Gem B2B, August 23 thru September 6 review from Boston at $57* per person per day

[JIMESOPUS]

Good Morning CC, starting this review now about a week before we leave. Based on a recent thread https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3019586-ncl-gem-internetwi-fi/#comment-67673608, but after we get settled in I’ll run a speed test and may change this to a Live Review or Liver as an acronym

 

 

After a lackluster cruise on the Jade this past January, our priorities have changed with NCL https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2990871-jade-12724-2724-review/#comment-66901688. No longer will they be the first choice, cruising money will be directed to the best deals, no matter what line, do we need to be Ambassadors of a cruise line that doesn’t meet our needs? So we hit the reset button with NCL and canceled some cruises.

 

 

But thanks to this thread https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2907966-attention-myvegas-fans/ and a free cruise from an Atlantic City casino.

We are back to NCL ( that hiatus didn’t last too long ), cruising this time on our old friend the Gem out of Boston.

 

 

We chose Boston because we didn't want to sail on a large ship. It's not a bad drive through the Berkshires, and although the drive today is about 90 minutes longer compared to NYC Pier 88, the tolls are only $8 compared to $18, somebody has to pay for the GWB.

 

We sailed out of Boston about 7 years ago. The terminal was run down back then, but looking at the recent photos, it appears to have been spruced up.

 

Instead of paying for parking for 14 days, we are using a rental car. We found an Enterprise office close by, about a 40-minute walk to the pier, but the office said they could drop us off. The parking cost is posted as $20 per day at the terminal, compared to the $45 per day at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal roof parking.

 

 

[mking8288]

Gooooood morning, Jim and following along until we get going with our cruise later this month.

[JIMESOPUS]

I'm attempting to copy and paste using Google offline to expedite my posting.

 

Now, let's get to that *. The actual cost of the B2B was $162 per day per person. For the first cruise, there was a $750 discount (obtained through myvegs with no money spent), it was, even more, primarily due to savings in insurance on the guest fare.

It's still hard to believe that a simple online casino game, with no money involved, provided a $750 discount.

The second cruise was a “ Free Cruise Offer “ from an Atlantic City casino. As we all know nothing is free but the guest fare was zero until we upgraded to an Oceanview so the guest fare is now $640

 

The total guest fare for both cruises is $1588, about $57 per person per day. The remaining $105 per day covers everything else ( yes even the DSC ).

Also, the customer service (CAS) agents were great to work with. Explained in more detail about the myvegas promo and moved our first cruise cabin to the same one for the second cruise without any hassle.

[JIMESOPUS]

Where are we going? 

 

The first cruise is to Bermuda for two days then onto Portland. I was surprised to find no Roll Call for this cruise so I started one,https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2997756-august-23-2024-ncl-gem-bermuda-and-somewhere-in-maine-rt-from-boston/#comment-67092337. 

As you can see somewhere in Maine, I knew from recent experiences that there was a good chance that the stop in Maine wasn’t Bar Harbor.

Unlike my last experience with an itinerary change  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2907916-ncl-changing-itineraries-for-non-emergency-reasons-after-final-payment, The change was made the day before the final payment.

But with Ernesto heading towards Bermuda will there be another change?

 

The second cruise, the first one of the season for the New England run, will we stop at Bar Harbor this time? Also heading farther north from Boston, a couple of new ports for us.

 

[Laszlo]

Hey Jim

             Hope you have a great time. The Boston cruise terminal was pretty nice, it was our first time sailing out of Boston. When we went in June the terminal did not open until 10:00. We arrived around 9:00am and the porters were standing by to take luggage. The only thing that was a pain in the ass was security (scanners). It was the only port I had to take out my laptop and camera gear, every other time they just scanned my backpack and that was it. I even had to take off my iWatch Lol

[JIMESOPUS]

1 hour ago, Laszlo said:

Hey Jim

             Hope you have a great time. The Boston cruise terminal was pretty nice, it was our first time sailing out of Boston. When we went in June the terminal did not open until 10:00. We arrived around 9:00am and the porters were standing by to take luggage. The only thing that was a pain in the ass was security (scanners). It was the only port I had to take out my laptop and camera gear, every other time they just scanned my backpack and that was it. I even had to take off my iWatch Lol

The only other time there, the parking lot was across the street, not paved, ( had to take a shuttle over with luggage in tow ), paint chips on the sidewalk and inside, security downstairs,  a tiny elevator, no AC, and a single flight of stairs.

[Laszlo]

1 hour ago, JIMESOPUS said:

The only other time there, the parking lot was across the street, not paved, ( had to take a shuttle over with luggage in tow ), paint chips on the sidewalk and inside, security downstairs,  a tiny elevator, no AC, and a single flight of stairs.

