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

[crusinmama06]

it got light really quick! that sunrise doesnt wait about lol

 

Yes, amazing, huh! Actually, in between I went and took one last ALL GLASS shower. And once again, I apologize to the good people of New York City (I really hope those glass showers are one way glass or there are some newly blinded people in NYC :o)

 

As much as I hate that last morning of a cruise, the view coming into New York was spectacular! Thanks for posting those pics. So beautiful:D

 

Yes, it was really a sight to see. I didn't want to miss a moment of it.

 

It's great that you were able to have the discipline to do schoolwork while on vaca. I don't know if I would have been that diligent.

 

It was rough. Especially when she missed an event she really wanted to go to. But she knows if she wants to keep cruising, she must make some sacrifices and giving up a few hours a day was more than worth it. ;)

 

you guys looked like cruise like your norwegian's , the review was one of the best i have ever seen,and makes us wish that next may was around the corner...

 

thanks for taking the time to write and post....

 

Aww thanks! Yeah I guess I did cruise like I am Norwegian. Who knew? ;)

 

 

Thanks for all the info. Especially about the kids programs

 

Not a problem! It was MY pleasure! Thanks for stopping in to read it

 

 

 

Aww thanks so much!!! He loved loved loved the pirate stuff on this trip!!The pirate museum in nassau bahamas is not to be missed for the little pirates. It was very cool and unique all be it a little frightening in reality for littler ones.

 

I completely agree with your reviews of the Man from Mars! That was without a doubt one of the best shows I have ever seen while cruising! His skit during the farewell show was insanely funny too!!! I am glad to see NCL changing up the entertainment from the same old same old....

 

MAN FROM MARS......NOT TO BE MISSED!!!!!! Enjoyed reading your review!!!

 

I keep wanted to check out that pirate museum - one day! I am glad he had such a great time! And my girls remember him too! I missed Man From Mars at the Farewell Party - I know I shouldn't have.

 

LOL! I totally understand. I like bread, too. On the Jade last November they had these AWESOME rolls. Small, round, warm, wholewheat rolls...they were DELICIOUS!!! My husband laughs at me because occasionally I still mention them! Fingers crossed that they'll make an appearance on the Star in April.

~Tanya

 

What is there not to love about bread? It's all good!!!!

[kjquilts]

Thank you so much for your review. You have a beautiful family and it looks like you had a wonderful cruise.

 

Never been to Bermuda but there's a first time for everything. Booked the Breakaway this morning for my 65th birthday June 2013. Was debating between Hawaii and Bermuda but your review and the new ship smell won me over.

[patseacruiser]

LOL...I have been VERY lucky with those videos on my past few cruises. The last one I was laughing so hard my video was shaking because my friend was screaming so loud, she had the entire Deck laughing. {she's the bad one ;)}

 

NO I AM NOT THE BAD ONE!

 

And if Morgan likes bread I see no mention of the pretzel bread in this review. How could you leave that out? I LOVE pretzel bread!

[crusinmama06]

DEBARKATION - no, NCL hasn't changed their minds, they are still making us get off.

 

They cleared the ship and started SELF DEBARK at 7:45 a.m. - Announcements were made that all guests who would like to carry their own bags off can immediatley come to the gangway and exit the ship.

 

The instructions say that ALL GUESTS must be out of their cabins by 8:00 a.m. Of course, suite guests can proceed to Cagney's for breakfast. But then, we would be missing out on the buffet and would still be serving ourselves the cereal, muffins and OJ. :p

 

So we headed to LA CUCINA - where you can get your food at any one of the buffets within a quick walking distance (I grabbed ours at The Great Outdoors) and there was PLENTY of seating at LA CUCINA. It was nice to avoid the last day madness of the buffet because few people knew about the extra seating in the Italian restaurant.

 

At 8:30 a.m - we made our way to the Stardust Theatre (we were stopped 3 times and asked "And you are going WHERE?") We knew where WE were going, I guess they thought I was going to try to make a V-line and hide out in a display of sweatshirts (who told them? plot foiled.)

 

We arrived at the Stardust and saw the concierge David with a phone attached to his ear (he is one busy guy because he is ALWAYS on that phone). And we went inside to waited to be "escorted" off the ship. By 9:00 am everyone jumps up because I guess the word has come down from the top that we can leave. In minutes we are making our way off the ship and in a few quick "dings" of our cards, we are "officially" no longer passengers of the Gem. :(

 

We are guided to the "VIP luggage" area where the luggage handlers are vying for your business. Then through customs, no nothing to declare, I did not bring fruit, soil, livestock or $10,000 in cash (I WISH!) back with me from Bermuda.

 

Up to the parking garage, into the car, onto the street where a NYC traffic patrol officer SCREAMS "LET'S GO! GET IT MOVING! DRIVE THE CAR. MOVE IT! MOVE! COME ON!" :mad:

 

Ohhh yeah, back to reality! Isn't it nice? :eek::p

 

Thanks for sharing our adventure all!!!!

 

[crusinmama06]

Thank you so much for your review. You have a beautiful family and it looks like you had a wonderful cruise.

