Gem Caribbean Cruise Review, 1/30/15 to 2/9 Part I

[Carnac767]

I've finally gotten around to writing a review of the Gem cruise we just completed. I've already posted photos, which you can find on the forum. Now comes the wordy part:

 

This was our eighth cruise aboard an NCL ship and our second aboard Gem. Both my wife and I first sailed aboard cruise ships when we were infants and have been doing it ever since. We took our first NCL cruise nine years ago, a 12-day cruise in the Baltic, and were immediately hooked by NCL. We've never sailed on anyone else since. We particularly like NCL's Jewel class of ships. This was our sixth cruise in this particular class.

 

Pre-Cruise

We traveled to New York via Amtrak, arriving at Penn Station early afternoon the day before the sailing. If possible, we always try to give ourselves a buffer day, particularly in the winter. Just a few days earlier, all air travel and even Amtrak, had been shut down due to a massive winter storm. It's always best to arrive at least a day early, if your schedule and wallet permit. Besides that, New York is a great city to visit and we consider it our first excursion port.

 

We stayed at the Hilton Doubletree Suites in Times Square, a short cab ride from Penn Station. Times Square is touristy and crowded, but it's still a fun area and most of what we want to do when in the city is not far. For our night in the city, we ate at our favorite Cuban restaurant--Victor's Cafe on West 52nd--and then caught a show. My wife had been dying to see Mamma Mia for years, so that's what we saw. My wife says it was great. I was there, too, but after Victor's mojitos, I somehow dozed through most of the show.

 

We had breakfast the next morning at the Evergreen Diner, just around the corner from the hotel, on West 47th. It was your typical diner breakfast, inexpensive but good. We left the hotel a little before noon and took a cab to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. NCL's new mega-ship, Breakaway, was also in port, and I was expecting the terminal to be a bit of a zoo. Originally, we'd been told by NCL that the ship would be berthed at pier 88 but the previous night we'd received a call from NCL informing us that Gem would now be at pier 90. Breakaway was at 88 so it was just the usual level of boarding chaos, as opposed total insanity.

 

Check-in was relatively easy. After the requisite jaunt through the metal-detector, we were placed in the priority line, either because we're in a suite or because we're Platinum . . . or both. We waited about 15-minutes before finally turning in our paperwork, getting our picture taken, and being handing our key cards. We were then escorted to the VIP waiting area, which was packed to the gills. In fact, there was no place left to sit. Food and beverages were provided and some of the guests were attacking the buffet like the Donner Party. I suppose they couldn't wait to board the ship to start the cruising ritual of non-stop eating.

 

This was our fifth NCL cruise in a suite and in all of the previous ones we'd been greeted by the concierge and then escorted to our cabin by one of the butlers. However, we were told the concierge for this cruise had just flown into JFK and was stuck in traffic. After about twenty minutes in the waiting area, we were escorted en masse aboard and turned loose. We're grown-ups and don't need our hand held, but I did think it was a rather odd way of "priority" boarding. It just didn't seem very professional. In our case, we knew exactly where our cabin was. We've stayed in the same location on Jewel, Gem, and Pearl: the Emerald Penthouse on Deck 11. That's on the starboard side, forward, just below the library. More on that below. We dropped off our carry-ons and headed immediately up one deck to the spa to buy our spa passes for the cruise. They were $169 each for this cruise. After that we headed to lunch at Cagney's, where I started my own cruise ritual of steak, steak, steak.

 

We got underweigh about an hour late, due to the late arrival of the ship. The captain explained that they'd had a medical emergency which had caused the delay. We couldn't depart until the ship had finished provisioning. Normally, when in a suite, our checked bags had been delivered in the early afternoon but we didn't get ours today until about six pm.

 

We returned to our cabin around two and it was fully ready, which included sparkling wine for being in a suite, sparkling wine for being Platinum, and sparkling wine for the Deluxe Romance Package I'd ordered for my wife's birthday. There was also a bouquet of roses and chocolate covered strawberries from the romance package, and another bouquet of flowers for being Platinum. Anyway, we had no lack of champagne. It would have been fun to sit on our balcony, sipping bubbly and eating strawberries, but the temperature was plummeting, on its way to ten degrees. That's real temperature, which I believe is about minus 13 celsius. So we sat in our living area instead, enjoying the suite life while looking over at the Breakaway.

 

Prior to sailing I'd made reservations for dinner at Le Bistro for six p.m., knowing there would be a seven p.m. Welcome Aboard show in the Stardust Theater. We had a message on our answering machine stating that a private function was taking place at six and our reservation had been moved to nine. To make up for the inconvenience, they were giving us a bottle of wine.