We took the stairs up, I didn't even see signs for the elevators. Getting off their were at least 2, maybe 3. The Haven / Suite waiting room is tiny. nothing more than curtains around an area. We were checked in by 10:15 and walking on the ship at 10:40. Our non suite friends boarded at 11:05. Boston didn't seem to have the made rush of people wanting to be first on the ship. Then again the terminal is half the size of on NYC. Boarding from the waiting area we actually walked down the ramp not up like in NYC

[bluesea777]

Ernesto is visiting us all day on Saturday 17th Aug, so he will be away gone by the time you cruise on the 23rd Aug.

 

The Gem's 16th Aug cruise to Bermuda might be still on schedule, but they'll need to sail southward first then eastward.  

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

16 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

Ernesto is visiting us all day on Saturday 17th Aug, so he will be away gone by the time you cruise on the 23rd Aug.

 

The Gem's 16th Aug cruise to Bermuda might be still on schedule, but they'll need to sail southward first then eastward.  

 

 

Thanks, looks like the path is a little to the west. I have been following the news.

https://www.royalgazette.com/weather/news/article/20240815/midday-update-ernesto-collision-course-continues/

 

[cajun-crazy]

I look forward to following along! We board 9/6/24-and I need to figure out what temperature to pack for!

[JIMESOPUS]

Although Bermuda was battered and bruised by Ernesto, the resilient people are back in business at the Dockyard. The Gem is currently on track to arrive on Monday.

[JIMESOPUS]

@cajun-crazy Was looking at adding those two cruises as well but there would have been too many repeated stops, maybe next year

Jim

[Panhandle Couple]

On 8/15/2024 at 9:22 AM, JIMESOPUS said:

Where are we going? 

 

The first cruise is to Bermuda for two days then onto Portland. I was surprised to find no Roll Call for this cruise so I started one,https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2997756-august-23-2024-ncl-gem-bermuda-and-somewhere-in-maine-rt-from-boston/#comment-67092337. 

As you can see somewhere in Maine, I knew from recent experiences that there was a good chance that the stop in Maine wasn’t Bar Harbor.

Unlike my last experience with an itinerary change  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2907916-ncl-changing-itineraries-for-non-emergency-reasons-after-final-payment, The change was made the day before the final payment.

But with Ernesto heading towards Bermuda will there be another change?

 

The second cruise, the first one of the season for the New England run, will we stop at Bar Harbor this time? Also heading farther north from Boston, a couple of new ports for us.

 

Hi JIm.

We did the 2nd cruise back in Oct 2022.

A hurricane had hit the Canada provinces a few weeks before, so very few leaves left to see.

 

PEI stop included a downtown fair which was postponed due to the hurricane, a nice surprise.

We only walked around the fair, but had a hard time visiting any of the pubs, which we like to do.

In Sydney we did a poorly worded excursion to an inland Scottish museum.  It was ok, but we would have appreciated several stops for more photo ops.  The main disappointment was that the main street in downtown Sydney was completely torn up, most everything was closed, and you couldn't really walk around.  We ended up at a bar-restaurant on the edge, to try the local lobster rolls.

In Halifax, it was fog, fog, fog.  We saw very little on our HOHO bus tour.  We did walk back to the Triangle pub, for some delicious lobster mac-cheese.  We can recommend that and the Garrison Brewing, directly across the street from the dock.

In Portland in rained all day.  We did our pub crawl in the rain, and had lobster poutine (a first).

Bar Harbor was canceled due to high winds forecast later in the day, which proved correct.  We did get a very nice sea day in with lots of sun bathing in the cool temps.

 

We need to try this one again.    

[bluesea777]

2 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

@cajun-crazy Was looking at adding those two cruises as well but there would have been too many repeated stops, maybe next year

Jim

if you want a B2B cruises out of Miami and haven’t been to Panama, look in my signature … would love to meet you! 😁

 

 

[AKR2011]

I did this B2B last year on The Pearl and had an incredible time. Wishing you a wonderful cruise! I'm excited to follow along ❤️⚓️

[JIMESOPUS]

A reminder email from Katty Byrd that we must be down to three days, how many more reminders?

I started packing and found clothes already washed and folded in the suitcase, all with little yellow stickers.

Bermuda is bouncing back and will be back to normal this time next week.

The weather forecast for Bermuda looks great.

 

The hardest part about this B2B is the weather, warm in Bermuda and cool in Canada.

The starvation diet starts today, and the final weigh-in is on Friday.

 

Jim

 

 

 

Jim

[bluesea777]

Bermuda is back to normal already! Ernesto was a weak (but a loonnng) hurricane.

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

Two emails from Katty must mean we are down to 2 days. 

Woke up to 49 degrees, the first time since early May. A 2 throw blanket night for Carol, it's time to close up those windows.

The Garden was picked clean the past days, the last watering was done today, and the outside hose has been put away.

