Almost Live From The Gem NYC To San Francisco

[mking8288]

Hold on to the railings on the way to breakfast & while doing the ship tour. Swells should be better later in the day, from forecasts in the Windy app.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by mking8288

[bob brown]

3 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Good Morning Bob!

Don't miss the 9 am trivia. 😁

Following this review!!!!
 

I have a favor to ask of you....Can you please have Mary write her cruise schedules (like she does for me) and take a picture for me? You can email me the picture whenever you have time. I misplaced the paper she gave me last time😞. We miss them both a lot and don't know when we will see them again.

 

Are Bill and Arlene on board?

 

Thank you. I owe you shrimp cocktail!😊

Team “ We Don’t Care” started off winning the  morning trivia with 16/20 .😊

I forwarded your message to Mary and Joe.

And yes, Bill and Arlene are aboard.

They and Joe and Mary are doing the full B2B...

 

 

 

 

 

[Turtles06]

Large turnout of pax for our Meet & Greet this morning, and of course NCL’s usual complement of senior staff, all of whom introduced themselves and delivered informative and entertaining remarks. (And it was great to learn, for this 20-night cruise, that all Platinum and above Latitudes members will get three free bags of laundry each. 😀)

 

A few stats we learned: of the 2300 pax on board, 4 are Ambassadors, 150 are Plat Plus, 350 are Plat, and 200 are Gold. (So in terms of priority tendering, there’s the old adage: if everyone has priority, no one has it.)

 

A small rant from me. NCL really takes the M&Gs seriously, and I found it distressing that during the Q and A, some folks started complaining about things that are simply not within the jurisdiction of shipboard personnel, such as reciprocity of loyalty status with Oceania, and being able to pay some additional amount to get more than a free seven day cruise if you have Ambassador status.  I thought that GM Metin handled these people very diplomatically, but I think folks should use some common sense at these events, especially if people want senior staff to keep attending them. Take up corporate policy with NCL shoreside.  Use the M&Gs for questions related to your cruise and your ship.  Rant over.  

Edited January 5, 2020 by Turtles06

[cmh]

44 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

Large turnout of pax for our Meet & Greet this morning, and of course NCL’s usual complement of senior staff, all of whom introduced themselves and delivered informative and entertaining remarks. (And it was great to learn, for this 20-night cruise, that all Platinum and above Latitudes members will get three free bags of laundry each. 😀)

 

A few stats we learned: of the 2300 pax on board, 4 are Ambassadors, 150 are Plat Plus, 350 are Plat, and 200 are Gold. (So in terms of priority tendering, there’s the old adage: if everyone has priority, no one has it.)

 

A small rant from me. NCL really takes the M&Gs seriously, and I found it distressing that during the Q and A, some folks started complaining about things that are simply not within the jurisdiction of shipboard personnel, such as reciprocity of loyalty status with Oceania, and being able to pay some additional amount to get more than a free seven day cruise if you have Ambassador status.  I thought that GM Metin handled these people very diplomatically, but I think folks should use some common sense at these events, especially if people want senior staff to keep attending them. Take up corporate policy with NCL shoreside.  Use the M&Gs for questions related to your cruise and your ship.  Rant over.  

Thanks for the great information.  I am on the 21 day cruise from SF to NY and now can pack less knowing we get 3 bags of laundry cleaned for free each since we are both platinum plus latitudes members!!

[tutuwahineLV]

11 minutes ago, cmh said:

Thanks for the great information.  I am on the 21 day cruise from SF to NY and now can pack less knowing we get 3 bags of laundry cleaned for free each since we are both platinum plus latitudes members!!

I know right!?  We're on a 21 day NCY to SEA in april, and hoping we get this as well.  fingers crossed. 

[EllieinNJ]

Following with great interest.

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

Large turnout of pax for our Meet & Greet this morning ... A few stats we learned: of the 2300 pax on board, 4 are Ambassadors, 150 are Plat Plus, 350 are Plat, and 200 are Gold. (So in terms of priority tendering, there’s the old adage: if everyone has priority, no one has it.)

 

A small rant from me ... Take up corporate policy with NCL shoreside. Use the M&Gs for questions related to your cruise and your ship ...   

 

Great info, very informative ... that would be 6 free bags of laundry between us on a similar sailing, going to tell DW to stick with her 22" rollerboard & a smaller carry-on, no jumbo over-sized spinners unless she can lift it up herself - LOL.   Gotta leave room for our own water bottles since 4 "refillable" Just Water cartons won't be enough, for our convenience.  

