Gem Renovations

[Kattus]

Yep...the slide is working!!! :D :D

 

Just got back from the January 22nd cruise.

I spoke to the NCL crew person fixing it and it was the pump and water levels that were an issue.

I viewed the first girls going down it that day.

I believe it was the afternoon of the third day at sea going to the Caribbean that it opened.

 

The kids loved it although I heard it was very slow.

 

I will prepare a review soon and post it here later.

 

Great crew as always on the GEM...some bad passengers and kids.

My grandkids refused to go the the kids club.

 

One family was kicked off in St. Maarten.

Some very obnoxious, rude people onboard. :(

 

Still had a fantastic cruise. :)

 

Don

 

 

I've been reading everyone's posts about the obnoxious swarm, but glad to see that some were kicked off halfway into the cruise and not spoiling any more time for others! St. Maarten was my favorite port on the 9-day we took on the Gem last year, so curious to see how the crew handled it.

[luvtheships]

Marion, I met far more nice people on board. But I have many cruises completed and never have I seen a pack of people like this group. My opinion is that this type of group would not ever be on a cruise out of Miami, Tampa, New Orleans or other ports. I may be wrong here. But I have to travel to cruise (no ports in Illinois) so why would I travel to NYC and risk a repeat?

 

BTW, I loved our mini-vacation in Manhattan and look forward to returning. Just not to cruise and risk being confined with this group again.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

Seriously just avoid the last two weeks of January

 

You can google the annual dates of this little group junket.

Edited February 1, 2016 by luvtheships

[luvtheships]

Don....so glad the slide was up and running for your grandkids!!! I was thinking about that on our Jan 2 cruise when they said it might not be up for the Jan 12 cruise either.

 

Even with the rude families at least you got to use it

[borisivan]

Wow, am still amazed by this. Why were people kicked off, were they totally out of control? Sounds insane.

[Letsgo 2]

Seriously just avoid the last two weeks of January

 

You can google the annual dates of this little group junket.

 

Now I'm just getting very curious

Who is this group and how can I google it?

Marion

[dongordon]

Don....so glad the slide was up and running for your grandkids!!! I was thinking about that on our Jan 2 cruise when they said it might not be up for the Jan 12 cruise either.

 

Even with the rude families at least you got to use it

 

Thank you...

 

They were so thrilled to go on the slide.

My 5 year old grandson had to go with his Dad (age limit - 6 and above)....both went down the slide about 20-30 times each day. :D

My son-in-law got stuck once in the middle of the slide! :D

 

One of my grandsons (the 8 year old) plays traveling soccer and is very physical in games and in one of the games (I believe dodge ball) decked a few of the rude kids because he was fed up with them. Usually he is the nicest kid, but could not stand being around them.

 

Don

[Letsgo 2]

Seriously just avoid the last two weeks of January

 

You can google the annual dates of this little group junket.

 

Can't say that I blame you, but glad

you enjoyed in NYC

Marion

[nbbell]

I had fun in the ports. I avoiding the Grand Pacific and Magenta along with all the shows in the Stardust. To me this behavior was not acceptable. It was embarrassing to watch and heartbreaking sometimes too. I saw just blatant disregard for other passengers, crew members, officers, entertainment staff, security and any and all common areas. I wrote down and took pictures after the third sea day when I had a drink spilled on me and food spit at me by someone yelling with their mouth full! No one apologized or even acknowledged this incident and I was ignored even when i said excuse me to the offender.

[dongordon]

Wow, am still amazed by this. Why were people kicked off, were they totally out of control? Sounds insane.

 

We heard from someone high up that the father cursed the restaurant staff frequently complaining and and using the "F" word.

He was warned 5 times and the 6th time, he was and his family were removed from the ship.

