Mlake09

3 minutes ago, Mlake09 said:

Just boarded the Gem in NYC and yes, we had 12 liters of water in our room!

I should have added, we only have the FAS beverage package, we did not order these for a cost.

Just boarded the Gem in NYC and yes, we had 12 liters of water in our room!

3 hours ago, Cruiseandgamble said:

Nor can I, hence my question 🙂

Sorry about that, I jist double checked and my summer bid isn’t in there yet. I did just get emailed tonight that we did not get our bid for cruise leaving Wednesday…we bid $205 per person for balcony from oceanview PW, but I think the cruise is likely to be pretty full. 

8 hours ago, tsahall01 said:

That usually means that you got an upgrade!!  You should be getting an email soon with the information.  You can also check your cruise summary to see if they assigned you a new cabin

 

I haven’t had this experience…we cruised in November and it stayed pending up until the day before, when we got the email saying we didn’t get the bid. I leave on Wednesday and it still says pending for that trip…and so does my 2024 summer cruise. When we got an epic upgrade last year (inside to club balcony!) it had said lending until I received the email with the room change. Just my two cents, because I don’t want the OP to get thru hopes up.

22 hours ago, misstamster said:

Oh no!! When in Feb. are you booked!!

Feb 18-26…school break for MA schools and many others in New England too.

1 hour ago, NYMama said:

They definitely follow some occupancy limits.  I am cruising the Getaway on February break.  Someone tried to book a cabin for 3 individuals and the NCL website showed all room categories as unavailable.  I am prepared for a very full cruise.  Sorry that you were so unhappy with your cruise.  I preemptively made dinner reservations for every night and plan to book shows as soon as I embark.  I booked a cruise out of NY on a school break week, so I have set my expectations accordingly.

We are on that cruise too (it’s my school break), and I noticed that most rooms are now unavailable or if available, only offered as the guarantee stateroom only. I expect a cruise over capacity with lots of kids, but like you am prepared for it. I do hope some of the issues

we had last February with a few challenging older kids will not be as prevalent, but it’s a risk traveling during school break! See you

on the ship!

41 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

But a standard filet doesn’t have an upcharge in Cagneys, La Cucina and Ocean Blue, so it is just Le Bistro where you have to pay extra to get filet.

 

The lobster upcharge has been around since they reintroduced lobster to the menus.

I’m also wondering if the Le Bistro up charge has to do with the foie gras. If so, no problem for us- we ask for it without that! If anyone is currently on board, I’d love to know if there is no charge of ordering the filet without the goose! I will update next week if no relies, as we are sailing on Gem.

My family and I all caught covid on our April 22

cruise. It was the first cruise we took with no precautions and we really noticed a difference. We enjoyed cruising right after the restart when ships were empty and everyone had to test prior to arrival and again at the pier. Even with prior testing, there were over 100 people who tested positive at the pier (and were identified and removed) prior to boarding for our December cruise last year. We are cruising again in a few weeks and will wear masks unless we are actively eating/drinking. Personal preference. I appreciate the update about your experience. 

We were on the Gem out of NYC last year for New Years, and there was a celebration by the main pool. They had a limited number of noise makers, pushed a 2021 ice sculpture into the pool and then replaced it was 2022, and there was a different menu in the MDR. Most excitedly, the captain blew the horn for a solid minute, which was so loud and also so awesome! Glad we stayed up for it!

On 12/15/2022 at 2:49 PM, mafig said:

Easter in 2023 will be on April 9.

Which week do you think will have the most kids? 

    April 2 - 9 ? 

       or

    April 9 - 16?

Massachusetts schools are mostly off starting April 15th this year. 

We cruise this week most years because I’m a teacher and it’s my vacation week. It is typically over 100% capacity due to all the kids. Last year it was packed, and I assume this year will be as well. If you go into it knowing that the crowds will be larger than normal, lines longer, etc, you can still have a great time. If you’re hoping for quiet time or space to spread out in restaurants, shows, buffet, etc, you may want to look at another week if you have any flexibility.

Once I retire I will never sail during the school vacation weeks, as our experience on the non-school break cruises has been much more peaceful! That being said, a cruise is a cruise! 

We just did this short cruise this past weekend and it was full capacity, but it bumped up onto Veteran’s Day and kids/teachers had the day off. If you’re looking at the school vacation week it will also likely be full (dates listed in above post). The ship is lovely but does not have the features of the larger ships.  Personally I like the smaller ships!

