GEM Skipping Tortola

Just received an e-mail from my travel agent that the Oct. 27th sailing on the GEM will not be stopping in Tortola. Will be spending an extra day at sea.:(

Wow that stinks. I hope they stop on my cruise in January, if not it will mean 3 sea days going down and then 3 coming back on our 10 nighter.

What's the reason given?

would also love to know, as I am sailing in jan on the 9 nite?:

E-mail was from NCL forwarded to all the travel agents. It said in order to perform necessary routine maintenance they are skipping Tortola.

E-mail was from NCL forwarded to all the travel agents. It said in order to perform necessary routine maintenance they are skipping Tortola.

Wow,that explains nothing.

Explains less than nothing.

called my travel agent this morning~~routine maintenance also! I am lucky I went in "2008" and went to Virgin Gorda and the Baths! Very beautiful~~sorry you will miss it! All I wanted to get my perfume from there. Will have to order it on-line!

Just received an e-mail from my travel agent that the Oct. 27th sailing on the GEM will not be stopping in Tortola. Will be spending an extra day at sea.:(

That stinks! Make sure they give you the refund on that port fee.

Harriet

E-mail was from NCL forwarded to all the travel agents. It said in order to perform necessary routine maintenance they are skipping Tortola.

Maintenance on Tortola or on the Gem? :D

Maintenance on Tortola or on the Gem? :D

They didn't say, but we went from docking there, to tendering there, to not going there, so it might be a problem in Tortola. Very little info given, and while I'm disappointed, I will be on a cruise ship and that's good enough for me!:)

That stinks! Make sure they give you the refund on that port fee.

 

Harriet

just found out about tortola,my husband was upset he really wanted to see that Island,this is there 2nd change first were staying in PR so the ship can have something done,I was wishing it was Tortola we had an over nighter !i booked a excursion in Tortola through ncl,was wondering how they go about that do they give your money back to the credit card or do another onboard credit? Also was wondering what you was talking about a refund for the port fee,what is that,this is my first cruise,to be honest i'm not that crazy about all these changes,I just hope it get better so far its been nothing but ups and downs not knowing whats going on,Thanks for your post though!

just found out about tortola,my husband was upset he really wanted to see that Island,this is there 2nd change first were staying in PR so the ship can have something done,I was wishing it was Tortola we had an over nighter !i booked a excursion in Tortola through ncl,was wondering how they go about that do they give your money back to the credit card or do another onboard credit? Also was wondering what you was talking about a refund for the port fee,what is that,this is my first cruise,to be honest i'm not that crazy about all these changes,I just hope it get better so far its been nothing but ups and downs not knowing whats going on,Thanks for your post though!

I have received pre-cruise refunds as a credit to my credit card, usually within a few days. Your original fee included port fees and taxes, so whatever it was, you will receive a credit, probably on your on board account, of maybe $30 each, it varies by port and you pay one lump sum for the whole cruise. I have sailed the Gem twice, it is a fun ship.

I have received pre-cruise refunds as a credit to my credit card, usually within a few days. Your original fee included port fees and taxes, so whatever it was, you will receive a credit, probably on your on board account, of maybe $30 each, it varies by port and you pay one lump sum for the whole cruise. I have sailed the Gem twice, it is a fun ship.

We're getting $100 OBC for missing Tortola....it's probably port fees + a little extra from NCL. I'm also happy that I've had the chance to be in Tortola a few times before...but feel badly for those who were looking forward to it for the first time.

From what I read they are renovating the cruise dock in Tortola so that could be the reason. RCCL Jewel of the Seas also canceled this Island and they are going to St.Thomas instead. Here is a link talking about the renovation http://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/bvi-secures-35-million-for-tortola-cruise-ship-pier.html.

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If this is your first cruise, a missed port is disappointing. However, it gives everybody an extra and leisure day on a floating resort. So yes, there's a silver lining after all.

