Gem November Dry Dock

[hypercafe]

Just off the Gem yesterday. Seems like the dry dock coming up will be very extensive. The captain said there will be a new Bliss lounge with no bowling , new atrium, new cassino, new pool deck with a new water slide, Spinnaker Lounge with all new decor and furniture. He said no part of the ship will be untouched, it will be like a new ship when it returns.

[firstprincesscruise]

That's great. I go on her the 2nd sailing after dry dock and can't wait. How were the new dining menus?

[hypercafe]

That's great. I go on her the 2nd sailing after dry dock and can't wait. How were the new dining menus?

 

Sounds like good timing as everyone said it was a LOT of work for just two weeks. 800 workers will board in NY on the 30th and start work on the sail down to Freeport and finish up on the trip back to NY. I would not want to be on the first trip.

 

As for the menus, we ate in the MDR three times. I do not remember the old ones however I felt the selection was very nice and all tasted good. I was impressed that all cooked food came to the table nice and hot. The only place that I did not like was the buffet, not for the food but for the fight to get a seat .

[firstprincesscruise]

Yes it does seem like a lot of work for such a short time. Hopefully all of the bugs are worked out before we board. Good to hear the food was good. The buffet was a problem the last time we sailed the Gem. The same thing. Seating was very hard to come by. Hopefully it will not be as bad this time. It appears the ship is not full. We will see.

[leekel619]

Sounds like good timing as everyone said it was a LOT of work for just two weeks. 800 workers will board in NY on the 30th and start work on the sail down to Freeport and finish up on the trip back to NY. I would not want to be on the first trip.

 

 

 

As for the menus, we ate in the MDR three times. I do not remember the old ones however I felt the selection was very nice and all tasted good. I was impressed that all cooked food came to the table nice and hot. The only place that I did not like was the buffet, not for the food but for the fight to get a seat .

 

 

Boston cruiser here.

That's interesting. I enjoy these little tidbits. The Dawn goes into dry dock and someone commented that they house workers. Now it makes more sense. I was confused about those (such as the 800 on board) and regular dry dock employees.

I was also a little freaked because Dawn's Jun 3 and Jun 10 were cancelled to extended dry dock. We rebooked immediately to Jun 17.

And twice now I've seen someone on CC say that the hotel director or someone else told them first cruise after dry dock is Jun 24!! What ??

 

I just talked to my TA and was told she sees nothing about cancellation and Jun 17 is almost sold out.

 

She said who is "someone". I feel like a rumor starter. [emoji10]. I just said someone on cruise critic. I don't even know which threads...I read another one last night.

 

I also hear Gem could possibly come to Boston in 2017 to replace Dawn!

 

I get all my facts here [emoji109]🏻

Actually I found out my Jun 3 was cancelled right before I went to bed late one night the day people started getting their letters! That was fun trying to fall asleep.

 

What a racket. I wish I knew every single thing about the cruise industry!

 

Waiting for a "I Was Onboard for Dry Dock Re-Fit" book to come out.

[jmae2002]

Oh goodness........I'm nervous now! We are the first cruise after the dry dock (Nov 13th) and its our first cruise ever! What problems could we possibly encountered being the 1st after dry dock?

[firstprincesscruise]

I don't think any problems as much as maybe things not being finished and still having some construction during your cruise. Just my guess. Try to relax. I am sure everything will be fine.

[2boyzmom]

I did not hear anything about a waterslide being added but I am thrilled !!

[bella2230]

Oh goodness........I'm nervous now! We are the first cruise after the dry dock (Nov 13th) and its our first cruise ever! What problems could we possibly encountered being the 1st after dry dock?

 

 

I am also on the first cruise after dry dock. Holding my breath that everything will be done on time and will have smooth sailing for our trip.

[hypercafe]

The ship already has a water slide, it is being replaced with a new one.

 

I would not worry, there might be some finishing work being done however the Capt said it will be a new ship. It's been 5 years since the last drydock and it shows.

[Crusin6]

All new atrium? That means new furniture to me and little more

 

While I like the gem and haves sailed it 2x it is a bit gaudy with all the gems and jewels hanging in the atrium and the casino is very dark from what I can tell from running through it

 

There really isn't much the can really do in 2 weeks other than furniture and carpet

And imho those were getting very ragged las I sailed her in 2013

 

 

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[MICHLEV1974]

All new atrium? That means new furniture to me and little more There really isn't much the can really do in 2 weeks other than furniture and carpet

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I have seen a few programs show the refurb and dry dock processes and they can definitely do more than replace carpet and furniture. I think you would be surprised to see what can be done. I was impressed :)

 

I cannot wait to see the changes when I sail her in April 2016 for my BFF's wedding cruise!

