Sandysandy

I probably should have said something while on ship.  I never ordered it again but I saw it was the same weird batter on the fish and chips when seeing it other's plates when we ate there on subsequent occasions.   I don't eat red meat so pretty disappointed the fish was so bad that it was no longer edible.

What happened to the fish and chips at O'Sheehan's?  Just got off the Gem and the fish was inedible and the batter like puffed cardboard.  So disappointing!  I was on the Escape a few months ago and it was fine.  Have they changed their supplier?  

I was on that cruise too.  3rd time on the Gem, still a good looking ship.  Food has definitely deteriorated over the years.  Had the drinks package for the first time and would do so again.  Friendly staff but need more servers out by pool area. I found a lack of entertainment and music by the pool or it ended early.  I liked that you could just walk in 1 minute before a show and still find seating as opposed to not even being able to get a reservation on larger ships.

We ate at Cagney's on the Gem last week.  What disappointed us were the side dishes.  Barely warm scalloped potatoes with little flavor, fries that were worse than those at the buffet and some forgettable vegetable dish.  That being said, the salmon was fantastic!

Thank you very much for answering - very helpful information. I guess it's a case of better safe than sorry and getting all the documents in order. I'll be checking with the Bahamas on visas for haitians (you're correct that Canadians don't need them). Good call on bringing the adoption paperwork as well.

Not sure if this is where I should ask this question but thought I'd start here first. I have an adopted child with a haitian passport. We are canadian citizens. Child is a permanent resident (canadian citizenship is in progress and unlikely to be finalized before cruise). Haitian passport expires at the end of March 2011. Cruise is in Feb/March 2011 leaving from NYC and going to Florida and Bahamas. We drive to NYC from Canada.

1. My child can cross into the US and has a valid visa for the US. Will the passport expiring at the end of March be an issue? I've been told passports need to be valid for 6 months pass the date of travel?

2. My child will not get off the boat in the Bahamas. Will the cruiseline require a visa for the bahamas anyway?

Odds are I'll need to renew the passport and get a visa for the Bahamas. Anything else I might need?

Oh my goodness! I've just read this for the first time and it's terrific! I had to read it outloud to my DH and he was laughing as hard as I was!