Crusinmama Family Review of Gem to Bermuda 10/2-10/9 -The Suite Life with Dailies

Just back today from the NCL Gem sailing 10/2 - 10/9 to Bermuda and I am happy to start off by saying that we did, in fact, go to Bermuda. If you have never read any of my reviews, this will take a few days (took over 550 pictures and video) and I will scan all the dailies for both Day 1 -7 and all of the kids crew programs schedules.

DAY 1 - Embarkation

We left our home in PA for the 5 hour drive to NYC, and believe it or not, drove through SNOW to get there. Yes, only in the Mountains of PA can you encounter a freak snowstorm in October. With my nerves a little frazzled but dreams of blue Bermuda water in my head, we pulled into the NYC Pier 88 parking garage at 10:30 am.

Originally, we had booked a B1, Aft Balcony, but as luck would have it, the Upsell Fairy smiled (AKA, she called on the Monday before the cruise and made us an offered we couldn't refused) and now "Sapphire" Penthouse Suite #11018 would be our accommodations for the week.

We entered the terminal, walked toward the "Suite Guests" line and gave our name and were immediately whisked away and escorted to a side line for the check in. (yeahhhh, I am liking this...lol) One quick check in and that gentlemen escorted us over to the "Priority Lounge" (oooohhh I could get used to this) Where they have food set up - juice, coffee, water, danishes, sandwiches.

The concierge, David Contreras, greeted us and handed us our key cards. If you want to make any reservations, this is the time to do it. We made reservations for Cagney's and were able to reserve the Grand Pacific Dining room for the entire week just to start. David said the Grand Pacific was the more formal of the two dining rooms (out of Magenta and GP) - I think that may be a matter of opinion, more about that later.

We had a seat and heard the announcements that we were to be boarded at NOON. Good thing they were handing out cold towels to keep our heads cool in the Priority Lounge ; 0 ) (awwwwww, loved the cold towels)

By Noon, they announced, Deck 11, please come with us, we will be boarding now. And away we go....

More from 11018

Never did figure out HOW to use this thing. I know, I know, we needed to call the butler, that would be Roy. More to come on that....

And yes, some more from Penthouse 11018

The closet in the master bedroom (can you believe I am missing a picture of the master bedroom, I need to go back to get one)

Let's not forget the bowl of fruit. It did get "refilled" midway through the cruise because someone kept eating the bananas and grapes out of it.

One of FOUR, yes, I said FOUR flat screen TVs in this suite. There is one in the master, one in the kids cabin, one above the bath tub and one here...(and for those of you who like TV, nothing is EVER on, there are very few channels, as othwers have said in the past - off the top of my head it was: Fox News, CNN, E Entertainment, ESPN, CNBC and one called a "favorites" where they play shows like Friends or a couple of Cartoons in the Morning. The rest of the channels - ALL NCL channels. But there is a DVD menu for suite guests. You can call the butler for and give him a number for a movie that you would like to watch.

Suite Guest Snack Delivery for our Day 1: Canapes

And this is where we met our Butler, Roy. Before leaving, I had read here that others had Roy and had a wonderful experience. I am sure if I had needed anything, Roy would have been my "go to" guy. But as far as having a Butler and having them around all the time - nope - around 4pm everyday, the snacks were delivered by Roy or by another crew member (the majority of the time it was another crew member). So for having a butler - I didn't need DVDs. I didn't need in cabin dining - we preferred to be out and about on the ship. I am sure if I would have thought long and hard, I could have thought of something for Roy to do, like...taking the kids to the kids club -- tee hee. But for us, we didn't utilize the butler service.

After looking around the suite - well, let's be honest, RUNNING from room to room shouting "WOW, look at THIS!" we were met by a man with a vaccuum who said "You have lunch yet?" If you've never heard that before, that's NCL code for "Please get the heck out of my way so I can clean your cabin!" Many, MANY times on the ship, not just in our cabin but as we walked down the hall, we heard the words "Have you gone to breakfast yet?" and "Have you had lunch yet?" or "Have you been to Bermuda yet" It kind of became our family's running joke - wondering where they would send us next just so they could clean without us in the way.

