GEM Trip 01/12/16-01/22/16 Random Thoughts/Tips

[bbryan5]

I don't really do reviews, so here's some random thoughts about this cruise we just completed. It was my wife and I and we've done several cruises, all with NCL.

 

-Great cruise

-Embarked very quick, we booked with the CAS so we got priority boarding

-Slide not working

-Ate at Osheehans, Magenta, Grand Pacific, Cagneys, Teppanyaki, Le Bistro, Orchid Garden.. food was anywhere from good, to great

-Best meal was Cagneys - 21oz ribeye was awesome. Wife enjoyed the fillet

-Slide still not working

-Never had a problem with "chair hogs".. always found a couple chairs when we wanted them. Yes, sometimes they were up top tho..

-It was definitely rough for the first few sea days

-Leo was one of the lounge type singers,just him and his guitar, really good, check him out. He played by Magnums mostly

-I'm not a smoker, and I still found the casino to be bearable in regards to smoke

-Next to the last day, I had an amazing winning streak in the casino.. tables, not slots. Biggest win I've had on any of my cruises. Paid for our entire cruise, and on board account.... and a good amount more in my pocket..

-Play the tables, not slots

-First time playing deal or no deal.. kinda fun but hard to win

-Bar staff seemed a bit overworked, but found most to be friendly and quick

-We did self Disembark, and it was an absolute breeze. Off the ship, and thru customs in no time

 

Any questions, feel free to ask. :D :D

Edited January 24, 2016 by bbryan5

[2boyzmom]

Thanks - glad you enjoyed the cruise. What time did you go out looking for chairs? I don't want to be out there at 8am...

[bbryan5]

We were on the pool deck 8 some mornings, and the latest around 10am other mornings . Don't get me wrong, sometimes we didn't get a perfect poolside spot, but always found chairs.

[EllieinNJ]

Nice report. We loved the cheeseburgers and wings at O'Sheehans and also loved listening to Leo. I'm not a big gambler but won $100 on the slots.

[bbryan5]

Nice report. We loved the cheeseburgers and wings at O'Sheehans and also loved listening to Leo. I'm not a big gambler but won $100 on the slots.

 

Yup, definitely agree about the wings and burgers at Osheehans. I actually liked getting the wings plain, with no sauce (nice and crispy) and getting the buffalo sauce on the side. This was they weren't soaking in it.

[msg12188]

Thanks for the review and glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

We sail out on her (again) on Feb 1st.

 

Did you do any shore excursions?

 

Also, we are CAS but didn't get priority boarding last year on the BA and it boarding was an absolute fiasco.

 

Mary & Red

[markf]

we were on the cruise just prior to you and we had a suite with priority disembarkation.

We were asked to assemble in the large show room in the front of the ship--

Just curious where you were asked to assemble--I am thinking it was in the back of the ship.

 

The reason I bring it up is that the exit for the luggage is all the way in the back of the pier and we were left off in front of the pier when they could have made it easier and let us use the back entrance closer to the escalator on the pier.

 

Dismbarkation is always a hassle no matter how much they would like to organize it --our week the ship docked at 7 am and the first people off who had luggage on the pier was at 9 am --I suppose 8 am if you took your own luggage off

[bbryan5]

Did you do any shore excursions?

 

Also, we are CAS but didn't get priority boarding last year on the BA and it boarding was an absolute fiasco.

 

Only NCL excursion we did was in Tortola.. we did the escape to Jost Van Dyke.. Highly recommend it, what a beautiful place!

 

The other ports we did our own thing.. pretty much taking cabs to beaches. SJ PR just walked around and hit some local bars.

 

Not sure why you didn't get priority boarding.. after we checked in, there were a few different lines with "ushers" and I asked one if there was a specific area for CAS guests. We were literally walked directly onto the ship, didn't wait for a single minute. We noticed quite a few people waiting to board, but after mentioning we are casino guests, we got complete priority. We are regular CAS players, not high rollers.

Edited January 25, 2016 by bbryan5

[bbryan5]

we were on the cruise just prior to you and we had a suite with priority disembarkation.

We were asked to assemble in the large show room in the front of the ship--

Just curious where you were asked to assemble--I am thinking it was in the back of the ship.

 

The reason I bring it up is that the exit for the luggage is all the way in the back of the pier and we were left off in front of the pier when they could have made it easier and let us use the back entrance closer to the escalator on the pier.

 

Dismbarkation is always a hassle no matter how much they would like to organize it --our week the ship docked at 7 am and the first people off who had luggage on the pier was at 9 am --I suppose 8 am if you took your own luggage off

 

We did self disembark, bringing our own luggage off. Weren't really asked to "assemble" in a certain area.. we were just told to go to deck 7 for "easy walk off" and it really was easy. Didn't wait in line at all. I guess we were off the ship by about 8:30-9:00. Best we have seen on all our cruises.

Edited January 25, 2016 by bbryan5

[pathubia]

I don't really do reviews, so here's some random thoughts about this cruise we just completed. It was my wife and I and we've done several cruises, all with NCL.

 

-Great cruise

-Embarked very quick, we booked with the CAS so we got priority boarding

-Slide not working

-Ate at Osheehans, Magenta, Grand Pacific, Cagneys, Teppanyaki, Le Bistro, Orchid Garden.. food was anywhere from good, to great

-Best meal was Cagneys - 21oz ribeye was awesome. Wife enjoyed the fillet

-Slide still not working

-Never had a problem with "chair hogs".. always found a couple chairs when we wanted them. Yes, sometimes they were up top tho..

-It was definitely rough for the first few sea days

-Leo was one of the lounge type singers,just him and his guitar, really good, check him out. He played by Magnums mostly

-I'm not a smoker, and I still found the casino to be bearable in regards to smoke

-Next to the last day, I had an amazing winning streak in the casino.. tables, not slots. Biggest win I've had on any of my cruises. Paid for our entire cruise, and on board account.... and a good amount more in my pocket..

-Play the tables, not slots

-First time playing deal or no deal.. kinda fun but hard to win

-Bar staff seemed a bit overworked, but found most to be friendly and quick

-We did self Disembark, and it was an absolute breeze. Off the ship, and thru customs in no time

 

Any questions, feel free to ask. :D :D

 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!! Sorry, couldn't resist!! Were you playing blackjack?

 

Now you should book the Dawn, May 8th 10 day out of New Orleans with Scott and I!!

[msg12188]

Only NCL excursion we did was in Tortola.. we did the escape to Jost Van Dyke.. Highly recommend it, what a beautiful place!

 

The other ports we did our own thing.. pretty much taking cabs to beaches. SJ PR just walked around and hit some local bars.

 

Not sure why you didn't get priority boarding.. after we checked in, there were a few different lines with "ushers" and I asked one if there was a specific area for CAS guests. We were literally walked directly onto the ship, didn't wait for a single minute. We noticed quite a few people waiting to board, but after mentioning we are casino guests, we got complete priority. We are regular CAS players, not high rollers.

 

Thanks for the tips. We will make sure we will mention that we are CAS guests.

[bbryan5]

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!! Sorry, couldn't resist!! Were you playing blackjack?

 

Now you should book the Dawn, May 8th 10 day out of New Orleans with Scott and I!!

 

PATTY!!! Was just texting Scott this morning! Wish we were able to make it in May,wouldn't be able to get off tho :( Wasn't playing blackjack, was playing 3 card poker believe it or not! Best I've done on any cruise (or land casino for that matter) ever! Miss you guys, we need to get together!

Edited January 26, 2016 by bbryan5