NCL Gem Oct 2016 Southern Caribbean from San Juan Review

[tracyktn]

NCL Gem October 2016 Southern Caribbean out of San Juan Puerto Rico

 

 

We really enjoyed this cruise, the southern Caribbean cruises are my favorite. I like all the ports. My last cruise was on the Getaway so the Gem seemed a bit small to me. The ship is nice and is well taken care of and clean. The layout was a bit chopped up, some decks you could not walk from one end to the other. This is fine it just takes a little getting used to. It is a good ship for a port intensive itinerary like this.

 

 

I bought the Cruise Next rewards certificates on our last cruise so I used my first certificate on this cruise. If you plan to cruise again on NCL I think this is a good deal. We originally paid $500 and got $250 onboard credit and two certificates of $250 each toward 2 separate future cruises. Basically you get an extra $250 with this deal and you have 4 years to use it. They had other options as well and the savings depends on the number of certificates you buy.

 

 

Two days before sailing I saw that they had balcony rooms for same price I paid for inside cabin. I called my travel agent and she could not get NCL to upgrade my room type. I wasn’t too happy with that answer. I am used to Carnival giving the upgrade or offering on board credit for price changes, but I do usually book the early saver rate with them. Hopefully somebody got upgraded, I doubt they sell that many cabins so last minute.

 

 

We chose the free dining package and got 4 nights of dinners at the higher end restaurants. My favorite was Le Bistro – the mushroom soup is amazing. We also enjoyed escargot, lamb and filet, the sauces were good. My husband cringes everytime I order my steak well done. He says the Chef is probably throwing a fit because he has to ruin the fillet. What can I say I like my steak well done.

 

 

 

Teppanyaki is always entertaining and very tasty.

 

 

 

Moderno was also good. They bring skewers of meat around (like 9 different options) and have a nice salad bar. The pineapple skewers were wonderful. We had so much steak that we ended up canceling our reservation at Cagneys and switched it to La Cucina for the last night. We needed a little change from so much meat. All the food at these restaurants was good.

 

 

 

The buffet was pretty average as usual. I did see they had crepes that I wanted to try, but never did. Anytime I don’t have to cook I am happy. When you walk into buffet they have people spraying hand sanitizer on everyone's hands. Washy Washy Happy Happy is the slogan here. It was pretty funny, but I guess it is good that they do this. My daughter is a hand sanitizer freak and uses it all the time, I told her I found the perfect job for her. She can be NCL’s new washy washy happy happy girl and sanitize everyone on the ships. haha

 

 

 

NCL always does a great job with the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet they offer non alcoholic drinks and snacks. They have an officer from each department there and we also got to meet the Captain. I like that they take the time to do this for cruise critic members. It adds a special touch.

 

 

 

We went to the NCL Rewards gathering for drinks and appetizers and were lucky enough to have Captain Roger sing for us, he was very good. That was the first time I had a captain entertain like that, pretty impressive. We also got an invite for receptions in the Haven where they offered cocktails and photos with the Captain. It was a nice way to show past guests the Haven area.

 

 

 

The crew members and staff were all very friendly and smiling. NCL does have awesome team members. Our cabin steward Gede did a nice job and was friendly to talk to. I liked Drew our cruise director, he was easy to talk to and always helpful. We did go to Acrobat show, they are very talented and I am so glad we saw this one. We also went to the 2nd City Show which was funny.

 

 

 

Our cabin was clean but it was on the small side, you could only walk on the left side and bottom of the bed (you couldn’t walk along the other side of bed because it was blocked by a table). I loved the shower it had a door instead of the clingy shower curtain. I like that they have bathrobes in the room. I LOVE the binders they have in the Photo Gallery, this is so much better than looking through walls and walls of photos to try and find yours. Very convenient to have all your photos together in a binder. They also are not as obnoxious about taking photos or selling drinks.

