Back from Gem - June 12-19 2011

[Mark O]

Thought I'd jot down a few comments regarding our experience on the Gem. This won't be quite as detailed as some reviews I've read, but hopefully will provide some perspective.

As you can see by my signature, we've only cruised RCCL and Celebrity in the past 10 years, mostly RCCL. This was our first venture with NCL, mostly because we wanted to do Bermuda and NCL's pricing was the most favorable of the competing cruise lines.

All in all, we loved the cruise. The Gem is a beautiful ship, nicely decorated, and the crew stands out because mostly everyone looks you in the eye and says good morning, good evening, etc. The ship's officers are available wherever you look, and are not standoffish at all - in fact, they welcome the opportunity to talk with you about anything. While I don't have any major complaints about RCCL’s staff, I think NCL (at least this week's Gem staff) gets the edge in terms of crew friendliness and service.

Embarkation was easy and non-eventful. We arrived pretty early - at about 9:45, and we were one of the first groups processed. The cruise terminal check-in was more crowded and claustrophobic than I've recently experienced in the Florida ports, but that's probably a function of NYC real estate, and I don't consider this a negative at all. I don't remember the exact time we boarded, but it was probably around 11:30 as our cruise pictures were in the 11am -12 noon section of the photo shop. We were told that our cabins were ready when we boarded, but upon arrival, the cabin stewards were still working on them. However, they were more than willing to let you drop your belongings in the cabin.

For this cruise, we took an inside cabin. It seemed more spacious than other similar sized cabins we've had, and the shower and bathroom as a whole were roomier. There was more shelf space and closet space than we needed. Even our daughter, holed up in another inside cabin with three friends, had enough drawer, shelf and closet space. Of note, the room for 4 had the standard two beds, one pull down bed, and one trundle bed. After the cabins were turned down, their cabin became one big bed with little room to move about. Keep that in mind if you are putting four in a cabin. However, they did manage to entertain three friends for drinks …a total of seven in the cabin after the beds were turned down. During the cruise, we had a mix of bathroom towels, and some of the towels were particularly high quality – they felt brand new and plusher than your standard hotel/ship towel that’s been washed hundreds of times.

I'll preface my next comments by saying that I'm not one of those people that will only say nice things about cruises. I speak the truth - good or bad. In my recent experience, standard cruise food on RCCL in the free venues has taken a turn for the worse over recent years. To us, the quality was comparable on NCL as well. In particular, the dinner choices weren't particularly appealing, although they usually had at least two appetizers (starters) that were interesting. The "available everyday" menu included salmon, which I tried once, and I would say it was really well-prepared. In addition, the Curry Chicken, one of the menu choices on Thursday, I think, was outstanding - my favorite dish by far. The lobster tails were small and were not particularly hot when served (a number of the hot dishes weren't always served hot). To the waiter's credit, he brought each of us two lobster tails without us having to ask. We had dinner in the Magenta (2 nights) and the Grand Pacific (5 nights) and ate all our breakfasts and lunches in the Garden Cafe, by the pool, or at the Great Outdoors. The breakfast and lunch choices at these venues were bountiful, and nicely presented. We particularly loved the pretzel bread, the Caeser salad (with anchovies, if desired) and I liked the Indian food choices that were always available. Burgers and hotdogs were always available somewhere. I thought the burgers were a little greasy. On the sea days, there was usually a deck barbeque, which always smelled good. I also thought the staff running the omelet stations were not too experienced making omelets. Of note, they used way too much oil for each omelet (ask for cooking spray instead), took way too long to make each omelet, and even though there were sometimes two omelet burners at the station and a line of 6-8 passengers waiting, they were only making one omelet at a time, which caused some unhappy people. The roast chicken at Garden Café was excellent, as were the plentiful cookies and banana bread. The Chocolate Delight was a sight to see, but from a taste point of view, the chocolates were just ok. At the back of the Garden Café, ice cream (soft serve or hard ice cream, yogurt, or sherbet) was available almost all day. The peach and strawberry yogurts were extremely good, but we found that even though this is an inside venue, the ice cream was often very soft and close to melted as they scooped it into cones for you. The Blue Lagoon is a 24-hour free venue for such things as Buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks, etc. Our party enjoyed the chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks, but did not enjoy the spinach artichoke dip. Overall, service at this restaurant was so-so – either very slow, or they brought your food – starters and main courses – all at the same time. Overall, the Gem offered a larger variety of foods at more venues than we’d been used to. This was a definite positive!!

