Positives please!!!

[libertyschool]

OKAY... So my cruise is coming up...May 5th on the Gem. I have been planning/obsessing over this cruise since last August. I booked it as a graduation gift for my daughter. It will be our fist mother/daughter cruise and my first NCL cruise. I've painstakingly planned every aspect of this voyage and have been beside myself with anticipation.

 

As the date approaches there seem to be many negative issues popping up ie: Noro virus rampant on the Gem, cockroaches in someone's bed, reviews about terrible service in the MDR's, change in itinerary resulting in less time at Universal (the reason we picked this itinerary), poor customer service from NCL's shore excursion department, ect. I realize that some of these issues are completely outside of NCL's responsibility and control and the purpose of this thread is not to bash. I'm just feeling really deflated and my joy and excitement is seriously down the tubes about this trip! I would like to read some positive things to focus on to help get my excitement level back up. So PLEASE all you NCL cheerleaders, give me a cheer! :)

[dalgirl]

The GEM is one of my favorite NCL ships - I have NEVER seen an type of bug, etc. on any cruise (NCL or other) that I have been on, they won't let you move without washing your hands 20 times a day, the food is basically good to very good, the entertainment is very good, we were able to book excursions on the TV in our cabin so no one was rude, the ship is beautiful, and the crew is beyond compare.

 

But it is not heaven, it is a vacation. You may have to wait for an elevator, you may not get the best room steward, you may not get that perfect spot by the pool, and the MDR is always slow, so unless you are in the mood to dine (unhurried, a little more wine and conversation), don't eat there, choose from the other restaurants...

 

Cruising, as in life, is what you make of it. Go with your daughter, have a great time, and stop obsessing... you will make yourself sick:) Listen to your Mother.....:p

[youngestof9]

we sailed the Gem in October. The staff was SO friendly. Everywhere you went, they said hello and were smiling. Always there to help if you needed anything. The pool area was great. There were always people there to get drinks for you, but not in your face. The hot tub was a great place to meet people! We met some nice people just hanging out in the tubs.

 

We ate in Teppanyaki - it was delicious and SO fun! They put on a good show. We enjoyed hanging at the Spinnaker bar - sometimes there was bingo or other stuff, but we stopped in for drinks. Bliss was fun to dance.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Gem - Maybe you and your daughter can do a spa day? mani/pedis or facials or something.

 

I know it's discouraging when you hear bad things so close to your cruise. But remember this - there are THOUSANDS of people on these cruises week after week and only a tiny fraction come back and give reviews (good OR bad!). I also think it's almost easier to come here and complain than to write a detailed review. So you'll just see more complaints for that reason.

 

Go - have fun - enjoy it! It's a beautiful ship with a great staff!!

[Choochala]

Someone one these boards has a tag line that reads - "A bad day of cruising is better than a good day at work!" I totally agree!! You will have a blast - just think, you and your daughter - I can't think of a better grad gift for my daughter than what you two are doing! You will have fun no matter what. A trip to remember ;) Take lots of pictures!

[deladypilot]

I have only been on 2 NCL cruises and nothing on either ship was dirty or had bugs. Everyone was very friendly and always willing to help.

 

As far as going to Universal Studios or Disney on an excursion. I would never book one of those excursions on a cruise as the drive time from the ship to them is long and you only get a few hours there. Then its back to the ship. If the theme park is busy, you may only get to ride 1 or 2 rides. If you are trying to get in to see the Harry Potter section of Universal you may wait up to 2 hours just to get into that section of the park, then up to another hour or 2 for each ride.

 

Go and have fun. Do not worry about all the people that spend way to much time picking apart a cruise line. There is someone on each cruise lines boards that seems to always say "It was terrible". So go and enjoy. What a special time for you and your daughter.

[SFO-F/A]

I took my mom on an NCL cruise in Hawaii about 5 years ago.

 

Whenever we are together, she mentions how much she enjoyed the cruise, the ship and the speciality restaurants. Her favorite was Le Bistro.

 

We enjoyed cocktails before dinner, sail away on deck, relaxing on our balcony with a cup of coffee in the morning, a day at the spa.

 

It wasn't about getting off and running ourselves ragged seeing everything we could on each island. (We lived in Hawaii and have seen the islands.) It was about spending quality time together.

 

You and your daughter will have a wonderful time on the Gem. It's a beautiful ship, very clean, lots to do for young and old. You will both come home with great memories that will last a lifetime.

