2/18 GEM of a cruise

[bedfordmom]

We returned from the GEM yesterday and wanted to put a couple of thoughts together before I forget. We came out of Boston on the 7.30am Bolt Bus arriving at 34th and 11th and 12th around 11:45am. We planned on taking a cab but we could see the ship from the road closet to the Hudson. so we decided to walk. We walked on the bike path about 3/4 mile and we checked in and were in the dining room by about 12:45. We were surprised to hear that the cabins were ready. I guess the CTN prior gave the staff enough time to open the rooms early.

 

On a side note, the service was not very good that first afternoon in the Pacific. We asked for lemonade and iced tea that never came. The portions were very small. The tapenade came with 3 pita chips. The shrimp salad which was delicious was about four tablespoons. The small portions would be a theme to the cruise. At least I would nt gain weight.

 

We ate in the Magenta the first night. Again the service was slow and very small portions. We did get our lemonade and drinks this time; however I didn't get my sweetener until later. The surf and turf was delicious (again very small). I could't eat the onion soup which was way too salty (and I love salt). That first meal took about 2.5 hours and we missed both the shows. We did choose to eat with other people. After that we chose table for 2 and felt that the meal did go faster.

 

The sea days were very smooth. I felt that there was alot of activities going on during the day. It got somewhat warm by the end of the second day so people were on deck. I spent alot of time in the gym and felt that this gym was smaller than most.

 

Ports: Puerto Rico: Walked to the fort El Morro. We rode the free trolley in circles for fun but it stopped at 5:45 at San Cristobel fort so we had to walk back

 

St Martin: Robinson's Speedboat Tours: Exceptional value; 6 hour speed boat tour of the various private beaches and dive spots; drinks and lunch on Pineal Island included.

 

St Thomas: Godfrey Tours: pickup at port; 2 hour shopping in town and 2 hour island tour. It was a good overview of the island. We chose not to go to the beach because we were so burned from the day before.

 

Samana: Tours with Terry: again-exceptional valiue at 80$ per person for all day ATV tour, with cultural presentation and lunch included. Most of the participants chose to go ziplining for extra and raved about it. Next time, I would do the zipline.

 

Overall a good cruise. In comparing it to the other lines that I have cruised. The production shows were A+; comedians were OK (I don't get Second City); I like the Carnival comedians better. I like the variety of drinks better on Carnival. The rooms were smaller than Carnival or RCI. The cabin steward was very good except in the beginning we only got one beach towel, no pen or room service doorknob hangers. Since I didn't bring a pen, I had to borrow a pen to write him a note to bring another towel and the room service tags as I didn't see him much the first day or so. After that it was smooth sailing.

 

We took the Megabus back. We were in the walkoff at 8:45am; way too early for our noon departure. Again we walked to the stop. We were charged a small fee to change our ticket to the 10am bus.

 

Any questions.

[mizLORInj]

Thanks for the review.

 

Fellow GEM fan here!

[3poundpuppies]

 

Ports: Puerto Rico: Walked to the fort El Morro. We rode the free trolley in circles for fun but it stopped at 5:45 at San Cristobel fort so we had to walk back

 

St Martin: Robinson's Speedboat Tours: Exceptional value; 6 hour speed boat tour of the various private beaches and dive spots; drinks and lunch on Pineal Island included.

 

St Thomas: Godfrey Tours: pickup at port; 2 hour shopping in town and 2 hour island tour. It was a good overview of the island. We chose not to go to the beach because we were so burned from the day before.

 

Samana: Tours with Terry: again-exceptional valiue at 80$ per person for all day ATV tour, with cultural presentation and lunch included. Most of the participants chose to go ziplining for extra and raved about it. Next time, I would do the zipline.

 

 

Any questions.

 

 

Thank you for posting this! We're doing this trip April 5th and other than the San Juan city tour, I'm stumped about that to do on the other islands. This is our first time at any of these places and want to take in as much of the scenery as I can. Not so worried about beach time, I just want to see stuff!

:)

[bedfordmom]

Thank you for posting this! We're doing this trip April 5th and other than the San Juan city tour, I'm stumped about that to do on the other islands. This is our first time at any of these places and want to take in as much of the scenery as I can. Not so worried about beach time, I just want to see stuff!

:)

 

I would definately recommend Tours with Terry for Samana. He offers a variety of tours, we just did the ATV tours but there are horse, zipline, low-impact (bus tour). At 80$ each for a shared ATV with drinks and lunch; you cannot beat that price. It is more if you add in the zipline or horses.

 

For St Martin; Robinson's or Captain Bob's speedboat tours are also great. I learned that you may book with one operator and they may assign you to another boat based on numbers. They work closely together They do not take more than 10-11 participants and it felt like a semi private tour. At 109$ each, a little pricey but when you include all the drinks, (beer and soda) lunch on a private island (ribs/chicken) and snorkeling at remote sites, again its priceless. I noticed that if you had to pay for lunch on the island on your own (in euros) it would have been about 40$ alone.

 

We did Bernards tours last time we were in St Martin. I felt it gave us a good orientation to the land while the speedboat tour gave us a good view of the island from the water.

[mizLORInj]

Thank you for posting this! We're doing this trip April 5th and other than the San Juan city tour, I'm stumped about that to do on the other islands. This is our first time at any of these places and want to take in as much of the scenery as I can. Not so worried about beach time, I just want to see stuff!

:)

 

 

Did you check out the Roll Call to see what others on this cruise are doing? :)

[PatJim]

We returned from the GEM yesterday and wanted to put a couple of thoughts together before I forget. We came out of Boston on the 7.30am Bolt Bus arriving at 34th and 11th and 12th around 11:45am. We planned on taking a cab but we could see the ship from the road closet to the Hudson. so we decided to walk. We walked on the bike path about 3/4 mile and we checked in and were in the dining room by about 12:45. ...

