Turtles06: my review of our 23 days aboard the Gem's B2B Panama Canal cruises, NY to Fuerte Amador and the return

[Turtles06]

My wife and I have recently returned from 23 days aboard the Gem doing B2B Panama Canal cruises, NY to Panama City/Fuerte Amador (Jan. 25-Feb. 6) and Panama City/Fuerte Amador to NY (Feb. 6-17).  Our goals in taking these cruises were to get out of the winter cold for a substantial period, to have someone else do the cooking, cleaning, and laundry, to finally take a B2B, and to transit the Canal from south to north.  (We’d previously done two full southbound transits, and the first leg of this B2B would be our third in that direction.)  I can happily say that all of those goals were met, so in that respect, the B2B was a great success, and we really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Does that mean everything else was perfect?  Of course not.  In the posts that will follow, and in no particular order, are my thoughts (and my wife’s) on the typical post-cruise review subjects (and some atypical ones, like the Freestyle Daily).  They are our opinions and observations; others who sailed on these cruises may have had different reactions.  It will probably take me a few days to put everything up; feel free to ask questions!

 

The state of the Gem

 

(the Gem in Taino Bay, Puerto Plata)

 

We love the Jewel-class ships, and the Gem in particular.  They are a very comfortable size, easy to get around, and have some of our favorite public spaces, including the Spinnaker Lounge, the Great Outdoors, and the traditional promenade deck.  During the Gem’s recent dry dock (Nov./Dec. 2022), various public areas were refreshed.  For the most part, they mostly look great, but the chairs and sofas, yikes, it was as though NCL had gone shopping in a store specializing in uncomfortable furniture.  All over the ship (and especially in the Spinnaker Lounge), we found chairs and sofas that were too low, too deep, and/or too hard.  What’s up with that?

 

The swimming fish carpet in the passageways has been removed in favor of something that looks like soap bubbles spilled on a blue background.  And those bubbles don’t tell you which way is forward.  That’s never been a problem for me, but I know that the directional fish were helpful to many, and, in any event, they were fun and an NCL signature.  Gone.

 

 

The insides of the staterooms don’t seem to have been touched during the dry dock.  Although the soft furnishings were replaced a few years ago, all that old, dark, dated wood laminate remains.  (Not to mention the dangerously high tub/shower combo in the Club Balconies and some of the suites.)

NCL really needs to gut and modernize the stateroom interiors.  I realize, though, that NCL likely can’t afford to do that anytime soon (if ever).  It’s sad, because these are really great ships.

 

 

 

[goldmom]

Thank you so much for doing this.  The Gem is one of my favorite ships and we'll be on her soon.  Your review will help me get through the next week or so while waiting for my turn.

Thanks again.  Looking forward to more!

[Turtles06]

Middle of the night sailaway!

 

Upon embarkation in NY on the cold, rainy day of January 25, guests received a letter from the Captain notifying us that because of “adverse winter weather,” we would not be sailing at 4pm as scheduled, but at 3am on January 26 instead!  Not a typo – 3am!  Also, because of the weather, our port call to Bermuda on January 27 had been cancelled and replaced by a sea day. 

 

Having sailed many times out of NY, we did not set an alarm for 3am, but correctly figured we’d be awakened one way or another as the ship got ready to sail, and we were.  We quickly dressed and put on warm clothing.   The rain had stopped, and it was eerily quiet and beautiful out (albeit cold of course).  There was almost no traffic on the Hudson, and the Gem zipped down the river faster than we’ve ever experienced.  It was a very special sailaway, but I think most folks missed it.

 

It was disappointing to skip Bermuda, but we were happy to have an extra sea day before the start of five (!) ports in a row.

 

 

 

[www3traveler]

I hope you had a wonderful time.  I have a couple of friends who are currently crew members on the Gem.

[njhorseman]

Judith, thanks for taking the time to do this. I was about to ask about your experience on these cruises, but now I'll just follow along as you post.