[bonnie voyage]

Relax....you and your daughter will have a wonderful time making memories on your Gem sailing. We have never experienced poor service, dirty rooms or bugs on any cruise with NCL.

[lgfromdg]

I just got off the Gem yesterday. This was our 3rd time on the Gem in a year so we obviously love the ship. Yes, there was Noro, but the precautions that were taken were an inconvenince, not a cruise ruiner.

 

While at sea, I saw a litle bit of the thread that mentioned the roaches. Seems odd to me that one cabin had 3 roaches and no other cabins had any. Our cabin has always been very clean and the public areas of the ship are usually spotless. Last year, we took the Behind the Scenes Tour and the gallies were immaculate. I think you'll be impressed with the cleanliness and appearance of the Gem.

 

The crew of the Gem is amazing - so friendly and helpful. I think you'll have a wonderful cruise.

[debnjoe1438]

Have you ever been in a meeting or conference for Customer Service. I believe the first thing they point out is if someone has a bad experience they will tell 10 people, if they have a good experience they may tell one person.

 

That being said, I would image there are tons of good experiences not being told. While everyone who has a bad experience is telling everyone and then some.

 

Have a good trip.

[computerworks]

We love the Gem. I am sure you will too.

 

Click on the link below (in my sig) for a review with pictures of our most recent trip on the Gem...It will surely lift your "excitement level."

 

Have a great cruise.

[Young@heart25]

I posted about illness (we disembarked yesterday), but we still had a wonderful time. We all agree we can't wait to cruise with NCL again and we loved the Gem. Our experience with the staff wasn't the best, but it wasn't enough to ruin our cruise. I'm sure they were tired and overworked from dealing with the illness (extra cleaning and extra servers needed), I know I would feel the same way.

[Rounder]

Hi Libertyschool.

As far as bed bug's on board any cruise ship goes, they are brought on-board in the luggage, usually from the hotels in port, pre-cruise.

When you can have between 2000, to 4000 people on board, and only one room has them, that's a no brainer. I wouldn't be too concerned about them. Noro, most time's also comes aboard, with the passengers.

We spent 2 week's on the Sun Jan.12,it was awesome, as, others have already stated, some people will complain about anything, some just do it to start a controversy.Every board has it's share of Troll's. :rolleyes: Other's are just constant complainer's. People will blame the weather, the airlines, anything they can on the Cruiseline :mad:

Should you have any issue's while on-board see your Hotel Director, they will bend over backward's to help.

Our HD was Stephen Jacobson, was always around to assist people.

Enjoy your, cruise. NCL,is a great line. ;)

[DevCruise]

I'm just feeling really deflated and my joy and excitement is seriously down the tubes about this trip! I would like to read some positive things to focus on to help get my excitement level back up. So PLEASE all you NCL cheerleaders, give me a cheer! :)

 

Let's look at it this way.....The Gem holds 2,394 passengers assuming double occupancy. Most of the Gem's cruises are 7-day cruises. So that's 2,394 people a week or 124,488 people a year that sail on her assuming that nobody sailed twice and ignoring all the 3rd/4th/etc passengers that might not be accounted for.

 

With the exception of the happy people that are already CC members, most happy people don't look for web forums to go posting their happy reviews on. Not saying the unhappy people don't have a legitimate complaint, but they're the exception and not the norm. If it were the norm, I have a feeling NCL would have gone out of business a long time ago. :)

[DevCruise]

As far as going to Universal Studios or Disney on an excursion. I would never book one of those excursions on a cruise as the drive time from the ship to them is long and you only get a few hours there. Then its back to the ship. If the theme park is busy, you may only get to ride 1 or 2 rides. If you are trying to get in to see the Harry Potter section of Universal you may wait up to 2 hours just to get into that section of the park, then up to another hour or 2 for each ride.

 

It's sad the lines are still that long. I went there once when I was younger (not on a cruise) when they (universal) only had like 4 rides and the lines were 2-3 hours a piece.

 

Not sure about Disney, but I looked up universal earlier and Google Maps said it's only an hour from the terminal.

[DMH15]

Please, please, please go back and read all the happy, positive posts.

 

A vacay is what you make it and cruises like all vacays have "hiccups". Don't expect perfection. So is life.

 

But hopefully you can realize all of us (NCL CHEERLEADERS and enthusiasts) who choose to return to NCL time and time again do so because they do a great job. Perfect? No, but pretty darn awesome.

 

Go and have a blast.

