part of my comment needs qualification. I am a 49 yr old 1st generation Asian-American, with parents that immigrated from China decades ago. Both my parents, were on this cruise, and are fully assimiulated Americans. I have also taken this same cruise about 6 yrs ago, also in Dec., on the Dawn.

 

* I would have to say that this cruise would seem to qualify as an 'IMMERSION Cruise'. I assume that with 2 ships sailing from NYC in the winter, it must be tough filling cabins; therefore, it was quite evident that NCL target marketed the Immigrant Chinese community in the metro NYC area.

I have never seem so many Chinese-Americans on a non-chartered cruiseship(this was my 25th cruise in 11 yrs) I would say this sailing had about 30-40% Chinese Amercians on board; multi generational. There were so many chinese on board that half way on the cruise the buffet started to serve congee (rice porrridge) at breakfast.

The next largest ethic group were Russians. It made for a very, very interesting cruise.

 

 

 

5

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njhorseman

njhorseman

Posted
Posted
I was also on this cruise, and while I had an OK time, I will make the following observations:

* Service In the Grand Pacific Dining Room was slow and disorganized. Slightly better in Magenta.

* Service In La Cucina was terrible (long waits, wrong/missing items) ossobucco entre very good; steak was very fatty & gisly.

* Spa was excellent & worh every penny. Tile loungers very relaxing.

*Buffet food quality wasn't very good, and was exactly the same every day.

*Stateroom attendant and assistant were excellent.

 

The next part of my comment needs qualification. I am a 49 yr old 1st generation Asian-American, with parents that immigrated from China decades ago. Both my parents, were on this cruise, and are fully assimiulated Americans. I have also taken this same cruise about 6 yrs ago, also in Dec., on the Dawn.

 

* I would have to say that this cruise would seem to qualify as an 'IMMERSION Cruise'. I assume that with 2 ships sailing from NYC in the winter, it must be tough filling cabins; therefore, it was quite evident that NCL target marketed the Immigrant Chinese community in the metro NYC area.

I have never seem so many Chinese-Americans on a non-chartered cruiseship(this was my 25th cruise in 11 yrs) I would say this sailing had about 30-40% Chinese Amercians on board; multi generational. There were so many chinese on board that half way on the cruise the buffet started to serve congee (rice porrridge) at breakfast.

The next largest ethic group were Russians. It made for a very, very interesting cruise.

 

 

 

5

 

I'm not sure it was quite 30-40%, but there was also a very large percentage of Chinese-American passengers on the 12/12 - 12/19 Jewel cruise.

 

I wasn't on your cruise, but I have been on the Gem four times, and we just got off the Jewel (and have a total of 17 NCL cruises), and I have never found the buffet to have exactly the same selection every day, except at breakfast. While there is a core selection of items offered every day at lunch and dinner, there have always been different hot items at every lunch and dinner buffet we've seen.

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bob brown

bob brown

Posted
Posted
I'm not sure it was quite 30-40%, but there was also a very large percentage of Chinese-American passengers on the 12/12 - 12/19 Jewel cruise.

 

I wasn't on your cruise, but I have been on the Gem four times, and we just got off the Jewel (and have a total of 17 NCL cruises), and I have never found the buffet to have exactly the same selection every day, except at breakfast. While there is a core selection of items offered every day at lunch and dinner, there have always been different hot items at every lunch and dinner buffet we've seen.

Paul, you are correct. We did have some variety on that Gem cruise in the Garden. Just ask me how many barbecue ribs I wolfed down one day they were offered.:D

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Boolie

Boolie

Posted
Posted

To clarify...a passenger died the night before we hit Nassau. Rather than make that announcement (for the family's sake, I'm sure), the "strike" story was announced. The strike could have been genuine or not, no way of knowing. But we got the true version from a very knowledgeable source. A 64-year old woman had a stroke and died. Imagine clearing customs, medical examiners, etc., in a foreign country. Had to be time-consuming for the crew. And so, so, sad and hard on the family, who also had to clear customs, etc., in a foreign country to escort their loved one back home to the USA.

 

Boolie

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kwokpot

kwokpot

Posted
Posted
To clarify...a passenger died the night before we hit Nassau. Rather than make that announcement (for the family's sake, I'm sure), the "strike" story was announced. The strike could have been genuine or not, no way of knowing. But we got the true version from a very knowledgeable source. A 64-year old woman had a stroke and died. Imagine clearing customs, medical examiners, etc., in a foreign country. Had to be time-consuming for the crew. And so, so, sad and hard on the family, who also had to clear customs, etc., in a foreign country to escort their loved one back home to the USA.

 

Boolie

 

Are you sure about that? Or is this IN ADDITION to the sick child that was helicoptered off the ship?

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Boolie

Boolie

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We were informed about it...and saw the ambulance transporting from the ship. Don't know why they used an ambulance, except perhaps to not alarm passengers. This happened Tuesday night and had nothing to do with the child whose life was saved by the medical staff and captain's decision to "put the pedal to the metal" during that storm in order to get to calmer weather and med-evac her to safety.

 

We might have had a rougher than usual sailing, but the staff certainly had their hands full, and, in my opinion, did an outstanding job, considering all they had to deal with.

 

Boolie

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