AwesomO

This is my thought. Are people actually ordering full meals and then dumping into Ziploc bags? I can't imagine they'd actually want to do that. But some snack items? Why not? If I can grab some cookies for later, or other small, snack-y, not so messy items, why not? Even in some relatively cheap hotels, I've been able to get cookies in the lobby at night. I may not want a full meal at 11pm. Maybe I just want to sit in my pajamas and have a wind down snack on my balcony. Or sometimes the kids wake up earlier than us and want a morning snack while they wait for breakfast, or wait for everyone to be ready to go. idk. In room snacks are important for my family when we are vacationing, personally. I wasn't planning on bringing Ziploc bags, but now I might knowing my choices are limited.

@egurbithanks! I thought I remembered a YouTube review mentioning a lazy river coming with the construction. That would be great 😍 But alas, I suppose I can survive with just the free pools and loungers 😁

great news! The construction was supposed to be finished at the end of 2022 I think? But obviously these things get delayed all the time. Is there any signage that indicates when it might be expected?

Maybe in general, but I'm traveling with kids and was looking for easy beach days. T&C is the easiest they come. Bermuda will possibly be too cold for the beach so I avoided it intentionally. Hopefully warm enough that they can at least play in the sand. Our port time is pretty short as it is. 11-4.

I believe about 3 to break even, depending on what you order and the size. Prices are fairly comparable to land based SB, maybe even a little less than what I have to pay here in NYC. Some people have reported long lines on their sailing at Starbucks, and being that you can only get one drink at a time (as reported, i cant speak from experience), it can make it difficult to use it as much as you may like. As much as I love my Starbucks, I've decided to pay per drink. I don't think I could drink 3 in a day, 10 days straight, and especially with the alcohol package I also have. I was tempted to remove alcohol for the Starbucks though 🤔 But decided against it lol

sorry, double post.

I mean, I'm sure it's certainly a plausible scenario, but it's not hard to look at the schedule that's even out now to see which days already have 2 Carnival ships scheduled there. My only guess, if we want to give NCL the benefit of the doubt, is that for some reason if the scheduled Carnival ship can't make it, then they can take their spot. A wait list of sorts. I'd be very curious to know if any other lines are currently having as many itinerary changes as NCL has been having lately, other than weather related changes. Could be an industry wide issue right now? I don't know.

@pookelthanks! not a problem if youre not able find out 🙂 @Birdnuttygood to know!

Turks and Caicos and St. Martin were removed and replaced with Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Bermuda especially bothers me because it's not even the Caribbean. I'd have been happy with basically any other Caribbean island as I just want warmth and beaches, basically. I could have chosen another itinerary on a more modern ship that sails to Florida and Bahamas or Bermuda, but sometimes those destinations aren't always beach weather in February so I went with the Gem to the Caribbean. I wasn't married to the idea of DR or T&C or anything, but I don't think it's too much to ask to expect at least remain in the Carribbean (unexpected weather aside). I know ports can change at any time. I know they don't do it for fun. But NCL definitely would have happier customers if they announced changes prior to final payment for things that aren't exactly unexpected so that we at least have a choice in the matter. It is what is. It's still 10 days of vacation so we will still make the best of it and have a good time being together as a family. But this might be our last time cruising (which is not said as a threat, because I know NCL doesn't care, just saying it matter of fact). Also there's some speculation that there may be additional changes to our itinerary coming, as some of our group have noticed something funky going on with our excursions. Two ports have had their excursions removed from the app, and someone who's previously booked excursions that had been automatically adjusted the first time itinerary changes were made have found the excursion moved again. Just speculation at this point, but all we can do is wait.

Do you know if they have paper bus maps available when you're in port? or an online app or something? Trying to check the bus map online but I can't read it on my screen, and it doesn't allow me to zoom in.I don't think the route is too complicated, but as I've never been to Bermuda, I'd just like to prepare ahead of time.

I'm on the sailing before you I think, on the Gem. We had a similar itinerary, also cancelled Turks and Caicos. They didn't say why they cancelled. I can only guess that it's because Turks and Caicos is only allowing vaccinated individuals on the island. So it's possible that NCL didn't want to deal with that, since right on the front of the website it says no vaccines required. Or, for whatever reason, Turks and Caicos made a decision not to allow NCL ships to dock. But it's all purely speculation because they didn't give a reason.

The Gem sailing on 2/17 lost Turks and Caicos and St. Martin in December. Final payment was in October. They didn't give a reason why (I suspect Turks and Caicos because they require vaccinations to get off the ship, but all speculation since they said nothing). Changed to Bermuda (not even in the Caribbean) and Puerto Rico. We also have DR on the itinerary so it's yet to be seen if we will make it-- hopefully, since the Gem is a smaller ship. Amber Cove is full that day. This sailing was originally marketed as a DR and Turks and Caicos itinerary. No clue why St. Martin was dropped, other than maybe distances between islands based on new itinerary? If vaccinations is the reason for Turks and Caicos, they knew that info ahead of time. Same if the reason was because of the damaged pier (but, to my understanding, that's only an issue for mega ships. other lines have been successfully stopping there).

