Spirit, Gem, or RCI Freedom

[RSLeesburg]

We currently have a Thanksgiving cruise booked for RCI Freedom of the Seas, but wanted to price out a few alternate options on NCL, but have never sailed on NCL so had a few questions. I am interested in Gem, because she sails out of NY and has a 10 day itinerary over Thanksgiving. I am also looking at Spirit - at the moment, we are considering driving to PC, so we could easily drive down to this port too. I am not interested in Breakaway as it does same itinerary that we did on Grandeur last year, and have no desire to repeat it...lol

 

My questions are as follows:

 

1. Based on itinerary alone, Gem wins but what are major differences between Gem and Spirit, and how does each ship compare to Freedom? We are traveling with our son, who is 6, so child-friendly activities are very important :). He loves bowling, which I know some NCL ships have.

 

2. We normally stay in Grand Suites on RCI, so what would be comparable in terms of room size. I know Haven has better perks, but I am having a hard time trying to figure out which suites are basically same size as the GS, and which ones would be best for us - we are only three people, and our son normally sleeps on pullout sofa in GS, so do not need 2 bedroom but the penthouse suites look very tiny.

 

Thanks

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

(Bump)

 

 

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[cliffd64]

We currently have a Thanksgiving cruise booked for RCI Freedom of the Seas, but wanted to price out a few alternate options on NCL, but have never sailed on NCL so had a few questions. I am interested in Gem, because she sails out of NY and has a 10 day itinerary over Thanksgiving. I am also looking at Spirit - at the moment, we are considering driving to PC, so we could easily drive down to this port too. I am not interested in Breakaway as it does same itinerary that we did on Grandeur last year, and have no desire to repeat it...lol

 

My questions are as follows:

 

1. Based on itinerary alone, Gem wins but what are major differences between Gem and Spirit, and how does each ship compare to Freedom? We are traveling with our son, who is 6, so child-friendly activities are very important :). He loves bowling, which I know some NCL ships have.

 

2. We normally stay in Grand Suites on RCI, so what would be comparable in terms of room size. I know Haven has better perks, but I am having a hard time trying to figure out which suites are basically same size as the GS, and which ones would be best for us - we are only three people, and our son normally sleeps on pullout sofa in GS, so do not need 2 bedroom but the penthouse suites look very tiny.

 

Thanks

 

 

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Both Gem and Spirit are smaller than Freedom of the Seas. Freedom of the Seas comes in at 160,000 tons, versus 94000 for the Gem and 76000 for Spirit.

 

Using Gem as a closer comparison, your most comparable Suite on the Gem would be the SE class Penthouse with large balcony that comes in at around 500 sq feet compared the 410 sq feet of the Grand Suites on Freedom. The SF category on Gem are also Penthouse suites with balcony, but they come in slightly smaller at just under 400 sq feet. My guess is you would want to go with the SE category.

 

As far as kids activities, the Kids Club activities on Gem are quite nice, and of course they have they Nickelodeon characters like Spongebob and Dora on board. Also, the Gem has the bowling alleys so your son will enjoy that as well.

 

The Spirit is a nice ship, but I think you might be happier on the Gem. It definitely has more options on board for your son.

[emcelh]

Actually the SE and SF penthouses are about the same size inside. The large balcony on the forward facing SE penthouse accounts for the extra square footage. The 2 center SE penthouses on deck 10 have slightly more room but it isn't significant.

 

We've sailed in both SE and SF suites, but prefer the aft facing SF penthouses. We find we use the balcony more since they're less windy. Also, those on deck 10 have deeper balconies and are usually the first to sell out. Either would work with a young child and the suite perks really enhance the experience.

[watchdiva]

I would go with Deck 10 AFT...great balcony, and large enough for 3. The view from AFT is incredible.

 

 

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[emcelh]

I would go with Deck 10 AFT...great balcony, and large enough for 3. The view from AFT is incredible.

 

 

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Agree. That's our first choice.

[RSLeesburg]

Thanks. I was definitely looking at SE and SF, but could not tell what the difference was, so this helps. I think someone mentioned that forward suites get higher winds, and on 10 day that might be an inconvenience so will look aft :)

 

I wanted to do Gem last year over Thanksgiving, but my wife did not have enough vacation days. This will not be an issue this year as she gets more. Am not so much worried about either ship being smaller than Freedom - we have only sailed on Grandeur, and loved the smaller ship - just wanted to look for something with a bit more for our son! We got a great deal on Freedom when we booked onboard but I like to continuously look around, and would love a 10 day cruise compared to a 7 day :)

 

 

 

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[Trevor Fountain]

Suites on the Spirit are awesome. Though the ship may be smaller, it has the feel of the true liners of the past.

Whatever you choose I'm certain you will have a great time.

[justcake]

Gem and Spirit are my favourite NCL ships. We stayed in the aft suite on the Gem and it was awesome. On the Spirit we had a suite with the shower looking out to the ocean which was also amazing. The Gem would be better with a 6 year old IMHO and I'm sure you will love it!

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

Thanks. QQ - are there any decks that are better than others, or decks to avoid? I was doing mock booking this morning, and it looked like there were SF cabins on a few different decks on Gem.

 

 

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[dexddd]

Thanks. QQ - are there any decks that are better than others, or decks to avoid? I was doing mock booking this morning, and it looked like there were SF cabins on a few different decks on Gem.

 

 

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They are on 8, 9, 10. 9 probably best bet. 8 is above nightclub.