Live Review NCL GEM 11/6-11/13 Lots of Pictures Plenty of Random Thoughts Pre Cruise Adventure in Venice

[purpleally]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:01 AM, FionaMG said:

It's not and theft does happen. My friend, who lives in France and is a regular user of the Eurostar service, once had her luggage stolen but luckily spotted the thief as he was making his getaway and had the wherewithal to get him stopped. 

I usually suggest taking a bicycle chain if you're travelling with heavy luggage on European trains so that you can secure it to the structure of the luggage holders.

Would you do that in Norway as well

[purpleally]

5 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Thanks so much!  I do enjoy the Hilton but I think for next time I would like to stay in Venice where the action is 😂 

How did you get to the action?  
did you have access to executive lounge?

Edited November 7, 2022 by purpleally
Missed a point

[BennyBrun]

7 hours ago, purpleally said:

How did you get to the action?  
did you have access to executive lounge?

Via Actv Water Ferrybir you can pay Hilton $10 per person for the sty to use their very limited shuttle service.  I had access to the lounge it’s nice but did not spend much time there.  Venice is out there and the hotel is a distance from San Marco so I rather be over there than back at the lounge for happy hour 5-7pm.

[BennyBrun]

I am so glad I did the clock tower tour… the view was amazing and so much better than being cramped in at the bell tower with everyone else.  You had time to walk into the terrace to see everything.  You do have to be careful as you can trip and fall over because the railings is not very high.  Liability is not there main concern 

[FionaMG]

8 hours ago, purpleally said:

Would you do that in Norway as well

I would do it anywhere that I was taking heavy luggage on a train. Sometimes you're lucky enough to be sitting where you can keep an eye on it, but the chances are higher that you won't be and even in countries with low crime rates there's always a risk. 

[BennyBrun]

This is what the clock tower looks like from the outside San Marco square

[BennyBrun]

San Marco Basilica 

[BennyBrun]

San Marco Basilica 

 

I did the very basic tour of just the first level.  There are other areas that you can go see for an additional fee!

[BennyBrun]

San Marco Basilica 

[BennyBrun]

Breaking News…

 

I am still doing this in order and still trying to catch up BUT BUT

 

GEM dry dock… Restaurants… Grand Pacific will get some minor updates like carpet change/hostess desk move/center area updates 

Teppanyaki- they will add one more grill to increase capacity.

Le Bistro will increase from 65 capacity to 100.  They are expanding so I wonder where they are expanding into.

 

Back to regular schedules update

[BennyBrun]

Well this is new!  Walking a sheep in Venice

[BennyBrun]

Wine o’clock 

[BennyBrun]

Venice at night

[BennyBrun]

Last night in Venice before going on the GEM pasta pizza send off

[BennyBrun]

Last night in Venice before the GEM

[BennyBrun]

Day 1 Trieste Day Embarkation Day

 

So cruise transfer $175 per person from Venice airport or take the direct train from Venezia St.Lucia to Trieste Station and take the bus for $16.35 per person.  I went with the train.  Bad part is that the train does not have space for luggage so you have to get creative and it does get crowded.

 

 

[BennyBrun]

NCL GEM

 

Embarkation was FAST… they were passing out cookies and offering beverages at the cruise terminal and sooooo smoooth … why can’t it be like this every where…

 

Casino GEM

[BennyBrun]

Spinnaker 

 

This ship feels so empty compared to Oasis of the Seas.  So calm but that has been my experience with all my European cruises this year.  Calm calm calm

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, BennyBrun said:

THAT CARPET IS SO TRIPPY!!!!!

 

Spinnaker 

 

This ship feels so empty compared to Oasis of the Seas.  So calm but that has been my experience with all my European cruises this year.  Calm calm calm

 

 

 

 

 

T

[LATTELOVE]

3 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Well this is new!  Walking a sheep in Venice

Ahhh,

Big and beautiful sheep in her underwear.  🤪

She looks like a therapy sheep

 

The photos from St Marcos are fantastic,

the architecture is very beautiful.

I love all the history there.

Edited November 7, 2022 by LATTELOVE
edit

[Muckyduckway]

3 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

NCL GEM

 

Embarkation was FAST… they were passing out cookies and offering beverages at the cruise terminal and sooooo smoooth … why can’t it be like this every where…

Amen!

