A Teen's Review of the NCL Gem 6/21-6/27/15

Hello Cruise Critic! I am two days removed from an amazing cruise experience, and have decided to write a day-by-day review of my trip over the next week. I apologize for the length of this review, as I am a very detailed person :)

Some background information: Our cruise was a 6-day sailing on the NCL Gem out of New York City, NY. We traveled to Halifax, NS, St. John, NB, and Portland, ME, with two days at sea on each end. This trip was my high school graduation present, so our party consisted of myself (17), and my DM and DF. This was our 5th cruise. The first two were in 2007 and 2008, when I was in the kids club, on Royal Caribbean (Jewel OTS and Enchantment OTS). The other two were in 2012 on RCL (Monarch OTS), and 2013 on the NCL Dawn; the Gem was a tad bit bigger than our past ships, but still the same general size as as the Jewel OTS and Dawn. We live outside of Philadelphia, PA, so this was our first cruise where we didn’t have to fly, as the ones in the past had all departed from Florida.

This review will be from a teen’s perspective. In researching and planning for this cruise, I was disappointed to see that there still is not much cruising information out there for teens. I wrote a review of my family’s Dawn cruise in March of 2013, so for anyone who read that, this shouldn’t be too different. A Canada/New England cruise in June was quite hard to research for, as it seems most CA/NE cruises occur August-the Fall, so I that’s another reason I decided to share my experiences, especially when it comes to packing clothes for the constantly changing temperatures.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

What a wonderful graduation present. I look forward to the rest of your cruise.

I saw your ship when it was docked in Portland, Maine last Thursday.

We will be on the Gem soon so I am looking forward to your review. I do have one question, was the climbing wall open? Thanks!

Will be on the gem this Saturday, hope you post soon!

We will be on the Gem this 4th of July also. I hope my son (14) enjoy the teen programs. He don't like them on Carnival.

I hate to sound like an old guy. I'm not THAT old, but I want to commend you on your writing style. At 17, you are actually using proper capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. It's a lost art in the age of text messaging.

Looking forward to reading more.

Yes yes yes! I read your Dawn review in 2013 and was hoping you would return for another. We just booked another cruise for our family on Escape for 2016. We will have a 15 yr old, 13yr old and 10 yr old.

I hate to sound like an old guy. I'm not THAT old, but I want to commend you on your writing style. At 17, you are actually using proper capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. It's a lost art in the age of text messaging.

HA HA HA ... I had the same reaction. As I sat in my club chair with my cigar and snifter of brandy, I said to myself, "what a fine young man to write so well!" I'm a middle aged fogey.

Cant wait to read all about it! we leave on Saturday and I have an 18 (technically she is an adult) and a 15 year old and they are dying to know what there is to do!

HA HA HA ... I had the same reaction. As I sat in my club chair with my cigar and snifter of brandy, I said to myself, "what a fine young man to write so well!" I'm a middle aged fogey.

Yes, yes, yes.... it is so much more enjoyable to read when I am not trying to see/read past grammatical silliness.

Please come back and tell us more about your adventure.

Old folks listening in!

We will be on the Gem soon so I am looking forward to your review. I do have one question, was the climbing wall open? Thanks!

I am honestly not sure! Whenever I was around the climbing wall, it was after-hours, at night, so it would've been closed anyways. I don't remember there being any scheduled teen climbing events, or seeing anything listed in the Freestyle Daily about it. Sorry!

I hate to sound like an old guy. I'm not THAT old, but I want to commend you on your writing style. At 17, you are actually using proper capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. It's a lost art in the age of text messaging.

Thank you very much! I will be a communications major in college, so I figured this would be a great way to hone my writing skills!

