Gem six days to bermuda - just returned

[rikatine]

Just got back from our shortened cruise to Bermuda. What has been going on while we were gone? What happened with the pax of the cruise before us? We got $100 on board credit per cabin.

[edawn]

Did you have a good time? We're leaving next Sunday :)

[Lovely_Star]

I really don't know. I was looking for an influx of reviews after that 8 day cruise...really didn't notice anything different.

[njhorseman]

I recall one post mentioning the typical contingent of irate, ill-behaved passengers loudly blaming NCL and the ship's captain for the way they chose to change the ship's itinerary in response to the storm. It turns out that it wasn't necessary to leave Bermuda a day early, but hindsight is always 20-20 and IMO it's ridiculous to criticize a decision that was made to ensure the safety of the passengers and crew.

[AttilaTheFun]

Just got back from our shortened cruise to Bermuda. What has been going on while we were gone? What happened with the pax of the cruise before us? We got $100 on board credit per cabin.

 

Thanks for the update! Glad to see they gave something to make up for the lost day. If you haven't seen already, there are about a billion posts of people arguing over whether NCL would/should give something. That horse was beaten DEAD lol.

[bluesea777]

I recall one post mentioning the typical contingent of irate, ill-behaved passengers loudly blaming NCL and the ship's captain for the way they chose to change the ship's itinerary in response to the storm. It turns out that it wasn't necessary to leave Bermuda a day early, but hindsight is always 20-20 and IMO it's ridiculous to criticize a decision that was made to ensure the safety of the passengers and crew.

 

Looked like the captain made decision on leaving Bermuda a day early thinking they'd get to New York one day early on the Saturday, but as it turned out there was no available berth for the ship, hence they had to spend 2 extra days at sea - it was a very rough ride.

[jimswims]

Just got back from our shortened cruise to Bermuda. What has been going on while we were gone? What happened with the pax of the cruise before us? We got $100 on board credit per cabin.

 

Nice. I am looking forward to your review.

[bjinouno]

Just got back from our shortened cruise to Bermuda. What has been going on while we were gone? What happened with the pax of the cruise before us? We got $100 on board credit per cabin.

 

 

Hi welcome back, sorry u had to miss a day... what kind of cabin were u in that only 100.00 per cabin OBC.. was that a all around for the ship? I'm still debating on cruise insurance, OF will it Pay off to get it, I'm not flying, live close to port, I'm just concerned on the delay or the shortened cruise, and 100.00 is not going to cover my lost expense? We have a Penthouse,

 

Maybe some one out there will have a anwer for me...

[rikatine]

We did have a nice cruise overall. The weather was not that good in Bermuda. We were in an aft balcony cabin, and no $100 does not cover our one day loss. I will get working on my review. If there are any questions now, let me know, and I will try to cover them in my review as well as here.

[AuntieBarb]

Well as it stands now, the next Gem cruise will NOT be going to Bermuda at all. Their itinerary has been changed to Cape Canaveral & Bahamas instead.

 

The cruise lines have to make decisions they feel are best for everyone's safety.

[Alegeeter]

Here is my review of the 8 day 8/21 cruise on the Gem: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1473703

 

It was a rough ride but the general passenger and crew attitude on board was very positive. Looks like we're the cruise that lucked out in all this between your shortened day and this next cruise's change in itinerary, sorry rikatine. We got our $30 port charges back and had an extra day where we didn't have to pay tips. We also had the only 2 sunny days in Bermuda that the crew had seen in over 6 weeks. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that weather continued into your cruise.

 

Glad to see you still enjoyed yourself.

[dongordon]

Well as it stands now, the next Gem cruise will NOT be going to Bermuda at all. Their itinerary has been changed to Cape Canaveral & Bahamas instead.

 

The cruise lines have to make decisions they feel are best for everyone's safety.

 

Is that the cruise leaving today - September 4th?

[OchreHand]

Is that the cruise leaving today - September 4th?

 

Yep it is. My parents are on today's sailing and called me from the terminal this morning to let me know about their itinerary change.

 

I feel disappointed for them. Bahamas and GSC are probably beautiful (never been) but they were really looking forward to Bermuda for the first time. Oh well! More reason for them to try again next year... preferably not during hurricane season.

[jimswims]

Here is my review of the 8 day 8/21 cruise on the Gem: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1473703

 

It was a rough ride but the general passenger and crew attitude on board was very positive. Looks like we're the cruise that lucked out in all this between your shortened day and this next cruise's change in itinerary, sorry rikatine. We got our $30 port charges back and had an extra day where we didn't have to pay tips. We also had the only 2 sunny days in Bermuda that the crew had seen in over 6 weeks. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that weather continued into your cruise.

 

Glad to see you still enjoyed yourself.

 

Are you saying that previously there was bad weather on the Gem Bermuda cruises? We had fantastic weather every day on our Gem cruise and we went 8-7 to 8-14. It rained at 11:00 pm one evening and also for about 15-20 minutes on Friday afternoon the whole week.

[njhorseman]

Looked like the captain made decision on leaving Bermuda a day early thinking they'd get to New York one day early on the Saturday, but as it turned out there was no available berth for the ship, hence they had to spend 2 extra days at sea - it was a very rough ride.

 

There would have been three ships in port...the Gem, HA's Veendam, and a Carnival ship. Piers 88 and 90 can easily accommodate that...I've seen it and it's not uncommon in the summer. Once in a while 4 ships are in port there at the same time...so I don't buy the "no available berth" explanation.

