Waldo's October 31st, 2017 GEM cruise from NY

Introduction: Monday 10/30/17

This was our 7th cruise, last 4 with NCL. This was my wife (Nancy) and my first cruise without the children. We got a great deal ($499) and booked this cruise less than 2 weeks out. Our plan was to go down early on October 30th. We had the Hampton Inn Park and shuttle booked. I think this is a very good deal. For $240 (including tax)you get a night at the hotel, breakfast the next morning, a shuttle both ways to the cruise port and back and parking for the length of your cruise. We were traveling from Southern NH. The tail end of Phillip hit us hard. When we went to bed Sunday (10/29) we had water in our basement and no power. We got up at daybreak and the power was still out. Without power we couldn't use the pump or shop vac to get the

water out of the house. We didn't want to leave our son with this mess so we waited until 1pm for the power to come back on. It didn't come on (came on at 5:30pm) so we left at 1pm. Because of the late start and a couple of stops we didn't get to the hotel until 7pm (drive1pm-

7pm), drive should have been less than 5 hours. There was no problem with checkin. The hotel seemed to be in a safe area right near the highway. It was nice and very clean. There was an indoor pool, 24 hour coffee/tea and free internet. The breakfast had your typical items plus hot oatmeal,scrambled eggs, waffles and sausage.

We've had many of those kinds of catastrophies the day of a cruise! It makes the cruise experience even better. We go 12/13 on Gem! Looking forward to more!

Debarkation Day: Tuesday 10/31/17 (Halloween)

We got up at 8am. We had a very nice breakfast at the hotel (all the typical foods plus sausage, waffles and scrambled eggs. The shuttle picked the four of us up (Nancy,Me and two other cruisers) at 10:15am and we were in Port by 10:45am. We were through Security and Checkin by 11:10am. I started to organize my paperwork and they started to board us. I couldn't believe we were on board by 11:20am. As you can seen everything went smooth and efficient so far today. When we boarded the ship, everything was decorated for Halloween. We walked around the ship and nibbled at the buffet and then went to O'Sheehan's for lunch. Nancy had the "Salmon Salad" (she thought it was fair) and I had the "Open Faced Roast Beef Sandwich" (very good) and we shared Buffalo and Chai Wings (very good). Rooms were ready at 1pm and they announced that the Departure would be earlier than the 6pm scheduled time. We ended up leaving at 6pm. I guess the ship was in lock down because of the killings in NY. We have never seen NY before. It was getting dark and the NY skylight looked awesome. Our highlight was passing a lit-up Statue of Liberty. As we passed through the Garden Cafe we noticed a delicious looking buffet and we decided to get the Prime Rib, Clam Chowder and much more. Everything was delicious. After dinner we went through the Haunted Trail (cute) and watched the "Welcome Aboard Show" which was the best one we have seen on NCL ships. Once the show was over we went up to the Spinnaker and watched the costume contest and stayed a little while for the Halloween Dance. We did a last lap around the ship, got a small snack at the "Great Outdoors" and went to bed at 11pm.

Thanks for the report.

Debarkation Day: Tuesday 10/31/17 (Halloween)

 

We got up at 8am. We had a very nice breakfast at the hotel (all the typical foods plus sausage, waffles and scrambled eggs. The shuttle picked the four of us up (Nancy,Me and two other cruisers) at 10:15am and we were in Port by 10:45am. We were through Security and Checkin by 11:10am. I started to organize my paperwork and they started to board us. I couldn't believe we were on board by 11:20am. As you can seen everything went smooth and efficient so far today. When we boarded the ship, everything was decorated for Halloween. We walked around the ship and nibbled at the buffet and then went to O'Sheehan's for lunch. Nancy had the "Salmon Salad" (she thought it was fair) and I had the "Open Faced Roast Beef Sandwich" (very good) and we shared Buffalo and Chai Wings (very good). Rooms were ready at 1pm and they announced that the Departure would be earlier than the 6pm scheduled time. We ended up leaving at 6pm. I guess the ship was in lock down because of the killings in NY. We have never seen NY before. It was getting dark and the NY skylight looked awesome. Our highlight was passing a lit-up Statue of Liberty. As we passed through the Garden Cafe we noticed a delicious looking buffet and we decided to get the Prime Rib, Clam Chowder and much more. Everything was delicious. After dinner we went through the Haunted Trail (cute) and watched the "Welcome Aboard Show" which was the best one we have seen on NCL ships. Once the show was over we went up to the Spinnaker and watched the costume contest and stayed a little while for the Halloween Dance. We did a last lap around the ship, got a small snack at the "Great Outdoors" and went to bed at 11pm.