[cruiseny4life]

52 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

The swimming fish carpet in the passageways has been removed in favor of something that looks like soap bubbles spilled on a blue background.  And those bubbles don’t tell you which way is forward.  That’s never been a problem for me, but I know that the directional fish were helpful to many, and, in any event, they were fun and an NCL signature.  Gone.

 

I am one that appreciates the fish telling me which way to swim, but dang, that is one gorgeous hallway! I, for one, love the carpeting and the shade of "wood" on the walls. Thanks for sharing this photo. 

[cruiseny4life]

45 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

Middle of the night sailaway!

 

Upon embarkation in NY on the cold, rainy day of January 25, guests received a letter from the Captain notifying us that because of “adverse winter weather,” we would not be sailing at 4pm as scheduled, but at 3am on January 26 instead!  Not a typo – 3am!  Also, because of the weather, our port call to Bermuda on January 27 had been cancelled and replaced by a sea day. 

 

Having sailed many times out of NY, we did not set an alarm for 3am, but correctly figured we’d be awakened one way or another as the ship got ready to sail, and we were.  We quickly dressed and put on warm clothing.   The rain had stopped, and it was eerily quiet and beautiful out (albeit cold of course).  There was almost no traffic on the Hudson, and the Gem zipped down the river faster than we’ve ever experienced.  It was a very special sailaway, but I think most folks missed it.

 

It was disappointing to skip Bermuda, but we were happy to have an extra sea day before the start of five (!) ports in a row.

 

 

 

What absolutely stunning photos of the city with views that few get to see (from the river at 3 AM). Lovely, thank you!

 

Also...I'm so excited for the rest of your review!!

[Turtles06]

The food

 

Food is a very subjective and difficult subject, so let’s get it out of the way.  And I will say again, these are our personal opinions.  Overall, we found the food on these cruises to be “meh.”  I’ve often said that you don’t sail NCL for the food, and these cruises reaffirmed that opinion for me.  To be sure, we did have some good meals, but taken as a whole, the food was not memorable.  Hardly any dinner (out of 23) where we came away saying, “that was a great meal.” 

 

And the quality of some of the food (especially the meats) seems to have gone down; meat was often very tough.  While NCL’s desserts generally have never been anything to write home about, usually they looked good.  Mostly not so this time, which made them easier to skip.  There were also some supply chain/inventory issues.  Most important for coffee drinkers like my wife, there was almost no Half & Half to be found during the first leg of our trip, and it had disappeared totally on leg 2 until nearly the very end, when the ship must have resupplied in San Juan.  Likewise, it was impossible to get Ginger Ale in some bars and dining venues, especially during leg 1.

 

Over the course of our 23 days, we did eat at all of the specialty dining and “complimentary” venues:

 

Grand Pacific and Magenta: I love the architecture of the two-deck high Grand Pacific, but Magenta is a bit less frenetic, and we found the service there generally to be better (not that we had complaints about the Grand Pacific).  The food was typical NCL MDR food, prepared in large quantities for a lot of people.  Hit or miss nightly, and depending on your choices.  But the bread was always excellent (as it was at all of the dining venues).   

 

As it happened, we had dinner on February 14 in Magenta.  At the end of the meal, our server surprised us with this delicious cake:

 

 

The Orchid Garden: in the past, we’ve found the appetizers here to be very tasty and the entrees forgettable.  That has not changed.  We ate one dinner there in our 23 nights.

 

O’Sheehan’s – as always, this was a convenient place for a late lunch after returning from a shore excursion.  “Convenient” being the best thing that I think can be said for this place.  (Not that there aren’t enjoyable dishes.  Even though the wings have changed, I still enjoyed them.  And my wife liked the Reuben, which for some reason I didn’t get around to trying on this trip.)