So we did as we were told, we excused ourselves from the suite and went try out the next "NCL Suite Perk" that some of my lovely friends have raved about - CAGNEY'S for lunch.

Going to Cagney's for lunch is like going to an exclusive club. You have to give them your suite cabin number first. Then when they have determined that you qualify for the club, they zip you off with a key card in hand (yes, its behind a lock door - ooohhhhh ahhhhh) and whisk you away to your to your table.

My 11 year old was so excited - sheer joy, her first of MANY steaks - her and I had the New York Strip. Her dad, the scallops. But then we wanted dessert and asked for the dessert menu. Twenty minutes had passed, still no menu in sight. If any of you follow my adventures with my youngest, 20 minutes of waiting is like an eternity, so without our Cagney's dessert, we left and headed to the buffet for a quick dessert fix : - )

MUSTER

The easiest Muster EVER - We headed VestFREE to the Stardust theatre and happen to meet up with Youngestof9 (MaryBeth and her husband Al). A few quick reviews of the vest with rules - everyone dismissed - WOOHOO!

SAILAWAY

Time to dance and really kick off this cruise....

Nice! More, more! :D

I love your reveiw and pictures. My wife, two kids and I have the same exact suite for our cruise in November. I would love to see any pics of suite, menus, and dailies. I want to thank you for what you have posted.com. I am even more exited.

Please keep the info coming!

Lovin' it, Michele!

Looking forward to more! I know what it's like to wait with kids.:eek: 20 minutes? Ouch. I would walk out, too.

Thanks Michele!

I must comment on that carpet though ... holy pete:eek: With that said, I certainly could get used to it if it meant enduring the suite life:D

Hi Brian! : - )

PADDLE POOL

I am holding my breath as I put this topic out there - but since I am going in order and this is DAY 1 - My children love to go to the pool during sailaway. The main pool was freezing, so my 7 year old decided that the "Elephant Paddle Pool" wasn't because the wind was blocked from that pool. So off she heads, determined to swim in that pool.

I know that pool. I know the rules, no babies in diapers. We've seen it all before. So here comes 3 babies in diapers. Their moms remove their diapers (one did it ON the dining table - ICK) and put "Swimmie Diapers" on. Well, they must just not know the rules...right?

The rules, for all to see, on the side of the pool, say... No diapers

So, I say to a couple of the moms "Just to help you out, you know that you really aren't allowed to have ANY unpotty trained children in here, even in swimmies" And they said "the crew told us we could"

Ok...let's fast forward, I am sitting at the MAIN pool....here comes a baby in a diaper - the mom puts the baby in the pool, here comes the crew member from the slide "FINALLY!" I think to myself - this has been one of the babies swimming all week in the elephant slide pool, there has been babies in the hot tub all week and NOW the main pool...

So the slide attendant walks up to the moms and says "Excuse me but you can't put the baby in a diaper in this pool - you will have to take him over to that one over there (points to the Elephant pool) - WE MAKE AN EXCEPTION FOR THE BABY POOL OVER THERE FOR BABIES IN DIAPERS!

Wait, what???? When did they officially do that???? :eek:

So I waited for her to go back to her slide and I said to the mom "Excuse me, I know its really confusing about where the baby can swim. But did she just tell you that he can swim in the Elephant pool?"

And she said "Yes, my travel agent told me that this ship had NO pools for my baby. But when I got here, the workers said he could swim over there." (pointing to elephant pool)

So I gently explained to her that according to NCL, and the health of her child and all of the other children in that pool, those workers were wrong. She was a very nice mom, and it showed me that even though I get angry when I see someone putting a baby in a pool, they really may not know because even the CREW IS CONFUSED. :eek:

And of course, one of the little boys swimming in the pool that day (yes HE was potty trained) missed Bermuda because he came down with something and had to see a doctor and go to the pharmacy. You just never know what kind of bacteria soup is swimming around in there. :p

So if I had one piece of advice to NCL - GET A MEMO OUT TO YOUR CREW! No babies in diapers in the pools! And put a sign on the glass door leading to the elephant pool. I feel like its a "Don't ask, don't tell policy" - NCL is trying to hide it so as to not offend the people who have babies. Well I had a baby who was medevacced off a ship because she caught something onboard - no, not an NCL ship ;).