[Turtles06]

7 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Breaking News…

 

I am still doing this in order and still trying to catch up BUT BUT

 

GEM dry dock… Restaurants… Grand Pacific will get some minor updates like carpet change/hostess desk move/center area updates 

Teppanyaki- they will add one more grill to increase capacity.

Le Bistro will increase from 65 capacity to 100.  They are expanding so I wonder where they are expanding into.

 

Back to regular schedules update

Thanks!  (And maybe someone will know about the tub/showers. 😂)

 

Thanks for the beautiful photos from Venice! 

[BennyBrun]

4 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Thanks!  (And maybe someone will know about the tub/showers. 😂)

 

Thanks for the beautiful photos from Venice! 

I am still asking around… the hotel director is hard to find on this ship plus the port stops everyday makes it hard to see the officers

[vtgumby]

On 11/4/2022 at 12:43 PM, Muckyduckway said:

The cruise terminal at Dubrovnik is Gruz. If you had loads of time you could walk but the buses are frequent and easy to use and as long as you have the means to buy in Kuna (either cash or a card that works in Europe), are absolutely the best option.

 

When you get off the ship the bus station is the white building to the right. Walk through the canopied port arrival point and turn right.

 

The tickets can be purchased at the Tisak! (Recommend return ticket to save looking for ticket outlets in town)

 

Slightly to the right of the Tisak kiosk there's a zebra crossing out to the road, at the road turn right and the bus stop is visible immediately, about 50 yards maybe, see photo. There are bus stops in the station but they are longer distance buses that don't serve the city.

 

Any of the buses that go to Pile are good, so all of the 1s, 3, 6 and maybe 9. I've attached the timetable.  When you get off the bus, the Pile Gate is right in front of you. The same stop is where you will return, taking any bus that goes to Gruz.

 

Make sure you walk the length of Stradun, a very straight street (many moons ago it was water!) that connects the Pile and Ploce Gates, check out the harbour area behind the Ploce Gate, and wander at will in the small side streets where you should fall upon the market, where you can sample the local candied orange peel. And of course try the burek.

 

 

Getting off the bus on the way back is easy as the ship is a pretty decent landmark.

But do bear in mind when using buses in most of Europe that a wave or an extended arm to indicate that you want to board the bus is needed as buses do not necessarily stop at every stop, and if the stop sign isn't already illuminated, press the red button before the stop you want to disembark the bus.

 

City timetable.pdf 1.46 MB · 0 downloads

 

 

 

It's quite close, depends whether you want to keep on walking once you arrive and how close your actual arrival is to your chosen checkin time.

 

There's also a nice ice-cream place near the terminal called Jazzin!

Trieste has so many nice places to eat but they are fairly spread out.

You're almost certainly already aware of this, but it's worth checking Marine Traffic or other site to check where the Gem has docked early on the morning of embarkation. It should be the downtown location but nice to be sure before you arrive. My cruise docs said pier 57 so we were very pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case.

We are on the same cruise and we did Dubrovnik yesterday, the bus lines were 1A, 1B, and 3, there is a ticket office right next to the stop which is right outside the old city gate and it cost $1.60 per ticket bought at the ticket booth and if you paid on the bus it was two euro. We walked down to the old city but it was pretty nice to grab the bus to come back and the walk was longer than I remember, more like 40 minutes from the ship to the city gates. I would absolutely not do the NCL shuttle for $15, when you can do the city bus for $1.60 or €2 on the bus AND you can use your debit card or credit card to buy the bus ticket at the ticket booth so you don’t have to exchange any money if you don’t wish to do so. By the way, Croatia goes to the euro mid January 2023 so that will make everything a lot easier for travelers.

[vtgumby]

On the bus transportation note, today we are in Corfu on another gorgeous low 70s day and we walked to town along with some cool markets but coming back we happen to walk out at the right place of the old city and there was the number 16 bus that takes you directly to the cruise port and you can pay on board and it was a €1.70 per person, a well spent €3.40!

NCL also provided a free shuttle from the bus to the cruise terminal which was just a five minute walk but if you wanna jump on the free shuttle bus it’s there for you.