 

The Ocean View Cafe – this was mostly a warm weather cruise, and we loved having lunch just about every day at the tables along the starboard side of the pool deck, or at the Great Outdoors.  Good variety of hot and cold foods (although after a couple of weeks, the choices did get a bit “old”.)  We are both fans of soft serve ice cream, and enjoyed having the self-serve dispensers in the buffet.  (For some reason, though, the controls were extremely high up, I could barely reach them.)  We ate a few dinners here too, when we needed a periodic break from the long sit down meals, as we find is always the case on most cruises.  

 

Cagney’s – over the years, our experiences here have usually varied, sometimes good, sometimes not, both in terms of the food and the service.  This time, on the Gem, the service was absolutely terrific, and the food decent enough to warrant going back.  As things turned out, we enjoyed ourselves enough at Cagney’s that we had four dinners there over the course of the entire trip.  The appetizers and desserts were good, and so were most of the entrees that we had. The beef was not the best quality, and not always cooked as we’d specified (one of the risks you take in most steakhouses).  I ventured beyond meat one night and had the Grilled Fisherman’s Platter.  OMG, what a huge amount of excellent seafood!  And my wife had the cedar plank steelhead trout, which looked and tasted so much like salmon that the Maitre d’ told us he had a photo of the actual trout on his phone to show anyone who doubted it was really trout. 🙂  In terms of desserts, the seven layer chocolate cake is a don’t miss (unless you don’t like chocolate, of course).  But most important, we had fantastic service each time, no matter who was waiting on us. 

 

Le Bistro – what a disappointment.  We’ve always considered Le Bistro the best restaurant on the Jewel-class ships.  No longer so on the Gem, in our opinion.  First, the space got a total makeover during the recent dry dock, and has been turned into a monochromatic, colorless venue that is too bright and has no warmth whatsoever.  And there was very little to absorb sound, so it was noisy.  For a restaurant that is generally considered the place to go for fine dining or a romantic meal, the ambience is now lacking.

 

That aside, we had a decent meal of dover sole the first time, with good service.  However, we were seated in one of two small rooms off the entrance-way, which felt like we were in little annexes and not the main restaurant.  We went back during leg 2 and made sure we were seated in the main dining area.  Unfortunately, the service was abysmal.  The restaurant wasn’t that busy, but our server was often MIA, as was the wine steward.  The meal took far too long, and by the time we got to dessert (now a somewhat limited and uninteresting menu, by the way), we decided to leave and have dessert in Magenta.  It was a good decision.    

 

I’ll also note that on our second visit to Le Bistro, we used one of our Latitudes vouchers for the dinner, and the server made it very clear at the outset that we could have a soup OR a salad, not both.  Yes, I know those are NCL’s rules for these dinners, but it still annoys me that this is how NCL treats its most loyal customers:  a soup OR a salad, in one of its supposedly finest dining venues.   (This chintzy cutback on the Latitudes meals pre-dates covid, so it’s not about pandemic financials.)

 

Teppanyaki – always fun, and we always have dinner here once on every cruise.  Unfortunately, in the dish I love best – the steak and shrimp – the steak (did is used to be filet?) has been replaced by NY strip  – very tough, I could barely cut it and I couldn’t chew it.  Fortunately, the shrimp was excellent, as was the fried rice, so I had plenty to eat.  No need to go back during leg 2.  This is always a “just once” for us on any trip.

 

La Cucina – awful food, chaotic service.  One and done, we cancelled our reservation for leg 2.

 

Moderno – every time we eat at Moderno on an NCL ship, we say “never again.”  And yet, for some reason, we go back.  Like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football that Lucy is holding.  Well, this time, we mean it.  Never again.  The meats are always cold, and of poor quality.  There is just not enough volume of business for NCL to pull off a churrascaria on a ship, at least not on the Jewel-class ships.  And this time, there were a glut of servers just standing around, staring at us, and interrupting us after just about every bite to ask if everything was okay.  I realize they meant well, but it was off-putting and creepy, and pretty much prevented us from having any conversation with each other.  So, when we say never again, this time we mean it.  Really.  Seriously.

