Review of Gem May 20th-27th Cruise w/Friends

[Mike A]

My wife Diane and I along with 2 couples (close friends Andrea & Larry and Valerie and Ken) had a great time on the May 20th– 27th sailing of the Norwegian Gem.

Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived at terminal at 10:45 after parking car on roof (yes the 25% coupon still works). We waited on line to check in for no more than 10-15 minutes and received boarding # 12 at 11:15. We boarded at 11:30 and headed straight to Grand Pacific Dining room for lunch (not crowded). Following lunch, we went directly to our adjoining Mid-Ship Mini-Suite staterooms on Deck 11. The Gem’s Mini-Suites are spacious with plenty of room for storage, large balcony and a very nice bathroom. We were in stateroom 11080 and had read reviews that stated there would be a great deal of noise from the buffet above. I am pleased to say that was not the case. Our Room Steward Edwin was great yet unassuming. Very friendly and took care of any requests. He also made great towel animals J

Our muster station was at O’Sheehan’s. We arrived for the drill early (3:00 instead of 3:30) and checked in with a person who appeared to have no idea what he was doing. Sure enough we received a message the next day stating we did not attend the drill. We went to the front desk and were given a pass from attending a second time.

Following the drill we went to the Great Outdoors for Sail Away from New York which was spectacular as always, although a bit windy and chilly. There is no question, the Great Outdoors is the best area of the ship. You have a separate buffet, a great bar at which we took advantage of the UBP, comfortable seats both in the shade and sun for lounging, and most importantly self-service soft ice-cream.

The next day was at sea and our Meet and Mingle was at LeBistro at 11:00. A nice group attended along with a wonder representation from the ship’s crew. Special thanks to Imperial Cruisers Don and Anna Marie for all their coordinating. I will not steal their thunder and I will let them provide the details.

 

My wife and I did not get off the ship in Port Canaveral or GSC as we have been to both before and are not beach people. We took advantage of an empty ship to go to the spa and find great locations to lounge in the shade. Our friends got off at GSC and had a great time. We did get off in Nassau and discovered the opening of the Bahamas Parliament was taking place in the square outside the terminal. We headed to Bay Street and made our donation to the Nassau economy at the Straw Market, Del Sol, Effy and Diamonds International.

Edited May 29, 2017 by Mike A

[Mike A]

The weather for the entire cruise was great except for Thursday where it rained until 2:00 after which it was beautiful. When the Sun came out we all went to the Great Outdoors where we hung out until the sun went down.

From a meal standpoint everything was great !!! We went to Breakfast in the Grand Pacific dining room 3 times (including disembarkation) and buffet 4 times. For Lunch we did the Grand Pacific Dining Room once, Buffet 4 times and O’Sheehan’s, the home of the best Chicken Wings twice. For Dinner, we had the 3 Night Specialty Dining package and ate at Moderno, Cagney’s and Teppanyaki (sp). All were very good. We did the Grand Pacific Dining room 2 times, Magenta once and the Buffet on Thursday when we were at the Great Outdoors.

A special shout out to Mark the Cruise Director. He was extremely visible throughout the cruise and very personable and friendly to speak to. His staff was great too. Regarding the shows we went to Blazing Boots, Nadine the Hypnotist, the Russian Husband and Wife Dance/Trapeze show and Second City. All were great except Second City which was not our cup of tea.I would like to point out there was no Stand-Up comedian on this cruise which slightly disappointing. Regarding, the Hypnosis show, I was called up to the stage and was Mike the Police Man. For those of you who saw the show, yes I was hypnotized.Nadine Rocks and for those of you laughing all I have to say is Washy Washy,Mickey Mouse and Poo Poo. You had to be there LOL.

The Gem is a wonderful ship that I would go on again in a heartbeat. It will be missed when it leaves for New Orleans. In closing, the best part of the cruise for me was being with my wife Diane and our close friends Andrea & Larry and Valerie & Ken as well as our friend Stacey who could not sail with us as he started a new job but was with us in spirit. Thank you so much. I had a wonderful time with all of you and we need to do this again !!!

[Coffeecat1]

Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for posting your review.

[mking8288]

Great review - short & concise, welcome home. How was your disembarkation on Saturday morning? Folks seemed to have issues with that in NY ... sometimes, especially when they are in a hurry (we weren't a month ago.)

 

Did they mentioned about crew trainees onboard (hired for the Joy & would be going back to Asia)? We had some of them and several of them stood out - maybe you had one of them at the muster station drill, LOL. Some of them looked unsure & very uncomfortable and they're getting "mentored" and coached by other crews in a helpful manner - that "home away from home" spirit being alive & well.

 

Did you made dinner reservations for the MDR or simply do the walk-in when you were not booked into specialty ? We actually forfeited our Platinum meals last month & didn't use it - next time, we're going do Cagney's & Moderno for a change ... unless there's a newer menu for LeBistro.

 

Is there anything that you would do differently when sailing the Gem again ? Any advice for others sailing soon ? Welcome home !!

[LiLBxQt]

Hi mike! I was looking forward to reading about what others thought of our cruise... and we saw you at the show and I sit here hysterical laughing thinking about you shouting out poo poo to the crowd [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]. Makes me wonder who else was truly hypnotized... we had a great time ourselves... and I'm itching to plan another [emoji568]

 

 

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[Mike A]

Great review - short & concise, welcome home. How was your disembarkation on Saturday morning? Folks seemed to have issues with that in NY ... sometimes, especially when they are in a hurry (we weren't a month ago.)

 

Did they mentioned about crew trainees onboard (hired for the Joy & would be going back to Asia)? We had some of them and several of them stood out - maybe you had one of them at the muster station drill, LOL. Some of them looked unsure & very uncomfortable and they're getting "mentored" and coached by other crews in a helpful manner - that "home away from home" spirit being alive & well.