NCL does not have the filtration system in place to handle diapers in those Paddle Pools. And frankly, by the crew telling them that they "Make an exception" is scary. :eek:

Off soap box : - )

I love your reveiw and pictures. My wife, two kids and I have the same exact suite for our cruise in November. I would love to see any pics of suite, menus, and dailies. I want to thank you for what you have posted. I am even more exited.

 

Please keep the info coming!

Oh I have more

Here is the kids cabin - sorry, I meant to grab a pic of the upper bed lowered....

The "kids cabin" bathroom

The "kids cabin" shower

Their closet and hair dryer - they do have three shallow drawers but their closet does NOT have a door. We had no coat hangers for them (yes, I know, should have called the butler...LOL. I am sensing a theme) So we had very little space for their clothes so we just kept their clothes with ours. But this is their closet (ask for coat hangers...LOL)

Their TV, the bed flips down on top of this, so only the child on the bottom bunk gets to watch TV - which was ok since they NEVER had it on anyway at night.

Oh and something to add about THIS cabin - in the kids cabin - there is some kind of sliding noise - we think its the electric door leading out to the pool deck. They really don't line up at all - but it doesn't sound like flushing. But when there was an outside buffet going on and the kids were in bed early (by 10:30) - then the kids were upset at all of the "swooshing noise keeping them up" It never kept them up THAT long, they were too exhausted to stay awake very long, but the noise is there. And it could be a problem for lite sleepers.

On the flipside, this is the MASTER shower...

I SHOULD NOT be looking at these pictures is all I can say (I book inside cabins to save $$). Keeping this link and pictures a secret from my hubby right now. :D

WOW! :eek:

I SHOULD NOT be looking at these pictures is all I can say (I book inside cabins to save $$). Keeping this link and pictures a secret from my hubby right now.

 

WOW!

Sorry, maybe a call from the Upsell Fairy with an offer YOU can't refuse? :D

Magnets are on the door, yes, my husband loves to put Steelers magnets on the door. {sigh}

We still haven't seen the ellusive cabin attendant yet. Usually by now the cabin attendant knows our names, the kids names AND our dogs' names but not this time. Even on the LAST night of the cruise, Ephraim (yes I know HIS name - tee hee) says "So where are the 'kids"? But that's ok, he's a good guy. He keeps the cabin clean. We had a few growing pains in the beginning. But he learned our patterns and he generally just became our "Stealth Cabin Attendant" - the kind that like the sneak in and clean. We had one of those a few years ago - not since the kids, though. Usually with the kids, the cabin attendants are handing out "High 5's" and asking them all kinds of questions. This time was different. We didn't have much interaction with Ephraim. We turned our cabin door to ask for "Make Up Cabin" when we left and "Turn Down Service" at night. And everything was taken care of.

Dinner on Night 1 - Grand Pacific

We arrived for our 5:30 dinner in the Grand Pacific and got a great seat in the back by the big beautiful windows (Score!). And then the next gift, we were given Aristotle, AKA "Aris", but only for this one meal. He was a GREAT waiter. He was the ONE AND ONLY that asked us for our first names and the names of the children. He told us that he has been on the Gem for 3 years with his family. And when my youngest started to get a little antsy, he created "Dinner Ducky" out of a linen napkin - (HUGE MOM BROWNIE POINTS). This is where I would LOVE to see NCL follow another cruise line where you can request the same server. That ONE server made our dining that much easier. I can't say that for any other Grand Pacific meals. Some of the other servers I couldn't wait to leave and we would just simply skip dessert.