 

 

[mking8288]

Turtles06 - well done, been waiting for your report.  You nailed it on a # of the points about the newly "refreshed" GEM with the uncomfortable chairs & furniture with the improper height.  Our friends rode her back to NY on the T/A in December and they couldn't believe it.  Perhaps, NCL's designers were trying too hard to be accessible friendly.  Yet, they left those bathtubs with the high step-over height, totally inconsistent.  They mentioned that the chairs & loungers outside the bar & lounge area next to Le Bistro as among the worst.  BTW, welcome home !! 

[Turtles06]

A random thought

 

What if a cruise ship had a lovely Dale Chihuly art glass sculpture, but almost no one noticed it because it was located high up in the two-deck Atrium, a zoo of a place with a huge video screen, a bar, Starbucks, Guest Services, and the Shore Excursion desk. Not to mention a chandelier with a zillion light bulbs, constantly changing color overhead. This is “Frog Foot Sconce,” by Dale Chihuly, one of the world's most well-known glass artists.  So very lost in this space. 

 

 

 

 

 

[sherrihall128]

Thanks for your review. I sailed on the Gem right before the refurbishment, and I would agree with you on a lot of these points. The meals were hit or miss, but overall were just "ok". The individual chairs in the Spinnaker lounge were too deep; I had to pick my seats accordingly because I have short little legs.

 

The negatives aside: I still had a great experience, and I would totally still cruise on NCL and smaller ships again.

[EllieinNJ]

Looking forward to more of your review.

[Birdnutty]

Hi turtles06!  Was on the first leg with you, and am reading with interest how your opinions echoes or differs from hubby's and mine.  I LOVE THE PIX OF NYC at 3 AM!!  We were busily snoring away at that point, but I am happy that someone got to take advantage of that view.

 

I'll be posting my review soon, so you can compare notes too.  Stay tuned!!

 

I echo the feelings on the refurbished public areas, but I did think it was lovely anyway.  Whenever possible, we sat in the back of the Spinnaker on the tall chairs, so I, with my bad knees, did not have to deal with trying to stand up from being that low down.  I notice that everywhere lately - even at the Masonic home where my mom lives.  They replace all the serviceable, functional chairs with too-low, uncomfortable chairs.  What's up with that?  Is every designer 25 yrs old and have no clue as to what more people need?

 

And I miss the fish..  :(

[Turtles06]

5 minutes ago, Birdnutty said:

Whenever possible, we sat in the back of the Spinnaker on the tall chairs,

 

Funny, as short as I am, and as difficult as it is for me to get on and off tall chairs like that, I found them to be the most comfortable in Spinnaker for me. 😂

 

I'd actually gone up to Spinnaker to read one morning early in the cruise, and sat down in every different chair and sofa. I could not believe how awful each one was.

[Turtles06]

Entertainment

 

We don’t cruise for the entertainment, but good entertainment adds value to a cruise, especially one as long as this.  Sadly, for us, the entertainment offerings on the Gem were largely unappealing, unlike in cruises past.  

 

The “shows” in the Stardust Theatre were mostly solo performers  -- comics and magicians – who were recycled during each leg (and then of course again on leg two). They were not draws for us. 

 

We did see a production show called “Blazing Boots” – country music, which isn’t our thing, but we still appreciated some of the songs and the high energy.  However, some of the singers were just not that talented.  We skipped a second production show called “Swing!” which was billed as a “dazzling display of some of the best music and dance styles from the swing era of jazz (1930-1940s),” showcasing “the exhilarating songs of many well-known artists like Duke Ellington, William ‘Count’ Basie, and Benny Goodman.”  We did see singer Melissa McLaughlin in the Stardust Theatre.  She was probably the best of the entertainment there.  On some nights, there was nothing at all scheduled for the Stardust.  We’ve never seen that happen before.