We loaded up the car and left home at about 9:30 am, dropped our dog off at the dog watcher’s house, got gas, and arrived in Manhattan at 11:30. The cruise port/terminal was really packed. We gave our bags to a porter right away, got through the initial line, then had to wait in a very long check-in line to get our sea passes and such. While there were a ton of passengers waiting to board and it was a bit hectic, all of the check-in people we encountered along the way were very friendly. An hour later, at 12:30, we took the obligatory boarding picture and stepped onto the lovely NCL Gem. We walked into the atrium, which was absolutely beautiful, with a very fascinating crystallized ceiling, then headed up to the Garden Cafe for lunch (More on the Garden Cafe below). It was very crowded, and there was a sign noting that there was additional seating available in La Cucina, so that’s where we took our food. I noticed that mostly everyone on-board was wearing long pants and some even a light jacket. I felt a little out of place in my shorts and short-sleeved shirt, but felt comfortable with the temperature, and even a little hot when on the top deck for sail away.

At 1:00 an announcement was made that our cabins were ready, so we went to our home for the next six days, cabin 9578, a mid-ship, port-side balcony. When I booked the cruise about two months in advance, we waited and called and waited and called, and then four mid-ship balconies opened up, so I grabbed the one that seemed closest to the dead-center of the ship! (More on our cabin below) At 3:30 we were called for the Muster Drill. Our meeting point was in the Orchid Garden. It was short, sweet, and to the point, like the drill on the Dawn- much shorter than Royal Caribbean. Afterwards, we went to the front of the ship up on Deck 13 for sailaway which was listed at 4:00 but I’m pretty sure we started moving at 3:57 ;) . I have to say, departing from NYC was such a cool experience, as the scenery is very neat and lasts for a good amount of time! (I would even take an two hour-long cruise just to travel out and back into the port, it was that cool!)We got some great vantage points from the front top deck, as we were able to easily go to the other side of the ship! At about 4:30, a good majority of the people left, leaving us plenty of space to watch everything go by. We decided to head out at about 5:00, after passing under the bridge. My mom and I headed over to the teen club to register me for the week. Entourage (the teen club) is nicely placed next to the entrance to the Garden Cafe, which is deck 12 mid-ship (3 floors directly above our cabin area). After that, we went back to our cabin to get ready for dinner. At this point, the ship had been rocking for a bit, and I was starting to feel seasick. On all of my cruises I have only felt seasick once, but since my last one have grown more susceptible to nausea and motion sickness, so I’m unsure if it was the water, or just my own susceptibility. Thankfully, we came prepared, so I chewed SeaBands ginger gum, wore my SeaBands, and put Eucalyptus oil drops behind my ears, and was good to go.

We went to the Grand Pacific Dining Room at 6:25, dressed in sundresses and nice sandals for DM and I, and a polo shirt and pants for DF. The second we stepped into the hostess desk area, we heard our names called, and experienced the greatest surprise I could have asked for; our beloved waitress, Rachel, who we had requested every night and formed a bond with on our Dawn cruise two years ago, was standing there waving to us. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We had left her on a Dawn cruise two years ago out of Tampa to Mexico/Caribbean, and here she was on the Gem out of NYC to Canada/NE. The crazier part was that on the Gem, she works in O’Sheahans, but had been asked to help seat people in the Grand Pacific just for this night. Talk about right place and right time. We hugged and took a few pictures, before she seated us at an excellent table in the back, looking out onto the water. I had the mixed greens salad, which was good, and broiled cod, which was excellent . We ordered a few desserts to share amongst the three of us. The caramel chocolate brownie was pretty dry for my liking. The cheesecake was okay, but tasted a lot better when paired with the strawberries that came with the chocolate volcano, which was hands down the best dessert of the cruise. It was a warm chocolate volcano, with cookies and cream (I think) gelato, and strawberries. It was so delicious that we ordered at least one each night! The Grand Pacific menu has changed since our Dawn cruise 2 years ago, instead of having an entire menu that stays the same, with another one that changes each night, there were about 4 or 5 main dishes that always stayed the same, while everything else changed each night. There were always the same salad offerings, and ice cream, fruit plates, and the volcano were also offered each night, but that was pretty much it, and it wasn’t noted that they would be offered each night.