And OVER AND OVER again, I kept hearing the same complaints from the passengers - "same meals in the main dining rooms every night". Far be it from me to make a suggestion, but the biggest complaint I heard from everyone, every single night was that MDR food. Without a doubt. I kept asking people "how's the cruise" - from the bus rides, to the ferry, to the shows -- everyone I met that was sailing with me had the same complaint. Maybe it's because the right side of the menu has the "traditional favorites" that never changed - giving the impression that it was the "same menu every night" -- although other cruise lines do the SAME THING - they put them on two SEPARATE menus. Maybe it's all about perception? :confused:

Another thing I noticed, pending on what YOU want - pack accordingly. We were following the "Concierge Instructions" that said no shorts after 5:30 p.m. in any dining venues except Blue Lagoon and the buffet. And the Grand Pacific was the "Formal Dining Room". He put it at the bottom of our dining reservations. Then the dailies said "Shorts welcome in ALL dining venues after 5:30. Shoes and shirts must be worn"

We took 5 suitcases for all of the "formal" after 5:30 - we could have survived with 2 suitcases. :)

One very happy camper with Dinner Ducky...

And she just likes bread...

Enjoying your review Michele! Always a pleasure to read about your families adventures:)

Loving your review and such great smiles on all the faces!

The Gem is a beautiful ship and sounds like you really enjoyed it. Tks for taking the time to post all the pics and comments.

I'm confused about one thing though - on NCL you can indeed request the same server. I've seen this done and read about it several times here as well. The servers do rotate so you might not get the same table. Usually they work in the same DR/restaurant at night (unless sent to another to help out) so it's pretty easily accomplished. On the Jade we met 2 British couples who requested the same gal in the DR every evening. When they went to Cagney's for a b'day celebration, the Maitre d' sent "their" waiter up there. They loved it!

Even if you don't make a "standing reservation," you can always ask for a particular waiter at the hostess desk. We've done that many times, especially when we know staff from other ships! Generally the waiters are beaming to know they've been "requested."

Can't wait to read more. How was the entertainment? How about the CD?

Did you have a Meet & Greet?

Thank you more!

Was there a menu difference between Magenta and GP?

Which room did you like more?

Can you please post kids dailies?

Thank you this is the best post on CC.

Michelle, great start, now we need more and more. BTW, Kudos for you and speaking to the Mommies of the babies. On one cruise a Mommy decided she didn't care and let her little one in the pool. Pretty soon, there was a present floating for all to see. They had to drain and clean the main pool and kiddy pool (on Royal) refill and add chemicals before anyone else could use the pools. i think that the parents were handed a hefty bill, but can't be sure

Enjoying your review Michele! Always a pleasure to read about your families adventures

Thanks Wilda! : - )

Loving your review and such great smiles on all the faces!

 

The Gem is a beautiful ship and sounds like you really enjoyed it. Tks for taking the time to post all the pics and comments.

 

I'm confused about one thing though - on NCL you can indeed request the same server. Can't wait to read more. How was the entertainment? How about the CD?

 

Did you have a Meet & Greet?

ACK! I WISH I would have known this! I did say to Aris "I wish I could request you every night' date=' where will you be tomorrow?" and he said "I'm sorry, I don't know" - maybe he didn't understand my question. I would have gladly requested and tipped extra to get him every night. I would have followed him no matter where he was. Well, consider this lesson learned. I will try it on the Epic if we find [i']another[/i] Aris. Thanks for the great tip!

Yep, the Meet and Greet is on Day 2, details on that coming later today - it was a great turn out. CD was Johnny Cash Sanchez - he was AWESOME. The entertainment - we got to see Man from Mars - NOT TO MISS! More to come...

Thank you more! Was there a menu difference between Magenta and GP? Which room did you like more? Can you please post kids dailies? Thank you this is the best post on CC.

Magenta and GP - we didn't eat in Magenta but from what I understand, there seemed to be the same menu, just from what I was hearing it was a little "louder". I am working on getting the kids dailies scanned right now. My scanner was being ornery last night, hoping it is feeling better today...lol. And thanks for the compliment : - )

Michelle, great start, now we need more and more. BTW, Kudos for you and speaking to the Mommies of the babies. On one cruise a Mommy decided she didn't care and let her little one in the pool. Pretty soon, there was a present floating for all to see. They had to drain and clean the main pool and kiddy pool (on Royal) refill and add chemicals before anyone else could use the pools. i think that the parents were handed a hefty bill, but can't be sure

The hot tubs were CLOSED at the main pool for "super clorination" on our entire last day in Bermuda. So who knows what happened there. With all of the babies bobbing in there - maybe they finally needed it. But my kids were upset because it was cold that day and the only hot tubs that were open were at the adult pool. ACK! So where do you think the kids were all trying to squeeze into? Yeah, some very upset adults in THOSE hot tubs. I'll discuss that on Day 6. Some parents think I needed to babysit their kids, yeah um no. lol

DAILY DAY 1

EMBARK INFO

LOVE the review so far Michele! It's been really crazy these past few weeks with the students and I SO needed a ship review!