 

 

There was only 1 pool area (2 pools and several hot tubs). I guess I got used to ships having a separate pool area in the back which many times is adult only. One of the pools did have adults only sign and at least 1 hot tub possibly more. This cruise was port intensive so it was fine, we only had one day where we hung out at the pool. I also had to try out the water slide which gets a thumbs up. They have a rock climbing wall but we didn’t do that this trip.

[tracyktn]

Our first stop was Barbados. I booked with Skinny Carson e-mail is iriebarbadostours@gmail.com. He had another Carson pick us up for the day. Clark Carson did a good job, he pointed out different buildings and areas of the island and gave us lots of information.

 

 

 

We went to Harrison’s Cave. The customer service there was terrible. They were down right rude to some of the people in our group. You can either walk down a path or take elevator, then wait outside for your number to be called. Then you go into the Cave interpretation center and wait some more, then you go into a little theater and watch a 10 to 15 minute educational video. It took us an hour to get into center, then waiting there and watching the movie it was over an hour and half by the time we got on the tram. None of this was not explained when we bought the tickets, I’m not sure I would have chose to do this if I knew the amount of time it would take. Finally after the video we load onto a tram that drives you down into the caves.

 

 

 

 

Once inside the caves it was amazing they are beautiful. The tram make 3 stops where you can get off to walk around a little and take pictures. Our guide on the tram was friendly took photos of us. When you are at the waterfall ask the guide to take a picture of you in front of the face, then make sure to remember to look for it in your picture. I really enjoyed the caves, it was just a long process getting to the good part of actually seeing the cave.

 

 

 

 

Next it was on to Bathsheba. This is a beautiful beach are with huge boulders that look like mushrooms in the water. It is a great photo location. Our driver spotted monkeys in trees along the road and stopped so we could get pictures.

 

 

 

 

[tracyktn]

We asked Clark Carson to drop us off at a beach where we could swim with the turtles. He took us to Harbour Lights. They had 3 different packages $10 for chair/umbrella, $15 for Chair, Umbrella and Boat ride out to snorkel with turtles and over a shipwreck / $10 for Turtle Tour Only.

 

 

 

We wanted to snorkel with turtles so we did the $15 dollar package (only $5 more per person what a value!). The beach was fantastic, the colors of aqua blue and teal water, nice white soft sand. There were other tours being sold here like jet skis etc. Harbour Lights has Changing Rooms, Restrooms, Showers and Wifi. I didn’t try wifi so not sure how well it worked. They also have beach service for drinks and food. We ordered fresh fish which was good. I would go back here again.

 

 

 

The turtle tour is a very short boat ride (it was a glass bottom boat so if some don’t want to go in the water they can still enjoy some underwater views) We did get to snorkel with a turtle which is exactly what we were looking for Then we went to snorkel over a shipwreck. This was the best value of our trip.

 

 

 

 

We had agreed that Clark Carson would pick us up at 3pm to go back the ship. He was there as agreed.

It was nice to have our own guide and we go to see everything that we requested.

[poly3503]

I'm enjoying your review. We'll be on the Gem in two weeks!

[tracyktn]

We had a great tour with Thomas Vincent in Martinique. Here is his website and e-mail taxi.norden.vincent@gmail.com

Martiniquehttp://taxinordenvincent.wixsite.com/discover-martinique

 

 

He speaks great English and is very friendly. The van is comfortable with air conditioning and he gave us juice from local fruits that his father in law made.

 

 

 

There were many interesting stops including beautiful Church, River viewing area and walk down to waterfall (wear shoes that can get wet), Botanical Garden, Rum Distillery (with samples), View of Mt Pelee and St. Pierre and stop at beach area. Thomas will share lots of information about the island.

 

 

 

I would highly recommend Taxi Norden - Vincent tour while in Martinique, we had a wonderful day with him and got to so see many different areas of the island. It was a good value for a full day tour.

 

 

 

[tracyktn]

St Kitts

 

 

 

Blue Water Safari mini boats to snorkel location their website is http://www.bluewatersafaris.com/en/. The boats were fun but they are a little rough. My husband drove and I rode on the back.