 

Several months before the cruise NCL had put the Ultimate Dining Package for this cruise on sale for $104 per person. We like the specialty restaurants, so we took advantage of this offer. I believe that it was normally priced at $174 for this particular length cruise. One of the Platinum perks is also dinner in Le Bistro with wine, and we also got a specialty dinner with wine for being platinum. In other words, we had plenty of wine and champagne.

 

One of the great things about sailing from the Manhattan cruise terminal and down the Hudson is the spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline on the port side and the views of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty on the starboard. When it's really cold, the Spinnaker Lounge on Deck 13 forward, which gives you a 180 degree view forward of the ship, is a good place to be. You could also dress warmly and head topside to see the sights. Or you could sit just inside your balcony and pop out for photos every now and then, which is what we opted to do. It was too dark to make much of Ellis Island, but Lady Liberty was spectacular all lighted up. Despite the motion of the ship, we were able to get some great photos.

 

Okay, for some mundane details that some cruisers like to know. Gem was under the command of Captain Steffan Bengtsson, from Sweden. Captain Bengtsson is very high energy and very personable. One of the things I particularly enjoyed were his history lessons that he delivered over the ship's PA upon arrival at each port. The Hotel Director was Tony Winkler, also a very outgoing and approachable officer. The Staff Captain, or what we'd call the XO in the Navy was Stefan Nording, also from Sweden. Like any good XO, he was rarely seen because he had too much work to do. The Chief Engineer was Stefan Malmestrom, also from Sweden. Stefan must be a very popular Swedish name. Dan Dan was the very outgoing and dynamic cruise director. He's from the Philippines, which is surprising because hardly anyone from that country works in the cruise industry. I am so kidding. The cruise consultant was Sherry McKeown, from Canada, eh. We first met Sherry on the Dream several years ago. She was on our excursion to Peter the Great's summer palace of Peterhof and we've kept in touch since. Sherry did a very nice job of coordinating all the various Latitude functions aboard the ship.

 

Our butler for this sailing was Putu Abadi, from Indonesia. He came by early after we'd boarded to introduce himself. Putu did a terrific job. He was polite, attentive, and always had a smile on his face. We enjoyed getting to know him. Our cabin steward was Joemar, from the Philippines. For the first few days of the cruise we didn't see him, because he was suffering from kidney stones. Other stewards were covering for him. He received some treatment in San Juan, plus received lots of advice about his malady from the several doctors on the cruise.

 

The Welcome Aboard show was rather rudimentary. There was some singing and dancing by the Gem production cast, and some comedy and magic by Chip Romero. He was one of the entertainers aboard Pearl on our last cruise. He's funny and entertaining, though it was pretty much the same material we'd head before.

 

Our dinner at Le Bistro was first rate. I had the grilled tenderloin, which was one of the best steaks I've had anywhere, and I'm a fanatic about steak. My wife had the salmon, which she said was quite good.

 

We awoke early on Day Two to find the ship in some very rough seas. In fact, what woke us was the ship taking a terrific roll, followed by a loud crash from our living room. We'd left one of our bottles of champagne in the ice bucket. The stand had fallen over, spilling the ice and water, and flinging the champagne about 30 feet to our cabin door. Fortunately, the bottle didn't break. The china and cutlery on our dining room table was all on the deck, too. I'd experienced some heavy seas during my time flying off aircraft carriers, and this particular roll was a doozy. I checked the navigation channel on our television, which provides information about the weather and sea state on a crawl along the bottom. At the time it was reporting the wind in excess of forty knots and the seas in excess of 24 feet.

 

We had breakfast at Cagney's this morning. Our waiter, Thomas, told us that ordinarily they opened for breakfast at seven, which was just about when the rogue wave hit. He said that all of the crystal and china on every table went flying and they had to shut down the restaurant for an hour to clean up. The motion didn't bother me, and my wife had taken her Bonine, so she was good to go. I had my steak and eggs. My wife is an English girl with an American father, and she loves grits. Cagney's doesn't have that but the wait staff was always happy to bring some up from the Garden Cafe. Besides the normal breakfast menu in Cagney's, they also feature a buffet of fresh fruit, breads, and cold cuts. Being English, tea is also very important to my wife. Thomas, who was to be our waiter almost every time we were in Cagney's, quickly caught on to this and had some very long discussions with my wife about the importance of tea in his native India. My wife always brings her own tea bags because she's not a big fan of the Lipton's black tea available on NCL ships. Another quibble is that the water served for tea is never hot enough. This was the case on Gem, too.

