Gem or Jewel - Need help with choosing an itinerary

[CarolRoy]

I am new to NCL. Will be probably booking my first NCL cruise shortly. Will be looking for a cruise in March. Not sure what ship or itinerary we will go with.

 

The Gem has a 9-day cruise - NYC - Sea - Sea - San Juan- St. Martin - St. Thomas - Samana, DR - Sea - Sea - NYC.

 

The Jewel has a 7-day cruise - NYC - Sea - Port Carnaveral - Great Stirup Cay - Nassau - Sea Day - Sea - NYC.

 

The difference in price is about $200 between the 9 and 7 day.

 

Also what cabin would you book? We usually book OV but may be considering an inside.

 

 

Have been on over 20 cruises so far (see my signature below). The only port we have not been to is the DR. Not sure if this port is a must. Have been to St. Martin and St. Thomas many times - the last time was in October 2012.

 

How is NCL's private island - Great Stirup Cay?

 

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks Carol

[jkneern]

We leave on the Gem Tueday!! We have also done the Jewel, loved the ship but the ports were just ok. I guess it depends on what you want to do. I love St. Martin and St Thomas, PR is nice but not a favorite as for DR this is a first for us and we'll make our observation but from reading the reviews it doesn't sound to promising.

[jdvmd]

I am new to NCL. Will be probably booking my first NCL cruise shortly. Will be looking for a cruise in March. Not sure what ship or itinerary we will go with.

 

The Gem has a 9-day cruise - NYC - Sea - Sea - San Juan- St. Martin - St. Thomas - Samana, DR - Sea - Sea - NYC.

 

The Jewel has a 7-day cruise - NYC - Sea - Port Carnaveral - Great Stirup Cay - Nassau - Sea Day - Sea - NYC.

 

The difference in price is about $200 between the 9 and 7 day.

 

Also what cabin would you book? We usually book OV but may be considering an inside.

 

 

Have been on over 20 cruises so far (see my signature below). The only port we have not been to is the DR. Not sure if this port is a must. Have been to St. Martin and St. Thomas many times - the last time was in October 2012.

 

How is NCL's private island - Great Stirup Cay?

 

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks Carol

 

Love Caya Lavantado on DR. Also love Great Stirrup Cay. Don't care for San Juan that much but some people absolutely love it. Both ships would be great but I think I would go for the two extra days. Just don't care for going to Port Canaveral.

[CarolRoy]

We leave on the Gem Tueday!! We have also done the Jewel, loved the ship but the ports were just ok. I guess it depends on what you want to do. I love St. Martin and St Thomas, PR is nice but not a favorite as for DR this is a first for us and we'll make our observation but from reading the reviews it doesn't sound to promising.

 

Thanks for your input. PR is not our favorite also. We just cruised from there in October. It's a good port to embark from - being that you get to the warmer weather quicker.

 

What cabins do you usually book? We are looking at the obstructed view on Deck 8 or doing an inside cabin.

[jdvmd]

Thanks for your input. PR is not our favorite also. We just cruised from there in October. It's a good port to embark from - being that you get to the warmer weather quicker.

 

What cabins do you usually book? We are looking at the obstructed view on Deck 8 or doing an inside cabin.

 

If they are the same price, I would go with the obstructed view just to get some natural light. That said, I enjoy NCL's inside cabins especially the sideways ones.

 

The Gem also have bowling so make sure you bring socks!

[RareBird]

I've traveled both iteniraries.

 

Somehow I prefer 7 day just a little more. PR is a waste and DR is scary unless you pay to go to cayo, it's not free.

[dutchess43]

For me 2 more days at 200.00 would be my choice. If you do not want to go ashore in DR you can stay on the ship. I have been to DR & would not go ashore unless it was a shore excursion. It is one of the poorest Caribbean island remember the other half of the island is Haiti.

[boopsahoy]

Love Caya Lavantado on DR. Also love Great Stirrup Cay. Don't care for San Juan that much but some people absolutely love it. Both ships would be great but I think I would go for the two extra days. Just don't care for going to Port Canaveral.

 

I think you are the first person to say they loved Cayo Levantado. I booked an excursion there and was thinking of canceling-what did you love about it?

[jdvmd]

I think you are the first person to say they loved Cayo Levantado. I booked an excursion there and was thinking of canceling-what did you love about it?

