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

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A relaxing dinner in the Orchid Garden let us review all we did that day

 

 

The "Parade of Chefs" invaded the restaurant to a round of applause

 

 

 

I'll share our 'secret' for our dinner at the Orchid Garden...don't be afaraid to try this.

 

We both really don't like to have just one big entree....

 

...so we have some Hot and Sour soup, the Shrimp Tempura salad... and then order all seven appetizers, with no entrees.

 

Sharing all the different tastes works perfectly for a filling dinner....Asian tapas!

 

Off to the late show...

 

 

...And we called it a day

 

 

Tomorrow is St. Maarten and we have some really ambitious plans for that place. :-)

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Our fourth port of call was St. Maarten

Having been here before, we already had a few places we wanted to revisit, as well as explore.

 

We knew it would be a good day on St. Maarten when we docked to a rainbow.

 

 

We have done Orient Beach in the past, so it was off the agenda for this stop.

 

Our plan was to head West to Maho and then Mullet Bay

 

We wanted to completely circle Simpson Bay and get out of town before the drawbridge schedule kicks in.

A trip up thru Sandy Ground with our lunch stop in Marigot.

 

We picked up our rental car from Hertz right at the pier and, for a few more bucks, got a St. Maarten-loaded GPS. I had my fill of gas station-church directions.

Well, all of St. Maarten is a delight to drive...safe and easy, well-marked streets and roads and...lo and behold, accurate direction signs telling you which way to go for what. Civilized!

 

Before we left the pier, we had to stop at the local Effy's, where my wife had to check if they had discovered any new gems or minerals since our last port.

 

 

We passed Maho and it was already crowded, but it was too early for the planes, so we pressed on to Mullet Bay.

 

This place is special to us....we visited almost 20 years ago and I thought it was pure paradise.

We returned ten years later and, after 2 hurricanes, we almost cried to see the whole beach g-o-n-e....trees and all...just devastated...like a bomb hit it.

Well, I am glad to report that, after ten more years, it's back to 99% of its original splendor.

Only a small drop in elevation from the shore to the water is evidence of past erosion. Now, with a snack bar and facilites, it is a beautiful place again...and I didn't want to leave.

 

Not many people...like a private beach, just for you.

A little hard to find, since the surrounding area is still pretty rough and worn down.

 

 

Crystal clear water, clean, calm, smooth and soft bottom.... heaven.

 

 

Snorkling by the rocks

 

 

Chairs and umbrellas

 

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More...

 

 

 

 

The manatee you see floating is me...

 

 

Don't tell anyone about this...it is the best beach on St. Maarten.

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Next stop, Marigot, on the French side. Not really a long drive, but it takes a lot longer when you yell, "...look, look!" and stop to take a picture or two.

 

 

 

 

 

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Marigot is a neat town with great shopping and restaurants, a pretty harbor and an open-air market.

Being there on a Saturday was a treat...every motor vehicle in the French side of the island comes to town, looking for a parking place.

After 15 minutes of travelling in circles...we found a spot!

 

And just a block away from our first destination...the Marigot Library (remember...wife = librarian)

 

 

 

After the library, I made a bee-line for the first pastry shop I could find and went through a, "...uh, one of those, one of them, two of those creamy things..."

Bring Euros to this part of the island. (they do take dollars, but they give you bigger croissants when you pay in Euros.)

 

We found a nice spot on the harbor, popped a bottle of wine and had lunch.

 

 

The large open market was fun to go through and there are plenty of bars and food places

 

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Next was a drive all the way to the North coast of the island. I had heard of a beautiful beach called Anse Marcel and wanted to visit.

It turns out that the Radisson Resort is at that spot, so we drove there and "visited" the hotel.

 

Again, more "look, look!" stops on the way.

 

 

We had to climb a hill and descend down a two mile road to get to the secluded coastline where the Radisson was located.

 

A very nice property with a large Spa on premises.