We've never cruise during Halloween-sounds like fun! We have also never sailed away when it was dusk. It must ahve been beautiful!

Some of the Halloween decorations.

New York Departure

Hampton Inn park and shuttle sounds like a good deal. Where is the hotel located?

New York Departure

Cute decorations and beautiful photos!

Still no new excursions listed!!!

Nice photos!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hampton Inn park and shuttle sounds like a good deal. Where is the hotel located?

Ridgefield, NJ...right on the highway about 20-30 minutes from the pier.

Day One: Wednesday 11/01/17 (Sea Day #1)

We woke up at 9am, we had a great sleep. We went for breakfast in the "Garden Cafe". After breakfast we went to the "Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle" from 11am-Noon. This was the first time I have attended one of these. After the Meet and Mingle we went to the gym. I ran a couple of miles on the treadmill and then we went to the Art Auction fora short time (they never gave us our free champagne). For the rest of the afternoon we talked to Excursion Desk People, walked around the ship, snacked and used the Hot Tub until 4pm. It was time to get ready for dinner. At 5pm we had a delicious dinner at the "Grand Pacific" of Roast Beef and Bolognese Spaghetti. After dinner we went to the 7pm show "Comedy of Tim Kaminski" which we had seen a small bit of at the"Welcome Aboard Party". We noticed that the Comedian picked his "victims" for the show in the front part of the theater so we sat in the middle, in the back of the theater so we wouldn't get picked "to be part of the show". He was down to his last "volunteer"and somehow saw me. I was escorted to the stage to perform in the ship's rendition of the "Wizard of OZ". In case you are wondering, I played the famous "Waldo" in the show. Even though I couldn't see any of the show (I was backstage for most of it) it was a unique and fun experience. After the show we roamed the ship. In the Garden Cafe we noticed skewers of large shrimp. We had to stop and have our fill of them. We went to bed at 11pm.

(7 Waldo shout outs from 8-11pm today)

Day #1 pictures

Enjoying the review and the photos.

Keith

After show visit to Garden Cafe

Thank you for the tip on the hotel. We live in central Massachusetts, and I like the idea of getting close to the city the night before the cruise. Especially when the entire hotel experience costs about the same as parking at the pier. Enjoying review and photos! We are getting excited about taking Gem in May.

Enjoying and following your review.

Looking forward to reading more

Following and enjoying.

Nice photos.

Day Two: Thursday 11/02/17 (Sea Day #2)

We got up at 9am and did 2 miles on the treadmill. We went to breakfast at 10am followed by a trip to “Tradewinds” to check on the daily $10 specials. After browsing we went to Magnum’s to listen to the“Digital Camera Seminar” and stuck around to do the “Goofy Golf Tournament”. With a field of 19 I was able to take 2nd place in this prestigious golf tournament. At lunch we decided to have lunch at O’Sheehan’s. Nancy got a Reuben Sandwich and some Chai Chicken wings and I got the “Open Face Roast Beef Sandwich and Buffalo Wings. After lunch we went to Origami Class. We each made a beautiful heart that will go on our Christmas Tree. Next we went to the front of the ship (7th floor, I think) to the Bridge where we were able to watch the crew control the ship. After spending a decent amount of time at the Bridge we went to the top deck and walked a mile on the jogging track and then hit golf balls for an hour in the “Golf Driving Cage”. We wanted to make the 7pm show which was called “Swing” so we were trying to eat at an early dinner. Straight from the golf cage to the “Grand Pacific” (under dressed) we went. Nancy got the asparagus risotto as an appetizer and loved it. I got the chicken parmesan and Nancy got a steak as our main meals. We split a dish of mushroom alfredo. The food was all very good. Once we were done eating we went to the 7pm showing of “Swing”. The singing and dancing were terrific but the music wasn’t our taste. After the show we had some roast beef at the Garden Café. We watched a little NFL football and then headed to our cabin at 10pm.

