Gem 9 Day NYE Cruise Review! 12/31/12-12/9/13

[gambee]

Just started following your review, I hope your cruise gets better than the first day at sea was. We usually travel with an arsenal of anti nausea medication just case.

[ship-disturber]

We were on this cruise and even did a couple of private excursions with the writer of the review. We had a great time on this cruise and enjoyed every minute of it. A couple of things happened on embarkation day that caused problems. I think NCL handled it well and we seemed to be well informed. The ship was a couple of hours late in arriving. Because of New Years Eve in New York it seemed that all the out going passengers arrived at the same time. NCL issued numbers as people arrived and asked people to remain seated until their number was called. They were trying to keep everyone form having to stand in long lines. Once boarding started we got on the ship very quickly and headed to the Grand Pacific for lunch. I should mention as well that Customs inspection was slowed because hurricane Sandy wiped out the Customs inspection area and everything had to be done on board the ship. We were ready to leave when we had a medical emergency and had to wait for the passenger to be taken off the ship.

[camz]

Congratulations! Welcome Back, enjoying your review. Unfortunatley, the seas out of NY seem to be rough this time of year. We left out of NY a few years ago, the same week and we had rough seas as well. Sorry you got sea sick, however, you seemed to handle it well by going out and about. Looking forward to what comes next.

[b00kbug]

Sorry about the break in the review - but I'm back!

 

Okay then, Day 3.....

 

Thankfully I woke up feeling mostly normal and I was really looking forward to enjoying some sun. We got up and headed to Cagney's for breakfast and it was amazing. Now I had read plenty on the NCL boards about the french press coffee and I was all 'meh' about it. I am the farthest thing from a coffee snob, I enjoy 7-11/dunken doughnuts coffee and I figured I wouldn't really notice much of a difference in this magical french press stuff.

 

OMGWRONG!

 

 

I would pretty much bow down to the stuff and I miss it terribly now that we are home. Le sigh.

 

Okay, anyways.....pretty much right after breakfast I wanted to claim spots on deck and relax. But man there were LOTS of chair hogs on this trip. I was really looking forward to seeing those colored dots on the chairs to keep chair hogs under control, but we never saw that happen. In typical chair hog fashion, 90% of the pool side chairs were claimed before 10am, but no one in them until at least noon.

 

 

We did find seats though by the adult pool and I got myself a drink in a pineapple. It was yummy, and probably over priced, but I didn't care because I was on vacation and it was a pretty cool pineapple. I figured it was a little after 10am, so if I was going to drink, it should at least look healthy.

 

 

Quick note about the adult pool:::: do not, under any circumstances, expect it to be adults only. DH and I observed plenty of times during our trip where the pool had a handful of youngsters in the pool. A few older kids took note of the 'adults only' sign and headed to the family pool, but mostly not. Not to start a riot here but I really would have appreciated parents guiding their kids to the appropriate pool. There were a few older cruisers who were happily doing laps but got cut off here and there by kids jumping in or splashing and what have you.

 

We relaxed the day away on the pool deck - I even volunteered myself for a Nickelodeon game where very small children had to smoosh pies on my butt. Yuuuup. DH pleaded off for a nap later in the day but I hung out until I had to drag myself away from my lounger to get ready for dinner.

 

We ate at Moderno that night - very tasty but LOTS and lots of food. Seriously, eat an early lunch and skip snacks if you are planning on a meal here in order to really make the most of it.

 

After stuffing ourselves, we waddled to the bowling alley to give it a shot. Now, DH played on a few leagues while I am generally just pleased to not get the ball in the gutter. We both agreed that bowling on a cruise ship is crazy hard. DH said something about the lanes being dry - I'll just take his word on it. It was difficult to get the ball where you wanted it, but we both generally had a good time with it.

 

 

Still overstuffed, we called it an early night. We found a tiny visitor in our bed that we had to shoo over to the night stand before we passed out.

 

[Intrepid]

I am really enjoying your review. Thanks very much for taking the time to post. Sorry you were unwell at first, but congratulations on your honeymoon! Between your good humor during the sea sickness, and your husband's hilarious reaction to the "mouse" I'd say you two are off for a long and happy life together!

