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

[DrFootball]

Digging It!! let it rip! (and thanks for putting babies Mommies in Place!!):D

 

Bill(DrFootball)

"Hooah! it's an Army Thing"

Bill's Brainiac Random Quote Generator V0.95 final beta for Mac

[crusinmama06]

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.

 

What did he do for your teenagers? I am intriqued. lol I think I really underutilized Roy. I know we could have sent him for our nightly Blue Lagoon run - but we really enjoyed getting out there ourselves. I guess I am just so used to at least some interaction with the kids and our suite attendants. Heck, on our last cruise, we had the cabin attendant up the hall making towel animals for us. His name was Oscar. Our cabin looked like a darn towel animal zoo. And on the last one my 7 year old had her own "bar tender" who knew her by name and kept calling her over for "cokes and cherries on a sword" (I don't drink, so don't try to figure out how my 7 year old had her own bar tender :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.

 

No, not on Gem they haven't. I can tell you that is one of the reasons that we LOVED the Blue Lagoon so much. The "Comfort Food" menu of the Blue Lagoon with the meatloaf, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, YUM YUM & YUM. For lunch AND nightly snacks. I haven't always been a huge Carnival SHIP fan, but have been a huge Carnival FOOD fan. I think they may be onto something with their menu changes. My roll call was BRUTAL onboard about the menu - BRU-TAL! I am the one writing about it though - lucky me...lol.

 

The Teen Crew Pages 13 - 17

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

DAY 2 - DAY at Sea - Morning Breakfast at Cagney's becomes Self-Serve

Woke up to a beautiful day at Sea. We have no idea what time it is because we have no clock. The ammenities says we should have a clock in our cabin. It's time to talk to Ephraim. He says "We have no clocks." I said "But we are suppose to have one." He says, "Turn on the TV" I SMILE and say its kind of a pain to keep doing that, can't you see if there are any clocks. He said "I will talk to my supervisor" (After breakfast, we come back to a clock by the bed - YEAYYYY, now I know what time it is - I know it IS freestyle but that time thing was getting to me)

 

Time to head to our first breakfast at Cagney's and try what I keep reading about - those Crab Eggs Benedict. The ONLY place on the ship to sample some. So up we go, give our cabin number to the hostess, escorted through the locked card access door (tee hee) - past the concierge (goood morning)

 

The waitress seats us in the back corner and says "Would you like coffee?" - I said "No, thank you, but we would all LOVE some orange juice please" She says "It's on the BuffET" - I said, "Where?" She says "Over there, around the corner, its on the Buf-FET - with the muffins, cereal and the pastries" I said "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see that. I will get it, thanks"

 

OK, now this is where I need to stop again. NCL - really? Really, really? I am saying this as KINDLY as possible. I LOVE your ships. I LOVED your kids crew. I LOVED your SUITE (oh my how I LOVED your suite). But when a suite guest enters the suite breakfast as I have on other lines - usually, the goal is not to have to serve yourself. Usually when one enters the suite breakfast the staff comes running over and says "Can I get you a cappucino, can I get you juice, would you like a danish, a muffin, some toast, can I name my first born after you.... (ok, well maybe I made that last part up :p)

 

So, me and my family of 4 all get up and serve ourselves in Cagney's suite breakfast. Then we sit back down and place our order for Belgian Waffles, French Toast, Eggs Benedict AND Crab Eggs Benedict.

 

We decided that morning in Cagney's (sorry NCL, I do love you, however) that if we have to serve ourselves in the suite breakfast then we might as well just do it IN the buffet every morning (Garden Cafe, Great Outdoors). The food is plentiful there. I don't have to wait to be escorted through a locked door and they even have TWO kinds of eggs benedict (with hollandaise or bernaise sauce - YUM!) Pictures of those meals to come (yes, my hubby became VERY annoyed with my obsession with taking pictures of food)

[cruiser1955a]

DAY 2 -

We decided that morning in Cagney's (sorry NCL, I do love you, however) that if we have to serve ourselves in the suite breakfast then we might as well just do it IN the buffet every morning (Garden Cafe, Great Outdoors). The food is plentiful there. I don't have to wait to be escorted through a locked door and they even have TWO kinds of eggs benedict (with hollandaise or bernaise sauce - YUM!) Pictures of those meals to come (yes, my hubby became VERY annoyed with my obsession with taking pictures of food)

 

Are you saying that the food & atmosphere in Cagney's, is no better than the Buffet ? That's disappointing.