 

Imagine the booking arrangement to set-up "Dine with the (most of them) Officers" option as a P+ perk with 150 onboard - hopefully, the Gift Shop & Photo Gallery managers won't be doing this by themselves on 10+ nights ... cool info.  

 

As for bringing up "rants" at the M&G on personal issues, corporate policies & individual concerns ... I made the points reminding folks on our Roll Call to please not do it, and, to address it "privately" afterward, with the contact info/card distributed.  Agreed, it puts the senior officers on the ship in an awkward position.  

 

Are they rolling out the new MDR lunch menu like the ones on the mega ships yet or still on the "older" menu ?  Ask about the daily lunch entree specials in the MDR, it was offered last January when we're on our 14 nights.  

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Sea states looking a bit better than this morning/last night.  Heading further away from land and into the deep Atlantic, out of AIS radar tracking range.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by mking8288

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, cmh said:

Thanks for the great information.  I am on the 21 day cruise from SF to NY and now can pack less knowing we get 3 bags of laundry cleaned for free each since we are both platinum plus latitudes members!!

 

I hope they will extend this same courtesy on your cruise as well!  We wish it were something we could have counted on in advance. 

[cruiservictor]

Would you please show the card given out at the M&G that lists all the senior hotel department officers?  We did the Gem from LA to NY last January/February, and wonder if we will recognize any of the names.  Thank you.

[Turtles06]

We had one of our Platinum dinners at Le Bistro last night.  As has been discussed elsewhere in this forum, the voucher says you get one app, one entree up to $35, and one dessert. Folks have reported mixed experiences in being charged for the additional amount if they order an entree that is priced at more than $35; some have been charged, some haven’t. 

 

Rack of lamb, for example, is now $36.  We each ordered the Dover sole, which is now $39. Our server warned us that we’d be charged the additional $4 each and a 20% service charge, and indeed we were.  Can we afford the $9.60?  Yes.  Does it leave a bad taste in our mouths that NCL does this, especially when the prices are absurd and made up?  Absolutely.  I’m a big believer in business goodwill, and this is the antithesis of that. If you give your best customers a “free” dinner for their loyalty, it really tarnishes it imho by this nickel and diming. 

 

Plus, the fish was truly forgettable. Le Bistro used to be a special place.  Excellent food and service.  In our experience, it’s been going downhill.  It’s no longer special, and although we have the SDP promo, which is five dinners on this cruise, we won’t be returning to Le Bistro. 

 

I realize that food is subjective, and that others of course may feel differently about Le Bistro. 

Edited January 6, 2020 by Turtles06

[cementhands]

Thanks for sharing. Excellent info. We enjoyed the Gem Halloween cruise 2019. Excellent band called Prism.

We enjoyed Luz previous on Dawn and or epic. Great cd who does a killer Tina turner tribute.

Activities staff were excellent. Please post an occasional daily. Jeff did a great Zumba type class on sea days. I’ll be following.
We’re going on Bliss soon.

[bob brown]

17 hours ago, cruiservictor said:

Would you please show the card given out at the M&G that lists all the senior hotel department officers?  We did the Gem from LA to NY last January/February, and wonder if we will recognize any of the names.  Thank you.

 

Oops ... photo not uploading?

Edited January 6, 2020 by bob brown
Try to upload photo

[cruiservictor]

14 minutes ago, bob brown said:

 

Oops ... photo not uploading?

Thank you, Bob.  Several familiar names....

[bob brown]

I agree with Turtles06 comments on the M&G.  I am sorry that my friend was one of the “guilty parties”, but I will inform him of the proper time and place for addressing his concerns...

 

I have tried to post photos using the ship’s wifi, but unsuccessful.   I’ll try again when we find shore wifi.

 

 

On our  roll call, I said I would inquire about any difference between our cabin tap water, as compared to what they serve in the buffet and restaurants.

They said it is the very same, except that it goes thru an additional filter, prior to the tap.

So.... when I deplete my Platinum containers of water, I will refill them, like others, at the buffet (using a clean glass),

and at a “quiet time”, between meals...

[Broons77]

Good Morning All!

 

Something of a lurker on the boards, however the morning this thread was started I booked the Gem 7 day Boston/Bermuda cruise for August for my stepdaughter's HS graduation present. I'm quite interested to hear more from folks that will spending a good amount of time on her, so thanks to all that are taking the time to post. It's a tremendous resource for those like me!