Freestyle Dining - We were hesitant about this, since we'd rather not have to wait for a table like we do on land at the restaurants we frequent. We tried to get reservations for our party of six early on the first day but were told that only parties of 12 or more can make a reservation in the "free" dining rooms. Another member of my party was told that parties of 11 or more can make reservations, and a friend we made on the cruise told us that he was told that parties of six or more can make reservations. Nevertheless, our party of six arrived at the Magenta Dining Room on the first night at 7:30, got seated promptly, but we were less than impressed with the service. Don't expect the waiters to tell you all about the different selections or schmooze with you. It's pretty much - "would you like to order now?" I attended the Meet and Greet on the first sea day, and conversed with the Hotel Manager, Noel, and told him that this was our first cruise on NCL, and that we felt that the relationship with the waiter and the predictability of having a table ready at a certain time were things we thought we would miss. He offered to make reservations for the rest of the cruise for us, and I took him up on this. As it turned out, the third night we were seated at Norman's table in Grand Pacific and we just loved him, so we modified all our reservations to ensure that he was our waiter each night. Another idea is to visit the restaurant reservation hostess located next to guest services on deck 7 and have her make your reservations. If, like us, you plan to avoid the specialty restaurants, I feel this was a happy medium (compromise) between NCL's pure freestyle approach and the two seating approach on the RCCL ships that we've traveled on.

The entertainment was first class. In particular, we were lucky enough to see Terence B, a stage hypnotist. This is a do not miss if you are lucky enough to have him on your cruise. He was amazing. The Newlywed Game and Quest are pretty much slight variations on RCCL's version of the same. Don't miss the White Hot Party...and when you arrive at the party and get your photo taken with the angel and a very tall Jamaican guy dressed in white (that’s Norman, who was also our waiter in the Grand Pacific), say hi from Mark and Penny. Another great show was the Man from Mars – sort of a Circ du Soleil type show . . . very professionally presented. The Cruise Director (Sinan, from Turkey) is one of the best. High energy, good sense of humor, and very engaging!

Alcoholic entertainment - our daughter and her friends (ages 21-22) participated in the two bar crawls ($25 each for six drinks at five bars over the course of one hour) and my wife and I participated in the first of three martini tastings ($15 lets you sample 5 different martinis). I’m told that the bar crawls had a wide age range (20s to 50s). If you’re into shots, adult bar games, and quick drinking, this is for you. If not, you may want to skip this event. The martini tasting was great - way too much vodka for my 55 year-old body lol). We also picked up some $4.95 margaritas at the Tequila Bar at Margarita Madness (4:30 on select days).

Pictures - NCL recently bought out the company that takes the photos on board their ships, so now they don't have to share the commissions. Nevertheless, the photo process is much the same as we’ve previously experienced on other ships. There were virtually no lines for photos, probably because people were eating at various times and not just an early and late seating. The pictures were good quality, and they gave you a choice between 8x10s and 6x8s.

Library/game room – these rooms were located on deck 12, and were outside vs. inside, as they are on the RCCL ships we’ve been on. The natural light and the location made these places much more accessible and, in my opinion, they got more use than the same types of rooms on RCCL. One criticism of the library – you could only check out books if someone from the ship was manning the library. In my experience, RCCL relies on the honor system, and I’ve not seen any shortage of books on their ships.

