Best tips for the Gem

[cruisingbooboo]

Aaaaaannnndddddd GO......

[luv2kroooz]

Gem has a poolside barbecue at lunch on sea days. BBQ chicken, BBQ ribs, flank steak, veggies, rice, sometimes pasta. I haven't seen this on any other NCL ship that I've sailed on over the past few years. I thought it was quite good.

[amyh13]

Following!

[JerseyMom]

On Deck 11 Port Side there is an observation room where you can see into the bridge.  There are also various instruments that are kinda cool to look at.  At night I think the room is either closed or shades are drawn so that light from inside the ship doesn't inhibit the ability of those on the bridge to see what is in front of the ship.

[metgame24]

The Great Outdoors...best place on any ship ever! 

[billslowsky]

Find the two photo kiosks on the ship.  One is up in the Spinnaker Lounge, the other (I think) is outside of the casino.  You can take a picture there and email it to anyone or post on facebook for free.  They ask for an email address.  I didn't get spammed when I got off the boat.

[geegee1]

The bar that overlooks the pool from above is the best one on the ship

[luv2kroooz]

23 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

Find the two photo kiosks on the ship.  One is up in the Spinnaker Lounge, the other (I think) is outside of the casino.  You can take a picture there and email it to anyone or post on facebook for free.  They ask for an email address.  I didn't get spammed when I got off the boat.

Great tip. Unfortunately, both were covered and out of use for the entire cruise in November 2019.

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, metgame24 said:

The Great Outdoors...best place on any ship ever! 

 

Love the Great Outdoors!  It's one reason the Jewel class ships are among our favorites.  

[raitch]

There is one coffee machine in the buffet that has coffee beans in a container on top- that’s the best coffee on the ship. 

 

Great Outdoors is amazing, any time of day.

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, geegee1 said:

The bar that overlooks the pool from above is the best one on the ship

I think it’s also the smoking section, but folks there were so much fun we sat there anyway. Love spinnakers lounge in the front, when there aren’t events there it’s a great place to relax.

[Turtles06]

10 minutes ago, raitch said:

Great Outdoors is amazing, any time of day.

 

Indeed.  Just a few weeks ago, after our full transit of the Panama Canal, we tied up along a floating pier somewhere outside Panama City so that we could bunker.  This was at night.  My wife and I were sitting in the Great Outdoors, along the railing in your photo.  It was a beautiful evening.  Suddenly, we saw a large flock of small seabirds swoop in behind the ship and plunge into the ocean.  We then realized there were fish that were popping up to the surface -- pop, pop, pop -- all around the stern.  The birds were diving for them.  This went on for quite some time.  Pop, pop, pop; dive, dive dive.  It was absolutely fascinating to watch (but too dark for photos).   Just another evening at the Great Outdoors.

 

And just when you think, "it can't get any better than this," a beautiful full moon rose over the starboard side.

[esm54687]

5 hours ago, amyh13 said:

Following!

Tip: instead of posting "following" or "I'm interested in this as well" etc...... at the end of each thread is the opportunity to "follow" and get notifications if someone posts in the thread.  Much cleaner and simpler for you while keeping the threads streamlined

 

It took me a while to find it when I first started on CC but now I find the "follow" so much better. 

[Marine Mom]

3 hours ago, billslowsky said:

Find the two photo kiosks on the ship.  One is up in the Spinnaker Lounge, the other (I think) is outside of the casino.  You can take a picture there and email it to anyone or post on facebook for free.  They ask for an email address.  I didn't get spammed when I got off the boat.

Was on the Gem in December and they are gone unfortunately.

[billslowsky]

2 hours ago, Marine Mom said:

Was on the Gem in December and they are gone unfortunately.

How about 3:00 cookies?  Do they at least have those?

[cruisingbooboo]

51 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

How about 3:00 cookies?  Do they at least have those?

3:00 cookies.... tell me more, I love cookies!!!

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, billslowsky said:

How about 3:00 cookies?  Do they at least have those?

2:30 — Great Outdoors. 

[dexddd]

Best tip, do a search on Gem.

[RollercoasterManiacs]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

Best tip, do a search on Gem.

Unfortunately the search function doesn't work as well as it used to.  Very painful trying to find information.

[Turtles06]

16 minutes ago, RollercoasterManiacs said:

Unfortunately the search function doesn't work as well as it used to.  Very painful trying to find information.

Not painful. Perhaps a bit harder if you are trying to search on a phone. There are a number of threads in the Need Help forum explaining how to use the search function. Here’s just one of them.  The key is knowing which option to select as your search target (e.g., an entire forum, a topic [thread]).

 

 

[RollercoasterManiacs]

21 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

Not painful. Perhaps a bit harder if you are trying to search on a phone. There are a number of threads in the Need Help forum explaining how to use the search function. Here’s just one of them.  The key is knowing which option to select as your search target (e.g., an entire forum, a topic [thread]).

 

 

It was much easier to do in the past and I always got more useful results before they changed everything a couple years ago.  I don't even try to search with a phone.

[Turtles06]

For fun, I just typed "Gem" into the search engine for this forum.  Took seconds to yield the following thread almost identical to this one:

 

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by Turtles06

[RollercoasterManiacs]

21 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

For fun, I just typed "Gem" into the search engine for this forum.  Took seconds to yield the following thread almost identical to this one:

 

 

I remember when you could do a similar search and have hundreds of answers not a topic with 13 replies.

[Broons77]

How quickly this went off topic to a search engine bash session!!!  😆

 

Asking this as things change and I'd like some up to date opinions.

 

What's your specialty restaurant on the Gem?  We're traveling with a group and would like to plan one night with everyone for dinner.  Tell me why we should pick your favorite.

[Turtles06]

4 hours ago, Broons77 said:

What's your specialty restaurant on the Gem?  We're traveling with a group and would like to plan one night with everyone for dinner.  Tell me why we should pick your favorite.

 

We just spent most of January on the Gem, 20 days from NY to SF via the Panama Canal.  It was our fourth time on the Gem (and we have sailed as well on the Jade and the Jewel).  We love the Jewel-class ships, but the specialty dining restaurants (except for Teppanyaki, which is unique), seem to be going downhill, in terms of both food and service.   

 

Heading into this cruise, we had 7 "free" specialty dinners: our two Platinum Latitudes dinners, and the 5-dinner SDP promo.  We did not take advantage of all of them because (except for Teppanyaki) the food and service were just not worth more time in those venues.   We did have one dinner each in Cagney's, Le Bistro, La Cucina, and Moderno, and would have repeated two of those venues, but the food and service in the Grand Pacific MDR were consistently better than in those specialty restaurants. 

 

Teppanyaki has been the most consistent specialty venue imho across the ships and the years.  We ate there twice this time, and that venue would be my recommendation for a group (of 8 or fewer folks).  It's a fun evening and the food is good too.   (Filet mignon and shrimp, yum!)

 

Food of course is subjective, but we've found that our experience over the years in the other specialty venues has been hit or miss.  If you prefer trying one of the them, I hope you'll get a better meal and better service than we did this time around on the Gem, although I would strongly recommend against Moderno, as that has never delivered as it should.  I just don't think NCL can pull off a churrascaria at sea.

 

Enjoy whatever you decide!    

Edited February 9, 2020 by Turtles06