Norwegian Gem Sailings

[Cruising to Retirement]

Scheduled to sail on the January 19th Sailing out of NYC- Rumors are the Puerto Plata and Grand Turk Ports are currently being cancelled by Norwegian- Has anyone been on a recent sailing to confirm this and what the alternatives that were revised or rescheduled ports.  I have scheduled Excursions for those ports and was looking forward to going there. Thanks.. 

[fstuff1]

following since i'm on the cruise before this one with the same ports

[Smq123]

1 hour ago, Cruising to Retirement said:

Scheduled to sail on the January 19th Sailing out of NYC- Rumors are the Puerto Plata and Grand Turk Ports are currently being cancelled by Norwegian- Has anyone been on a recent sailing to confirm this and what the alternatives that were revised or rescheduled ports.  I have scheduled Excursions for those ports and was looking forward to going there. Thanks.. 

We were on the Breakaway sailing out of NYC on 11/7 & we’re also on the Gem on 1/19. On the Breakaway they replaced Puerto Plata with San Juan, PR. 

[buffy4454]

We were on the Gem on Nov 21 and our first port Charleston was cancelled.  We got an overnight in Port Canaveral instead.   Then we got to the private island and were turned away due to winds.   

[seaman11]

Beautiful NY view from the gem. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by seaman11

[seaman11]

Happy to report the food is very good so far and dining room service in magenta at least is excellent.   👍🏼 front desk needs management badly. 

[Cruising to Retirement]

Please keep us posted as you cruise and your ports that you visit--- Bon Voyage... 

[MsTabbyKats]

8 hours ago, seaman11 said:

Happy to report the food is very good so far and dining room service in magenta at least is excellent.   👍🏼 front desk needs management badly. 

The buffet was excellent...unlimited choices and lots of healthy options (don't worry...they also serve junk).

 

Have a great cruise!

[winemaker1]

On 12/9/2021 at 9:44 AM, Cruising to Retirement said:

Scheduled to sail on the January 19th Sailing out of NYC- Rumors are the Puerto Plata and Grand Turk Ports are currently being cancelled by Norwegian- Has anyone been on a recent sailing to confirm this and what the alternatives that were revised or rescheduled ports.  I have scheduled Excursions for those ports and was looking forward to going there. Thanks.. 

Just got off the Gem yesterday. Canceled  the DR and Turks port added Antigua and a sea day.

[seaman11]

Sadly they did away with full cakes and pies at the buffet. Desserts are lacking in quality and taste outside of main dinning rooms which are very good.   Not many other changes I can think of. 

[seaman11]

Fresh off the Gem if anyone has any questions.  

[brngckn]

I got off the Epic on the 12th. They cancelled our call at Puerto Plata and gave us an extra sea day. 😐

[shof515]

1 hour ago, seaman11 said:

Fresh off the Gem if anyone has any questions.  

i am also off the gem. the only thing i was disappointed with this cruise was the lack of the production shows in the theater. they was none 😞

[seaman11]

8 hours ago, shof515 said:

i am also off the gem. the only thing i was disappointed with this cruise was the lack of the production shows in the theater. they was none 😞

I agree. The band sonata was pretty good though. 

[julie1963]

On 12/9/2021 at 10:51 AM, fstuff1 said:

following since i'm on the cruise before this one with the same ports

Yes, one question 🙂 Were there any changes in the itinerary?

[MsTabbyKats]

21 hours ago, shof515 said:

i am also off the gem. the only thing i was disappointed with this cruise was the lack of the production shows in the theater. they was none 😞

Strange...because we were on the Thanksgiving cruise.  We had 3 (excellent) production shows, one singer, one magician and one comedian.

There must have been "a cast issue".

[shof515]

2 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

There must have been "a cast issue".

rumor has it that the cast issue was due to required Bermuda covid requirements with the travel authorization process  

[fstuff1]

On 12/15/2021 at 12:40 PM, shof515 said:

rumor has it that the cast issue was due to required Bermuda covid requirements with the travel authorization process  

so ncl left the cast in nyc and sailed without them??

[Cruising to Retirement]

On 12/14/2021 at 11:37 AM, seaman11 said:

Fresh off the Gem if anyone has any questions.  