We didn't do any ship excursions. On Day 1 in Bermuda, it was overcast, so we took the ferry to Hamilton, walked to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute in Hamilton ($12.50 to see stuff about the history/formation of Bermuda, shipwrecks, the Titanic, the Bermuda Triangle, etc). Took a little over an hour to complete this museum, and we all felt it was worth it. Lunch is very expensive in Hamilton, so I headed back to the ship while the younger members of my party (21-22) grabbed a quick lunch at the Pickled Onion. Unlike many other places in Hamilton, this was more casual – they allowed men to wear caps and tank tops. The kids ordered sandwiches and quesadillas for $14.95 and water to save money. That night, after the show on board the ship, we went to the Frog and Onion in Kings Wharf for a drink. Typical pub - nothing to write home about. They had a few interesting beer varieties, but the drinks were not too strong. On Day 2, we hired Collin Jennings, a Bermuda taxi driver who is written about in detail in the Bermuda area of Cruise Critic, to show us around Bermuda. We spent just over four hours with him, during which time he covered pretty much everything you’d want to see in Bermuda and showed us places you’d never have been able to see on your own. He’s doesn’t have a very outgoing personality, but he is very nice and you can ask him anything and he’ll have a story about it. We had him drop us at Horseshoe Bay, where we enjoyed the sun, beach and ocean for the afternoon. We then took a bus back to the ship. On Day 3 we stayed in King's Wharf, visiting Snorkel Beach (note, there's a $5 admission fee now) and doing some shopping at the shops there.

Since we didn't have air arrangements to deal with, we took advantage of the duty free shopping on board the ship for alcohol. We bought two bottles of Sheridan's Coffee Layered Liqueur (the liqueur is on one side of the bottle, the cream on the other) for $40 (this is not available in the US, and was really tasty); two bottles of Goslings 80 proof rum (one light and one dark) for $25, and two bottles of Absolut vodka at 2 for $25. I didn't price all of these in Bermuda - but at one liquor store in Hamilton the Goslings 80 proof rum was $13 per bottle, so I guess we got a slight discount on the ship. Other on-board alcohol deals included Grey Goose at 2 for $60; 140 proof Goslings Rum (2 for $30) and off -ship, we think we saw Patron for $33.

Gym – The gym experience could have been better. There was no place to stretch. Members of my party had to wait for equipment (especially ellipticals and treadmills) at 7:30 am and 3:00 pm. Several of the machines were out of order the whole week. However, the Precor equipment is good quality equipment when working.

 

Other niceties – The cold washcloths at the gym and upon arriving back at the ship from Bermuda was a welcome perk and very thoughtful. At the various casual venues, extra place settings and cloth napkins were available at the table. Ships’ officers greeted us prior to boarding the ship on the last day in Bermuda, which was just another example of how the officers made themselves available to passengers and showed that they care. On the morning of debarkation, NCL invites passengers to continue their cruise by having a full breakfast available in the Garden Café and at the Grand Pacific restaurant. Omelets were even available, as was room service on the morning of departure. The pool and Jacuzzis were also open. The photo shop was open for last minute purchases, and you could also buy coffee drinks, alcoholic drinks, etc at the Java Café, or Mimosas, Bloody Mary’s or Screwdrivers at breakfast. I have to say that NCL gets thumbs up for the debarkation day activities – they make you feel like you are still on your cruise on the last day. RCCL definitely makes you feel that you are leaving, with limited food choices and virtually no activities available on debarkation day.

Coffee – I’ve always liked being able to get a cup of coffee with a flavored creamer on the Promenade on the Explorer, Freedom or Oasis class ships. Coffee is available on the Gem at the eating locations, but there were no flavored creamers. It wasn’t a big deal – I took a hiatus from coffee for the week.

Debarkation – This was handled quite well by NCL. Passengers choose their departure time and select luggage tags corresponding to the time they need to leave. We selected pink tags for a 9:00 departure. We ate a leisurely breakfast in the Garden Café, but there were a plethora of other activities we could have taken advantage of. We were called on time, lined up (the line stretched all the way to the photo gallery), but the line moved rapidly. We easily located our luggage, went through Customs, and were walking out of the terminal by 9:35 am.

[OchreHand]

Excellent review. I'm heading to the Gem for the first time in a couple of weeks and can't wait. I will agree that the staff are some of the most friendliest and hospitable, I felt very comfortable with the crew on the NCL Dawn.

 

In Bermuda, how was the water temp? I went last year around early June and it was a little too cool for me.

[Sandyrella]

What a great and thorough review! I realize that you chose not to dine at the specialty restaurants but do you know if any of the venues were offering a two for one on Bermuda night? On our Spirit cruise last year they were offering this at the Bistro, Asian and Italian venues.

 

To ochrehand: I rarely go in the water when I cruise but I think I spend most two hours in the water at horseshoe bay. If the water was cold, I didn't noticed because the sun was HOT !!!