 

For us, the most enjoyable entertainment was the Broadway Cabaret in the Spinnaker Theatre, presented once on each leg of the trip.  (We went both times.)  Four of the production cast members singing show tunes for 45 minutes.  I’m a show tunes junkie, so this was perfect for me.  And the song selections were excellent  -- the first time I’ve ever heard “Dear Theodosia” and “Stars and the Moon” sung on a cruise ship.  However, the voices of some of the performers were a bit lacking (volume is not a substitute for quality).  The Spinnaker was packed for each of the two performances  -- SRO packed.  Maybe NCL could learn from that and put a true show tunes production back in the Stardust.

 

There was a good DJ at the pool.  And a band called Sabor Latino, which joined the ship in Panama, was excellent.  They had some terrific sets on the pool deck, but mostly played late at night down in the Bliss Lounge.   (Often too late for us retirees.  😊)

 

There were a couple of solo musicians playing at night in Magnums and the Atrium, several sets each night, just about every night.  We were not fans of the pianist/singer, Nathaniel, but we did turn up often to hear Tania, a singer/guitar player from the UK.  It’s not that she was that terrific, but she has a very soft, sweet, and pleasant voice, and she sang familiar songs.  Her singing style, however, verges on the soporific.  Whenever she sang Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” (which was often, as she had a very limited repertoire), we joked that she’d turned it into “Slow Car.”  And that limited repertoire was just not sufficient for either leg of the cruise. 

 

All too often, sitting in Magnums, we found ourselves saying how much we missed Leo. (Is he still on the Breakaway?)

 

 

[vacation44]

18 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Middle of the night sailaway!

 

Upon embarkation in NY on the cold, rainy day of January 25, guests received a letter from the Captain notifying us that because of “adverse winter weather,” we would not be sailing at 4pm as scheduled, but at 3am on January 26 instead!  Not a typo – 3am!  Also, because of the weather, our port call to Bermuda on January 27 had been cancelled and replaced by a sea day. 

 

Having sailed many times out of NY, we did not set an alarm for 3am, but correctly figured we’d be awakened one way or another as the ship got ready to sail, and we were.  We quickly dressed and put on warm clothing.   The rain had stopped, and it was eerily quiet and beautiful out (albeit cold of course).  There was almost no traffic on the Hudson, and the Gem zipped down the river faster than we’ve ever experienced.  It was a very special sailaway, but I think most folks missed it.

 

It was disappointing to skip Bermuda, but we were happy to have an extra sea day before the start of five (!) ports in a row.

 

 

 

Absolutely beautiful pictures!

 

Enjoying reading your review.  Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

[Turtles06]

 

The internet

 

Because of family obligations back home, I needed to be able to use a VPN during the trip, and so I’d upgraded to the Premium Unlimited WiFi Plan.  My wife upgraded to the Unlimited Plan.  On leg 1, the internet access was a joke.  Often complete outages, or so slow that web sites would not load.  For days on end, it was so bad that the Internet Manager gave a refund for those days for the plan upgrades to those who asked.  (Frankly, I think those refunds should automatically be given to everyone who purchased the upgrades.)  

 

One morning, when I’d gone down to speak to the Internet Manager at a time when he should have been there but had been “called away to a meeting” according to a pre-printed sign, I encountered an irate and frustrated NCL contractor pacing around because he needed to speak to the Internet Manager as he said he could not do his job without being able to communicate with his colleagues on shore.  He told me that he’d been on the Gem for five weeks during the summer, and the internet had worked fine, but that it had been a disaster ever since the dry dock.  He said this was having a huge impact on the crew, who could not communicate with their families, but could not complain about this. He said passengers needed to complain.

 

I’ve cruised enough to know that internet access on a cruise ship is not the same as internet access at home.  But the experience on the first leg of our B2B was beyond typical shipboard internet problems.  In fact, a Guest Services rep told me that the internet problems were extensive and that the problem was the Gem.

 

Interestingly, on the second leg of the trip, which was pretty much the first leg in reverse, internet access was better.  It made me wonder whether something had been fixed during the full day we were docked in Panama City.

 

[snorklinbarb]

Hi Judith,

Despite some of the shortcomings you mention, I sure wish I could have made that trip with you and your wife!  

