NCL Gem Question

[Melady]

Hi,

My husband and I are scheduled to cruise to the Bahamas from New York to the Bahamas on NCL Gem the first week of July 2017.

 

I am curious as to why there are no roll calls for this week. I'm thinking that either my hubby and I are going to be the only ones onboard, or that the cruise line cancelled the cruise for that week and we don't know about it yet!

[Turtles06]

Roll Calls are hit or miss. Only a small minority of cruisers even know about Cruise Critic. If you look at the Roll Calls for the cruises surrounding yours, they have very few members.

 

My suggestion is to start a Roll Call for your cruise, and see what happens.

 

Have a great cruise.

[mugtech]

The week including July 4 is usually more expensive than other June and July cruises and is that way right now. In addition there are probably less seasoned cruisers because of the time of year and the holiday. I cannot imagine leaving NYC for an even hotter and more humid place, especially that there are probably more children on the cruise

[luvs2beachit]

We have been to all the ports on the Bahamas cruise so many times that we often don;t even get off the ship so no point in

joining a rollcall for us. And I suspect that might be the reason that others don't join in either. My suggestion would be that you look at the rollcalls for cruises either before or after your cruise date if it's only ship / port information that you are seeking or as someone else suggested just start a thread for your date and see what happens. We have joined many rollcalls throughout the years and our experiences have all been different. Some were very active with lots of cruisers involved while others only had minimal and infrequent posts made by only a few people. Also, we have found that European / TA cruises tend to have significantly more activity. On one TA cruise we had almost 300 CC's on the rollcall.

[luvbeaches5]

Go to "click here if you can't find your roll call" and you may find the roll call.

[Turtles06]

Go to "click here if you can't find your roll call" and you may find the roll call.

 

The OP was correct; there was no Roll Call for her cruise. She has since started one.

[mking8288]

Gem's Roll Calls for this May has been very slow over the past 6 months. I am running ours leaving this Saturday and there're about a dozen or handful of us until February into March, it only picked up more newbies recently with the last minute sales & price drops ... and solo cruisers. The other 3 Roll Calls for this July are also small & very slow - different demographics ... we aren't nuts about Florida & Nassau in 95+ temperature, heat & hot sun, it's brutal (IMO, of course.)

 

Relax & plan accordingly, Group Event @NCL is very responsive and happy to contact the ship to request & confirm the logistics.

 

@ T minus 2 days, just added 2 more last minute ones from MA this morning, got 40+ on the roster. Other more important matters to "worry" about - weather & sea conditions. Taking bets as to whether we can tender at GSC or skipping/going to Nassau with a longer stay, overnighting ... <based on unofficial tracking, not promising on success> wish us luck !

Edited April 27, 2017 by mking8288

[monkeybone]

Gem's Roll Calls for this May has been very slow over the past 6 months. I am running ours leaving this Saturday and there're about a dozen or handful of us until February into March, it only picked up more newbies recently with the last minute sales & price drops ... and solo cruisers. The other 3 Roll Calls for this July are also small & very slow - different demographics ... we aren't nuts about Florida & Nassau in 95+ temperature, heat & hot sun, it's brutal (IMO, of course.)

 

Relax & plan accordingly, Group Event @NCL is very responsive and happy to contact the ship to request & confirm the logistics.

 

@ T minus 2 days, just added 2 more last minute ones from MA this morning, got 40+ on the roster. Other more important matters to "worry" about - weather & sea conditions. Taking bets as to whether we can tender at GSC or skipping/going to Nassau with a longer stay, overnighting ... <based on unofficial tracking, not promising on success> wish us luck !

 

Good Luck!

 

We leave on the 20th. Can you post a few dailies when you return?

 

Have a great cruise.

[mking8288]

Good Luck!

We leave on the 20th. Can you post a few dailies when you return? Have a great cruise.

Thank you kindly ! Will do on the dailies - maybe I will start a Semi-Live thread, no promises (satellite WiFi internet reported as still "slow") since I believe we are the first sailing from the GEM doing the route this Spring & things might be a little different than the BA. Perhaps just do a few quick notes /news flash as warranted when we docked at PC & Nassau with land-based 4G/LTE cellular.

 

There are folks planning to park at MCT so the pier discount info would be good to share, once I check with others on the Roll Call as we are doing Carmel. Always good to share & pass along practical & useful info, intel with other Roll Calls ... unofficial and otherwise.

[Gershep]

Thank you kindly ! Will do on the dailies - maybe I will start a Semi-Live thread, no promises (satellite WiFi internet reported as still "slow") since I believe we are the first sailing from the GEM doing the route this Spring & things might be a little different than the BA. Perhaps just do a few quick notes /news flash as warranted when we docked at PC & Nassau with land-based 4G/LTE cellular.

 

There are folks planning to park at MCT so the pier discount info would be good to share, once I check with others on the Roll Call as we are doing Carmel. Always good to share & pass along practical & useful info, intel with other Roll Calls ... unofficial and otherwise.

 

I meant to ask you if you were planning on doing a live review but now you answered that question, lol. Hope you have a great trip. We are thinking of booking the Gem again this summer even thou we have done this itinerary a couple of times. We like to cruise in June but too many things going on this year. I dread the 95 degree temps in July and August but if I can get a good price I will book. We won't get off the ship except for GSC if weather allows. What is Carmel?

[mking8288]

Apology to OP, not intending of going off-topic. We are reminding folks on the Roll Call also that there's the Bridge Viewing Room & the Mermaid ... bring 2 bracelets.

 

I meant to ask you if you were planning on doing a live review but now you answered that question, lol. Hope you have a great trip. We are thinking of booking the Gem again ... won't get off the ship except for GSC if weather allows. What is Carmel?

Thanks!

Ha Ha, mindreading ... knew that question was coming - with the Gem's satellite since being reported as "if'y" - plan is scaled back, unless it's "need to know & unwarranted surprises, etc." while at sea. Have a dual-Sim smartphone setup this time plus secured WiFi hotspot using the iPhone 5S - and, 30 minutes "complimentary" ship WiFi minutes for "emergencies"

 

We know who's HD, CD & Concierge currently but clueless who's the Captain of the GEM this week, so when we get those details from the Meet & Mingle, will upload those for the current season.

 

Carmel - oh, that's one of 2 major car services for NY area, the other being Dial7 ... already booked them for the weekend pickup. I missed the days when we parked on the roof, just $140 for 7 days when the Dawn was homebased - it's now $280 for the week without the "secret" discount coupon.

[Melady]

We got a great price for the Gem when we booked eight months ago. We wanted to take fourth of July week for vacation, since we would only have to use 4 of our vacation days, instead of 5 (the fourth is a federal holiday). We're not picky about going from hot NY weather to the balmy Bahamas. Thanking God for air conditioning and vacation time, and we're thrilled!

 

Have a great cruise everyone, and thank you for responding :)