Gem January 9-19 cruise canceled

[Cruising to Retirement]

2 hours ago, WYB! said:

I’m on the gem and we will be arriving back to NYC on the 19th of Jan.

 

There is no outbreak on board and I’ve been having a great time.

 

The destinations are worried and have closed their ports to cruise ships.

 

safe travels,

 

wyb

Has there been any info about future Sailings-  We are on the next cruise on the 19th...have there been regular procuction shows,  activities, any passenger restrictions for dining or poolside issues-  Stay Safe.. 

[classy_cruiser]

I bet NCL is wishing they had only announced cancelled ports instead of cancelling the whole cruise and giving all those refunds. 

[goldmom]

14 minutes ago, classy_cruiser said:

I bet NCL is wishing they had only announced cancelled ports instead of cancelling the whole cruise and giving all those refunds. 

Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing.  It sets a bad precedent for future cruises that have cancelled ports. 

 

Also, by getting into NYC on their expected arrival day instead of early there is no scrambling around for people to change flights.

I wouldn't mind a free cruise even if it was cold!  There was always going to be sea days and cold weather on this cruise.

 

[mking8288]

Unless the captain of the Gem plotted a straight line to sail thru the Atlantic, ... a rough calculation of nautical distance for a cruise ship to cover is somewhere between 1,800 to 1,900+ nautical miles.  And with an average speed of 18 to 19 knots, all engines running - 4 full days are needed to make her way into Lower Bay for NY Harbor.   Otherwise, to balance out best economy, comfort/ride & speed - no urgent reason to run it at her fully rated speed of 22 knots to hurry back. 

 

With a favorable, good & strong tail wind - she can do 24 knots+ or close to that, to outrun an approaching or out of/away from a nasty storm or hurricane with less than ideal sea/weather conditions.  We're on her just after 2012 Superstorm Sandy & ran like jackrabbit on fire to blast thru the eye of another approaching Nor-Easter, it was not a fun ride - instrumented at 24.9 knots with strong gale force cross wind that lasted only 15 to 18 hours before things began to calm down quite a bit.  

 

[WYB!]

The production shows are back on and they have been as entertaining as ever. They haven’t missed a beat.

 

They only perform 1 show a night but I think that is because passenger attendance is low. We could all fit in the theater but only about 40% (200 people) are going to the show.

 

- WYB

Edited January 16, 2022 by WYB!

[Mike C]

44 minutes ago, WYB! said:My plan is to continue on my B2B voyage on the 19th-29th of January. Hope to see you onboard and looking forward to the next voyage.

 

Stay well and safe travels,

 

• WYB

We’ll be joining you on Wednesday.  Enjoy you seadays as you head north. Temps on Wednesday in NYC are expected to be in the mid-40’s

 

Mike

[smokeymtn51]

1 hour ago, Cruising to Retirement said:

Thank you for the update- but just tok the POM option for the 19th.. too many questions.. if NCL happens to cancel, then go with the extended sailing date option to mMay 2023 or the Full Cash Refund option per their policy. 

We also pulled the trigger on POM and canceled for the sailing on 19th. We really wanted to see the ports in the original schedule. Since we were flying to NYC, we also were concerned about having to quarantine in NYC if, by some small chance, we should test positive.

Wishing that you all have a great cruise!

[Snowrose]

On 1/14/2022 at 11:19 PM, BirdTravels said:

We're all-in for our next couple of cruises. If they get cancelled, so be it. We are more than willing to roll with the changes. We are not as inflexible as others. We have no expectations other than getting on a ship and having a good time. If the ship actually stops somewhere, bonus! 

 

 

 

Bird, that's unfair. Just because someone cruises for different reasons than you do does not make them inflexible. Personally, I cruise for the ports but also enjoy the ocean. And having weathered both a nor'easter and going out in Hurricane Sandy, I think I'm pretty flexible. But would I enjoy 5-6 days at sea where the ride might be bumpy, many shows and entertainers are missing, and some restaurants might be closed? I think I might find the experience a bit lacking.

[shof515]

according to marine traffic, the Gem is heading to Great Stirrup Cay were the Star currently is. I wonder if NCL will be transferring any crew from the Gem to the Star similar to what Royal is doing

[Snowrose]

15 hours ago, WYB! said:

The production shows are back on and they have been as entertaining as ever. They haven’t missed a beat.

 

They only perform 1 show a night but I think that is because passenger attendance is low. We could all fit in the theater but only about 40% (200 people) are going to the shyow.

 

- WYB

You say the production shows are back. That implies they were gone for a while. There must have been a reason. And only one show, could be there isn't enough cast for two.

 

And while passengers seem healthy, you're not getting reports on the crew. But the ports would be getting reports on crew, and that is most likely why the ports denied Gem docking. Remember, people on the cruise before you reported lots of coughing and runny noses by the end of their cruise - and I think someone did report they came back COVID positive.

[shof515]

1 minute ago, Snowrose said:

You say the production shows are back. That implies they were gone for a while. There must have been a reason. And only one show, could be there isn't enough cast for two.

 

when i was on the gem last month in December for the 5 day Bermuda cruise, they was no production shows on that sailing. a tad bit disappointed

[Snowrose]

9 minutes ago, shof515 said:

according to marine traffic, the Gem is heading to Great Stirrup Cay were the Star currently is. I wonder if NCL will be transferring any crew from the Gem to the Star similar to what Royal is doing

 

Quite possibly. It's working for Royal (for now, atleast), and if they're concerned about bridge and ship crew then they might need to do that. It would be a bad idea to head back to NYC as quickly as possible, as the snowstorm has near hurricane force winds at its core, which wouldn't be a pleasant ride.