(19 Waldo shout outs/ 26 total)

Day Three: Friday 11/03/17 (Sea Day #3)

We woke up to another sunny day. We decided to use the pool before breakfast. We loved the pools on this ship. There was a family pool and an adults only pool. Both were decent sizes for the size of the ship. There were 3 hot tubs, one which was designated for adults only. The pools and hot tubs were never crowded the whole cruise. We swam for an hour and then ate a little breakfast. After breakfast we went to the Atrium to purchase two excursion tickets to the “Catamaran Snorkel Trip” in St. Kitts. It was now time to learn howto make balloon animals and then over to Magnums’ for another round of Goofy Golf. I did lousy but Nancy took 2nd place in the women’s bracket. We then squeezed 2 miles in on the treadmill before going to dinner. Our plan was to make as many of the 5pm dinner seating as we could so we could go to the 7pm shows. Tonight was a show performed by a Vegas entertainer named Katy. Katy was a singer (who performed in Las Vegas) and would sing songs as a tribute to the Divas. She was very good and it was a great show. After the show we went to the Atrium to play in a Trivia Game called “Last Man Standing”. Trivia can make you hungry so we got a snack and then were in our cabin by 10pm. We wanted to get some sleep before our 7am wake up call.

(12 Waldo shout outs/ 38 total)

Day Four: Saturday 11/04/17 (St. Kitts)

Our alarm and wake up call got us up at 7am. We got dressed and went up to the Garden Café for a small breakfast. We were supposed to meet at 8:50am for our“Catamaran and Snorkel” excursion. Since we got to the meeting spot 30 minutes early we checked out a few shops. St Kitts has a very nice shopping area at the port. Our plan was to do the excursion (cost was$99 minus 10% Silver Member discount) and then go back to the cabin to shower and change our clothes. We were going to have lunch and then spend a few hours shopping and sending emails. It didn’t turn out that way. The Catamaran ride was fun and informative. The snorkeling was nice but didn’t have many fish. The highlight was when we were able to see a large turtle and follow it for about 5 minutes. As soon as the snorkeling was over the boat crew opened up the bar. We drank quite a bit and don’t exactly remember going back to our cabin. When we woke up it was 4:30pm and we were heading out to sea, so much for walking around town. We hadn’t eaten all day so we went up to the Garden Café at 7pm. We had some pasta,scallops, shrimp and pork for dinner. All the food was very good. We went back to the cabin at 8pm and fell asleep around 10pm. Tonight’s show was the “Second City Improv” which we have never liked. We have seen this show 3 times before and didn’t want to see it again. This was the only show we would miss.

(7 Waldo shut outs/ 45 total)

Day Five: Sunday 11/05/17 (St. Lucia)

We woke up at 8am. Our plan was to walk to Vigie Beach following directions that we got from someone on Cruise Critic. We were going to swim for a few hours and then walk back to the ship. Between the rain and the constant hounding by taxi drivers, tour guides and people selling drugs and the fact we weren’t entirely sure we were going the right way we decided to head back to the ship. Because it was Sunday the only shops we found open were at the pier. We looked through the shops at the pier and then went back to the ship. We didn’t see much of the island but it seemed very grungy from the little bit we saw. Back on the ship we took advantage of the empty pool and hot tubs. While Nancy went to the cabin I did 2.5 miles on the treadmill. Nancy met me at the Garden Café for lunch. We did go back to the pier to use the free WiFi. Now it was time to go back to Magnums for another round of Goofy Golf. After golf we went to O’Sheehan’s for wings and then out on the ship deck to watch the sail away. We watched some Sunday football until it was time for the 7pm show called “Blazing Boots”. This was another very good show. After the show we went to dinner at the “Orchid Gardens”. The food was good, not great. As we were eating we noticed an island and the fact that the ship was not moving. I guess Barbados was so close (our next island) that the GEM was just drifting of the coast of St. Lucia to save fuel. We watched some more NFL football on the large screen in the Atrium until it was time for the deck party with the live band “Sonata”. Great music, lots more food then off to bed.

(3 Waldo shout outs/ 48 total)

Enjoying the review and photos, thanks!

Enjoying your review! We will be on this itinerary on the Gem in January, so really happy to read through your review for a glimpse of what to expect! Thanks for sharing!! :)