How were the shows- did you take the 10 day cruise out of NYC to Carribbean, Was the ship clean, how were the amenities, food, etc... any onfo is appreciated  Thanks 

[JGmf]

Off the Gem today (12/19/21).

 

Several production shows are happening as well as ample music throughout the ship, some good, some blah, but that's personal preference.  The ship was clean and the staff superb.  Food was same as always, as good as you remember it in the 'before times'.  I thought the buffet was very good.

 

Our ship was at only about 35% capacity.  900 passengers with capacity of 2500.  No lines, no crowds.  Ample seating at anything you wanted to do, including sitting outside by the pool.  That said, it would've been nice to have a bit more in terms of people watching and interacting.

[shof515]

1 hour ago, JGmf said:

Off the Gem today (12/19/21).

 

Several production shows are happening

thats strange your sailing had the production shows yet the sailing i was on before yours (12/9/21 sailing) had no production shows

[CruisingNCLHokie]

2 hours ago, JGmf said:

Off the Gem today (12/19/21).

 

Several production shows are happening as well as ample music throughout the ship, some good, some blah, but that's personal preference.  The ship was clean and the staff superb.  Food was same as always, as good as you remember it in the 'before times'.  I thought the buffet was very good.

 

Our ship was at only about 35% capacity.  900 passengers with capacity of 2500.  No lines, no crowds.  Ample seating at anything you wanted to do, including sitting outside by the pool.  That said, it would've been nice to have a bit more in terms of people watching and interacting.

Agree completely. Just off this morning, 12/19. Pretty empty, no lines at the bar and restaurants was very nice. 

 

Anyone know why they were blowing the horn every couple of minutes the last night (Sat, 12/18)?

[mking8288]

5 hours ago, CruisingNCLHokie said:

Agree completely. Just off this morning, 12/19. Pretty empty, no lines at the bar and restaurants was very nice. 

 

Anyone know why they were blowing the horn every couple of minutes the last night (Sat, 12/18)?

 

Horn blowing, outside the harbor / Upper New York Bay channel as the ship was inbound ??

Isn't that usually for navigational safety reasons, i.e. fog & lower visibility, or maybe there were additional whale sightings again - all ships passing thru the designated zones must adhere to USCG regs to slow down. 

https://www.ecowatch.com/north-atlantic-right-whales-ships-2655890114.html

 

This weekend, pods of dophins were spotted playfully in the waterways (Flushing Bay in Queens near LGA ... too far from the ship channel over the Hudson River, however) near us by NYPD Harbor unit patrolling nearby ... weather has been warmer than average for this time of the year ... 

https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1472624730897272837/pu/img/OSbNR_1ARSpCP-yk?format=jpg&name=medium

https://twitter.com/i/topics/1243191799197233153?pt=1472624783972081664

Edited December 20, 2021 by mking8288

[Cruising to Retirement]

18 hours ago, JGmf said:

Off the Gem today (12/19/21).

 

Several production shows are happening as well as ample music throughout the ship, some good, some blah, but that's personal preference.  The ship was clean and the staff superb.  Food was same as always, as good as you remember it in the 'before times'.  I thought the buffet was very good.

 

Our ship was at only about 35% capacity.  900 passengers with capacity of 2500.  No lines, no crowds.  Ample seating at anything you wanted to do, including sitting outside by the pool.  That said, it would've been nice to have a bit more in terms of people watching and interacting.

What ports were you able to visit- Any restrictions at those-  How rough were the Seas.. Thanks-  Merry Xmas

[seaman11]

On 12/19/2021 at 8:28 AM, Cruising to Retirement said:

How were the shows- did you take the 10 day cruise out of NYC to Carribbean, Was the ship clean, how were the amenities, food, etc... any onfo is appreciated  Thanks 

i took the 5 day to bermuda,  the ship was very clean, shows were lacking imo however the live entertainment was great , food was good for the most part , desserts were not as good as in the past ,other then the main dinning room where they were good.  Lines for the testing and then back to the port to register were long, basically you show your info to 3 for 4 different ppl and you still are not actually checked in, imo they could have had you check in after your neg test results rather than having you again wait on a long line to do so,

bermuda i would not go till after covid is over because of extra stress and cost of registration for it.  then i had a mishap of them blocking my room and moving me, but other than that it was a nice cruise.  service other than the front desk was great . 

Edited December 21, 2021 by seaman11