[mimmo1974]

Sounds like good timing as everyone said it was a LOT of work for just two weeks. 800 workers will board in NY on the 30th and start work on the sail down to Freeport and finish up on the trip back to NY. I would not want to be on the first trip.

 

As for the menus, we ate in the MDR three times. I do not remember the old ones however I felt the selection was very nice and all tasted good. I was impressed that all cooked food came to the table nice and hot. The only place that I did not like was the buffet, not for the food but for the fight to get a seat .

 

 

I am on the first sailing after dry dock :o

[2boyzmom]

I am on the first sailing after dry dock :o

 

Please provide us with a full report !!!

[hypercafe]

All new atrium? That means new furniture to me and little more

 

While I like the gem and haves sailed it 2x it is a bit gaudy with all the gems and jewels hanging in the atrium and the casino is very dark from what I can tell from running through it

 

There really isn't much the can really do in 2 weeks other than furniture and carpet

And imho those were getting very ragged las I sailed her in 2013

 

 

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Capt said they are going to gut the bliss lounge, atrium, casino and make new ones. From what he said I expect to see a new ship in July. He said a lot of the changers came from FDRs visit to the ship.

[Bonobochick]

Just off the Gem yesterday. Seems like the dry dock coming up will be very extensive. The captain said there will be a new Bliss lounge with no bowling , new atrium, new cassino, new pool deck with a new water slide, Spinnaker Lounge with all new decor and furniture. He said no part of the ship will be untouched, it will be like a new ship when it returns.

 

Hmmm. That's a lot of change. I'll wait and see before really judging this news. I'm all for some refurbishment but I hope it's decor is not changed to be uniform to the other newer ships. I like the ships to have some degree of individuality aside from what's painted on the hull. Guess I'll find out in the near future.

[Crusin6]

Capt said they are going to gut the bliss lounge, atrium, casino and make new ones. From what he said I expect to see a new ship in July. He said a lot of the changers came from FDRs visit to the ship.

 

 

Well I really hope they gut the atrium. I love the gem but the atrium is horrible

 

It would be nice if when they gut the casino that they somehow can close it off so pax don't need to walk through it and if they could vent the air all the way up and out of the ship

 

 

Plexiglass floor to ceiling walls would help and a smoke free walkway outside of the plexiglass would be nice

 

It would have the perfect thing to do for the ba casino. It really would have solved the casino smoke problem on the ba

 

 

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Edited October 21, 2015 by Crusin6

[fshagan]

Yes it does seem like a lot of work for such a short time. Hopefully all of the bugs are worked out before we board. Good to hear the food was good. The buffet was a problem the last time we sailed the Gem. The same thing. Seating was very hard to come by. Hopefully it will not be as bad this time. It appears the ship is not full. We will see.

 

We were just on the Gem and while they even have signs to this effect, they have La Cucina open for buffet seating at breakfast and lunch. We were always able to get a seat in there when visiting the buffet.

[Demonyte]

We were just on the Gem and while they even have signs to this effect, they have La Cucina open for buffet seating at breakfast and lunch. We were always able to get a seat in there when visiting the buffet.

 

 

This is standard procedure on all Jewel class ships - never had any problems on any of Gem's sister ships in this regard either.

 

We usually seek away from the mayhem of the main seating area to either La Cucina or Great Outdoors - it's really convinient to sit in La Cucina and get the breakfast from outside.

[antmaril]

We were just on the Gem and while they even have signs to this effect, they have La Cucina open for buffet seating at breakfast and lunch. We were always able to get a seat in there when visiting the buffet.

 

I was on the Gem three weeks ago and La Cucina was great for extra seating the first few days of the cruise, but then people got wise to that space and we couldn't find a seat in there either. Getting a seat in the buffet (especially at breakfast) was very challenging.

[negn]

Really need new mattresses ,at least in our room. Backache every AM

[woodards]

Does anyone know what else is being done as part of the refurb?

 

Casino, atrium and bliss lounge.

 

Anything being done to the staterooms or suites?

 

 

Thanks,

Woodards.

[RareBird]

we are on Gem in middle of December... very excited, as we sailed her many times before and would love to see a big remodel. We're in a suite too!

[kirsty_r]

They did an awful lot in the EPIC's 3 week dock (which I think was mainly 3 weeks due to installing new engines!) Bliss was totally overhauled there too!

[heatheranderson13]

Yes I just read the epics review. That was a lot. Hopefully those that are sailing the first cruise after will post tons of pictures like they did on the epic post.

 

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