I love how the waiter recognized your little one getting antsy and was able to stop it before it got 'bad'. It's people like that that should get definite recognition!

Keep it up, I'll definitely be reading!

KIDS menu available in the all dining venues on Gem. A little piece of info - Kids Under 3 Eat FREE in all dining venues. Kids 4 -12 EAT FREE in ALL dining venues if they eat off of THIS menu. If they eat off the "specialty dining menu" in a restaurant such as Cagney's - then it's 50% off.

KIDS MENU

KIDS CREW 2 - 5 Year Olds

(They were kept separated from the 6-12's on this sailing, there were 51 kids onboard according to the kids crew counselors, seemed to be more so maybe they were just giving me the totals for those able to sign up for the kids crew)

I have to run to a doc appt so I will be back with more. Just a quick note about the kids crew. I did my usual WARNING to the counselors about my youngest. Those that know my kids from the family board KNOW that we have had our issues with other kids clubs (AHEM! Carnival Rubber Shark Abuse) And I have been known to be a little, let's just say, um, critical of other kids clubs because, let's face it - we ALL want the BEST care for our kids. I have to say WITHOUT A DOUBT that the Kids Crew Counselors on Gem ARE THE BEST, MOST PATIENT, AWESOME and PHEW STRESS FREE Kids club experience that we have EVER had!

I started by asking for the phone for my 7 year old (which they usually don't do) because I told them that they WILL want to be in contact with me when they want to be rescued from my HIGHLY ENERGETIC 7 year old. They reluctantly gave me a phone for the first night. I said "PLEASE feel free to CALL me, you are going to WANT to call me!" I have been down this path before. Well, color me surprised when I showed up at 10pm for the first pick up and the AMAZING "GYPSY" said "We WILL be taking your phone away! You do NOT need one. Yes, your daughter is energetic. But, she is not mean. She is doing GREAT! And we can handle her!"

GOD BLESS THEM!!!! A kids club that understands my spunky little kid!!!! I knew this was going to be a WONDERFUL cruise. I wasn't going to be glued to a phone waiting for the next "rubber shark abuse" phone call. Terrified of hearing the phone ring. EVERY pick up was pleasant. EVERY comment and interaction from the counselors was a JOY! This was not what we were used to. This is our 11th cruise with the kids. We are no strangers to kids clubs.

So I have to say to GYPSY, JASMINE, FLIP FLOP, CUPID and ALL of the GEM KIDS CREW - THANK YOU for making this such a wonderful experience for my kids. They never wanted to leave. They want to come back and wear more dresses. And GYPSY, Gabby wants to challenge you to a cartwheel contest, you better start practicing ; - ) I'll bring the chocolate covered strawberries so you can keep your energy up! :D

Great stuff. So looking forward to getting out of here on Saturday! :D

Have fun getting out there Brian! ;)

Here are the Kid's Crew Dailies for the next ages....

Kids Crew 6 - 9

I am enjoying your review. We were in the same suite for our Gem cruise back in August. We also had Roy as our butler and the same room steward. We thought both were great. Roy really took the time to make sure our teenagers had a great time!

Looking forward to reading more.

Kids Crew 10 - 12 (it was combined this week with the 6 - 9 so they did the same activities. All was well for my 11 year old until they combined AGAIN with the 2-5's for a screening of Curious George, the movie. Yeahhh, THEN she said she wanted out of there. But it was short lived, she went right back after some Algebra homework. :p)

Great review. Great pictures. Glad you had a great time experiencing the "suite" life. One question. Have the MDR menus changed? Were things like meatloaf, fried chicken, etc. included? I thought I read on these boards that such changes were being considered. Thank you.