After dinner, I went back to the cabin to change into a different outfit before going up to the teen club at 8:00 (also when it started to rain a bit). Heading into this cruise, I was a little bit nervous given the itinerary that I wouldn’t really find any teens my age, also because I have a summer birthday, and am a month shy of 18, so I’m at that awkward stage where I’m not technically old enough to stay in the nightclubs past 10:30, but also am not too interested in hanging out with 13 year olds (no offense) the whole cruise. Thankfully, as I went in, I noticed a few kids who looked around my age, and instantly befriended a girl in the same situation as myself (we would become close friends throughout the entire cruise), and we instantly clicked with another girl in the club. Our counselors were Billie and Ryder, who were a little more strict than the two on my Dawn cruise, but were still fun! The teen schedule on this cruise was a little strange, as each night Entourage would randomly close for an hour or so (it was scheduled this way), and then re-open. So tonight, it was closed from 9-10, so my new girlfriends and I went to the Garden Cafe to have ice cream and hot water with lemon (of course!). At 10, the teen club had a “recruiting” event, where the teens went all around the ship looking for more teens to invite back to the “Toga Party” my friends and I weren’t really fans of the concept of wearing a bed sheet to dance in, so we just told the teens we met about the party, and invited them to meet up with us at O’Sheahans (the 24-hour restaurant) if they wanted to. Initially, my girlfriends and I weren’t having much luck finding kids our age, as there were a lot of adults, but we ended up meeting a bunch of boys hanging out in one of the hot tubs who had also just graduated high school, and some from the teen club who were going to within the next year, and we all met up at O’Sheahans. The waiter seemed a bit flustered with 10 teens crowding around a table, and was a bit confused when we asked for just french fries, but it worked out in the end! Most of us were from the northeast, lots of PA and NJ, which is cool because it's not that far to visit each other now! My advice for any teens, is to definitely go to the first teen event and make friends, and to just be open, friendly, and not afraid to strike up a conversation with someone. Now that might be a lot harder than I’m making it sound, but pretty much everyone else is looking to make friends too, and will be thankful if you’re the one to start the conversation! You can just smile and say, “hi, I’m _____! What’s your name?” At about 12:00 we all went back to our cabins for bed. The boat was still really rocking at this point, and my friends had passed their SeaBands around as a bunch of us hadn’t felt too well, so it felt great to finally lay down and get rocked to sleep.

Garden Cafe:

The layout of the Garden Cafe on the Gem was similar to that on the Dawn; the food area is more of two long lines with different stations throughout, as opposed to those on Royal Caribbean, where it was a variety of stations differently positioned and dispersed throughout the food area. DM and I agreed that we liked Royal’s layout a bit better, only because it made the lines less lengthy. I noticed that there was food from a variety of cultures, and they seemed to be separated by culture (if that makes sense!). There were always burgers, hot dogs, and sausages with other cookout-type foods like french fries at the first station, and being a healthier eater, I learned that turkey and veggie burgers were available upon request. There were plenty of drinks stations (both hot and cold) throughout the Garden Cafe, which was so nice, as it didn’t make getting up to get a drink much of a burden. I do have to say that I would’ve preferred larger cup sizes, as I could easily down one of the cups (we usually drank at least two each time). Something that wasn’t available on the Dawn two years ago that might have made my dining experience 10 times better, were the lemon wedges at every beverage station. I had a cup of hot water with lemons, and a cup of ice water with lemons at every meal. Being someone who is into detoxing, having lemons so readily available made a HUGE difference. During prime times, the Garden Cafe was usually very full, so during breakfast and lunch La Cucina always offered additional seating, The Great Outdoors was another great place to eat, as when it was colder, seats were usually open. When the Garden Cafe itself stopped offering food, the Great Outdoors usually stayed open afterward (definitely for breakfast), they served basically the same foods, just not as intricate. For example, the Garden Cafe served both yogurt cups and plain yogurt you could mix with toppings, while the Great Outdoors only served the cups of yogurt.

