Reporting Semi-Live from NCL Gem 5-23-15

seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Edit: never mind on the second question, I saw a printed letter about the new program called Next Cruise Norwegian and saw they were only offering one of the four choices.

Got it. I hope to see him /her later this afternoon. I will make a separate-post with what I find out.

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Hey Seadog67

I am going on the GEM in Dec and someone on my role call page stated that your on it now giving live updates. I read all 17 pages yesterday and want to say what a great job your doing for your fellow GEM sailors. I really feel like Im on vacation now. Thanks for all your time and effort of posting

Dennis:D

Thanks Dennis! Glad your enjoying it! Hope you have a great cruise in Dec. thanks for following along!

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Thank you for taking time to post about your trip. My sister and I will be sailing on the Gem, Dec 2016. We will have the same suite that you have. On our last sailing on the Gem we had suite on the other side. Looking forward to our cruise.

Your welcome cruiserfw! Thanks for followong and have a smooth cruise as well!

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Dear Seadog,
Sorry to interrupt this thread :o

As a simple chap from Lancashire in UK having been on one NLC cruise from Miami down to Mexico after doing Orlando.(so long ago cannot remember the name of the ship er Spirit ? ) :rolleyes:

All our other cruises have been with Thomson about six times from Palma one from Egypt to the med via the Suez canal. Thomson are good with organisation and the entertainment is west end production and the staff are so friendly However the ships they use are now well beyond their sell by date. That is another story :cool:

Anyway I digress (or as we say here anyroad?)

Thank you , thank you, and thank you again for the time and effort you have put into your regular updates enjoyed it so much. Happy you had a good win in the casino ! well deserved that man !( I normally get a wah, wah,wah sound as in the cartoons when I play!) :mad:

The cruise market today has a vast amount of ships to cater for all, my weekend paper has six pages of various cruise ships worldwide so much choice ! :confused:

Sorry rambling again, do hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday !

Best Regards

Stevie

No trees were harmed in the posting of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.;)

Thanks for the kind words Stevie! Glad you are enjoying it! I agree some of the newer ships are crazy with what they offer, compared to some older ship. Like Bumper Cars on RCL Quantum. As we see though some things disappear when they try to fit all those amenities, such as an unobstructed promenade, which we love and miss on some of the newer larger ships.

Anyroad [emoji6] thanks for following and someday I hope to visit your homeland as well as Europe, currently getting two weeks off is difficult and I would need at least two just to see the uk let alone the med and Europe. It is on my bucket list, just hope I do not kick it before getting there [emoji3]

Thanks again for the kind words! Updates incoming.

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

I think so, let me confirm. Check back I will quote this post with response.

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Laundry offer was either Tuesday or Wednesday, I forget when the flyer was placed in our cabin sorry

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Lunched in Cagney after the tour:

Had a burger which was excellent!

Then hung out in the wind for a bit listening to reggae and sunning some:

https://vimeo.com/129129768

I was about to write enjoying the sun before heading back to the cold and caught myself as we usually do this route in the later fall /winter and heading back is always into colder temps. While it will be cooler than florida when we get in I forgot for a moment it will be June and nice weather at home to boot. Lol sorry for the sidebar into my early case of sometimers [emoji3]

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roe2ship · May 28, 2015

I read your Quantum review and really enjoy your writing and pictures so I was interested in reading your review on this ship. Nicely done, once again.:)

I have a question please. Did you purchase the Cocoa Beach shuttle passes prior to your cruise? If so, did you have to pick a time? We are doing this same itinerary (on Breakaway) arriving at 12:00 and when I looked online into the shore excursions on these passes, they have a choice of time 12:30 and 1:30. I would prefer to choose the 12:30 but not sure if 30 minutes will be sufficient enough to make the bus on time.

seadog67 · May 28, 2015

I read your Quantum review and really enjoy your writing and pictures so I was interested in reading your review on this ship. Nicely done, once again.:)

I have a question please. Did you purchase the Cocoa Beach shuttle passes prior to your cruise? If so, did you have to pick a time? We are doing this same itinerary (on Breakaway) arriving at 12:00 and when I looked online into the shore excursions on these passes, they have a choice of time 12:30 and 1:30. I would prefer to choose the 12:30 but not sure if 30 minutes will be sufficient enough to make the bus on time.

Thanks roe2ship! (I got that reference of your screen name after a minute lol, [emoji3] )

We actually booked onboard and the time listed fir meeting was 12:20. We made it in plenty of time and there were at least 5 shuttles there as there were a lot if people going. Unless it is a different excursion on BW, i would Pick the 12:30, as unless you have mobility issues you will be fine.

It was about 10 mins from ship through the terminal to get to the bus loading area.

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Ready to start the back-stage tour? Come along, but be ready there is a good bit of walking up and down stairs [emoji3]

This was the platinum free tour not the for fee tour.

