NCL Gem -10-Day E. Caribbean- Jan 29-Feb 8,2012 - Review and Pictorial

[computerworks]

St. Johns

 

Cruz Bay, where the people ferry docks

 

 

 

Quick stop at JJ's for Bloody Marys

 

[computerworks]

Out on the coastal highway headed to Trunk Bay....one of the most beautiful beaches you can find.

 

 

 

...a couple of bucks to rent beach chairs and we had it made.

 

 

 

[kato92]

Excellant job...keep it coming:)

[computerworks]

From there, we zipped south across the island and stopped at the Skinny Legs Bar in Coral Bay

 

 

 

 

Good snacks...and primo Pain Killers.

 

Back on the motorbike for the return trip. There are great little shops at the Skinny Legs bar and we bought some snazzy t-shirts.

 

 

The vistas were breathtaking

 

[computerworks]

Waiting for the car barge, we watched the lizards play

 

 

Cap the day with a glass of Port at the Bali Hai...and start planning the next day.

 

 

G'night...next stop: Antigua

 

 

(posting break...more tonight) ;)

[tee3240]

Aawww.... More, more please! It is like reliving our trip last January. Same itinerary. Can't wait the hear what you did in St. Martin (orient beach maybe?), etc.

[russianmom]

Another great review with awesome pictures!

 

Looking forward to the rest:)

[snorklinbarb]

Sounds like you had a fantastic time on the Gem. We were on the Jan. 18th cruise and really had a good time!

 

My heart's palpitating thinking about the motorbikes from St. T and ferry and then Trunk Bay and Coral Bay and getting back in time with no breakdowns.:eek:;) We've camped on St. John's a couple of times at Maho Bay and I remember way back when we'd hitchhike from beach to beach. Such a beautiful place.

 

Our trip sounds very tame when I think about yours.:D

[lidodeckfan]

Awesome pics! Cannot wait for more. 8 more months until we board. It will be a long 8 months .

[PCLMassachusetts]

48 days and 22 hours to go until we board. As if we weren't excited enough, your review and pics have put us into a frenzy. Great job, and please keep the photos coming.

[Cattie]

I did steer for a while, but not for long...

 

 

and help them navigate...I found a slower route back to NYC :cool:

 

 

 

More to come... I will prep and post the details on our five ports later.

 

Nice Jersey!! I'll be sporting mine in April on the Star! Did you happen to see if they had any games on? I'm not sure what sports channels NCL has, and Real will be playing Barfa when I'm away! I HAVE to see it!

[Once A Nurse]

Wonderful Photos - - brings back fond memories.

What time did you have to be up and out to get such great uncrowdwd photos?

[cruitenn]

This was our fourth time on the Gem and the trip was planned as a winter getaway.

We have been to all the ports before, but planned different activities for each. We really like the Gem and are very comfortable onboard.

 

Spoiler alert - as a card-carrying NCL "cheerleader," there is nothing bad in this review. :p

 

It was another perfect trip on a great ship with an outstanding crew and excellent service. We subscribe to the mantra that there is no such thing as a bad cruise and that any issue can be fixed. In our case, again, there was nothing to fix.... the trip was outstanding.

 

I mentioned more than once to some of the officers that, after more than a dozen voyages on NCL, I am constantly astounded how they just keep getting better and they continue to delight us.

 

(Warned ya...cheerleader. :o )

 

Out of NY, it had a nice itinerary...2.5 days at sea....5 days, 5 ports, bang-bang-bang... then 2.5 days to relax on the way home. We thoroughly enjoy the time on the ship, and we are "attack" tourists that try and wring as much out of our port days as possible.

 

This trip had an afternoon in San Juan, then stops in St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Maarten and Tortola.

 

I'll start with a quick photo tour of parts of the ship and then post on each of the ports.

 

We definitely love the Gem, the officers, staff and crew. We have actually done the January/February itinerary to the Southern Carribean every year, on the Gem since she first came to NY. We also did the Mediterranean and Bermuda sailings on her. Guess you can tell we lover the Gem too!!!:D

 

Unfortunately we have put cruising on hold since July, 2011 due to my DH's health so thanks for taking time and sharing your trip with us. The pictures are great and bring such good memories for us so please keep them coming. Hopefully, we can cruise again towards the end of this year.:)

[SudsyCanuk]

Awesome pictures Buddy. Thanks for the view. We are sailing for the first time ever, and will be on the Gem this March. Cheers!

[debnjoe1438]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

[snorklinbarb]

We definitely love the Gem, the officers, staff and crew. We have actually done the January/February itinerary to the Southern Carribean every year, on the Gem since she first came to NY. We also did the Mediterranean and Bermuda sailings on her. Guess you can tell we lover the Gem too!!!:D

 

Unfortunately we have put cruising on hold since July, 2011 due to my DH's health so thanks for taking time and sharing your trip with us. The pictures are great and bring such good memories for us so please keep them coming. Hopefully, we can cruise again towards the end of this year.:)

 

Really hope Tom will be feeling better & better and that one of these days you'll be signing on to "your" roll call here on CC.:D

 

The date in your post has come & gone so hopefully that means you'll be ready to cruise sooner rather than later. Be well.