We ate in the Magenta the first night. Again the service was slow and very small portions. We did get our lemonade and drinks this time; however I didn't get my sweetener until later. The surf and turf was delicious (again very small). I could't eat the onion soup which was way too salty (and I love salt). That first meal took about 2.5 hours and we missed both the shows. We did choose to eat with other people. After that we chose table for 2 and felt that the meal did go faster.

 

Thanks for your review. We were on the Gem in December, with same itinerary. We live in New York City, and so are used to walking everywhere. Our out of town/country visitors are always surprised at how much walking is done in this town. So I was pleased to see you were enterprising enough to walk to and from the ship with your luggage. Bravo!:)

 

Just a thought re slow service first night out in one of the complimentary dining rooms. First night is traditionally lobster night, when there is no surcharge for this dish. So these dining rooms are packed! We always book a specialty restaurant first night, and find them not at all crowded. NCL often offers a free bottle of wine when booking dinner the first night in Le Bistro or the Italian restaurant. Of course, we still get our free lobster by ordering lobster tails delivered to our room around 6 pm, as an in-cabin appetizer before dinner.

 

Though we've never eaten first night in the complimentary restaurants, from reading CC over the last few years we know it's possible to order more than one tail. Just ask your waiter.

[cpcanuck]

Thanks for the review! I am planning to be on the Gem next year and interested in hearing how things are on that ship.

 

Appreciate your comments!

[3poundpuppies]

Did you check out the Roll Call to see what others on this cruise are doing? :)

 

I have looked there. I've looked at so many different island things I think my head is spinning! Many of them mentioned Sapphire beach but I don't recall where that was. I don't want to beach it when there's sights to be seen. I still have 37 days to figure this all out! On the speed boat tours, is there a safe spot for my camera?? Don't need that getting wet!

[DinaS]

Bedfordmom - thanks so much for this information. It has been a couple of years since we have been on the Gem, and we are just 18 days away!

 

We actually had the same experience in the Grand Pacific dining room the first afternoon. Service was slow and it almost seemed that they really didn't want us there. (I later found out that they prefer everyone eat lunch in the buffet the first afternoon - but we wanted to avoid the crowds and plan on doing the same thing again!)

 

Small portion size is actually a good thing for the main dining rooms, in my opinion. This way we can actually eat dessert :)

 

We're only doing the Cayo Levantado beach excursion in Samana - and exploring the other ports on our own. Perhaps that will change once we talk to the folks in our M&G - I know some are planning on doing taxis to different beaches, as well as some private excursions.

 

Glad service overall improved and that you had a good cruise!

 

Thanks again for letting us know!

 

Dina

[mizLORInj]

I have looked there. I've looked at so many different island things I think my head is spinning! Many of them mentioned Sapphire beach but I don't recall where that was. I don't want to beach it when there's sights to be seen. I still have 37 days to figure this all out! On the speed boat tours, is there a safe spot for my camera?? Don't need that getting wet!

 

3poundpuppies: Sapphire is on St. Thomas.

[bedfordmom]

I have looked there. I've looked at so many different island things I think my head is spinning! Many of them mentioned Sapphire beach but I don't recall where that was. I don't want to beach it when there's sights to be seen. I still have 37 days to figure this all out! On the speed boat tours, is there a safe spot for my camera?? Don't need that getting wet!

 

On the speed boat tours, they had a locked dry storage area. I brought a LL Bean backpack with towels etc and had my iphone and digital camera in a ziplock bag for extra protection and stored it there. When we stopped, I just took the cameras out. I also had an disposible underwater camera for the snorkeling. I noticed that one of the passengers had a really neat underwater digital.

[3poundpuppies]

Thanks for the great info!:)

[cpcanuck]

 

Small portion size is actually a good thing for the main dining rooms, in my opinion. This way we can actually eat dessert :)

Dina

 

I agree! Besides you can always ask for extra of any item if you are concerned you will not have enough to eat. I've heard it is best to do that upfront rather than trying to ask for additional servings part way through the meal - otherwise you may never get out of the DR! :)

[boobyg]

Did you check out the Roll Call to see what others on this cruise are doing? :)

 

If you like the beach, I would definitely suggest taking a taxi or bus to the Frendch side and go to Orient Beach. There is nudity permitted on one end of the beach but you may see some naked people stroll by on the rest of the beach, but it is a nice beach with beautiful water. and if you get bored, there are plenty of restaurants and shops on the French side also.

[gelo7]

Thanks, for sharing your thoughts.

[jdvmd]

Thanks for sharing!

[spidybabe]

St Thomas- Godfrey tours are great---shopping, tour and beach, or, just shopping and tour. Great time, great service, great prices. Also in town in St Thomas is a beautiful old synagogue worth seeing- just ask anybody and they will point you up the hill to the synagogue. Across from pier there is a Cruzan rum tasting stand. Give a tip and taste away(my favorite place)

St Marten- we did NCL's sea and see tour- very good tour and semi submarine ride. Most times here, we just take the water taxi to town, stroll the beach/boardwalk there, shop and have some drinks.

Puerto Rico- def see the fort, also self tour to Bacardi is nice.

Have lunch in the main dining room upon boarding, go back for dinner for lobster tails(order doubles). Breakfast is very nice to have at the great outdoors (aft of ship and buffet)

Safe sailing

[BritChickBN1]

Thanks for your review. The Gem is one of my favorites. I did notice the slow MDR service last time also. Glad you had a nice time.