Gem Review: March 18-27, 2015

Just back from another fabulous adventure on the Gem and I'm still a big fan of this ship.

We arrived at the port around 12:15, purposely after boarding had begun to avoid a crowded terminal. This worked fine. After the security scanning there seemed to be a lot of confusion with people not sure where to go next. We headed to the right for check-in for platinum/gold/suites and the port lady guarding this area asked for our cabin # and then insisted our cabin # was not on her list. It was kind of amusing as she seemed to think I was trying to pull one over on her. I asked her to please look again as I’m sure it’s on her list, at which time the guy next to her found it on his list and told us to proceed. Checked in painlessly and headed to suites lounge for our key cards and walked onto the ship.

Our SF suite on deck 10 at the stern was great though it has signs of wear (very cracked bathroom sink, misaglined cabinets, etc.). The bed was very comfy. We love the Lavazza coffee machine and it got a lot of use. Room steward Jorge kept everything neat and clean. Occasionally we had soot on the balcony depending on the wind direction.

Food. We are fans of NCL food. We easily find something we like at the restaurants and the buffet. This cruise we tried out the only 2 upcharge restaurants we had never tried—Le Bistro and La Cucina. Both were ok. I prefer Moderno. Note that the platinum dinner certificate did give you several restaurant options from which to choose, which is how we went to Le Bistro. Cagney’s suite brfkst and lunch menu is still the same; I think we had lunch there once and breakfast a few times which was always good. Some of our other favorites were the Asian station in the buffet, teriyaki tenderloin in the dining room, chocolate beetroot cake in the dining room (it was so moist and yummy!), pretzel rolls, and much more. There were good meats being carved in the buffet most dinnertimes.

Drinks. Lots of good bars—and the newest one, Sugarcane Mojito Bar on deck 13, was great. The Daily posted its opening time as 4pm but several times we learned this was not true—it opened at 5:30 along with Moderno, its host restaurant. O’Sheehan’s is nice, wasn’t too busy the times we stopped by. I was hoping they would make a Botanical Oasis, a gin cocktail we’ve had on Breakaway, but it wasn’t on their menu. Maurice at Shakers makes some great martinis and hosts the martini tastings which we enjoyed. There are a few more bars around the ship but we didn’t make it to all of them. NCL also has its own wine now called North & South, and it was quite good.

We had a small CC M&G on Thursday and it was nice to meet a some of the posters from our roll call. We also had a couple party crashers who just wondered what was going on, and we enlightened them about cruise critic and one guy, Bob, was great fun to hang around with for the following 8 days at events and some shore excursions. So HELLO!! to Bob, and Angel & Eric too. We had a lot of fun with you guys during the cruise.

We went ziplining in San Juan. This was the first time we ever booked an excursion through NCL. I thought ziplining was great. St. Thomas we went on a day sail on Independence and had a great day of sailing and swimming. St. Maarten we went to Maho beach. We did another NCL excursion in Tortola since we were there such a short time. This seemed to be disorganized as all groups for 7:30 tours left from the theater. It would have been better to have each group together in the theater and call out the tour number and name to avoid some confusion. We did make it to the Baths on Virgin Gorda after tendering to Tortola and getting on another boat there. Note that the narrow paths through the boulders and caves get very crowded as it can only take one way at a time foot traffic. There are slippery spots and very steep ladders to navigate as well. It is a very cool place to experience though. Those who were on the Virgin Gorda land/sea tour went directly to Virgin Gorda from the ship and it seemed they had more time there than those of us who went with the snorkel tour. Hopefully when the dock is completed there will be more time spent on the excursion since no tender is needed. I was told by the rep at Shore Excursions that Carnival is trying out the dock the last week of March/early April, and if all goes well Gem’s tender in Tortola may no longer be needed since the dock will be useable. Note there are shops being built that are probably a few months from completion.

Relaxing sea days back, though we did want a wine tasting on one of the last days but it didn’t happen. Wine tastings were held only the first two sea days, as well as a beer tasting. There were more martini tastings (I think one each sea day) and Maurice does a good job changing the drinks up. There was also a rum tasting the last sea day.