The one time we sailed on the Gem, we also had bed bugs. It's too bad you didn't find out until the last day. They moved us to a new room and washed all of our clothes and I believe even cleaned the suitcases, iirc. At first NCL tried to claim it was mosquitos (we were out in the middle of the ocean and hadn't made it to any ports yet). but after I received more bites, they required me to go to the infirmary, though the doctor on call had nothing to say about it besides trying to give me hydrocortisone cream and charge me (NCL insisted I go, so I wasn't paying for that) but once my husband finally found the actual bug itself, they were very, very good at handling the situation. Bed bugs can happen anywhere, but to me, what matters is how the place handles it. Not going to hold it against a place for having the bugs, but will hold it against them if they dont try to right the situation. We also, unfortunately, had a similar experience in one hotel and they were less keen to accept personal responsibility.

thank you! Good to know. I'll hold off on tickets then just incase it's too much of a hassle. The hiking trail sounds great!! My kids generally hate hiking, unless rocks are involved 😂 May not even need Coral World if we do that. I was just trying to take advantage of the long port day without staying at the beach all day, since we'll be doing a beach day the day before in Tortola.

I'm trying to plan my family of 4's (2 adults, 2 kids) day in St. Thomas. We're in port 7am-7pm, but there will be 4 other ships in the same day (yikes). I'm thinking we will go to Magen's Bay first thing in the morning via taxi (ship excursions don't leave until 1pm). Then, if we're up to it, head over to Coral World at about 1:30. But I'm wondering what we might expect as far as traffic goes? If we are in the Coral World/Coki beach area, what time do you think we'd need to leave to make it back to Havensight by 6pm? I haaaate feeling rushed or pressed for time so I really want comfortable wiggle room for making it back to the ship in time. 2 ships (including ours) have the same 7pm departure time. Also, should it be easy enough to get a taxi from Magen's to Coral World, or will be that be difficult because less people will be heading over there? Do I need to buy tickets to Coral World in advance, or can I do it when we get there?

did you ever find one? Looking for a similar itinerary for 2 adults and 2 kids. Hoping to do the cable car, amber museum, Umbrella street, maybe the fort but not required. Seeing some tours but they include things like rum factory and I'm not interested in that.

I've seen it reported that, when you book, port fees are estimated. If they go up after booking, they just eat the cost and don't pass it along to you. But if you miss a port, those fees can be used to cover the fees of other underestimated port fees, or for new ports if they changed it. So it makes sense that sometimes you would get a refund and sometimes you wouldn't. If the cruise line collected more port fees than the total they paid across the trip, you can get a refund if your port is cancelled. If the cruise line paid more fees than what was collected, then you probably won't get a refund, even if you miss the port.

thanks to those who shared! I too was wondering if they were still moving people. seemed they couldn't reserve a whole or half deck of empty rooms forever for "just incase" for moving COVID folks. Glad we can quarantine in our own rooms, if it comes to that.

even without high waves, it's not hard for them to cover the windows on deck 4. we were on the Gem sailing back to NYC from the Carribbean when we had a similar experience. Felt like a washing machine haha. https://youtu.be/tu3Z77aU1f8

thanks for the review so far! I've heard conflicting reports; is the pool heated? We're sailing the Gem next month, with a stop in Bermuda among others. Just wondering if it will be warm enough to enjoy the pool, or if we have to wait until we're closer to the Caribbean.

pretty sure they did just this week? there was a 5 day itinerary with an overnight in Bermuda out of NYC and they changed it to just a fairly short day because if impending (non hurricane) bad weather. Without checking the forecast, I'd guess it's the same system.

I've seen it posted elsewhere that they no longer grill on the pool deck as it's considered a fire hazard.

I got COVID twice, probably from work, so I'll take my chances with travel. At least I'll get to have some fun before getting sick, unlike work. Does anyone know if they still move COVID cases to a separate isolation area?

Can't give any recommendations specifically because we haven't been, but I've just been doing my own research before our trip. Playa Dorada is a beach I've found that you can visit, either arranged via excursions or taxi (not sure on the price). There is a nice looking pool area in port, Free, just encouraged to buy drinks, that looks nice, though you've said you don't want to stay in port.

almost every other tip we pay out in the world is not per person, but per table/room/ride, etc. DSC is per person. Unless you are traveling solo, you have to double it at least (I know fare is doubled for solo unless you get a rare solo room. but not sure about DSC). We're paying over $600 in DSC for 4 of us on a 10 day cruise, and that's under the rates when we booked before even the previous price increase. Plus the dining gratuities and drink gratuities (another $800 for a 10 day sailing for 2). I know we can choose not to include any of those, but we wanted to go for it as this is our BIG vacation and we wanted to go the extra mile so obviously I decided it was worth it on some level. But it just seems we are constantly being nickle and dimed, while services are lessened, ports are changed after final payment, crazy excursion prices ($50 minimum just for a beach day??x a family of 4). I guess a cruise can still be a great vacation for a couple, but for a family, it's just increasingly out of reach and I don't see us cruising again any time soon after our February trip.