[crusinmama06]

Day 2 - Cruise Critic Meet N Greet

 

After a VERY active roll call, our group was moved to Bliss Lounge - set to meet at 11am. So after over 70 people signed up, at least 50 did show up. At the event, we met the Captain, the Hotel Director, the Head Chef who was introduced by the Cruise Director - Johnny Cash Sanchez (replacing Sinan who is now on vacation I guess). Johnny was a BALL of energy the entire cruise. I have no idea how he did it. He was wonderful! I don't know Sinan, but I was perfectly happy with Johnny.

 

If you are planning your CC M & G - on NCL, they do provide the name tags (I had brought some for the group but it wasn't needed). We had a "State Enchange" where if you brought a gift you could pick up a gift.Thanks to DiverDan in Michigan, I now have a new over mit. I actually needed one too! : - )

 

NCL provided drinks (coffee, juice, water) and cookies for the event. It was a great turn out and so nice to finally meet with everyone after talking to them for all of these months.

 

Afterward, some of us got together for a little friendly bowling competition. I think Debbie (pepelapew was cheating, but don't tell her I said that...lol)

 

Here are some pics from the M&G:

 

This is ME with Johnny Cash Sanchez, the Cruise Director

 

 

This is Kenny (son of Dolores from our roll call, Johnny told him to call the Captain Super Man - all he wanted was a picture of himself with the Captain, and of course, he obliged)

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

My husband says the bowling alley lane is "wobbly and tilted" - I said "GOOD EXCUSE! HA!" :p

 

 

Debbie and Dolores from the roll call getting up close and personal - I LOVED meeting these two ladies and their families - what a riot they are!

 

[crusinmama06]

Are you saying that the food & atmosphere in Cagney's, is no better than the Buffet ? That's disappointing.

 

Well, ATMOSPHERE, that would be a matter of opinion. ;) Cagney's is very quiet. It's inside. The Garden Cafe is chaotic on a good day. So we liked to get our food at the Garden Cafe and head OUTSIDE to the Great Outdoors. You can't beat the "atmosphere" of a table overlooking Bermuda when the weather is good. :D

 

I figured if I had to serve myself then why not? I should get the food I want, at the table I want, when I want it. :D Now, your miles may vary. I know that my friend and very trusted traveling companion LOVES Cagney's for breakfast. But this is my FAMILY review. And if I have to drag two little kids to the "Cagney's buffet" for juice, cereal, muffins, danishes, etc....then it's best for us to do it in the actual BUFFET and enjoy that meal in the Great Outdoors.

 

If you are a couple looking for a quiet breakfast and can navigate the tables and can get your own muffins/cereal/juice in Cagney's - then you will LOVE it.

[BrianAlt]

can I name my first born after you....

 

Ha! Does seem like that sometimes, doesn't it? :D

[crusinmama06]

Gem Dailies - DAY 2

This is "Dress up or Not" night - leave your tux at home - the most formal I saw for gentlemen was a suit. And believe me, I was looking so I could come back and tell you all ; - )

 

 

 

 

[B_Mc]

Great review, can't wait to read more!

[European_CruiseGirl]

OK, now this is where I need to stop again. NCL - really? Really, really? I am saying this as KINDLY as possible. I LOVE your ships. I LOVED your kids crew. I LOVED your SUITE (oh my how I LOVED your suite). But when a suite guest enters the suite breakfast as I have on other lines - usually, the goal is not to have to serve yourself. Usually when one enters the suite breakfast the staff comes running over and says "Can I get you a cappucino, can I get you juice, would you like a danish, a muffin, some toast, can I name my first born after you.... (ok, well maybe I made that last part up :p)

 

So, me and my family of 4 all get up and serve ourselves in Cagney's suite breakfast. Then we sit back down and place our order for Belgian Waffles, French Toast, Eggs Benedict AND Crab Eggs Benedict.

 

We decided that morning in Cagney's (sorry NCL, I do love you, however) that if we have to serve ourselves in the suite breakfast then we might as well just do it IN the buffet every morning (Garden Cafe, Great Outdoors). The food is plentiful there. I don't have to wait to be escorted through a locked door and they even have TWO kinds of eggs benedict (with hollandaise or bernaise sauce - YUM!) Pictures of those meals to come (yes, my hubby became VERY annoyed with my obsession with taking pictures of food)

 

I have to agree 100% on this one. I have sailed on NCL in a suite only and thus always used Cagney's. Nice but... I was really surprised when on the second last day of my latest NCL cruise I wandered through Garden Cafe and noticed that all the yummy stuff that was available at Cagney's was also available self-serve without a wait at Garden Cafe. Sure - the food items there were not made-to-order but still: no ordering, no waiting for the food to arrive, the possibility to sample more than I was willing to do at Cagney's. I have to repeat myself: I was really surprised.