 

Never been to Bermuda but there's a first time for everything. Booked the Breakaway this morning for my 65th birthday June 2013. Was debating between Hawaii and Bermuda but your review and the new ship smell won me over.

 

HAHAHA the new ship smell!!! I love it! Have a great time!!! :D

 

NO I AM NOT THE BAD ONE!

 

And if Morgan likes bread I see no mention of the pretzel bread in this review. How could you leave that out? I LOVE pretzel bread!

 

Ohhhh yes you are! And I forgot to post about MY HUNT FOR THE PRETZEL BREAD! So I get onboard, first day, and we go to the buffet to look for the PAT'S FAMOUS PRETZEL BREAD! It was quite comical - everyone looking for this bread. So we find some obvious looking pretzel, rolls, looking bread. We get some on a plate. Eat some. It tastes like a soft pretzel. We all say "Eh!" And that was the end of it.

 

Now please don't hurt me. :eek:

[European_CruiseGirl]

How did you like the suite disembarkation (with the consierge escorting you out)? Did you feel you got faster out of the ship etc?

 

Just wondering if there is a value added on that as we did not notice any value added last year (had a fabulous cruise in any case!!! Love that shower and bathtub with the view!). We waited 10 mins at the designated suite guest disembarkation area for the consierge to tell us to go (this was approx 9:30). By that time there were no lines whatsoever so everyone was walking out leisurerly - suite passenger or not. We were left wondering what the value added was. :o Perhaps our disembarkation was overall a very smooth one. :)

[cherylroslyn]

Fantastic revew. I just spent my entire lunch hour reading your review and I unfortunately can't view any of your pictures. I know they are great because everyone is raving about them.....

 

 

 

So just wanted to let you know that your review, as a stand alone piece of literature without pictures, is really great as well.....

 

 

Wish I could view the pictures!!!!!!

 

 

 

:o

[crusinmama06]

How did you like the suite disembarkation (with the consierge escorting you out)? Did you feel you got faster out of the ship etc?

 

Just wondering if there is a value added on that as we did not notice any value added last year (had a fabulous cruise in any case!!! Love that shower and bathtub with the view!). We waited 10 mins at the designated suite guest disembarkation area for the consierge to tell us to go (this was approx 9:30). By that time there were no lines whatsoever so everyone was walking out leisurerly - suite passenger or not. We were left wondering what the value added was. :o Perhaps our disembarkation was overall a very smooth one. :)

 

I was going to mention that. ;):o I kind of have a love/hate relationship with suite passenger debarks. And this just isn't with NCL, this is with all cruise lines. By the time you bust your behind getting all the way to the whatever theatre they are putting you in (why is it always a theatre, they do this on RCI as well). The first color AFTER suite is being called and they are making their way off the ship just as quickly. :confused:

 

This time was slightly better than my last RCI experience. Yes, we fought our way through the crowds of people to get to the Theatre. And we waited and waited for the suite guests to be "dismissed". But, we actually were the first off AFTER Self-Debark. We seemed to wait forever though for self-assist to be finished. Is it always that long on other cruise lines? I thought 9am was rather long - What happened to 8am? Maybe 8:30am would have been perfect. But that's just me. When breakfast was over and we were waiting in the Theatre, I just wanted to get off (kids were antsy sitting in a empty theatre). But we had to wait.

 

Fantastic revew. I just spent my entire lunch hour reading your review and I unfortunately can't view any of your pictures. I know they are great because everyone is raving about them.....

 

So just wanted to let you know that your review, as a stand alone piece of literature without pictures, is really great as well.....

Wish I could view the pictures!!!!!!:o

 

Awww thanks! So I guess you can't access photobucket pictures at work? Some others have told me the same thing.

[crusinmama06]

Anyone looking to download the menus from Gem, another CCer scanned and posted the menus for Jewel. They are EXACTLY what we had on Gem...

 

Just substitute the name of their dining room for Magenta and The Grand Pacific. ;)

 

But if you want to see what we ate in the MDRs on Gem last week, THIS is it...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=30096540&postcount=5

[BrianAlt]

 

Tell her she's supposed to look sad when it is over! :( ;) :D

[lgfromdg]

Thanks so much for this wonderful, informative review. I'm boarding the Gem Sunday and am so excited.

 

One question - can you rent beach towels at Horseshoe Beach or do you need to bring them from the ship?

[mmastroserio]

Anyone looking to download the menus from Gem, another CCer scanned and posted the menus for Jewel. They are EXACTLY what we had on Gem...

 

Just substitute the name of their dining room for Magenta and The Grand Pacific. ;)

 

But if you want to see what we ate in the MDRs on Gem last week, THIS is it...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=30096540&postcount=5

 

Is the order of the meals exactly as the link above? Is the first night lobster Night? I love your reveiw. I have 26 days to go and I cannot wait.

[European_CruiseGirl]

Anyone looking to download the menus from Gem, another CCer scanned and posted the menus for Jewel. They are EXACTLY what we had on Gem...