[Laszlo]

14 minutes ago, Snowrose said:

 

Quite possibly. It's working for Royal (for now, atleast), and if they're concerned about bridge and ship crew then they might need to do that. It would be a bad idea to head back to NYC as quickly as possible, as the snowstorm has near hurricane force winds at its core, which wouldn't be a pleasant ride.

As soon as possible? The storm will be long gone by the time they arrive on Wednesday

[Snowrose]

1 minute ago, Laszlo said:

As soon as possible? The storm will be long gone by the time they arrive on Wednesday

 

You apparently haven't checked the NOAA wind forecasts. The near-hurricane force winds will admittedly be around Boston by Tuesday, but the gale force winds will still be there. And I can tell you from personal experience with Hurricane Sandy that the leading edge of high waves can go from NY all the way to the outer banks of NC for a storm that size.

[mking8288]

Here she is - at GSC 

 

 

[MS52]

Right now, I am on the Gem cruise to nowhere.  Having an amazing time.  We are stopped by the Star right now and transferring crew.  I haven’t heard of any covid outbreaks among passengers or crew but we have had four room stewards in six days so I am drawing my own conclusions.  
update:  51 crew transferred from the Gem via tender.  Guys with hazmat suits on board the tender.  Hope they recover quickly

Edited January 16, 2022 by MS52

[CruisingComumbus]

1 hour ago, Snowrose said:

 

You apparently haven't checked the NOAA wind forecasts. The near-hurricane force winds will admittedly be around Boston by Tuesday, but the gale force winds will still be there. And I can tell you from personal experience with Hurricane Sandy that the leading edge of high waves can go from NY all the way to the outer banks of NC for a storm that size.

I'm not really sure what your issues are with cruising and complaining about this cruise that you aren't even on, but since this weather system was always going to be present in the North Atlantic this week, this cruise was *always* going to be traveling home through the system.  Anyone who cruises in/out of NYC in winter knows that nor'easters and rough North Atlantic weather are a fact of life.  It's just not a big deal.

 

These passengers got to spend a great time in beautiful Caribbean weather, spent two days in St. Martin, and don't have to pay for it plus got $100 on board credit and 50% FCC towards another cruise.  You could try feeling happy for them, or just ignoring them.

[CJANDH]

1 hour ago, CruisingComumbus said:

 

These passengers got to spend a great time in beautiful Caribbean weather, spent two days in St. Martin, and don't have to pay for it plus got $100 on board credit and 50% FCC towards another cruise.  You could try feeling happy for them, or just ignoring them

So right!! While the guests did not get the vacation they booked, they finished up with 10 days on a nice ship with good weather, shows and free food . . . and it didn't cost them anything. Plus they received FCC for a future cruise. Pretty good deal I would say even if days at sea are not your bag.

[WYB!]

Oy vey!

They are currently doing crew exchange.

 

this is our current position.

 

most departments on board have fewer members. For the production cast I think there is 1 fewer male dancer in the last show so it’s 15 down from 16.

 

 

[Cruising Lynne]

1 hour ago, WYB! said:

Oy vey!

They are currently doing crew exchange.

 

this is our current position.

 

most departments on board have fewer members. For the production cast I think there is 1 fewer male dancer in the last show so it’s 15 down from 16.

 

 

Looks like a nice place to be right now. I see a couple of empty loungers calling my name!! 🌞 🌴  I even miss the tacky palm tree lights.

[mking8288]

15 minutes ago, Cruising Lynne said:

Looks like a nice place to be right now ... 

 

"Was" the place to be earlier for some.  That was a very quick but well-timed stop at GSC for crew transfers.  Now, they are probably all back indoors, leading edge of another storm system approaching from the west / port side - choppy seas, wind & rain as they sail on a NE heading away, at 19 knots.  Pretty soon, someone is going to balk about the captain steering them and the ship into the storm, rough ride and that the "outdoors" are closed ... for safety reasons 🙄 🥱 

 

Crew member exchanges & dressed in PPE (Level 4 ... seen them during the norovirus outbreak on the Escape) - in this case - are to protect & isolate themselves individually, and others nearby to minimize & avoid the chances for airborne & contact infection - highly appropriate measures to undertake.   👍👍

Edited January 16, 2022 by mking8288

[milolii]

I’m curious why NCL is stricken so hard with cancellations.  

 

Royal has been conducting crew transfers for several weeks. This seems to be somewhat successful.  
 

Princess is still operating all 8 of their ships that have retuned to service.

[oteixeira]

2 minutes ago, milolii said:

I’m curious why NCL is stricken so hard with cancellations.  

 

Royal has been conducting crew transfers for several weeks. This seems to be somewhat successful.  
 

Princess is still operating all 8 of their ships that have retuned to service.

Maybe each different company has a different level of risk/infection rate in the crew that they are willing to take on?  Honestly we will never know, as the decisions are coming from the board rooms, and based on numbers they don't have to share with us.  

[Laszlo]

4 hours ago, Snowrose said:

 

You apparently haven't checked the NOAA wind forecasts. The near-hurricane force winds will admittedly be around Boston by Tuesday, but the gale force winds will still be there. And I can tell you from personal experience with Hurricane Sandy that the leading edge of high waves can go from NY all the way to the outer banks of NC for a storm that size.

The winds will be 15-23kts on late Monday thru Friday. Nothing out of the ordinary and certainly not unexpected

[Cruising to Retirement]

4 hours ago, MS52 said:

Right now, I am on the Gem cruise to nowhere.  Having an amazing time.  We are stopped by the Star right now and transferring crew.  I haven’t heard of any covid outbreaks among passengers or crew but we have had four room stewards in six days so I am drawing my own conclusions.  
update:  51 crew transferred from the Gem via tender.  Guys with hazmat suits on board the tender.  Hope they recover quickly

Did any new crew come on the Ship?