We’re on this cruise too, but don’t mind the change. I’m sorry you are disappointed. Bermuda isn’t al that warm in the winter and I know this cruise will be packed with kids for winter break..I’m guessing that NCL may be able to sell more room with the change.  Hopefully you’ll be able to get another Bermuda cruise in soon! 

I’m sorry if this is an obvious question, but what is the difference between Cruise Only and Cruise Next?

Does anyone know how close a storm may need to be to Bermuda/embarkation port for NCL to change a cruise to Canada instead? I’m watching a tropical storm currently headed toward Florida, and wondering how that might impact our weekend cruise on NCL Pearl from Boston to Bermuda. Has anyone ever had a similar storm pop up before their trip? Or any weather buffs out there?
 

To be clear, I understand it’s totally NCL‘s decision should we need to change, and that’s no problem with me; we were on the Star this summer for the inaugural Greenland trip and instead took a sail around Norway, so we are understanding that changes do happen!

I can’t say for certain how much time passed between when we docked and when people started getting off the ship, because I was not in a rush to disembark (and we had breakfast), but I know some people were in a rush and were frustrated with whatever the delay was.  Others in my roll call were also upset because when they were got off the ship, the luggage wasn’t out and sorted yet, and they were further delayed. It was fine when we got off later in the morning, so it must have just been an issue for the people who got off in the first group. I hope that helps.

1 hour ago, jannan said:

Meaning, how long did it take the ship to allow passengers to disembark after the posted port arrival time?

Personally I would NOT risk it…we disembarked in Reykjavik late this summer and used the NCL transport to the airport (that took about 50 minutes and we left right on time).  It took us HOURS to get though the security line and that was not on a holiday or weekend, etc.  Ultimately we were glad to have waited for the evening flight! 

Hi! I prefer the Gem, but having taken both ships out of NYC during school vacation season (I’m a teacher), I’d vote the larger ship, where there is more space for the kids to go. Last year we cruised during February and April vacation, and it felt packed on the Gem, while the Getaway just seemed like the kids mostly stayed up top with all the attractions.

if you’re not going during school vacation week, then I’d go 100% Gem, because I like the older ships. I did, however, really appreciate the waterfront and Spice h20 areas, especially during the school break week, to find some peace and quiet!

I hope you enjoy your cruise!

On 8/14/2022 at 12:22 PM, Lakesregion said:

And again two more questions.

 

In as much as we will be sailing out of New York does the main dining room offer a "Snowy Nova on a toasted B" on the breakfast menu?

 

Is there a piano bar where the pianist plays softer tunes?

I’ve been on four cruises with NCL out of NYC in the last few months, and more before that…and have never heard or seen whatever the snowy nova is. If the B is a bagel, the main dining room offers bagel with lox open faced sandwich. Personally I stick with the French toast or the eggs Benedict, while my wife prefers the eggs or a combo of oatmeal and fruit salad. Good luck!

Hello! I do not ever get dressed up for the specialty restaurants..usually jeans, sneakers, and a quarter zip fleece. If I’m feeling fancy, I’ll wear a black fleece! It’s the reason we sail With NCL…no dressing up!

We did this last October and they definitely asked everyone their weight. There was a heavier person at the dock and I know that they talked to them about the weight, but I didn’t see a scale!
 

As a side note, we did the “fast” tour and it was much faster than expected! I would not do it again, as we were supposed to stay over 35 mph and the guides wanted us to go quicker than that! There was a guy in our group who was clearly uncomfortable, and they just kept telling him to “ride it like you stole it”. 

I’ve never had a problem with dress code or sandals, etc, in Ocean Blue on this ship…but I haven’t been on since last year so maybe things have changed! 

Jumping in to say I’ve never had problems wearing jeans in Ocean Blue, and also to ask if anyone can tell me the likelihood of getting the vouchers on an upcoming 4 day cruise? I see that it says they are available for cruises longer than 5 days, but wondering if that’s the actual practice?

We were on the Gem on 12/26 out of NYC this last year and they had Christmas decorations up for the whole cruise. My favorite were the incredible gingerbread houses, but there were also many Christmas trees and garland, poinsettias, and other decorations all around the ship. Enjoy!

We were upgraded to a club balcony for our cruise last week in Iceland/Norway. The balcony was much bigger!  We were on the Star. We got a free bag of laundry, cookies (delivered twice), and a bottle of sparkling wine.