 

Thanks for taking time to put up a thorough review - I love when guests give details of why they didn't have a good experience or the reason they wouldn't return to a particular restaurant.  You do that so eloquently.  I noticed also that the filet in my favorite Tepp. combo w/shrimp had been changed to NY strip.  We've never found any great NY strips aboard,  period, often too tough as you noted.  

 

With that many days onboard you had a chance to not only sample everything but go back to Cagney's 4x!  I remember the last Gem cruise pre-covid when you didn't have a very good experience there.  Nice that you mentioned the steelhead trout and fisherman's platter.  I've tried the latter and agree it was really tasty and a large quantity.  Hopefully the delicious double lamb chops are still good!

 

Sounds like the entertainment in the theater fell short.  They do bring back entertainers for a 2nd show but it's of no interest if they weren't that good in the first place!  Very strange to have one dark night in the theater - like you, I've never seen that!  Good to hear they are doing the Broadway cabarets.  On Joy last year they had 8 performers and between the group numbers and their solos, it was a really great show!  So much so that it was SRO and guests stayed till the end!  

 

How was the CD?  That can play a big part in how the entertainment plays out.  Did you do any trivia?  

 

Anxious to read more and hear about what you did in ports, etc!  I heard there were only about 1600 guests on the 1st leg.  How about your return trip?

 

As a directionally challenged cruiser, no matter how many times I've walked the halls of NCL ships, I loved the fish, lol.  On Prima they've replaced the fish carpeting with a geometric pattern that has a yellow triangle every so often....I had to read it on CC that the "triangle faces forward."  Who knew?!  

 

How is the construction coming along in Panama?

 

 

 

 

[Turtles06]

Hi Barb, thanks for the kind words.  We wish you could have been on the Gem with us too!

 

6 minutes ago, snorklinbarb said:

With that many days onboard you had a chance to not only sample everything but go back to Cagney's 4x!  . . . Hopefully the delicious double lamb chops are still good!

 

Funny thing, I ordered the lamb chops for two of our four dinners.  I don't eat rare meat, and the first time I ordered them medium.  They came out as lamb tartare.  Nope.  Not eating that.  By then, of course, Eileen also had her food, and I hate sending stuff back in those circumstances.  I was having a baked potato and had already been pretty stuffed on bread and the apps, so I just passed on the lamb chops.  I gave the lamb chops another try on our last meal at Cagney's, this time ordering them medium well and explaining to the server what had happened the first time.  This time, they came out rare.  Eileen insisted I send them back.  It's a long story, but they had to go back twice.  The Ass't MD came over to apologize; that was kind of her; my reply in those circumstances is "hey, you didn't cook the food." 🙂 

 

I count myself lucky that on our first of our four visits to Cagney's, the ribeye steak that I'd ordered came out exactly as I'd wanted.   I did not dare to chance that again.

 

14 minutes ago, snorklinbarb said:

How was the CD? . .  Did you do any trivia?

 

The CD was mostly MIA at the shows and activities we attended.  Yes, we did some of the trivia. It was fun to wander into the Atrium on a sea day and spend a little time playing. 

 

18 minutes ago, snorklinbarb said:

Anxious to read more and hear about what you did in ports, etc!  I heard there were only about 1600 guests on the 1st leg.  How about your return trip?

 

Getting to the ports... Yes, about 1600 on leg one, and 1500 on leg two.

 

18 minutes ago, snorklinbarb said:

How is the construction coming along in Panama?

 

A total mess, I'll post about that.  (I did put up some "live from" comments in the Panama Canal forum.) 

 

Thanks for reading!!  🙂 

[Turtles06]

Ports -- St. Thomas

 

I’m going to start interspersing some port information here along with my comments about the ship, mostly because we had fun ashore, and also so that I can share some photos and break up all the text. 😊  For the port calls, we’d planned a mix of beach days, private and NCL shorex tours, and DIY days.  We had fabulous weather just about everywhere.