 

 

 

 

We rode out to a snorkel spot that was okay not the greatest snorkeling. The better part of this tour was riding the mini boat. It was reasonably priced and we stayed at the beach where their tours run from and took a taxi back on our own.

 

 

 

[tracyktn]

I'm enjoying your review. We'll be on the Gem in two weeks!

 

Nice I am ready to go back again. I'm sure you will have a wonderful vacation. Enjoy!

[pokerpro5]

Hi. I'm on that cruise right now.

 

You should have called NCL directly about the upgrade. You probably could have talked them into it, even if initially refused.

 

Anyway, nice pictures. I have different activities planned than you for Barbados and Martinique, but still interesting to see what I will miss.

[easyboy]

Following your review. Nice photos.

[tracyktn]

We went with Captain Bob's tour, the website is http://www.soualigadestinations.com/soualiga_destinations/Welcome.html

 

This was the best day of our cruise. Brett was our captain and he did a great job, he was informative and had a good sense of humor. The boat was a high end Scarab which was really comfortable. It’s like the sports car of the ocean, it was fun speeding by the slower catamarans.

 

 

We stopped at a place to snorkel with turtles, where we did see turtles and sting rays. Then it was on to Pinnel Island where we waded / swam to the beach. The water is shallow for a long ways out. There is an area behind the restaurants to see wild iguanas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water and beaches are so beautiful I couldn’t stop taking pictures. We made another stop for lunch which was good. Again you do have to wade from boat to the beach which was easy and I think a great part of the experience. After lunch there is another snorkel stop and then onto Airport Beach viewing area. You can watch the planes landing and see the folks on the beach get sandblasted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was my 2nd trip with Soualiga and one of my all time favorite tours. I highly recommend booking this while in St. Maarten.

[tracyktn]

Hi. I'm on that cruise right now.

 

 

You should have called NCL directly about the upgrade. You probably could have talked them into it, even if initially refused.

 

 

Anyway, nice pictures. I have different activities planned than you for Barbados and Martinique, but still interesting to see what I will miss.

 

I am jealous, I miss that colors of the beautiful water down there. I will call NCL direct next time. Have a wonderful cruise!

[tracyktn]

We rented a car from Budget, they have an office right at the port. They have a strange policy of charging $250 for excessive sand in the car. It's a beach town and impossible to not get sand in the car. We did our best to keep it out and avoided the extra fee.

 

They do drive on the LEFT here, my husband did the driving. We went to Coki beach first and did some snorkeling. The fish are used to getting fed here and will come up to you.

 

 

 

We saw the most fish here.

 

 

The beach is gorgeous, I love the soft white sand and turquoise water.

 

 

We decided to go to Smith Bay and I think also called Lindquist. We did have to pay an entrance fee here. It's a nice beach with picnic tables, no chair rentals or food here. I would say this is probably more of a locals beach, there were less people.

 

[tracyktn]

Oh no our last day and then back to the real world. It goes by so fast.

 

I usually do self disembark and carry my own luggage off. We decided to go with the luggage tags this time and put our luggage out the night before. We had priority luggage tags so we were able to get off around 8:30am. It was pretty nice not having to deal with our bags and we didn't encounter any lines getting off or at customs.

 

Our flight was later this day so we took a taxi to Barrachina Restaurant to store our luggage for the day. This worked great and they just accept tips for this wonderful service.

 

I booked a tour with Flavors of San Juan. http://www.sanjuanfoodtours.com

 

Shannon was our guide, she texted us ahead of time to see if we needed any assistance finding the meeting location which I thought was a nice touch. Shannon was a great guide sharing lots of information and was really easy to talk to.

 

 

 

We tried a wide variety of very tasty food including coffee, ham sandwich on local bread with guava paste, ice pops, ceviche, we mashed up plantains for our mofongo which was fun, rice & beans, flan for dessert. I am missing a few things. The food was all good and we were all full at the end.