[rikatine]

The Captain told us that the port was actually closed down on Saturday, and that they didn't really have an option to come in. It makes sense with all mass transit closed down at noon too.

[njhorseman]

The Captain told us that the port was actually closed down on Saturday, and that they didn't really have an option to come in. It makes sense with all mass transit closed down at noon too.

 

I believe Carnival and HA were able to get their ships into NY before the port closed because they made a conscious decision to get to NY early from the start. NCL's announced plan was to leave Bermuda early but they sort of played it loose in the hope that the storm would have cleared through NY earlier than it actually did, allowing them to make port sometime on Sunday, even if was a couple of hours later than normal. In the end that decision forced them to stay out at sea an extra day.

[CPT Trips]

Yep it is. My parents are on today's sailing and called me from the terminal this morning to let me know about their itinerary change.

 

I feel disappointed for them. Bahamas and GSC are probably beautiful (never been) but they were really looking forward to Bermuda for the first time. Oh well! More reason for them to try again next year... preferably not during hurricane season.

 

Avoiding hurricane season pretty much means going before it's really beach weather. :(

[CruiserCindy]

Here is my review of the 8 day 8/21 cruise on the Gem: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1473703

 

It was a rough ride but the general passenger and crew attitude on board was very positive. Looks like we're the cruise that lucked out in all this between your shortened day and this next cruise's change in itinerary, sorry rikatine. We got our $30 port charges back and had an extra day where we didn't have to pay tips. We also had the only 2 sunny days in Bermuda that the crew had seen in over 6 weeks. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that weather continued into your cruise.

 

Glad to see you still enjoyed yourself.

I am really surprised that you did not pay tips for the extra day you had on your cruise. The services of the attendants were still used. When we were on a cruise and ended up with 2 extra days because of a hurricane ,we left extra tips for our attendants.(After-all we got two free days of cruising!)

[njhorseman]

I am really surprised that you did not pay tips for the extra day you had on your cruise. The services of the attendants were still used. When we were on a cruise and ended up with 2 extra days because of a hurricane ,we left extra tips for our attendants.(After-all we got two free days of cruising!)

 

It's one thing for passengers to voluntarily tip crew for the extra day, and I suspect at least some did, but it would be wrong for NCL to force it on them by adding it to the DSC. That might cause a full-scale riot on board.

[CruiserCindy]

It's one thing for passengers to voluntarily tip crew for the extra day, and I suspect at least some did, but it would be wrong for NCL to force it on them by adding it to the DSC. That might cause a full-scale riot on board.

That is true. We were asked to leave extra tips for the crew and we did. I just felt bad for the cruisers that were supposed to get the next cruise. They lost 2 days!!!:)

[Crusin6]

Just got back from our shortened cruise to Bermuda. What has been going on while we were gone? What happened with the pax of the cruise before us? We got $100 on board credit per cabin.

welcome home...and btw...how was the drive to NYC? What route did you finally wind up taking? Were the roads OK? What time did you leave home?

[spacewoman]

If the Gem came in early Saturday morning this still would have created a mess for those coming and going as the city essentially shut down by noon. Wasn't the George Washington Bridge closed down that day as well?

 

I'm sure Carnival and HAL both had a heck of a time getting everyone off early. Any posts about that on those boards?

 

This whole thing was a no-win situation all around.

 

For those of you who take daily prescriptions ------ I always make DH take an extra day's meds. We have never been delayed coming back, but our second cruise we were delayed boarding by almost a day. In the Gem's case there may have been a lot of people trying to manage without a day's prescriptions. That's not a good thing.

 

Sorry for the folks who now are heading to Florida instead of Bermuda. Unfortunately those leaving next weekend might have the same trouble. They can't make up their minds where this Katia is going. We're out on the Jewel next weekend and we've told a new cruiser traveling with us understand that we may have our itinerary changed. It is what it is and the important thing is to keep us all safe. I love Bermuda and would be a bit bummed not to be going there, but I'd understand.

 

Hope no one has a wedding planned in Bermuda though ---- remember a couple of years ago someone tried to sue one of the lines because their itinerary was changed and they couldn't get married in Bermuda!!!

 

Kathy

[rikatine]

Here is my review of the 8 day 8/21 cruise on the Gem: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1473703

 

It was a rough ride but the general passenger and crew attitude on board was very positive. Looks like we're the cruise that lucked out in all this between your shortened day and this next cruise's change in itinerary, sorry rikatine. We got our $30 port charges back and had an extra day where we didn't have to pay tips. We also had the only 2 sunny days in Bermuda that the crew had seen in over 6 weeks. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that weather continued into your cruise.

 

Glad to see you still enjoyed yourself.

 

Thanks for the link to your review. I enjoyed reading it. Sorry to hear you had to wait so long to dine. We eat early, so we did not find it to be a problem, and we are only 2, if that makes a difference.

 

We were so impressed with the Captain Roger as well. We were lucky enough to dine with him, and it really made our cruise unique.

[rikatine]

welcome home...and btw...how was the drive to NYC? What route did you finally wind up taking? Were the roads OK? What time did you leave home?

 

We left at 7:30 am. A lot of the parkways were closed, so we took the Taconic to the Sprain, which had bumper to bumper traffic, so we got off at Tuckahoe Rd, and crossed over to 87. The we got off on some local streets and made our way over to 9A, the Henry Hudson Pkwy. It took 2 1/2 instead of 1 1/2 hours. I like to get to the port early, and we got there at 10. It was Monday instead of Sunday, so the traffic was probably normal, except everyone was on the Sprain with the Saw Mill and other Pkwys closed.