 

Having skipped Bermuda, our first port of call was St. Thomas, on January 29.  I don’t know how we lucked out like this during the height of the Caribbean cruising season, but the Gem was the only large ship in port that day.  We knew that in advance and decided we’d take advantage of this by heading immediately to Magens Bay Beach, taking one of the group “taxis” waiting at the pier.  (These are vans or open air tram-like vehicles, and they charge $15pp, cash.)  They are also waiting at Magens Bay to take people back to their ships, or to downtown Charlotte Amalie.  It's very easy to do all this on your own, no need to pay NCL (or any cruise line) to take you there.  (Not to mention that by doing this on your own, you can stay as long as you want.)  

 

We got to Magens Bay early and secured lounge chairs in the "front row."  What a gorgeous, gorgeous beach.  Soft sand and beautiful, clear, calm water, fabulous for swimming.   And we spent a ton of time in the water.  Even though we saw very few fish, the pelicans with their sharp eyes saw many more.  There were a handful of pelicans around, and they’d swoop down close to our heads, and plunge into the water for lunch.

 

As for our lunch, we got a pizza from the food stand at the beach.   🙂 

 

We had a wonderful, relaxing day at Magens Bay.  It was tough to tear ourselves away and go back to the ship.

 

 

 

(my happy feet)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Turtles06

[Turtles06]

Mister Toad's Wild Ride

 

 

Although we'd ridden in a van "taxi" to Magens Bay Beach, our return "taxi" was an open air tram-like vehicle.  It was a wild ride, with the driver speeding along narrow, twisting mountain roads. No seatbelts, no windows, no doors. It was like something out of Disney World, but without the safety features. It was fun.   🙂 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vacation44]

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Ports -- St. Thomas

 

I’m going to start interspersing some port information here along with my comments about the ship, mostly because we had fun ashore, and also so that I can share some photos and break up all the text. 😊  For the port calls, we’d planned a mix of beach days, private and NCL shorex tours, and DIY days.  We had fabulous weather just about everywhere.

 

Having skipped Bermuda, our first port of call was St. Thomas, on January 29.  I don’t know how we lucked out like this during the height of the Caribbean cruising season, but the Gem was the only large ship in port that day.  We knew that in advance and decided we’d take advantage of this by heading immediately to Magens Bay Beach, taking one of the group “taxis” waiting at the pier.  (These are vans or open air tram-like vehicles, and they charge $15pp, cash.)  They are also waiting at Magens Bay to take people back to their ships, or to downtown Charlotte Amalie.  It's very easy to do all this on your own, no need to pay NCL (or any cruise line) to take you there.  (Not to mention that by doing this on your own, you can stay as long as you want.)  

 

We got to Magens Bay early and secured lounge chairs in the "front row."  What a gorgeous, gorgeous beach.  Soft sand and beautiful, clear, calm water, fabulous for swimming.   And we spent a ton of time in the water.  Even though we saw very few fish, the pelicans with their sharp eyes saw many more.  There were a handful of pelicans around, and they’d swoop down close to our heads, and plunge into the water for lunch.

 

As for our lunch, we got a pizza from the food stand at the beach.   🙂 

 

We had a wonderful, relaxing day at Magens Bay.  It was tough to tear ourselves away and go back to the ship.

 

 

 

(my happy feet)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How much were the lounge chairs and umbrella rentals?   Also, how long was the ride to Magens Bay?  

[Turtles06]

15 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

How much were the lounge chairs and umbrella rentals?   Also, how long was the ride to Magens Bay?  

The chairs were $20pp (including one umbrella for two people).  There was also a $5pp admission charge for the beach. The ride from Havensight was about 15-20 minutes. 

[vacation44]

6 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

The chairs were $20pp (including one umbrella for two people).  There was also a $5pp admission charge for the beach. The ride from Havensight was about 15-20 minutes. 

Thank you very much.   

[Turtles06]

14 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Thank you very much.   

You're welcome.  I should add that the chair rentals could be put on a credit card.