[dmrrn73]

Enjoying your review. I am going to be on the Gem in November so I am looking for everything I can about the ship. sorry you had the seasickness, glad it got better. We had a couple of bad ones on the way to Bermuda a few years ago, announcements being made about not going outside, telling ladies not to wear high heels, seasick bags in the hall, etc, it was not fun.

 

I had to LOL at your bowling score, that 39 is what I usually get on dry land, LOL.

[trish1c]

Sorry you had issues with chair hogs. I actually thought they weren't bad on this cruise. I never had a problem getting a chair & often saw chairs still stacked up. Then again, I never tried to get a chair near the pool.

[b00kbug]

Day 4 - our first port day in San Juan!

 

We wouldn't dock in San Juan until later in the afternoon, so we had a nice lazy morning. Breakfast at Cagney's once again before we went to relax by the pool. There were no chairs to be had on the pool deck so we ended up on the adult deck for a while but MAN it gets hot up there with no shade. We were not up there for very long before I dragged DH back downstairs.

 

Now, on the pool deck there is a wooden bench like section between the adult hot tub and the stage where the musicians play and such. It's wide enough to relax on and it quickly became our 'spot'. It get's plenty of sun, good spot to watch the entertainment, and when it gets too hot, the shallow ledge of the pool was right there to cool off for a bit - and then you can us the bench to put your drink on while you are sitting on the tiled pool edge! Plus - no fighting chair hogs! Because it's not a chair!! Win.

 

Anyways, when we were getting closer, we changed out of our bathing suits into real clothes and headed to the front of of the boat to watch us pull in. There was already a good number of people up there but we were lucky enough to find a chair to sit and enjoy the view. I was admiring the view and thought to myself 'man, it would be so cool if we saw dolphins' and then I saw shadows in the water.... DOLPHINS!

 

 

I am pretty sure I screamed like a 2 year old, alerting all the others enjoying the view and started a picture taking storm. It was lots of fun. :)

 

Now way before we got onto the cruise ship, I had searched the boards and gotten a walking map of San Juan. So instead of doing a ship excursion or even a private one, we decided to explore on our own.

 

Docking at 3pm, we got off the boat easily and I instantly fell in love with San Juan. The beautiful cobble stone streets and the friendly people - ahh, lovely. It was nice to see Christmas decorations still up, a few of the stunning balconys were decorated with wreaths and such.

 

 

As planned, we wanted to do some shopping first as I wasn't sure what time the stores would close up. One find on the San Juan board was the shop El Galpon. I wanted either one of the hand carved saints or one of the wonderful vejigante masks. It's a great store with real hand made items and cigars - but be prepared to go there and spend LOTS. We ended up with a fantastic mask made from a coconut that I love and was worth the money to me.

 

 

Right across from that shop there is a great spice shop where DH got himself some Banana Ketchup. They have a great collection of spices, salts, and other small items. We also got a small packet of Guava Bites that were YUMMY.

 

After doing some serious damage to DH's wallet, we wanted to go to the fort. It was pretty warm out, so we stopped just before the walkway up to the fort and got shaved ice. It was very cool to see the cart owner shaving ice from a giant block. It was a perfect treat as we walked.

 

 

The fort was great and only cost $3 each for us. The views were amazing and we had a great time learning about it's history and taking tons of pictures. Warning to the ladies:::: It was WINDY. I wore a skirt and it was a big game of trying to balance holding my skirt and using my SLR camera. I would suggest shorts.

 

We were there until after 5 - it closes at 6 - before we headed toward dinner. I had read about the place Punto De Vista ahead of time and wanted to eat there. It was very close to the dock - we could see the boat right across the street - so it was a perfect place for us to grab food before we headed back on board. The owner is originally from the US and the food was GREAT. It was a fantastic local hole in the wall. I recommend the garlic shrimp mofongo. DH still raves about his plantains.

 

 

After we enjoyed a yummy meal, it was time to head back to the ship. We had very tired feet and took advantage of the hot tub for a long while before we dragged our worn out butts to bed.

[cruisin0504]

Thank you for the great review! Looking forward to hearing more. Congrats to you and hubby, wishing you a lifetime of happiness!

[RareBird]

Sounds like great time! Thinking of doing this 9 day next year vs 7 day on breakaway.

[mom22tinks]

Congrats! And I'm thoroughly enjoying your review....can't wait to read more :)