 

 

 

 

Once at the beach, the vista was terrific, surrounded by the mountains that we had to drive down to get to it.....a St. Lucia kind of feel.

 

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A great bar right on the shore, with furniture to relax on

 

 

 

 

We had some wicked Mojitos and chilled a bit, taking in the scenery

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Leaving Anse Marcel, we drove down the East Coast towards Oyster Pond

 

 

 

and headed back to Philipsburg.

 

Spent some time at the shops near the pier

 

 

 

...and bought all the island gear we needed.

 

This says it all...

 

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Calling it a good day, we went back to our ship.

 

 

 

...to be greeted by the staff and refreshed with ice water and cold towels.

 

 

Claire, the head of Guest Services, was always one of the smiling faces to welcome us back.

 

 

Up to the Haven, for a shower and a hot tub. Drying off, we found Teguh had brought us snacks and a pair of Mojitos.

 

 

...and he snapped a rare picture of both of us together for the scrapbook.

 

 

It was a good day.

 

Tomorrow, Tortola and Super Bowl... hoo-boy.

 

I have to tell you about our Jost Van Dyke adventure...but that'll have to wait for our tomorrow.

 

More to come then.

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[Cattie]

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).

 

I hope it is! Maybe we can win this time! If not I may just jump overboard! Or get really drunk. We caught Real play Racing last year on our Carnival cruise. We where glued to the TV in the casino bar! DH is a Chelsea fan, and I'm the Madrid fan. We have a couple on our RC from UK that is MC fans. I think we have a few Champions League games the week we're away also.

[slotmomma3]

Your trip looks fantastic!! We will be on the Gem in May for Fla/Bahamas and in March again for Caribbean. I see you were in the Haven, which type of cabin were you in. We are in an Owners Suite on both and I would love some feedback!!

[tjc78]

Thanks so much for this wonderful review and pictures! My fiance and I (well wife by the time cruise comes) will be on the Gem again in October for a similar itinerary. Can't wait.

[mizLORInj]

Love to see the photos! Thanks for posting. Was very special to me to see your photo in St. Maarten with Carnival Victory (my first ever cruise) and NCL Gem (last ship I was on in January!) together!

Love Turner's Beach on Antigua too, but after those photos, Valley Church maybe next time instead!

Thanks for posting all these photos. You must have a great album somewhere online?

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(I think I can finish posting the last port day today....more after that from sea days)

 

 

Our fifth port of call - Tortola

 

Docked and ready for the day...a short one, sadly. We only had from 7am to 1 pm at Tortola.

 

 

 

This is a beautiful island with many things to do. We had been here several times before.

In past visits, I already had burned out the brakes on a jeep climbing the mountains and damned near drowned in the riptide at Virgin Gorda, as well as did the cave crawl to the Baths...so we needed a new challenge.

 

With the very short port time, the only sensible thing to do was take a ship's excursion.

We r-e-a-l-l-y wanted to visit Jost Van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar Bar; I spoke with several local tour people and charter captains...no one would take on a 7:00 - 1:00 schedule.

 

Fortunately, NCL had secured an "Escape to Jost Van Dyke" excursion...just what we wanted.

 

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The double-deck charter boat picked us up right at the pier and swiftly did the 45-minute ride to Jost.

 

Here's the rub....no place to dock the boat at Jost...so they get as close to shore as they can, and you jump in and swim to the beach.

 

I thought it would be fun...my wife: not so much. I knew I could manatee-float to shore...she was very apprehensive about the whole deal.

 

A bit of a super-sulk over the swim to shore deal.

 

 

We left the pier with super views of the Gem

 

 

 

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After a relaxing sail, we dropped anchor at Jost Van Dyke....not so far from the beach. The crew took your perishables ashore in plastic tubs, so you wouldn't soak your cameras.

 

I asked a crew member to get a life preserver and let my wife use it like a floatee. (afterthought...real inflatable kiddy arm floatees would have been a good idea.)

 

I jumped in and treaded about to wait for my wife to take the plunge. It was a bit choppy that morning.