 

Three cheers for NCL!! :D

 

Don

[Fremont]

Bravo to Ncl for doing their best! I just got off this cruise and I witnessed the crew being abused all week in every venue. They did not all get kicked off, we were surrounded by them on my floor all week. They are also night owls. I was woken most nights by them running up and down the halls banging on doors. Last night i think they had a party in the hall. The kids ran up and down the halls with no supervision all week. They abused the rooms Steward's. I went to the front desk one night because the kids had one side of the stairs completely blocked (about 30 of them) and had half the other side filling up. I could go on and on but will let other's chime in because most on board had encounters with this group.

 

In spite of this it was a great cruise. Met some great people! Food was great! Entertainment great! Ncl rocks as usual!

[dshefter]

We just got off the GEM as well and witnessed what a lot of the above-posters saw. The hot tubs were over-flowing with kids and many chose to disregard posted signs.

 

I saw a mom totally berating a staff member in the Magenta restaurant. She was completely out of line.

 

But it didn't deter from our cruise. We had a blast. Meeting wonderful people like Dongordon and others from our Roll Call made for a terrific 10 days.

 

And the week you are referring to is Yeshiva Week.

 

We now know not to book a NYC cruise the third week of January.

 

The GEM is a wonderful ship with a tremendous crew. And the entertainment was awesome.

 

My very lengthy review will be up later.

[2boyzmom]

Just curious- can kids use any hot tubs on the Gem?

[dongordon]

Bravo to Ncl for doing their best! I just got off this cruise and I witnessed the crew being abused all week in every venue. They did not all get kicked off, we were surrounded by them on my floor all week. They are also night owls. I was woken most nights by them running up and down the halls banging on doors. Last night i think they had a party in the hall. The kids ran up and down the halls with no supervision all week. They abused the rooms Steward's. I went to the front desk one night because the kids had one side of the stairs completely blocked (about 30 of them) and had half the other side filling up. I could go on and on but will let other's chime in because most on board had encounters with this group.

 

In spite of this it was a great cruise. Met some great people! Food was great! Entertainment great! Ncl rocks as usual!

 

Yes, they were an annoyance and I know the crew could not wait for the cruise to end.

But many of us from the CC Roll Call had a great time. It was a great group of passengers and we frequently met each other throughout the ship and in ports.

IMHO, this completely overshadowed the idiots on board.

 

Even during the storm, 50 + people showed up for the M & G....great people!! :)

I was shocked that that many showed up, since (according to the Captain) it was the worst storm he ever experienced on a cruise ship.

 

And... At our Get Together Dinner on the second night of the cruise, only 2/3 of the group showed up at La Cucina and the chairs actually slid away from the table many times during dinner and the restaurant staff would push us back. It looked like something from a movie comedy! :D

 

We heard that 50% of the crew were sick and 70% of the passengers were seasick including my daughter and my two grandsons...we all still rated the cruise a "10"!

My family had such a great time!! :D

 

Don

[dongordon]

We just got off the GEM as well and witnessed what a lot of the above-posters saw. The hot tubs were over-flowing with kids and many chose to disregard posted signs.

 

I saw a mom totally berating a staff member in the Magenta restaurant. She was completely out of line.

 

But it didn't deter from our cruise. We had a blast. Meeting wonderful people like Dongordon and others from our Roll Call made for a terrific 10 days.

 

And the week you are referring to is Yeshiva Week.

 

We now know not to book a NYC cruise the third week of January.

 

The GEM is a wonderful ship with a tremendous crew. And the entertainment was awesome.

 

My very lengthy review will be up later.

 

Could not agree more with my buddy David..we all had a great time being with the "Good Guys and Girls" on our CC Roll Call throughout the cruise. :)

 

Don

[Fremont]

Yes, they were an annoyance and I know the crew could not wait for the cruise to end.

But many of us from the CC Roll Call had a great time. It was a great group of passengers and we frequently met each other throughout the ship and in ports.

IMHO, this completely overshadowed the idiots on board.

 

Even during the storm, 50 + people showed up for the M & G....great people!! :)

I was shocked that that many showed up, since (according to the Captain) it was the worst storm he ever experienced on a cruise ship.