 

Add the fact that you could really go and have your breakfast outdoors vs. sitting inside at Cagney's (and as already mentioned eliminate the order process and wait) I made a promise to myself that on our next family cruise we won't be eating breakfast at Cagney's anymore.

 

Love the Family 2 bedroom suites though. They truly are fantastic. :) We had the same Gem suite 11018 in 2009.

[crusinmama06]

We came back to the cabin to get ready for "Dress Up or Not" and found the daily snack delivered...and with it being a formal night, there were TWO - yeayyyy

 

 

 

The kids will go on to have another GREAT day in the Kids crew playing Survivor. And something about Dogs verses Cats. My kids were on the Cats team. I promised them that I wouldn't tell our dogs of their treachury.

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Dress Up or Not Night - My Family...

 

And if you are wondering if you will be out of place, we were told that the Grand Pacific was the "Formal Dining Room" - we were given a letter from the concierge that said "no shorts after 5:30" HOWEVER, in the dailies, as you can see it says "Resort Casual and shorts are allowed in all dining venues after 5:30 p.m. Shoes and shirts must be worn" So that means - DO WHAT YOU WANT! The table next to us had a group of YOUNG people wearing tank tops, baggy jean shorts holding BOTTLES OF ALCOHOL in them, t-shirts, baseball caps and the girls all had daisy dukes on. I thought the older couple being led behind them was going to have a heart attack. They stopped, retreated back to the hostess. Then security came back a few times. It was my dinner entertainment for the evening...lol.

 

 

 

 

 

[cruiser1955a]

Well, ATMOSPHERE, that would be a matter of opinion. ;) Cagney's is very quiet. It's inside. The Garden Cafe is chaotic on a good day. So we liked to get our food at the Garden Cafe and head OUTSIDE to the Great Outdoors. You can't beat the "atmosphere" of a table overlooking Bermuda when the weather is good. :D

 

If you are a couple looking for a quiet breakfast and can navigate the tables and can get your own muffins/cereal/juice in Cagney's - then you will LOVE it.

 

I understand. Having little ones with you does change your view of things. And I absolutely agree that nothing beats the Great Outdoors for breakfast in warm weather !

[crusinmama06]

DAY 3 - Starting off the day with Pure Serenity...

 

Ahhh, my favorite time of the day. A litte after sunrise when everyone is sleeping. And I am alone on the balcony. THIS is what cruising is all about.

 

 

 

 

Breakfast as we had decided would be in the Great Outdoors.

 

 

But there is also this GREAT Kids Cafe...(nice place to sit when it gets too windy outside)

 

 

 

And MORE THAN enough selections in the Garden Cafe - anything you could possibly want to eat...Made To Order Omlet Stations too (and yes, two different kinds of Eggs Benedict)

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Day 3 continued - The Gem Installs a Wave Pool (well, not really, but according to many people on the ship they did)

 

Since one of the few channels we receive is not the Weather Channel, we have no idea how close we came to Phillipe - but on Day 3, the Main Pool became a WAVE POOL.

 

And my 11 year old declared it the BEST CRUISE SHIP POOL EVER!

 

The slide attendant told everyone to STAY IN THE MIDDLE. And my daughter and I had a blast. Some people watched from the sidelines and deemed it wayyy too dangerous. Chickens :P

 

Later that day, one woman at the baby pool was telling another that the "Gem had installed a Wave Pool" - I said "it's the movement of the ship, not a wave pool. So she says "Then why is the Adult Pool not doing it?" I said IT IS." but it is a different design and doesn't allow the water to flow as freely. And she said "I still think it's a Wave Pool" and I said "You let me know while we're docked for the next 3 days how that wave pool works for ya" ;)

 

VIDEO HERE - Click on the pool picture below to SEE the wave action! :D

 

[Sauer-kraut]

OMG! That video is too funny. :D I kind of used to do that in the bathtub when I was little, make the water move from end to end....of course Mom never appreciated the 'overflow'.

