Gem or Breakaway, Winter NY to Eastern Carribean

[tgloersen]

Just looking for thoughts and experiences with these 2 ships. Considering a 10-14 day journey on the one of these ships in January 2018.

 

Pro's con's? Not worried about itinerary , but want to get a thought on the ships themselves as obviously there is a big difference between the 2 of them.

 

Thanks

TG

[ilsh75]

We sailed twice on both, the BA feels very crowded , hard to get a spot at the pool or any other public spaces. There were wait lines at the free dinning rooms and hard to get a seat at the buffet. There are only few shows that repeated throughout the cruise. The waterfront is great the a is better and there is sport complex and mini golf and bowling and the Haven is great if you want to do that . Overall it's a newer ship and it feels like it. On the other had we just got of gem today and did not encounter any line at the restaurant or the buffet. Where able to get a spot at great outdoors every morning , new show every evening. Got a spot at the pool everyday but the slides on BA better and you can feel that gem is older. I also felt that the staff at BA was more experienced . If I had to choose I would try to get an upgrade to haven on BA otherwise I like gem better.

[missdenise]

I have sailed both ships, the Gem twice and the BA only once. I would definitely consider sailing either of these ships again. I thought I would not enjoy the BA just because of the size of the ship but I found it very easy to navigate within the first days. I did not feel crowded at all on the BA, except for the pool area. Yes, the pool is very tiny for a ship this size but with a winter sailing you would not be using the pool until reaching much warmer weather.

 

My main concern of sailing on the BA in the winter is the disembarkation. You can read all the threads about it. Unless you are staying in The Haven it is absolutely horrible. Plan on being outside in the cold for at least an hour just waiting to get into the terminal. This terminal was not set up for 4000 people and on a Sunday morning you can certainly feel it.

[Laszlo]

Just looking for thoughts and experiences with these 2 ships. Considering a 10-14 day journey on the one of these ships in January 2018.

 

Pro's con's? Not worried about itinerary , but want to get a thought on the ships themselves as obviously there is a big difference between the 2 of them.

 

Thanks

TG

 

My wife and I are going to do either the 10-11 day on the Gem January 2018 or the Dawn for 10 days from PR to Tampa. We have been on 3 ships, the Gem twice. Prefer the Jewel size ships, the only thing I'll miss from the BA is Fat Cats

[UPNYGuy]

Wife and I have sailed no BA multiple times. We enjoy Gem significantly more for cruises less than 10 days. You are much less likely to have lots of kids on Gem.

 

 

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[Gershep]

We love both ships thou the Gem is my favorite. I like the Gem because it is smaller but there is not much nightlife.

[luvtheships]

Gem

 

 

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[taytay31]

Hi,

I have been on the Gem 2X, I am going on the Breakaway for the 1st time soon. On the Gem there was not much nightlife IMO. However I spent a lot of time in the Spinnaker Lounge and I think I will miss that on the BA. the casino was not too smokey on the gem, poolsize was adequate although it was hard to get a seat due to the chair hogs, however I am a rule follower and the signage specifically states that you cannot leave items unattended for more than an hour I believe...So i would just tell an employee that items had been left for over the permitted time and employees moved them for me. FYI I am 23 and my boyfriend is 25 just for reference. We liked the garden cafe for breakfast and enjoyed taking our breakfast and lunch to the great outdoors; I will miss this on the BA. Overall we did the same cruise 2x the 10 day eastern caribbean and just felt bored with the same ship and itinerary, so we have done a few all inclusives in between then and now...we are excited to try out the BA and see how we like it. Either way I am sure you will have a great trip...Itinerary is more imporatant to me than the ship

Thanks

Taylor

[meatball_nyc]

Take the 14 day. Whichever ship it is.

Have a great cruise :)

[lenquixote66]

Hi,

I have been on the Gem 2X, I am going on the Breakaway for the 1st time soon. On the Gem there was not much nightlife IMO. However I spent a lot of time in the Spinnaker Lounge and I think I will miss that on the BA. the casino was not too smokey on the gem, poolsize was adequate although it was hard to get a seat due to the chair hogs, however I am a rule follower and the signage specifically states that you cannot leave items unattended for more than an hour I believe...So i would just tell an employee that items had been left for over the permitted time and employees moved them for me. FYI I am 23 and my boyfriend is 25 just for reference. We liked the garden cafe for breakfast and enjoyed taking our breakfast and lunch to the great outdoors; I will miss this on the BA. Overall we did the same cruise 2x the 10 day eastern caribbean and just felt bored with the same ship and itinerary, so we have done a few all inclusives in between then and now...we are excited to try out the BA and see how we like it. Either way I am sure you will have a great trip...Itinerary is more imporatant to me than the ship

Thanks

Taylor

 

We were on the GEM twice and will be on the Breakaway for the first time in a few weeks.

I liked the Gem a lot more than my wife.She wanted to try the BA and that is why we will be on it.

 

[Medtech2]

I definitely prefer Breakaway. More to do, better parties. Trust me, the having to make dinner reservations and waiting at peak times for the MDR was the same on both ships. Much more interesting shows on Breakaway even though the pruduction crew on the Gem were top notch.

 

If you can do the Haven on Breakaway it would be outstanding, or just get a Spa Pass.