 

And... At our Get Together Dinner on the second night of the cruise, only 2/3 of the group showed up at La Cucina and the chairs actually slid away from the table many times during dinner and the restaurant staff would push us back. It looked like something from a movie comedy! :D

 

We heard that 50% of the crew were sick and 70% of the passengers were seasick including my daughter and my two grandsons...we all still rated the cruise a "10"!

My family had such a great time!! :D

 

Don

I heard another large group of them are getting on today! I hope the info was wrong! Poor Staff!

Edited February 1, 2016 by Fremont

[Letsgo 2]

I heard another large group of them are getting on today! I hope the info was wrong! Poor Staff!

 

O my goodness I feel bad for

everyone that had contact with

These people, who are they and

why do they act like that?

I hope I'm wrong but

Yeshiva Week sound like

a Jewish Holiday ! Could it be?

Marion

[fstuff1]

I had fun in the ports. I avoiding the Grand Pacific and Magenta along with all the shows in the Stardust. To me this behavior was not acceptable. It was embarrassing to watch and heartbreaking sometimes too. I saw just blatant disregard for other passengers, crew members, officers, entertainment staff, security and any and all common areas. I wrote down and took pictures after the third sea day when I had a drink spilled on me and food spit at me by someone yelling with their mouth full! No one apologized or even acknowledged this incident and I was ignored even when i said excuse me to the offender.

 

post the pics! (or a link)

 

and how large was this thug group?

[ABClery]

My family and I also just got off of the gem this morning and had similar experiences with this group. I would guess the group was a few hundred people, definitely enough to change the mood of the trip. We witnessed quite a bit of rude behavior and outright disrespect of the staff and rules on the ship.

 

Both main dining rooms were completely blocked off for reservations (grey circles in the seating availability guides on the ship) for the second half of the trip making it appear the only choices were buffet, orchid, or the premium restaurants. We had UDP so it didn't end up being a problem but I could see others frustrated about dining availability.

 

This is the first cruise ever where we haven't done the cruisenext deposit because we had to seriously reconsider cruising. The crew was great and the storm was bad but none of us got sea sick so that's good. The real problem were the guests and 10 days in close quarters was a challenge at times.

Edited February 1, 2016 by ABClery

[luvtheships]

Can't say that I blame you, but glad

 

you enjoyed in NYC

 

Marion

 

 

I live just north of NYC and love the city and the longer cruises from there but because of the calendar for 2017 the gem cruise departing on Jan 8 is making me nervous as the "week" might overlap with that cruise

 

Plus my college kid would have to miss 2 days at the beginning of the semester...something she doesn't want to do...

 

So as much as I don't want to fly we may just do that for 2017

Edited February 1, 2016 by luvtheships

[luvtheships]

I heard another large group of them are getting on today! I hope the info was wrong! Poor Staff!

 

 

Yes sometimes this "week" does seem to go on and on

 

I also know missing school is not a big issue for them as many are home schooled

[luvtheships]

It's funny how posters were actually complaining about college kids on the Jan 2 cruise. Lol

 

Btw those college kids were very nice and caused no real issues at all. Lol

[boopsahoy]

It was awful. Worst cruise I have ever been on. Not NCL's fault though. The treatment to the crew was appalling I wrote so many comment cards and spoke directly to Sonja the HD regarding this how badly the crew was treated. I am going to follow this up once I get home.

 

Sounds like the Kosherica group that we had a few years ago, the most disrespectful group of people I have ever met. and the children were as bad as the parents-even worse.

[shaun07]

when does this holiday end?

[luvtheships]

when does this holiday end?

 

 

IMHO since many are home schooled and those that attend the actual brick and mortar schools are attending private schools....regular scheduling does not seem to matter.

 

I would say you are safe with a very early January cruise though as we have done the past 2 Januaries with no issue

Edited February 1, 2016 by luvtheships

[shaun07]

IMHO since many are home schooled and those that attend the actual brick and mortar schools are attending private schools....regular scheduling does seem to matter.

 

I would say you are safe with a very early January cruise though as we have done the past 2 Januaries with no issue

 

I am more concerned about next week as thats when i sail :)