First stop was the galley areas:

Our tour guide was Robin(sp?)

https://vimeo.com/129131542

Green cutting boards for veggies only:

Executive Chef (his name escapes me)

Note: Red collars represent an asst chefs, blue are chefs, white are section leaders and black collar oversees them all.

https://vimeo.com/129132035

Lots of chickens

All that Stainless steel![emoji3]

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Dish presentation guide:

Soup, I think they said Onion soup:

Barilla Pasta

The hardworking staff

The onion man cutting onion for above mentioned soup!

https://vimeo.com/129133423

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Codes we hope to never hear:

On our way to the butcher we passed the recycling and provisioning areas:

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Red cutting boards are meat only:

They have a band saw [emoji3] for cutting larger meats

Steaks served in specialty restaurants are better cuts and come prepackaged from onshore and defrosted as needed, you can see them here

The trimming here are not tossed but ground up for bolognese sauce and meatballs:

Heading further down you can tell where we are heading by the wonderful smell, can you smell it? Oh sorry my phone does not have smellavision [emoji3] lol Yes I know I should audition for second city [emoji3]

Anyway next was the bakery yummmm

Can we slip and slide down that ? Lol

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Pretzel Bread!!

Apple cobbler bubbling away

Umm yeah nothing else needs saying.

I think I dripped chocolate on my shirt, better head to the laundry to get it cleaned. Some sights heading down I-95

Homer!

Does anyone know what purpose these serve when placed on the mooring lines ? (I do now and will give the answer later)

Need to get those scores up!

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jaja · May 28, 2015

Fantastic !!! Esp like that you got a picture of the ship "codes"...so interesting.....You are really the best Gem tour guide :D

(ps-thanks for the lunch menu)...

seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Fantastic !!! Esp like that you got a picture of the ship "codes"...so interesting.....You are really the best Gem tour guide :D

(ps-thanks for the lunch menu)...

Awesome jaja! Glad it is enjoyable. Hope it is not to many pictures, i tried to take interesting ones but took a lot.

Really shocked at the rating the main dining rooms get on taste flavor etc, seem to be on the low end

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jaja · May 28, 2015

seadog....I did not just mean the ship tour you just took...BUT rather..the whole week tour you have given:D

Tell Carlos...janette and john will be happy to see him on June 7th!!!

Cruzoholic · May 28, 2015

Never too many pictures. Looking forward to boarding the GEM in December. You've added that special touch to my cruise. Thanks and happy Sailing.

Evie

sgmamabear · May 28, 2015

Laundry offer was either Tuesday or Wednesday, I forget when the flyer was placed in our cabin sorry

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Thank you so much! That will definitely be a big help!

seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Everyones favorite chore at home: laundry. [emoji3]

The volume is staggering, and makes me re-think placing my towels for replacement [emoji6]

I told the wife if she behaved I would maybe get her one of these wrinkle removing machines at home. She told me to audition for second city that I would fit right in...yikes [emoji3]

https://vimeo.com/129137168

Washy washy

https://vimeo.com/129137498

Got dizzy just watching this.

https://vimeo.com/129137695

Feed the sheets in this end

https://vimeo.com/129137927

They come out presses and folded this end:

https://vimeo.com/129138179

Heading to try and visit cruise consultant. More later.

Thanks for checking in!

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

seadog....I did not just mean the ship tour you just took...BUT rather..the whole week tour you have given:D

Tell Carlos...janette and john will be happy to see him on June 7th!!!

Right on jaja. I appreciate it! I told carlos he is a star on cruise critic and the hostess at cagney's laughed and said yeah in his own mind! He cracked up and said he wants to put stamps all over her and ship her to australia, we all cracked up for 5 minutes laughing at them go back and forth!

He is a character!

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seadog67 · May 28, 2015

Never too many pictures. Looking forward to boarding the GEM in December. You've added that special touch to my cruise. Thanks and happy Sailing.

Evie

Awesome Evie! Have a great time in Dec!

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roe2ship · May 28, 2015

Thanks roe2ship! (I got that reference of your screen name after a minute lol, [emoji3] )

We actually booked onboard and the time listed fir meeting was 12:20. We made it in plenty of time and there were at least 5 shuttles there as there were a lot if people going. Unless it is a different excursion on BW, i would Pick the 12:30, as unless you have mobility issues you will be fine.

It was about 10 mins from ship through the terminal to get to the bus loading area.

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Sounds good, thank you!

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.:) The Gem looks like a great ship.

Knoxcruiser · May 28, 2015

Seadog67

Thanks for this great tour. I board Saturday, and am driving to NY tomorrow, but will follow your posts on my phone.

Andrew

DeltaOne · May 28, 2015

Does anyone know what purpose these serve when placed on the mooring lines ? (I do now and will give the answer later)

Rat guards! They stop rats from getting on to the ship via the mooring lines.

Great "live" thread, BTW. We'll be on the Gem for the 6/13 cruise! We have an aft balcony on deck 11.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Paul from Maryland

balcony bum · May 28, 2015

Pretzel Bread!!

Apple cobbler bubbling away

Umm yeah nothing else needs saying.

I think I dripped chocolate on my shirt, better head to the laundry to get it cleaned. Some sights heading down I-95

Homer!

Does anyone know what purpose these serve when placed on the mooring lines ? (I do now and will give the answer later)

Need to get those scores up!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

they keep rats from going up the ropes and getting in the ship.

I have been reading your posts all week they are great thinks.

Edited May 28, 2015 by balcony bum

Reporting Semi-Live from NCL Gem 5-23-15

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