 

Just substitute the name of their dining room for Magenta and The Grand Pacific. ;)

 

But if you want to see what we ate in the MDRs on Gem last week, THIS is it...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=30096540&postcount=5

 

I seem to have a problem with the above link. It takes me to the other CCer's scanned menus for Jewel. Not your post. :(

[darrengs]

I seem to have a problem with the above link. It takes me to the other CCer's scanned menus for Jewel. Not your post. :(

 

 

That is what she said, that the menus in that link are from the Jewel. But are exactly the same.

[crusinmama06]

Thanks so much for this wonderful, informative review. I'm boarding the Gem Sunday and am so excited. One question - can you rent beach towels at Horseshoe Beach or do you need to bring them from the ship?

 

I didn't see any. We took ours from the ship.

 

Is the order of the meals exactly as the link above? Is the first night lobster Night? I love your reveiw. I have 26 days to go and I cannot wait.

 

No, the order is wrong, I did notice that. Our lobster night was night 5. But the food itself was exact, just out of order.

 

That is what she said, that the menus in that link are from the Jewel. But are exactly the same.

 

Exactly. :D Thanks!

[European_CruiseGirl]

Oh noooo.... :o :o

 

I thought there might be pictures of the actual foods you ate from every meal. Feeling kinda stupid. :o :D :o :D

[mr&mrscruiselover]

Great review. Enjoyed all the pictures; you have a beautiful family.

[crusinmama06]

Oh noooo.... :o

 

I thought there might be pictures of the actual foods you ate from every meal. Feeling kinda stupid. :o :D

 

Ohhh my husband would have killed me. He was already telling me to STOP WITH THE FOOD PICTURE TAKING. And people were staring. :p

 

Great review. Enjoyed all the pictures; you have a beautiful family.

 

Thank you! Thanks for taking the time to read it! :D

[pcreek]

:(

Now I'm sad....I'm done reading your review...kinda like the last day of the cruise! <sigh>

 

If the pretzel rolls were exciting to you - they sell them at Wegman's Grocery (east coast chain) not sure if you have any around you.

 

{Hi Pat!! ::waving:: }

 

Thanks again, Michele for a WONDERFUL review! Totally enjoyed sharing your experience. :D

[bmlovell]

loved your review really great awesome you getting upgraded just as we did ! looks like you had a great trip.:D

[crusinmama06]

:(

Now I'm sad....I'm done reading your review...kinda like the last day of the cruise! <sigh>

 

If the pretzel rolls were exciting to you - they sell them at Wegman's Grocery (east coast chain) not sure if you have any around you.

 

{Hi Pat!! ::waving:: }

 

Thanks again, Michele for a WONDERFUL review! Totally enjoyed sharing your experience. :D

 

I will have to tell Pat to check out Wegman's. She will probably tell me that it's just not the same. The ship's not included. ;)

 

loved your review really great awesome you getting upgraded just as we did ! looks like you had a great trip.:D

 

I know! And I didn't have to pay anyone to flush the toilets above us until I got the upgrade (which was MY PLAN B :p) lol.

[elbodans]

First I'd like to say...I've SO ENJOYED reading this trip report. Thank you so much for posting it!

 

Second...yet another great tip you didn't know you gave me--I'm completely getting up early to watch us sail into NYC. I was obviously planning on watching us leave--and arrive in Bermuda--but I didn't think about watching the city skyline approach in the early morning hours. How beautiful!

 

And third (and a bit off topic)--for the person above who wanted lots of food pics--I DO take photos of EVERYTHING I eat when I travel...so I promise a food-filled post at some point when I return. Sailing on the Gem tomorrow! :eek:

 

Again, thanks so much for this informative, entertaining, and well-written cruise review. I'm glad you and your family had a great trip! :D

[crusinmama06]

First I'd like to say...I've SO ENJOYED reading this trip report. Thank you so much for posting it!

 

Second...yet another great tip you didn't know you gave me--I'm completely getting up early to watch us sail into NYC. I was obviously planning on watching us leave--and arrive in Bermuda--but I didn't think about watching the city skyline approach in the early morning hours. How beautiful!

 

And third (and a bit off topic)--for the person above who wanted lots of food pics--I DO take photos of EVERYTHING I eat when I travel...so I promise a food-filled post at some point when I return. Sailing on the Gem tomorrow! :eek:

 

Again, thanks so much for this informative, entertaining, and well-written cruise review. I'm glad you and your family had a great trip! :D

 

YES! Please do take pictures of the food! I'd love to read that review! It will be like me going all over again!. :D And without my husband griping at me for taking pictures of his food. ;) HAVE A GREAT CRUISE!

 

And NYC came into view at about 4:30 (in the pitch dark). The statue of Liberty was suppose to be at 6:30 am.

 

I forgot to post my picture of Lady Liberty on Sail Away...so here she is from DAY 1...

 

[wrp96]

Great review Michele. Boy your girls have gotten so big.

[DKP1999]

Michele--This is a wonderful, wonderful review! I enjoyed it more than any other I've ever read! And thank you for all the great photos--absolutely loved them! Those videos were something! It was so nice feeling like I was back on the ship. Thanks again for all your hard work!

 

Hope to sail again with you some day.

 

Dolores