 

There are a lot more of us who love Caya Levantado! Promise! We even paid for the excursion that cost us $49 a person times three people. The beach was wonderful. Beautiful, blue, calm waters. This is where the Bacardi commercials were filmed so it is also known as Bacardi Beach.

 

I think you will only see a few people who have complained about Caya. Most complain about Samana itself. It is a poor area with not a lot going on. Most people book with Terry and do a tour out to the far end (one hour away). I think it is primitive but also preserved because all the jewelry and T-shirt shops of other Caribbean islands haven't made their way there yet.

[kelikea]

I was on the Norwegian Dawn 2 years ago with my husband and his family, and one of the stops was Samana, Dominican Republic. My husband and I have been on a few cruises and we usually don't plan too much before-hand. We just get off of the boat and wing it. But in Samana, you can't really do that. There's really nothing to do there, unless you book an excursion ahead of time, which I wish we had done.

 

I would personally choose the 9-day cruise on the Gem. The stops are much better. Since you've been to most of them before, you know how great they are. I don't know if you've done this, but take the ferry from St. Thomas to St. Johns and go to Trunk Bay. Hands-down the best beach I have ever been to.

 

My husband and I actually did a Mediterranean cruise on the Gem during our honeymoon and the boat is very nice. So all in all, I would go for the 9-day cruise.

[boopsahoy]

There are a lot more of us who love Caya Levantado! Promise! We even paid for the excursion that cost us $49 a person times three people. The beach was wonderful. Beautiful, blue, calm waters. This is where the Bacardi commercials were filmed so it is also known as Bacardi Beach.

 

I think you will only see a few people who have complained about Caya. Most complain about Samana itself. It is a poor area with not a lot going on. Most people book with Terry and do a tour out to the far end (one hour away). I think it is primitive but also preserved because all the jewelry and T-shirt shops of other Caribbean islands haven't made their way there yet.

 

Thanks so much for your reply! Im not going to cancel now-I just wanted a pretty beach and it sounds like that fits the bill!

[jdvmd]

Thanks so much for your reply! Im not going to cancel now-I just wanted a pretty beach and it sounds like that fits the bill!

I am all about the beaches! We really enjoyed the beach and the water there. Hope you have a great time!

[LegallyBlonder]

As a personal preference, I always like cruises that are longer than 7 days when leaving from NYC in winter, because you still have a full week of warm weather then. I also MUCH prefer the Eastern Caribbean itinerary to the Bahamas- there is not a single port that I really like on the Bahamas run. You're right in that DR is nothing to write home about (and we find PR rather boring also), but the other stops are good and we also love seas days, so the fact that the Gem has 4 full sea days is great for us.

[softsands]

I am new to NCL. Will be probably booking my first NCL cruise shortly. Will be looking for a cruise in March. Not sure what ship or itinerary we will go with.

 

The Gem has a 9-day cruise - NYC - Sea - Sea - San Juan- St. Martin - St. Thomas - Samana, DR - Sea - Sea - NYC.

 

The Jewel has a 7-day cruise - NYC - Sea - Port Carnaveral - Great Stirup Cay - Nassau - Sea Day - Sea - NYC.

 

The difference in price is about $200 between the 9 and 7 day.

 

Also what cabin would you book? We usually book OV but may be considering an inside.

 

 

Have been on over 20 cruises so far (see my signature below). The only port we have not been to is the DR. Not sure if this port is a must. Have been to St. Martin and St. Thomas many times - the last time was in October 2012.

 

How is NCL's private island - Great Stirup Cay?

 

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks Carol

 

9 day, 9 day, 9 day. On second thought, the 9 day.

 

4 1/2 days at sea. Enough said there.

San Juan for history. The other islands a mix of beach and touring, with the exception of Samana which sounds a bit iffy.

[Nyc2tropics]

Gem hands down. Itinerary is also better

[CarolRoy]

Hi: OP here. Thanks for all your input. Looks like we are still undecided but are leaning toward the Gem for the 9 days.

 

Some other questions. In DR, can you book an independent tour to Caya Levatado? Someone mentioned Terry.

 

Also looking to book an OV obstructed cabin on Deck 8 or an inside cabin on deck 4 or 5. Any thoughts on these cabins?

 

Also we did do St. John to Cinnamon Bay. It's just a little further than Trunk Bay but not as crowded. It's a very long, long day to St. John for too little time at a beach.