[Arzeena]

OKAY... So my cruise is coming up...May 5th on the Gem. I have been planning/obsessing over this cruise since last August. I booked it as a graduation gift for my daughter. It will be our fist mother/daughter cruise and my first NCL cruise. I've painstakingly planned every aspect of this voyage and have been beside myself with anticipation.

 

As the date approaches there seem to be many negative issues popping up ie: Noro virus rampant on the Gem, cockroaches in someone's bed, reviews about terrible service in the MDR's, change in itinerary resulting in less time at Universal (the reason we picked this itinerary), poor customer service from NCL's shore excursion department, ect. I realize that some of these issues are completely outside of NCL's responsibility and control and the purpose of this thread is not to bash. I'm just feeling really deflated and my joy and excitement is seriously down the tubes about this trip! I would like to read some positive things to focus on to help get my excitement level back up. So PLEASE all you NCL cheerleaders, give me a cheer! :)

 

ENJOY your cruise, no matter what any body says. It's their opinion. You go enjoy!

[palmyrafan]

OKAY... So my cruise is coming up...May 5th on the Gem. I have been planning/obsessing over this cruise since last August. I booked it as a graduation gift for my daughter. It will be our fist mother/daughter cruise and my first NCL cruise. I've painstakingly planned every aspect of this voyage and have been beside myself with anticipation.

 

As the date approaches there seem to be many negative issues popping up ie: Noro virus rampant on the Gem, cockroaches in someone's bed, reviews about terrible service in the MDR's, change in itinerary resulting in less time at Universal (the reason we picked this itinerary), poor customer service from NCL's shore excursion department, ect. I realize that some of these issues are completely outside of NCL's responsibility and control and the purpose of this thread is not to bash. I'm just feeling really deflated and my joy and excitement is seriously down the tubes about this trip! I would like to read some positive things to focus on to help get my excitement level back up. So PLEASE all you NCL cheerleaders, give me a cheer! :)

 

My husband and I only sail with NCL because from our first cruise in 1992, we were sold on them.

 

We love NCL Freestyle atmosphere. When we sailed in 1992 it was still the 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. dining times at the MDR. We didn't like that. Oftentimes, we barely made it back from excursions, got a shower and made dinner at 6:00 so we could catch the show at 8:00. We prefer the Freestyle way of doing things. Now there are more options and we eat when and where we want.

 

DH and I have never gotten the norovirus. We hear about it on Carnival and the other cruise lines but rarely NCL. Why? They have their "happy-happy, washy-washy" people with their spray gels for your hands and bathrooms galore on the ship with hot soap and water. Basic hygiene, being careful in the pools and tubs, etc. goes a long way in preventing the norovirus.

 

As for the MDR's or other restaurants and the food and/or service? Show me a land-based restaurant that doesn't have issues from time to time. You may get a server having a bad day or they may run out of something you ordered, but you smile and try again. We were in LeBistro a couple of years ago and ordered Lobster Ravioli one night. It was awesome! Went back another night and they were out of it. To be expected when you can't just run to the local market.

 

We have found a smile and a positive attitude goes a long way in life, including aboard NCL when a problem arises. NCL works very hard at making things right and oftentimes goes above and beyond for their customers.

 

Most of the complaints come from people who are never easy to please and are just looking for some freebies by complaining. Others have legitimate complaints and NCL works hard at making it right.

 

Please don't focus on the bad reviews more than the good. Take them with a grain of salt. If NCL were so bad, do you think they would be booked 52 weeks of the year, year after year, regardless of destination?

 

Go and enjoy your cruise with your daughter. You will have a great time!

[fergusonvt]

If I had listened to all the bad reviews about the Sun before I went I would have cancelled my cruise and booked a land vacation. We had a fantastic time and she hooked me on cruising for life. Was everything perfect on the Sun and this year on the Star, no but as a whole they were both fantastic vacations. Go have a great time and don't worry about bugs, Noro etc. You have no control over what could possibly happen and there is no need to worry before or if it does.

[jdvmd]

Let's look at it this way.....The Gem holds 2,394 passengers assuming double occupancy. Most of the Gem's cruises are 7-day cruises. So that's 2,394 people a week or 124,488 people a year that sail on her assuming that nobody sailed twice and ignoring all the 3rd/4th/etc passengers that might not be accounted for.

 

With the exception of the happy people that are already CC members, most happy people don't look for web forums to go posting their happy reviews on. Not saying the unhappy people don't have a legitimate complaint, but they're the exception and not the norm. If it were the norm, I have a feeling NCL would have gone out of business a long time ago. :)

 

And isn't it amazing that it only takes one or two to spoil it for some?