[crusinmama06]

Day 3 - Wooohooo Hitting the Slide

 

Ever been on a cruise ship slide? Well, neither have I. So for your viewing pleasure, here is VIDEO of the Gem water slide - I tried not to scream, didn't want to sound worse than my kids.

 

Click on the Slide Picture Below to Start Video....

 

 

A great day was had by all. We braved the "wave pool". Rode the slides. And warmed up in the hot tubs (yes, even with the babies in it, I needed to warm up after the wave pool)

 

 

 

 

Then at 2:45 we dried off and tried "Family Balloon Making" - notice, that blue "chihuahua" made it all the way back to PA. We HAD to. There were many tears when we tried to tell her that he wanted to stay on the ship...oops.

 

 

[crusinmama06]

Before getting ready for Dinner (Yes, it's CAGNEY's NIGHT, I took a little walk around the ship to get some of the Sports Court)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crusinmama06]

And a couple more from the pool deck on that sea day...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rules for the SLIDE, yes, they were allowing babies on the slide with their parents. Nuff said. It does say that a child under 6 must be accompanied by an adult and that's it.

 

[crusinmama06]

Day 3 Suite Snack - canapes

 

 

CAGNEYS

 

But enough with the snacks, it was TIME FOR CAGNEY'S for DINNER! And let me tell you, it was worth the wait! If I could have eaten at Cagney's for dinner every night, I would have been in heaven. It was delicious. The service was outstanding. And at the end of the meal, as soon as we gave our cards, David, the concierge came running over to see if everything was going ok. Yeah, not much to complain about after a meal like this.

 

 

Clam Chowder

 

 

Blue Cheese Wedge

 

 

Lobster Bisque

 

 

5oz fillet mignon, medium well with Scalloped Potatoes and Bernaise Sauce (cut for child)

 

[crusinmama06]

Brownie Sundae for one child...

 

 

Rasberry Creme Brulee - OH MY this is GOOOD

 

 

Dessert Sampler with Apple Pie, Cheesecake Lollipops and Brownie

 

[gelo7]

Dress Up or Not Night - My Family...

 

And if you are wondering if you will be out of place, we were told that the Grand Pacific was the "Formal Dining Room" - we were given a letter from the concierge that said "no shorts after 5:30" HOWEVER, in the dailies, as you can see it says "Resort Casual and shorts are allowed in all dining venues after 5:30 p.m. Shoes and shirts must be worn" So that means - DO WHAT YOU WANT! The table next to us had a group of YOUNG people wearing tank tops, baggy jean shorts holding BOTTLES OF ALCOHOL in them, t-shirts, baseball caps and the girls all had daisy dukes on. I thought the older couple being led behind them was going to have a heart attack. They stopped, retreated back to the hostess. Then security came back a few times. It was my dinner entertainment for the evening...lol.

 

 

 

 

 

Great Pictures and great start.

[BrianAlt]

Anyone that thinks that was a wave pool has never seen a wave pool!

 

I mean it looked fun, but pretty tame.

[jimswims]

What did he do for your teenagers? I am intriqued. lol I think I really underutilized Roy. I know we could have sent him for our nightly Blue Lagoon run - but we really enjoyed getting out there ourselves. I guess I am just so used to at least some interaction with the kids and our suite attendants. Heck, on our last cruise, we had the cabin attendant up the hall making towel animals for us. His name was Oscar. Our cabin looked like a darn towel animal zoo. And on the last one my 7 year old had her own "bar tender" who knew her by name and kept calling her over for "cokes and cherries on a sword" (I don't drink, so don't try to figure out how my 7 year old had her own bar tender :p)

 

I promise you that the clock was in the bedroom when we left! That is weird that it was not there. I am glad that you got one as it did help us at times too.

 

Roy was great with getting DVD's for the kids when they wanted to relax a bit. He would always check with them each day to see if they wanted another. We also liked to have Ice Tea in the afternoons. He would bring us a pitcher every day with the daily treats. He also brought cookies for the kids and club sandwiches and chips every day. Also, Roy did serve breakfast in the suite one or two mornings. This was a nice change for us and the kids slept in a bit.

 

We enjoy breakfast at Cagney's. We do like the quiet atmosphere over the louder Garden Cafe. However, we do not eat there every day. It depends on our mood and the weather. I agree that The Great Outdoors is fantastic for breakfast, lunch, and late night under the stars.

 

I love the video of the slide. I went down that thing so many times! I am enjoying the pictures and the review.