 

 

I really enjoyed this tour, it gave me a chance to try some foods that I probably would not have tried otherwise. Shannon gave us lots of history and showed us many points of interest.

 

 

 

 

We had been to the forts several times, so I was looking for something a little different in Old San Juan. This was the perfect solution, the timing worked out good and we really enjoyed it.

[tracyktn]

Overall we had an amazing cruise. Norwegian does a great job with customer service and dining. I would book this trip again in a minute.

 

I forgot to mention in St. Kitts there was an issue docking and we ended up arriving about an hour late and at a different dock than I expected. Captain Roger extended our time in the port which I was thrilled about. This is the way to handle things when something doesn't go as planned. They made up for that hour so kudos to Captain Roger for making that happen.

 

I love to plan these trips and I get so much information from all the folks here on cruise critic so I wanted to share what we did in case anyone was interested.

 

Happy Cruising :)

[dexddd]

Thanks for the info about the ship and pics. We are going on the trip back to NYC in 3 weeks. Also doing Capt Bob - we had it booked on our DCL Fantasy trip back in Aug 2014 but the port got cancelled due to storm so it will be nice to go this time.

[WashyWashyHappyHappy95]

Good review but if you're going to eat your meat well done please just get a hamburger and don't waste the fillet.

[Clarea]

Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing.:)

[cmdchiefthom]

Great photos!!!! :D We did the Gem B2B starting on October 23rd, and loved most everything about it. Would book it again in a heartbeat! Thanks for posting.;)

[craiginoregon]

Thank you for the very nice review.:)

[Niffernay]

Thank you for the review. We're on the Gem in just under 2 weeks and I'm so excited!

[easyboy]

Overall we had an amazing cruise. Norwegian does a great job with customer service and dining. I would book this trip again in a minute.

Thank you for sharing us your experience, and photos.

[dexddd]

Thank you for the review. We're on the Gem in just under 2 weeks and I'm so excited!

 

You are on the week before us - keep it in good shape.

 

Can you confirm show times as well as give feedback if possible on the embarkation at Pan American pier.

[dexddd]

We went with Captain Bob's tour, the website is http://www.soualigadestinations.com/soualiga_destinations/Welcome.html

 

This was the best day of our cruise. Brett was our captain and he did a great job, he was informative and had a good sense of humor. The boat was a high end Scarab which was really comfortable. It’s like the sports car of the ocean, it was fun speeding by the slower catamarans.

 

 

We stopped at a place to snorkel with turtles, where we did see turtles and sting rays. Then it was on to Pinnel Island where we waded / swam to the beach. The water is shallow for a long ways out. There is an area behind the restaurants to see wild iguanas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water and beaches are so beautiful I couldn’t stop taking pictures. We made another stop for lunch which was good. Again you do have to wade from boat to the beach which was easy and I think a great part of the experience. After lunch there is another snorkel stop and then onto Airport Beach viewing area. You can watch the planes landing and see the folks on the beach get sandblasted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was my 2nd trip with Soualiga and one of my all time favorite tours. I highly recommend booking this while in St. Maarten.

 

Regarding the Capt Bob trip, how was lunch setup? I thought last time they asked us in advance if we wanted one of a couple choices but not this time or maybe I'm getting confused that it was buffet type with a couple choices.

 

Also, how was embarkation at Pan American terminal? Some reports of luggage outside and getting rained on. After you dropped off luggage were you inside or outside in lines?

 

Thanks.

[mugtech]

You are on the week before us - keep it in good shape.

 

Can you confirm show times as well as give feedback if possible on the embarkation at Pan American pier.

 

Show times 7 and 9 PM, 9:30 PM on Sunday night. Another review said the luggage was dry during more recent embarkation. It was very smooth for us on 10/30,, disembarkation was also very easy on 11/13, started at 7 AM, took only 30 minutes to get through everything, grab a cab.

[hannibal54]

Great review & great pictures, we are also booked on the 12-4-16 cruise.