[david_sobe]

If there is ever a break out on my Epic cruise

please feel free to lock me up in Cagneys or at the spa ;)

[libertyschool]

WOW!! What an out-pouring of encouragement! Thank you all so much. You are a great bunch!

 

Please don't get me wrong, I have been browsing these boards for months. I've read the good and the bad reviews and I realize that negative experiences tend to be voiced more loudly. I don't believe everything I read/hear, if I did I never would have gone on my Carnival cruise back in 2009! But I did, and it was FABULOUS!

 

I'm not looking for perfection, it just seems like a whole lot of negative in a very short period of time and it's weighing heavier because it's so close to my departure date. All these negatives had me a little down, but thanks to all of your encouraging posts I'm smiling!! THANK YOU! :D

 

p.s. I really DO need to stop obsessing!!!

[libertyschool]

Cruising, as in life, is what you make of it. Go with your daughter, have a great time, and stop obsessing... you will make yourself sick:) Listen to your Mother.....:p

 

LOL!! Thanks Mom ;) I'll try

 

I can't think of a better grad gift for my daughter than what you two are doing! You will have fun no matter what. A trip to remember ;) Take lots of pictures!

 

That's what I'm trying to focus on, making memories :)

 

We love the Gem. I am sure you will too.

Click on the link below (in my sig) for a review with pictures of our most recent trip on the Gem...It will surely lift your "excitement level."

Have a great cruise.

 

I remember that review, it was wonderful! I just looked at it again, thanks!

[PatJim]

Lucky you, to be cruising on the Gem so soon. We sailed on her for the first time last December, got home and immediately booked another December cruise on the Gem for this year. Now we just booked her for a third cruise December 2013. She's a great ship, but the best thing about her is the wonderful crew. (This is true for all NCL ships we've sailed on, in fact.) You will have a great time.

Consider signing up for the CC Meet & Greet, if one is set up for your cruise. It's usually the first day at sea. You'll meet the ship's officers (then you'll see them everywhere about the ship--very approachable and helpful) and fellow Cruise Critic members.

I just have to add that I have one phobia--only one--and it's about those three bugs someone said they found in their bed. If I thought for one SECOND that NCL had a bug problem, I would be out of there so fast, I'd be invisible:eek:. So, no, I definitely know NCL doesn't have this problem.

As for Norovirus, no one can predict if we'll be on a ship with passengers who bring it on with them. I've sailed about 9 times (6 on NCL) and have never experienced it.

Be sure to visit the It Girl Mermaid on the Bridge viewing deck, climb the rock wall, and have a drink for me! I'll do the same for you and your daughter in December.

[crusinmama06]

we sailed the Gem in October. The staff was SO friendly. Everywhere you went, they said hello and were smiling. Always there to help if you needed anything. The pool area was great. There were always people there to get drinks for you, but not in your face. The hot tub was a great place to meet people! We met some nice people just hanging out in the tubs.

 

We ate in Teppanyaki - it was delicious and SO fun! They put on a good show. We enjoyed hanging at the Spinnaker bar - sometimes there was bingo or other stuff, but we stopped in for drinks. Bliss was fun to dance.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Gem - Maybe you and your daughter can do a spa day? mani/pedis or facials or something.

 

I know it's discouraging when you hear bad things so close to your cruise. But remember this - there are THOUSANDS of people on these cruises week after week and only a tiny fraction come back and give reviews (good OR bad!). I also think it's almost easier to come here and complain than to write a detailed review. So you'll just see more complaints for that reason.

 

Go - have fun - enjoy it! It's a beautiful ship with a great staff!!

 

We were on the same sailing as youngest of 9 (hey chickie!!!) Actually we were only a couple of doors down after a nice and totally unexpected call from the upSELL fairy (we were on the same roll call)

 

We had a wonderful time! So much that my family is heading back out on Epic this year. We didn't experience any bugs, Noro, lines, etc.

 

My only complaint was with my cabin attendant and it's not that he didn't do his job - he was just different from the ones up the hall. He just wasn't AS friendly - but it wasn't NCL as a whole - it was just one suite attendant. I knew not to fault the whole cruise line for it. ;)

 

My girls had a wonderful cruise and that's all that matters to me :) And frankly, I keep reading all of these reports about the "dirty buffet" - we didn't see ANY of that. We spent enough time there.

 

Have a great cruise!

[11acr]

So nice to read a positive forum, so many of us completely enjoy our cruises and reading some of the continuous petty or mis directed complaints has become a past time. Have a great time and enjoy each other.

DK