 

Did you made dinner reservations for the MDR or simply do the walk-in when you were not booked into specialty ? We actually forfeited our Platinum meals last month & didn't use it - next time, we're going do Cagney's & Moderno for a change ... unless there's a newer menu for LeBistro.

 

Is there anything that you would do differently when sailing the Gem again ? Any advice for others sailing soon ? Welcome home !!

Hi mking8288,

1st off thank you for the great review you did on your cruise a couple of weeks ago. It was so informative and the pictures were great.

To answer your questions:

We arrived at Pier 90 instead of Pier 88 at 7:30 due to Fleet Week. There was a huge Aircraft Carrier in the Gem's normal spot. Therefore we were late pulling in and if you parked at the pier you had to walk outside from Pier 90 to Pier 88 to get to your car. We were one of the last to get off ship at about 10:15. The good news was there were plenty of customs agents and we were in the car on our way home by 10:45.

Other than the person at the Muster Drill, I did not detect that anyone was a trainee.

Regarding the main dining room we did have reservations that we made each day about 12 noon to ensure no waiting. Frankly, we never saw anyone waiting at the Main Dining Room.

I would not do anything differently. I can suggest and recommend the Unlimited Internet package. It worked great. We were able to Facetime with family, use Facebook and surf the internet with no problems. You could not stream Netflix or anything like that but for our purposes it was worth every penny. Please note only one could use the service at a time.

I thank you for your kind words and if anyone has any other questions, I will be happy to answer them.

[Mike A]

Hi mike! I was looking forward to reading about what others thought of our cruise... and we saw you at the show and I sit here hysterical laughing thinking about you shouting out poo poo to the crowd [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]. Makes me wonder who else was truly hypnotized... we had a great time ourselves... and I'm itching to plan another [emoji568]

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Hi LilBxQt,

Thank you for the kind words. Yes I was truly hypnotized. The amazing thing is I remember everything. However, my mind was totally under Nadine's influence. My wife asked me after the show if I could get up from the seat at the end prior to Mark, the cruise director shaking my hand and I could not.

Anyway, I am happy I made you laugh and I only have one thing else to say Poo Poo !!!!:D:p:)

[turning40withMickey]

We have the 250 minutes of internet as one of the free perks, and we are hoping to upgrade it to the unlimited onboard. You didn't happen to do this successfully, did you? On paper, it looks like it is about 55 dollars more.

[Mike A]

We have the 250 minutes of internet as one of the free perks, and we are hoping to upgrade it to the unlimited onboard. You didn't happen to do this successfully, did you? On paper, it looks like it is about 55 dollars more.

Hi Sherry...I purchased the internet package on line at full price. I have read that many did get the 250 minute free perk and upgrade for the difference in price between the 2. You may want to start a new thread asking the question. Sorry I could not be more of a help to you and enjoy your cruise next week..

Mike A

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[shpprhlic]

Great review of our cruise Mike. I could not have said it better. We all had a great time. The show when you were hypnotized was the best! We never laughed so hard as we did that night. The restaurants were very good, we did not have one bad meal. My husband and I did get off the ship in Grand Stirrup Cay and we loved the beach. Plenty of chairs for everybody. Free drinks if you have ULB package and free bbq. We enjoyed everything the Gem had to offer, just wished the sitting in the Spinnaker Lounge was a little more comfortable. The couches seem to be very worn. Other than that, great time by all.

[easyboy]

Thank you for your feedback.

 

 

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[rjmols]

Hi mike! I was looking forward to reading about what others thought of our cruise... and we saw you at the show and I sit here hysterical laughing thinking about you shouting out poo poo to the crowd [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]. Makes me wonder who else was truly hypnotized... we had a great time ourselves... and I'm itching to plan another [emoji568]

 

 

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We were at that show too !!! It was very funny - however, my daughter and her friend were included but they were not hypnotised - my daughter ended up leaving the stage and her friend just pretended to be asleep as she didn't know what to do - Nadine I presume realised as she did not include her in any of the scenarios !!!! We also went to the adult one and again a friend we met was included but did not go under. Good show though and fantastic cruise

[staceymac01]

Hey Mike - thanks for the review! We are leaving this Saturday on the Gem and wondering where to find the 25% coupon for parking at the port. TIA!

[Mike A]

Hey Mike - thanks for the review! We are leaving this Saturday on the Gem and wondering where to find the 25% coupon for parking at the port. TIA!

Hi Staceymac01

Please see the link to the thread where you can get the coupon.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2481374&highlight=Gem+NYC+Parking

Have a great cruise

Mike

[luvs2beachit]

Hi Mike,

We were also on the 5/20 cruise and I agree with everything you said. I thought the entertainment was excellent including one that you did not list .."Swing". We were very disappointed that there was no comedian. We are big fans of Tim Kaminsky and had been really looking forward to seeing him again.

We did exactly what you did in the ports. We stayed on the ship in both PC and GSC. Love hanging out on the empty ship!. We did get off in Nassau, hit the Straw Market and a couple of shops . Nassau is our least favorite port so between that and the huge crowds celebrating the Opening of Parliament and the heat we decided that the pool and a cool drink were better options and were back on board less then 2 hours after we got off. .

We thought the food was very good in all the venues we ate in. The crepes in the buffet at night are my addiction!!

Loved the Orchid and Le Bistro.

All the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful. Our room steward took very good care of us.

My only complaint would be that the slot machines in the casino were the worst. Everyone I talked with who playied had the same complaint.

We love the Gem. Hope to sail on her again sometime in the fall or early Jan.2018. We want to get one more cruise in before the ship relocates to NO.

[Clarea]

Enjoyed the review, thanks!