[computerworks]

Nice Jersey!! I'll be sporting mine in April on the Star! Did you happen to see if they had any games on? I'm not sure what sports channels NCL has, and Real will be playing Barfa when I'm away! I HAVE to see it!

 

Hala Madrid! :p

 

You may get lucky with El Clasico.... when Farza plays Madrid, it may be on ESPN... we got to see a little Series A on the ship.

 

Just ESPN and Sky News (clips, no games).

[computerworks]

Our third stop - Antigua

 

From the pier, leaving the ship

 

 

 

True to form, we planned an aggressive day on Antigua with a list of must do's.

They say there are 365 beaches there...if we could, we'd see 'em all...but we had to pick our favorites.

 

We had a rental car waiting for us at the pier and we set out to see the three best beaches on the island (IMHO)....and a few other highlites.

We set out on our adventure by heading East to the very end of the island, in search of Long Bay and the Grand Pineapple Resort. Just before you get there, though, it's a quick detour to Devil's Bridge, a natural rock formation.

 

 

Several locals had their trinkets and souvenirs and my wife had more fun meeting and chatting with them, as I risked my life to get some good pictures of the rocks. That's our trusty fliptop 4x4 to the right.

 

 

 

[computerworks]

It's amazing how many pictures one can take of a rock. Once you get started, it's hard to stop.

 

 

 

Very interesting formations

 

 

[computerworks]

From there we rumbled back to the main road and discovered Long Bay. The Grand Pineapple Resort sells day passes if you wanted to spend a full day on the facility.

 

We tried to get in to "look around" but could not get past the main gate without a pass.

 

Remember, though, like all beaches in Antigua...they are public, so pass the Pineapple entrance and just park at the beach.

 

Beautiful....

 

 

This is the Grand Pineapple

 

 

...and this is the public part of the beach. :-)

 

 

 

Very nice restaurant right at the shore.... buy a drink and use the head. Whenever I got up to take pictures, a bird would land on the rim of my glass and take a sip... explained the birds flying in goofy circles.

 

 

One of the prettiest beaches I have ever seen

 

[computerworks]

After a short swim, we grabbed the map and headed South for Nelson's Dockyard and Museum.

 

A word about the infrastucture of Antigua....

 

Here's the deal, there are two roads on the whole island with Route numbers...all the rest have no signs, some have no names.

 

If you stop and ask for directions, no matter where, no matter who... they tell you how to get where you are going using churches and gas stations.

 

"Oh...you have to go down this road a'ways, pass the church and turn at the gas station."

 

Without petrol stations and houses of worship, we would still be driving there.

 

Nelson's Dockyard was fun; we stopped and had lunch there. A maritime museum and loads of v-e-r-y big boats moored or being worked on.

 

 

 

 

[computerworks]

Back on the road, and heading back Westward (our plan was to totally circumnavigate the island), I took a road called Fig Tree that passes through the rain forest area.

We would have had to stop and use climbing gear to drop down and run around in the forest, so we stayed above the canopy.

There were cable cars (ala bucket rides) that you could take thru the forest.

 

 

 

 

[computerworks]

Reaching the Southwest coast, we turned and headed north...destination Turner's Beach.

Very nice facility...Restaurant and Bar, plus a great beach.

 

We rested and had some local beer...and took a swim

 

 

 

 

Back on the road and heading North, you could literally turn left onto any dirt or gravel road and end up at a beautiful beach...each had their own flavor.

 

 

 

[computerworks]

Next stop on our hit list was Valley Church Beach.

 

We knew where it was but I was damned if I could find a sign or the entrance.

 

We went up and down the main road several times, with me saying "...I know it's somewhere right around here."

 

I finally stopped at a little roadside fruit stand and asked for directions.

The friendly lady said, "oh...it's just down this road a bit...when you get to a big church, turn right on the gravel road."

I asked, "What's the name of the church?" Looking at me like I was having a bad day, she said, "....why, it's Valley Church."

 

Slapping my forehead, we got back in the car and drove straight to Valley Church Beach....duh.

 

 

 

Not much in the way of facilities, but a stunning setting.

 

 

 

[computerworks]

Back into town and driving thru though the main city area of St. John's, we spied the Library. My wife is a librarian, so we always seek out the local library and visit it when we can.

No easy parking and a flight up from street level...this one we did a drive-by on.

 

 

 

Back to the ship in time for sail away; I kept thanking Stephen, the HD on the Gem, for not leaving without us at each port.

 

Beautiful sunset to a busy day