 

I'm a newbie, this will only be my third cruise and my first with NCL First two were on RCCL - Anthem and Rhapsody - so I'm excited for the compare and contrast between brands and ships and I'd be really interested in hearing anything that folks feel differentiate the lines from each other. I've already figured out that I'm partial to the smaller boats as I'm fairly easy to please. Real life is busy with lots of responsibilities so I'm a totally happy guy as long as someone makes my bed, there's a bar nearby, and there's decent food that's easily accessible and not cooked by me.  So I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy my NCL experience. 😁

 

Thanks again and looking forward to keeping up with this thread!

 

Chris

Edited January 6, 2020 by Broons77

[mking8288]

Good morning, Bob ... great weather & sea conditions today, finally, from what I can see. Satellite coverage in that area of the Atlantic always seemed spotty.

 

Surprised that AIS still track the ship's location to 4 hours ago.

 

Have a wonderful & relaxing day at sea, enjoy lunch ... with just 2,300 pax onboard - shouldn't be crowded, not too many children ? 

[cmh]

22 hours ago, cmh said:

Thanks for the great information.  I am on the 21 day cruise from SF to NY and now can pack less knowing we get 3 bags of laundry cleaned for free each since we are both platinum plus latitudes members!!

Does anyone know if there is a coffee maker in the balcony staterooms?

[7518seymour]

Looking forward to following your adventure. Enjoy and thanks for sharing!

[Broons77]

2 hours ago, cmh said:

Does anyone know if there is a coffee maker in the balcony staterooms?

 

Watched a balcony cabin tour video from the Gem on YouTube and not only is there a coffee maker, but the guy that shot/posted the video said it was better coffee than the dining room! 

[Crusin-Suzan]

On 1/5/2020 at 2:02 PM, Turtles06 said:

Large turnout of pax for our Meet & Greet this morning, and of course NCL’s usual complement of senior staff, all of whom introduced themselves and delivered informative and entertaining remarks. (And it was great to learn, for this 20-night cruise, that all Platinum and above Latitudes members will get three free bags of laundry each. 😀)

 

A few stats we learned: of the 2300 pax on board, 4 are Ambassadors, 150 are Plat Plus, 350 are Plat, and 200 are Gold. (So in terms of priority tendering, there’s the old adage: if everyone has priority, no one has it.)

 

A small rant from me. NCL really takes the M&Gs seriously, and I found it distressing that during the Q and A, some folks started complaining about things that are simply not within the jurisdiction of shipboard personnel, such as reciprocity of loyalty status with Oceania, and being able to pay some additional amount to get more than a free seven day cruise if you have Ambassador status.  I thought that GM Metin handled these people very diplomatically, but I think folks should use some common sense at these events, especially if people want senior staff to keep attending them. Take up corporate policy with NCL shoreside.  Use the M&Gs for questions related to your cruise and your ship.  Rant over.  

Enjoy the cruise!   Have fun at Teppanyaki with Barb!   Wish we were on it!

[bob brown]

The other thing I wondered about, was the seating in the Garden Cafe...

The heavy and  high backed arm chairs I recalled are long gone.  The table area looks a lot different...don’t see those long tables for six that “trapped” you , if you were in a  middle seat.

[checkitallout]

Following along. We are on the 24th San Francisco to New York.  Eager to read about this cruise.  Please post info about the excursions you take, and anything you hear from others.  Will definitely help up decide what we should/shouldn’t do.  We are signed up for some NCL excursions and some private ones.  We have excursion credit so do want to use some of it.

[Turtles06]

Here’s some info about the unlimited internet plans, at least on this cruise. The regular Unlimited Plan, as I learned the hard way today, does NOT allow WiFi calling, as absurdly expensive as that plan already is.  I spoke to the internet manager this morning, and she told me that WiFi calling is blocked unless you have the Premium Unlimited Plan. I told her that while the promotional materials plainly say that there’s no streaming or VPN on the regular Unlimited Plan, they do not say that WiFi calling is blocked. She was unable to show me anything saying that either, but nonetheless said that it’s blocked.  Fortunately, she was willing to work out a deal on the Premium Plan, but this kind of stuff on NCL makes me nuts. 
 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Turtles06

[Turtles06]

On a happier note, we had a wonderful dinner tonight in the Grand Pacific MDR.  The food and service were great, far better than in Le Bistro last night.  The lamb tikka entree was fabulous. 
 

And the weather was great today. The outside decks were open, it was warm enough to be wearing shorts, there was a poolside barbecue...Nice! 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Turtles06