Our cabin, 9578, a mid-ship, port-side balcony: great location; we heard no additional noise, and it was nice being mid-ship as we had some rocky seas. Our cabin had a smaller couch bed for myself, and a queen for my parents. Our balcony had a small table and two chairs. We love the NCL bathroom setup with the three separate parts. Our suitcases fit under the bed perfectly, and there was an abundance of closet hangers. My one criticism is storage for clothing, and understandably so given such small quarters. There were 3 or 4 small but long sliding drawers, but other than that, there were just open cubbies along the side of the closet. We made do with the cubbies, though! Our cabin attendant, Wendell, was absolutely amazing. He is without a doubt, the friendliest attendant we have ever had. He was efficient, and made very neat towel animal simulations almost, ie. a cat chasing a mouse, as opposed to just a simple animal. He always greeted us with a smile and hello, asking how our day was going, whenever he saw us, and always brought a smile to my face!

So that is my lengthy review of Day 1! Pictures to come; stay tuned, and I hope you're enjoying it so far!

Thank you very much! I will be a communications major in college, so I figured this would be a great way to hone my writing skills!

Where about in PA are you from? What college are you looking at?

Harriet

I'm a native New Yorker and sailed from Manhattan many years ago. The scenery in the city at night is just beautiful.

Enjoying your review and looking forward to reading more :)

HI your doing a great job with the review I will be reading all of them my wife and I will be on the Gem in two weeks you review is getting ready to go :D

Where about in PA are you from? What college are you looking at?

 

 

Harriet

We live outside of Philadelphia, and I will be attending the University of Scranton!

Our first view of the Gem:

We could see the Breakaway across the pier:

Cabin 9578:

First meal on-board the Gem:

Lounging prior to Sail Away (we used these chairs a TON during the cruise)

Already loving cruise life on the Gem:

Happy to be cruising like a Norwegian (and found a large shower on Deck 13):

One of the many beautiful sights during Sail Away:

The Grand Pacific Dining Room:

Happily Reunited with Rachel:

We live outside of Philadelphia, and I will be attending the University of Scranton!

I live about 20 min. South of the Philadelphia Airport. My daughter went to Bloomsburg and graduated from Garnet Valley High School.

Harriet

Very nice review so far!

Looking forward to more :)

~Robin

looks great! will be following your post up until we leave on saturday am- so keep them coming!

Hello Cruise Critic! I am two days removed from an amazing cruise experience, and have decided to write a day-by-day review of my trip over the next week. I apologize for the length of this review, as I am a very detailed person :)

 

Some background information: Our cruise was a 6-day sailing on the NCL Gem out of New York City, NY. We traveled to Halifax, NS, St. John, NB, and Portland, ME, with two days at sea on each end. This trip was my high school graduation present, so our party consisted of myself (17), and my DM and DF. This was our 5th cruise. The first two were in 2007 and 2008, when I was in the kids club, on Royal Caribbean (Jewel OTS and Enchantment OTS). The other two were in 2012 on RCL (Monarch OTS), and 2013 on the NCL Dawn; the Gem was a tad bit bigger than our past ships, but still the same general size as as the Jewel OTS and Dawn. We live outside of Philadelphia, PA, so this was our first cruise where we didn’t have to fly, as the ones in the past had all departed from Florida.

 

This review will be from a teen’s perspective. In researching and planning for this cruise, I was disappointed to see that there still is not much cruising information out there for teens. I wrote a review of my family’s Dawn cruise in March of 2013, so for anyone who read that, this shouldn’t be too different. A Canada/New England cruise in June was quite hard to research for, as it seems most CA/NE cruises occur August-the Fall, so I that’s another reason I decided to share my experiences, especially when it comes to packing clothes for the constantly changing temperatures.

 

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

thanks for taking the time to write. I am sure we all love to read reviews from a different standpoint then the usual. And hopefully what you have to say will help other teens. New England, as you mentioned is normally thought to be a fall cruise. It is probably my favorite cruise destination.

Great so far!! I'll also be following along till I board on Saturday. [emoji3]