knitlady037
February 3rd, 2011, 03:32 PM
More observations from the GEM.
The crew is very attentive to everyone from what I can see. When you are on deck or looking for something they are always glad to help and greet everyone with a smile. They have no way of knowing where you are staying. Yes there are people that treat the crew with disrespect and talk down to them with the attitude that some people get when they pay a lot of money for a service. To my way of thinking they are the worst snobs in the world. Everyone has a job to do and they do it to the best of their ability even when they are treated with bad attitude. I don't know how they can smile at these people everyday.
The only crewmember that I found was not helpful was the internet manager. If you asked him a simple question he acted like it was a big effort to give an answer.
For those of you that are debating on spending the extra money for the suite life, let me assure you that it is worth it IMHO. My DH and I work hard at 2 jobs all year and we like to be pampered on vacation. For people that really cannot afford or justify paying for a suite, you can experience some of the good life by eating in the specialty restaurants at night. We ate in the Grand Pacific dining room last night and will not make that mistake again.
For us the difference in price between a HAL SC suite plus the cost of airline tickets, taking extra time off work to get to the port 1 day early plus hotel and meals more than makes up for paying for a suite plus specialty restaurants every night.
We are in an AD romance suite. The new category for this suite will be SF. It is just about the size of SC 6166 that we had on the Noordam without the wrap around balcony. This suite only sleeps 2. There is no pull out couch.
Some of the things that I miss about HAL are
The unlimited laundry service. It was wonderful going home with mostly clean clothes.
HAL's ships are definitely more stately and elegant than NCL. It takes awhile to get used to very loud colors.
I like having a set time for dinner and sitting with the same people each evening, but I also like eating in a different restaurant every night . Having the Neptune Lounge to relax and have a little snack is very nice, but having a concierge like Ryan and also a butler is also very appreciated.
For our M&G the Captain and the heads of each department was there. They all introduced themselves told us their responsibilities on the ship and what thier extension # was if there were any problems. It was a nice touch.
The crew is very attentive to everyone from what I can see. When you are on deck or looking for something they are always glad to help and greet everyone with a smile. They have no way of knowing where you are staying. Yes there are people that treat the crew with disrespect and talk down to them with the attitude that some people get when they pay a lot of money for a service. To my way of thinking they are the worst snobs in the world. Everyone has a job to do and they do it to the best of their ability even when they are treated with bad attitude. I don't know how they can smile at these people everyday.
The only crewmember that I found was not helpful was the internet manager. If you asked him a simple question he acted like it was a big effort to give an answer.
For those of you that are debating on spending the extra money for the suite life, let me assure you that it is worth it IMHO. My DH and I work hard at 2 jobs all year and we like to be pampered on vacation. For people that really cannot afford or justify paying for a suite, you can experience some of the good life by eating in the specialty restaurants at night. We ate in the Grand Pacific dining room last night and will not make that mistake again.
For us the difference in price between a HAL SC suite plus the cost of airline tickets, taking extra time off work to get to the port 1 day early plus hotel and meals more than makes up for paying for a suite plus specialty restaurants every night.
We are in an AD romance suite. The new category for this suite will be SF. It is just about the size of SC 6166 that we had on the Noordam without the wrap around balcony. This suite only sleeps 2. There is no pull out couch.
Some of the things that I miss about HAL are
The unlimited laundry service. It was wonderful going home with mostly clean clothes.
HAL's ships are definitely more stately and elegant than NCL. It takes awhile to get used to very loud colors.
I like having a set time for dinner and sitting with the same people each evening, but I also like eating in a different restaurant every night . Having the Neptune Lounge to relax and have a little snack is very nice, but having a concierge like Ryan and also a butler is also very appreciated.
For our M&G the Captain and the heads of each department was there. They all introduced themselves told us their responsibilities on the ship and what thier extension # was if there were any problems. It was a nice touch.