I wonder if this is going to be an ongoing thing? The article says there will be increased traffic in 2015 and that upgrades to the pier stated in August, but gave no time table.

We are on the Gem's Nov 22nd sailing and Tortola is the only port we have not been to before. But missing the stop is not going ruin my trip in any way, it still beats being at work.

From what I read they are renovating the cruise dock in Tortola so that could be the reason. RCCL Jewel of the Seas also canceled this Island and they are going to St.Thomas instead. Here is a link talking about the renovation http://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/bvi-secures-35-million-for-tortola-cruise-ship-pier.html.

 

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I think I read something similar on the Port of Call boards about the renovation. I hope that it is complete in time for my cruise.

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I'm on the Gem and I'm disappointed with the changes! It's my first cruise in over 11 yrs. with NCL and not getting a good vibe! We've been booked sine Dec., 2013 and the changes were never put into place until a few days after final payment:rolleyes:.

The Gem was originally scheduled to go into dry dock this Nov., but they changed it to next year. Smells fishy to me! I have no problem with changes when it's an act of God, but, this is an act of NCL.:eek:

I'm new to cruising also and find all these surprises a lesson learned.I never knew that the insurance had to be used if you wanted to get out of the trip 75 days before,so thats pretty much no insurance to me,the changes are right there in the long pages,they have the right to do whatever although I do understand your feelings,the ship isn't staying in PR because of the weather,its because they need to do some fixing on it,I wish I knew that before,I think they should of said in the itinerary first,tortola I did want to see,i even booked an excursion that they will have to send the money back but the port is ruined so I do understand that but why a day at sea when there is so many islands there?Well NCL is giving people money with on board credit and my husband was talking to one of their supervisors and she told him they didn't have to even do that so I guess were lucky we did get something back to use to give it back to them.All I can say is I was looking forward to this trip so Im going to just take everything as a lesson learned,enjoy myself and pretty much just fly back to Aruba next year

I'm new to cruising also and find all these surprises a lesson learned.I never knew that the insurance had to be used if you wanted to get out of the trip 75 days before,so thats pretty much no insurance to me,the changes are right there in the long pages,they have the right to do whatever although I do understand your feelings,the ship isn't staying in PR because of the weather,its because they need to do some fixing on it,I wish I knew that before,I think they should of said in the itinerary first,tortola I did want to see,i even booked an excursion that they will have to send the money back but the port is ruined so I do understand that but why a day at sea when there is so many islands there?Well NCL is giving people money with on board credit and my husband was talking to one of their supervisors and she told him they didn't have to even do that so I guess were lucky we did get something back to use to give it back to them.All I can say is I was looking forward to this trip so Im going to just take everything as a lesson learned,enjoy myself and pretty much just fly back to Aruba next year

:confused:. This cruise was never scheduled for Aruba....it was San Juan, St.Thomas, St.Maarten, St.Kitts & Tortola. The only one we lost is Tortola.

I noticed that the GEM was in Tortola yesterday - but was not docked at the port - you had to tender in. I hope also that we don't miss this port for our upcoming cruise either. Tortola looks beautiful and we have a nice excursion booked already.

:confused:. This cruise was never scheduled for Aruba....it was San Juan, St.Thomas, St.Maarten, St.Kitts & Tortola. The only one we lost is Tortola.

I know,I guess you miss understood me.I usually fly to Aruba this time every year.

Tortola is tendering. They are getting the dock ready for future sailings. You would have more than a couple of hours on land. Knowing the Gem team, I am sure they will make that day that was supposed to be spent at the island a fantastic day onboard.

Just got off the Gem on the 27th. We did stop in Tortola but tendered due to the construction going on at the pier. While it was nice to get off the ship for a little but, the time there was so short we didn't even do a beach (Had been to Cane Garden Bay in the past). So while it stinks you're missing the port, it was a very rushed day with not much to do so not a total loss.