Considering a 11 day Eastern out of NY on the Gem March time frame

[tgloersen]

Any comments about this ship?

[ColeThornton]

Anything specific you would like to know? That would probably get you more responses.

 

Cheers.

[tgloersen]

Umm...

 

Looking for any comments relating to the ship itself, example good for a 11day cruise? Has anyone sailed her on a trip like this? Likes dis-likes

 

Itinerary comments? Has anyone sailed this itinerary in march? Likes dislikes?

 

Thanks,

[BoatParts]

I've done that cruise twice on the Gem. Love the ship and itinerary. I know we will miss Spinnaker Lounge when we sail on Breakaway.

 

We've done late January and late February for our two. No issues with weather. In fact we were lucky both times with unusually high temperatures in NYC for departure. Within a day you'll be off the coast of Carolina and be warming up.

 

 

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[Costas_33]

I hope you get some more relies TG. The Gem seems to go under the radar from what I've witnessed during the last two months of following this forum.

 

I can't say I've heard a bad word about her, I'm assuming cruisers are generaly more reserved but largely satisfied.

 

I'm booked on this cruise late March 2018, so I'm equally interested in any comment on the Gem. Hopefully you'll post a review TG on your return if you go ahead with this cruise.

 

In the UK we have a cruise channel on TV, they featured this cruise this week, I only caught the end of the piece though!

 

Good luck with it anyway.

[frawls]

I sailed a similar itinerary on the Gem a couple of years ago. It was a 10 day cruise and we only had a half day in the afternoon/evening in San Juan and went to the DR instead of Tortola. No complaints at all. In fact, we are

heading out on the Gem for the upcoming New Year's cruise and will be happy to report back.

 

We enjoy the beach so we won't be doing any excursions through NCL except for Tortola because it is such a short time in port.

 

If you have any specific questions I will be happy to try and answer.

 

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[Turtles06]

The dearth of replies may be due to the fact that there is already so much information about the Gem right here on CC. I respectfully suggest doing a search and reading up. :)

 

That said, I will add that we've sailed on the Gem three times (and the Jade and Jewel), most recently in February on her 10-day Caribbean itinerary out of NY. (OP: if you want comments on your itinerary, it would be helpful to tell us what it is.)

 

The Jewel-class ships are my favorite of the NCL ships; not too big, easy to get around. Staff and crew on the Gem were great. We love the Great Outdoors, and the Spinnaker Lounge is also a terrific indoor space when not being used for game shows, trivia, etc.

 

I was disappointed with the entertainment this time around; the production shows were tired and pretty lame. It was also our first NCL cruise where we encountered pretty obnoxious people, including the woman who sat down on a lounger next to us, pulled out nail clippers, and started to cut her toe nails right there -- clip clop, clip clop, right onto the deck. GROSS. My wife politely asked her to do her personal grooming in her cabin, to which she replied -- "this is a cruise. I can do whatever I want, wherever I want." (I guess that's the new definition of Freestyle.) She then proceeded to open up an entire pedicure kit, and started to apply stinky nail polish remover. My wife spoke to her again, and she moved. I guess she realized she wasn't going to get to do her pedicure in peace.

 

We didn't let people like her spoil our cruise, and things were much better once we got to the islands. I have to say though (and I say this as a native New Yorker), I'm not sure we'll be taking another NCL cruise out of NY to the Caribbean.

[$hip$hape]

Any comments about this ship?

 

Here's some comments(below).

You just have to go to "reviews".:)

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=385

[navybankerteacher]

Any comments about this ship?

 

We sailed Gem this itinerary this past February. Sailing out of New York is always spectacular, getting into warmer waters by first afternoon is a treat, and the itinerary was good -except for too short a stop in Tortola to really do anything.

 

The ship itself seemed very over-crowded with a lot of loud people. I am not a particular fan of free-style as the dining experience was sub par in virtually every respect. The only thing going for the Gem that time of year is the fact that she is the only reasonably sized ship regularly sailing from New York.