[Mark O]

Excellent review. I'm heading to the Gem for the first time in a couple of weeks and can't wait. I will agree that the staff are some of the most friendliest and hospitable, I felt very comfortable with the crew on the NCL Dawn.

 

In Bermuda, how was the water temp? I went last year around early June and it was a little too cool for me.

 

It felt a little chilly at first, but the sun was really strong, so after a quick dunk, it was very refreshing. We spent about 45 minutes in the water, if that helps.

[Mark O]

What a great and thorough review! I realize that you chose not to dine at the specialty restaurants but do you know if any of the venues were offering a two for one on Bermuda night? On our Spirit cruise last year they were offering this at the Bistro, Asian and Italian venues.

 

To ochrehand: I rarely go in the water when I cruise but I think I spend most two hours in the water at horseshoe bay. If the water was cold, I didn't noticed because the sun was HOT !!!

 

Sorry, I didn't notice. Had I known, I might have opted for one of the specialty restaurants.

[OchreHand]

Thanks for the answers. Hot sun, cool water doesn't sound so bad after all.

[andychris]

strong. On Day 2, we hired Collin Jennings, a Bermuda taxi driver who is written about in detail in the Bermuda area of Cruise Critic, to show us around Bermuda. We spent just over four hours with him, during which time he covered pretty much everything you’d want to see in Bermuda and showed us places you’d never have been able to see on your own. He’s doesn’t have a very outgoing personality, but he is very nice and you can ask him anything and he’ll have a story about it. We had him drop us at Horseshoe Bay, where we enjoyed the sun, beach and ocean for the afternoon. We then took a bus back to the ship. On Day 3 we stayed in King's Wharf, visiting Snorkel Beach (note, there's a $5 admission fee now) and doing some shopping at

 

 

thanks for the review-may I ask how much the taxi ride around was?

[Mark O]

thanks for the review-may I ask how much the taxi ride around was?

 

Taxi rates are prescribed by the government of Bermuda. $40 per hr for 1-4 people; 5-6 people was $55 per hr; as we had 6 ppl in our party, we paid $55 per hr. we hired him for 4 hrs but since the tour lasted 4.5 hrs, we paid him the pro-rated amount at the $55 rate.

[Cruiser1978]

Thanks so much! I've sailed NCL from NY before and am going again in two weeks with a group of 23 - I'm grateful you had so many positives to share AND to hear that Sinan was the CD! He was our ass't CD last year and we loved him!

[Louiseec]

You forgot to mention the medical emergency.

[andychris]

Taxi rates are prescribed by the government of Bermuda. $40 per hr for 1-4 people; 5-6 people was $55 per hr; as we had 6 ppl in our party, we paid $55 per hr. we hired him for 4 hrs but since the tour lasted 4.5 hrs, we paid him the pro-rated amount at the $55 rate.

 

thank you

[halos]

Very nice review, Mark. So, would you sail NCL again in the future?

[Mark O]

Very nice review, Mark. So, would you sail NCL again in the future?

 

Thanks. Yes I would definitely sail NCL again. In fact, I made a $250 deposit towards a future cruise and received $100 on-board credit for this cruise.

 

For those who don't know about the program, you have four years to take a 6 night or longer sailing with the $250 deposit you make on the current cruise, and get $100 on the current cruise in shipboard credit. The deposit is transferable, so there's little risk.

[Mark O]

You forgot to mention the medical emergency.

 

Oh yes, there was a crew member (dishwasher, I believe) who was taken ill and required hospitalization. The captain informed us of this at 9am Tuesday, and he increased to maximum speed (29 knots) so we could arrive at St George to have the crew member transferred. We arrived off the coast of St George at around 7pm, and a pilot boat came to the ship, at which time the crew member was transferred. We then went back out to sea for the evening, and arrived in King's Wharf the following morning. I was told that the crew member is doing well.

[TableFor2]

Could you please let me know if there were any indoor pools/and or covered besides the spa ones which have a fee.

[youngestof9]

Mark thanks so much for all the info in this review. Can't wait to sail!!

[Mark O]

Could you please let me know if there were any indoor pools/and or covered besides the spa ones which have a fee.

 

I did not see any indoor pools. However, there was a separate children's pool.

[Mark O]

Mark thanks so much for all the info in this review. Can't wait to sail!!

 

Thanks so much. I know you'll have a great time. It really was an amazing experience.