Finally, all packed, and Carol just started.

The first days in Canada will be in the lower 70s but sunny.

 

Both roll calls are on life support, there will be no M&G for the first cruise but the second one will have an M&G, let’s see how many show up and will there be refreshments.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3020149-would-you-still-attend-a-cruise-critic-meet-mingle-event-without-refreshments/#comment-67688621

 

[JIMESOPUS]

The last email from Katty arrived if I was new to NCL and received so many emails about safety I would be worried.

 

Rental picked, the car has some love bites but Enterprise has everything well documented everything.

 

Our bank let us down, we used to order $2 bills without any problems, but now it's a two-week notice.

Candy for the crew packed away, when we can drive to the port we like packing some treats for the crew.

 

 

 The weather forecast continues to be fantastic in Boston, Bermuda, and Canada eh.

Just as important is this forecast

 

Hopefully, the internet will be useful once aboard.

 

Jim

 

 

[mking8288]

Jim - Bon Voyage and safe travel for your early morning drive to Beantown with the night owl alarm.   Have a great B2B cruise and let's see if we can attempt to do a bit of "Transcon" semi-live to not-quite-live chat over Starlink around Labor Day, or the 2nd leg of your Jewel adventure.  That would be fun & interesting to see where the bottleneck might be ... or, likely attributed to other unsuspected elements 😳 😁 😉

 

Speaking of emails and reminders, NCL isn't alone as we got another round for ours next and, also with the single digit dance.  See below as I decided to let "Lifestyle by Norwegian" promo ad speak for itself ... as we don't have an upcoming journey (cruise) with NCL 😉 

 

 

This must be something new as we don't recall getting similar prompts recently within our cruise circles of F&F.  

 

 

 

Edited August 22 by mking8288

[mking8288]

On 8/22/2024 at 1:35 PM, JIMESOPUS said:

... Hopefully, the internet will be useful once aboard.

Well, no news is good news 😉 since the Gem has sailed and en route 🤞🤞

 

[JIMESOPUS]

First and maybe the last attempt to post, yesterday the Wi-Fi was slow, here is the best speed test, the cabin signal is mia, best area is in the local

 

[JIMESOPUS]

That post only took 5 minutes to upload

[Red-Sol]

On 8/15/2024 at 9:07 AM, JIMESOPUS said:

After a lackluster cruise on the Jade this past January, our priorities have changed with NCL https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2990871-jade-12724-2724-review/#comment-66901688. No longer will they be the first choice, cruising money will be directed to the best deals, no matter what line, do we need to be Ambassadors of a cruise line that doesn’t meet our needs? So we hit the reset button with NCL and canceled some cruises.

 

Hi Jim,

 

I'm in a similar situation as you with regards to cruise pricing. NCL has always been our favorite cruise line and we have always made generous donations in the casino knowing CAS would take care  of us with our next booking. Their last offer to us though was an insult and we seriously started looking around. We have never sailed on Carnival but they have a program where you can upload other casino cards you might have and they will determine what they might offer you. In our case they offered us a Balcony Comp on pretty much any sailings they have (remember we have never sailed on Carnival) So we chose a 10 day cruise on the Venezia out of NYC in October. For us the total cost will be about ~$500.00 each. I'm not sure I can even stay home for that amount! 🤣

For anyone interested their casino match program is here:

https://www.carnival.com/Registration/Promotions/casino-funmatch

 

And I know may people will poo poo Carnival (I was one of them even without having sailed) but this ship appears to be something we would like It was originally built for Costa:
 

Anyways I will very much enjoy following you on your Gem journey. Maybe some day we can all sail together again on some ship somewhere! 🙂

[CILCIANRQTS]

7 hours ago, Red-Sol said:

 

Hi Jim,

 

I'm in a similar situation as you with regards to cruise pricing. NCL has always been our favorite cruise line and we have always made generous donations in the casino knowing CAS would take care  of us with our next booking. Their last offer to us though was an insult and we seriously started looking around. We have never sailed on Carnival but they have a program where you can upload other casino cards you might have and they will determine what they might offer you. In our case they offered us a Balcony Comp on pretty much any sailings they have (remember we have never sailed on Carnival) So we chose a 10 day cruise on the Venezia out of NYC in October. For us the total cost will be about ~$500.00 each. I'm not sure I can even stay home for that amount! 🤣

For anyone interested their casino match program is here:

https://www.carnival.com/Registration/Promotions/casino-funmatch

 

And I know may people will poo poo Carnival (I was one of them even without having sailed) but this ship appears to be something we would like It was originally built for Costa:
 

Anyways I will very much enjoy following you on your Gem journey. Maybe some day we can all sail together again on some ship somewhere! 🙂

Now picture it with drunks, fights and pax getting sick in the halls…