Carlos was concierge and is always ready to help out with whatever you need. Roy was our butler and kept our Lavazza coffee stocked well. Both were great and always pleasant.

Smoking. NCL needs to do a better job informing guests of their relatively new policy of no smoking on balconies. NCL: you recently changed the DSC and we got an email last month letting us know of this change. Why was this not done when the smoking policy changed? Upcoming cruise guests need to be informed. If not an email how about a note in the cabin, sign on the balcony door, or something that points this out other than the tiny font on the bottom of the Freestyle Daily. Some people just don’t know this. When I smelled cigarette smoke coming from the balcony next door, I mentioned the policy change to the person and he was very surprised. He wasn’t too happy about it, but he was very courteous which I appreciated. The one time most people are paying attention is during the muster drill, so maybe that would be a good time to talk about the smoking policy changes. Other lines do this citing the fire hazard (remember Star Princess?). Speaking of muster drill, NCL still runs the most efficient Muster IMO, and other cruise lines should watch and learn.

Other random thoughts:

The hallway carpets have been replaced (fishes still swim toward the bow--or the “pointy end” as the Captain referred to it). A lot of people’s mattresses were concave and need replacing. The bridge cam view on the tv was out a lot. Love the poolside barbeques. It was still quite warm the last sea day which was wonderful. The water was rough in the evening but I heard crew members saying it was typical for the last evening of that itinerary. Phone calls from the cabin phone are $4.99 per minute to the US, and although other lines may be a little less $ per minute, it may work out to less than using your cell phone while on the ship. The crew does work hard and they do want you to be satisfied and will check back with you to see if issues have been resolved. They did genuinely seem to care. It is true that all specialty (upcharge) restaurants now charge 18% gratuity and this is noted in the Freestyle Daily. We appreciate the Latitudes party in the Spinnaker lounge. Rock climbing wall still closed. I wish the White Hot Party played more of a variety of music. We saw a lot of really nice guest photos in the gallery. I did find that all officers/crew/staff did care about guest satisfaction to the point of following up with people several times. DanDan the CD is quite entertaining although I think he was leaving for vacation the day we left (3/27). One new NCL cruiser & party crasher we met, Bob, said he was very impressed with the positive attitude of the crew and staff. I inquired about a bridge tour for some M&G people and was told this captain does not do bridge tours except for those who pay for the Behind the Scenes tour. (platinum behind-the-scenes tour did not include the bridge). The only restaurant that never seemed fully booked was Orchid Garden. I overheard someone at Guest Services asking about his OBC from his TA that never showed up, and as I have mentioned in other threads on this topic, OBC from a TA is between you and your TA and they need to be the ones who contact NCL. Guest Services can help only with OBC from NCL (not at TA). Why is there Rock & Roll trivia when hardly anyone gets any of the answers--how about something more people can enjoy? Angel & Eric enjoyed the Scavenger hunt and won a bottle of champagne. Our favorite spots on this ship are our balcony, the Spinnaker Lounge, and The Great Outdoors.

We were back at the dock by 7am and we did express walk-off at 8:15 or so since we weren’t in a big rush.

In summary, we had a great cruise. :)

Thanks for posting.

Thanks for posting.

Carnac, it was your review that got us on the Baths snorkel tour, so thanks for your review from a few weeks ago! :cool:

You're welcome. I'm ready to go back. [emoji569]️

We had Roy Peregrino as our butler in 2009 on the Pearl. Is it the same Roy?

We had Roy Peregrino as our butler in 2009 on the Pearl. Is it the same Roy?

Sorry, don't know his last name! I do know he's been on other NCL ships though.

Sorry, don't know his last name! I do know he's been on other NCL ships though.

Roy

Roy

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That is our Roy! Liked him a lot.

Thank you for your review:) We were on the Gem at the end of January and wish we were still there....the Gem is our favorite ship and we plan to enjoy a 4rth cruise on her this Fall!

Welcome back!!! Thank You so much for your review :)

Wondering if anyone mentioned when the rock wall will be opening? Hoping it will be for our upcoming cruise on 4/24

You are getting me all excited as we board on the 6th