 

This was the first of three consecutive at-sea days, and we didn't have much planned, other than the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet at eleven. This was held in the Bliss Lounge, which is on Deck Six aft. It's where the bowling alleys are located. This was one of the larger Meet and Greets we'd attended, with at least 120 members present. The venue wasn't ideal however. Instead of being able to spread out among the main speakers, where all could hear what was being said, we had to stand on a narrow front. Those at the back couldn't hear what was being said, especially as many members present wouldn't stop their own conversations. The Captain and senior staff were present, and the Captain stressed how closely NCL pays attention to the concerns of Cruise Critic members. Once the captain and staff left, the meeting just sort of dissolved. Bliss Lounge was just not the right place for a get-together of this size.

 

Many of us headed immediately to the Casino for a slot-pull. There were 48 members signed up, as a matter of fact, which proved to be too unwieldy. In fact, it took two hours for everyone to take their turn, not my idea of a good time. For anyone organizing such a function in the future, I recommend you limit the number of participants to no more than 20 or have more than one slot pull.

 

Sarah and I just made salads at the Garden Cafe for lunch and took them back to our cabin. We both then headed to the spa. The hot tubs in the men's and women's locker rooms were shut down because they'd sloshed out most of their water. The therapy pool in the common area was also closed off for the same reason. The common area was very crowded, which proved to be the case almost every time I went there. About the only time I could ever find a heated recliner vacant was either first thing in the morning or in the evening.

 

We saw some very interesting maritime phenomena this afternoon, including a waterspout and sea smoke. The latter is something normally associated with the Arctic Sea and Antarctic Ocean. In fact, the Captain mentioned that in nearly forty years at sea, he'd never seen it in this part of the Atlantic. We had an extreme difference in air and water temperature of over 40 degrees F.

 

For dinner that evening we dined at Orchid Garden, the Asian fusion restaurant. The food was good but nothing too exciting, and our server seemed either distracted or disinterested. She wasn't the typical outgoing server we normally experience on NCL. After dinner we had a cocktail party in the Haven, hosted by the Captain. This was a great opportunity to swap sea stories with him and talk about the unusual weather we'd experienced this day. Some of the guests in the Haven told me that all of the glasses in their dining room cabinet had crashed to the deck when we'd taken the big roll. That wasn't surprising, considering that the Haven is at one of the highest points of the ship, where the force of the roll would be most pronounced. Anyway, by this time the seas had settled considerably and the air temperature had risen quite noticeably.

 

The next two at-seas featured smoother sailing and warmer temperatures, a welcome relief to all of us fleeing the frigid weather. The ship was able to have a barbecue by the pool on Deck 12 the second day, which would be a standard for the remainder of the cruise . . . until the final at sea day when more rough weather precluded it. We ate dinner at Moderno's, which was quite good. I refrained from partaking of the salad bar in order to maximize my input of the beef, chicken, and pork. Sarah and I watched the Super Bowl in our cabin. I'd earlier purchased a bucket of beer from the pool deck to see me through the game. That's a buy five, get six offer. One thing to note on a Super Bowl cruise: there are no commercials, so if Super Bowl commercials are your thing, set your DVR before you leave home.

 

The weather on the final at-sea day was almost tropical, especially compared to what we'd left. I enjoy at-sea days because I don't have to be anywhere and can just relax on my balcony. We again went through the barbecue line for lunch and brought it back to our cabin. We had another cocktail party at one, this time in the Spinnaker Lounge. This one was for Gold and Platinum Latitudes members. That evening we ate at Teppanyaki, which I've found to be always good. Our chef put on a great show and the food was quite good. I had the filet and chicken, while Sarah had the chicken and shrimp. The meal includes a salad with ginger dressing, a main course, and dessert. The dessert was a choice of either fruit or green tea cake, neither of which was very appealing.

[Debbie1029]

Enjoying your trip report!

[cruizinwithkids]

I love your review so far. Though I really can't give much credence to someone who sleeps through Mamma Mia!!!:D

[Carnac767]

It was the mojitos, your honor.

[butabeach]

And I on the other hand, not being an Abba fan understand completely!!

[meatball_nyc]

Also enjoying your report.

Last Broadway show I went to was Titanic (only because my MIL bought the tix), and after a few pre-show drinks, I too, snoozed through the show!

Looking forward to more of your review.

[jenny105]

We're doing the same itinerary in March. Thank you for giving me the definitive answer to what the spa pass will cost!

[Carnac767]

You're welcome. Have a great cruise.

[forgey]

Could you please enlighten a 'newbie' to what the spa pass includes?

[Carnac767]

We're doing the same itinerary in March. Thank you for giving me the definitive answer to what the spa pass will cost!

 

 

Depends upon the length of the cruise. It was $169 for the 10-day.

[Carnac767]

Could you please enlighten a 'newbie' to what the spa pass includes?

 

 

Access to either the men's or women's side, which includes showers, steam room, sauna, lockers, hot tubs and lounge chairs, plus access to the unisex portion, which has heated tile chairs, therapy pool, and bigger hot tub, plus more lounge chairs.