[CateW]

We have been on the Gem twice and really enjoyed it. It didn't feel crowded at all and we were able to get into all the speciality dining venues without any problems. We will be on the Breakaway in a few weeks, which we know is significantly bigger but we splurged for the Haven for that reason. We are also booked on the 14 day in February 2018 at the moment. Depending on how we like it, we may repeat. I wanted a specific cabin which is why we booked so early.

[Turtles06]

I liked the Gem a lot more than my wife.

 

 

You preferred a ship to your wife? :eek:;):)

[garycarla]

We were on the GEM twice and will be on the Breakaway for the first time in a few weeks.

I liked the Gem a lot more than my wife.She wanted to try the BA and that is why we will be on it.

 

 

Thanks for the great comparison of the two ships. We are trying to decide if we should make the jump to the bigger ships in the fleet.

[jenrenwin]

We went on the breakaway in 2013 and had to choose between it and the gem for February 2017-we're going with the gem. The breakaway had all the bells and whistles but the size of the crowd felt like too much for the crew to handle. They were overbooked and swamped with lines and delays at every restaurant and activity. Just because it's bigger doesn't always mean better [emoji53]

 

 

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[SilentHill]

I prefer the Gem hands down, not even close.

[floatingwood]

My wife and I were justing wondering the same, BA or Gem, what does The Gem have for adult only,like The Vibe.

We will be sailing on school vacation so The Vibe worked for us last time on BA.

Thanks

[luvtheships]

My wife and I were justing wondering the same, BA or Gem, what does The Gem have for adult only,like The Vibe.

 

We will be sailing on school vacation so The Vibe worked for us last time on BA.

 

Thanks

 

 

No vibe or spice on the gem

 

But has better layout

 

Has the great outdoors

 

Has spinnaker lounge

 

Has an out of the way and easily avoidable smoky casino

 

Has a great theater with comfortable seats

 

Has plenty of sun deck space where kids rarely go

 

 

Has 2 nice pools with 1 designated adults only

 

Fwiw since you are cruising during school holiday it will be crowded ...as expected on any ship

 

 

Also is the school break you are talking about going to coincide with college spring breaks in march or high school and under breaks in April?

 

Makes a big big difference because on either ship if it's a college break they are adults and allowed in the areas

 

Such as spice on the BA by day whereas if it's April on the BA kids can't go to spice by day

 

Also if it's march it's doubtful college kids are springing for a vibe pass

 

So IMHO. If it's march break I'd go with gem because the college kids are considered adults and will overtake spice if it's the BA

 

If it's April break then perhaps the BA because it will be under 18 yo kids at that time so spice by day and vibe are kid free

 

Of course the BA with its slides etc will attract college and under be it April or march

 

 

Now if you are talking about February break it's a crap shoot as all kids on either ships will be under 18 as college kids are still at the beginning of spring semester and not traveling at that time so I guess if I were cruising in feb it would be on the BA because spice is guaranteed kid free by day. Of course there is no pool there and the bar is smoking

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited January 4, 2017 by luvtheships

[floatingwood]

We were on BA last April break, the ship was full but because we had Vibe passes it was not a problem.

Let me be clear, we have children and love kids, but my wife working in the schools, it's the only time she can take vacation.

We hade a fantastic time, but all the outside pool and lounging areas did seem a little crowded so it was nice to get away to The Vibe!

[luckyinpa]

We went on the breakaway in 2013 and had to choose between it and the gem for February 2017-we're going with the gem. The breakaway had all the bells and whistles but the size of the crowd felt like too much for the crew to handle. They were overbooked and swamped with lines and delays at every restaurant and activity. Just because it's bigger doesn't always mean better [emoji53]

 

 

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just to add an opposing point

 

in october and december i found virtually no lines at any restaurant. MDR was 3 or 4 minutes. even taste/savor were virtually instant. o sheehans of course was always instant. heck one time they brought out ALL the food within 4 or 5 minutes. too fast for me! they dont space things out.

 

of course there never was a line at any specialty places but i think thats the norm.

 

all that being said. if you get out of one of the main rooms in less than 1.5 hours. you won the lottery. but its a great way to pass 2 hours with the kids on a rainy day.

 

i did get to enjoy the water slides and i didnt think the 3 to 5 minute wait was bad. ropes course was busy but not big lines. nor for min golf. i guess i just lucked out and didnt pick anything with a long line

[Justaddvodka68]

No vibe or spice on the gem

 

 

 

It has Bliss which is basically the same as the Vibe. It was redone during the drydock so it's nice and new.

 

 

Ops - Editing . . . You're talking about the pool areas. I was talking about the night club. Sorry.

Edited January 4, 2017 by Justaddvodka68

[nyc511]

Well, you've pretty much got an array of comments here, which is not surprising! I find the large ships too large - more a floating city than a floating hotel. Comments about both vessels are true. The size of the GEM works for me, and as far as crew is concerned, I like the idea that they (seemingly) get to know you better on the smaller ships. I admit, I've been told by crew that the senior crew members try to get on board the breakaway class ships because of private cabins, so that might affect service one way or the other. Personally, I'd do the GEM, and I note that she will be leaving NYC at the end of next year and replaced by another breakaway class ship, so if you live in the NE and want to sail her now is your (perhaps final) chance.