The Gem - New England - first time on NCL

[hollon]

My sister want to go on the Gem, Oct 4th New England Cruise - What are you thoughts on The Gem??? 

Ports of Call Boston, Massachusetts | Bar Harbor, Maine | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | La Baie, Canada | Quebec City, Quebec

 

Is this a good itinerary?  How is the ship - I know it's lots of ports which is good, but I'm use to Royal Caribbean Oasis and Icon Class

[Ellis1138]

NCL ships are not like the RCI ones. I've neer been on the Gem, but have been on the Jade. The Jewel Class ships are nice. It won't feel very crowded and the public spaces are well sized. I want to say it will be more cozy than the Oasis and Icon, but it won't have a flowrider or water slides. The pool deck is nice. If you can afford Haven, even better.

 

It still has a Moderno, which is my favorite specialty restaurant. The thermal suite was nice, although segregated by gender, so it's not a place where you could relax with a hetero spouse. 

 

The itinerary will rock, although get travel insurance coverage, especially for any hurricanes or Noreasters. Be prepared to have to miss some of the ports, if the weather is bad.

[JIMESOPUS]

4 hours ago, hollon said:

My sister want to go on the Gem, Oct 4th New England Cruise - What are you thoughts on The Gem??? 

Ports of Call Boston, Massachusetts | Bar Harbor, Maine | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | La Baie, Canada | Quebec City, Quebec

 

Is this a good itinerary?  How is the ship - I know it's lots of ports which is good, but I'm use to Royal Caribbean Oasis and Icon Class

Great itinerary, one way to Quebec. We will be on that same cruise next year but doing a B2B. The Gem ( Jewel Class ship ) is about 1/3 the capacity of the RC ships and about 1/3 the size. No special comedy clubs or attractions, think of the Gem as old-school cruising. There are several great locations aboard the Gem to sit back and relax, Great Outdoors, and Spinnaker Lounge are just a few. We will be on the Gem in about 17 days, we have been on her before and love the smaller ships, any questions just ask.

 

Jim

[hollon]

7 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Great itinerary, one way to Quebec. We will be on that same cruise next year but doing a B2B. The Gem ( Jewel Class ship ) is about 1/3 the capacity of the RC ships and about 1/3 the size. No special comedy clubs or attractions, think of the Gem as old-school cruising. There are several great locations aboard the Gem to sit back and relax, Great Outdoors, and Spinnaker Lounge are just a few. We will be on the Gem in about 17 days, we have been on her before and love the smaller ships, any questions just ask.

 

Jim

thank you, I do need to relax and hopefully I won't miss the entertainment, I just need to learn to relax 🙂    When you get back I hope you'll reply to this message and let me know any details that would help me.  For a balcony for Oct 4, it's 2000.00 a person.  I know we waited to the last min. to maybe book, but that's alot of money for a ship I'm not use to or hopefully not be bored.  But I need to put it in my mind, it's about the schedule 🙂

[JIMESOPUS]

1 hour ago, hollon said:

thank you, I do need to relax and hopefully I won't miss the entertainment, I just need to learn to relax 🙂    When you get back I hope you'll reply to this message and let me know any details that would help me.  For a balcony for Oct 4, it's 2000.00 a person.  I know we waited to the last min. to maybe book, but that's alot of money for a ship I'm not use to or hopefully not be bored.  But I need to put it in my mind, it's about the schedule 🙂

Prices across all brands are crazy these days, don't know when you booked but the price did drop from a high of $2829 on May 1. 

 

 

Since you are disembarking in Quebec, spend some time there, a great city with a European flair and French is spoken. 

Jim

[Laszlo]

14 hours ago, hollon said:

My sister want to go on the Gem, Oct 4th New England Cruise - What are you thoughts on The Gem??? 

Ports of Call Boston, Massachusetts | Bar Harbor, Maine | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | La Baie, Canada | Quebec City, Quebec

 

Is this a good itinerary?  How is the ship - I know it's lots of ports which is good, but I'm use to Royal Caribbean Oasis and Icon Class

My wife and I just did a sailing to Bermuda on the Gem. The Jewel class ships are nice, however you have to go with some different expectations. They are smaller, don't have all the bells and whistles the newer bigger ships have. We were a bit disappointed in the shows in the theater. They were ok, nothing great about them. I love the thermal spa on the Gem. You really might want to get passes for it

 

 

 

[tomk3212]

As you can see by our signature below we've been on Gem MANY times since she was first launched back in '07.  Lately, we've been cruising the bigger ships as they moved Gem out of NYC, which is our 'Home Port'...lol.

 

It's definitely smaller than the newer ships BUT every bit as nice, IMHO.  It doesn't have The Waterfront but it does have a nice outside deck you can walk around on (Unlike, for example, Epic). Some thoughts:

 

1) It still has a Spinnaker Lounge for the 'family' game shows so you don't have to crowd into the Atrium as on the newer ships.

2) We like the Magenta on Deck 6 rather than the MDL.

3) Garden Cafe will open up LaCucina for breakfast when it gets crowded.  If you get up late go right to LaCucina; they'll have coffee there & you can go right outside to The Great Outdoors for your food.  One cruise we ate breakfast there almost every day with the ship's comedian Dave Heenan.

 

If she has realistic expectations (it's NOT an RCCL ship!) she should have a great cruise.