She slipped into the water and paddled about with the ring as I watched.

Suddenly, I realized I had drifted about 30 or so feet further out from the boat ...away from shore...and doggie-paddling wasn't working very well.

 

My wife saw me fading into the horizon, so she starts paddling in my direction to hopefully get me onto the life ring as well.

 

I believe in the frenzy that ensued, we were heard yelling to each other, "Jack!..." "...Rose!" "....Jack!" as we drifted apart. Even though that's not our names.

 

Finally the crew rescued two flapping idiots from the choppy seas and swam us to shore with the life ring.

 

Seeing how close we really were makes the whole scene more laughable (err,...in retrospect, that is.)

 

 

Despite the dangers of sea, we made it to our destination.

 

 

Not caring HOW early it was (I helped the staff open the bar), a round of Pain Killers was definitely in order.

 

 

A very picturesque cove with a beautiful beach

 

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Just up the shoreline was a restaurant and Inn

 

 

 

If you really want to get away, they have a small hotel at the Soggy Dollar where you can rent a cottage right on the beach for a week, meals included.

 

 

Time to call it a day

 

Funny how your mind works; the swim OUT to the boat was a piece of cake...not a hitch.

Of course, the Pain Killers may have contributed to the courage involved.

 

A rum-punch filled leisurely sail back to Tortola and a chance to see some island sights.

 

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A welcomed sight as we sailed in

 

 

 

This day was half-port, half sea day as we departed at 1 p.m. and began the trek back to NYC.

 

Hot and sunny, the pool deck was loaded with fun-seekers once we set sail.

 

 

 

A Kid's Diving Competition (more of a cannon ball event)

 

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We came back and had a quick rest stop in the Haven; here's a chance to show some of the features.

 

It's basically a solarium area with a small plonge pool, hot tub, fitness room, with changing room, showers and a steam room.

 

Lovely furnishings of chairs, loungers and table areas. A small buffet has juice and coffee in the morning and cookies and fruit in the afternoon.

A dedicated Bar Server is always there for drinks or whatever.

 

 

The roof is a "convertible" that is opened on warm sunny days

 

 

 

Upstairs is a private sundeck area (Deck 15)

 

 

More pictures of the Haven later... we had to pack up and get ready for a busy evening:

 

Dinner with the Captain and the Super Bowl party

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We were fortunate to have been selected as the Captain's dinner partners.

Between Latitudes parties, Haven parties, Bridge Tours, Atrium discussions and random meetings around the ship, we got to know Capt. Roger Gustavson very well, so a dinner was a fine cap to the trip.

 

 

Wonderfully friendly and fun to be with. How many Captains do you know who will grab his guitar and play a set with the house band at a Spinnaker party?

(Video a bit later)

 

Here's my wife with Elwyn, Group Services Host...and old friend from prior cruises, who was instrumental in making a lot happen during the cruise. She coordinated the CC Meet and Greet, for one.

 

 

After dinner, it was a quick change of colors and off to the Super Bowl party.

 

Where was it? ...Everywhere.

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The game was on most all screens onboard, including the big screen in the Stardust Theater.

We chose to watch in our favorite venue, the Bali Hai.

 

 

Food? They opened up a large meeting room on Deck 7 and setup a tailgate buffet... wings, nachos, dogs, popcorn, etc.

I grabbed a few plates and settled in to watch in the Bali Hai

 

 

With the port days over, we now had a few sea days to relax and get ready to come home.

 

 

Next batch of pics will have some more of activities around the ship from sea days...later.

[Frick_&_Frack]

Thanks for posting all the pictures! We will be on the Gem twice this year and are planning for 2 times next year.

 

Love the pictures of The Haven. That's what sold us to try the Gem in the first place!!!

 

Thanks again!

[libertyschool]

Thank you for the wonderful review and photos!

[Jonniejones]

Hello great review , really enjoying all the photos! did you get many photos of your suite? would be great to see them if thats not to cheeky :D