Gem 9 day East Caribbean 11/7-11/16/2012: Oceanview 4560, Review, Picture, Freestyle

[John Bean]

Thaks for the informaiton.

[RBPR]

Excellent review and thank you for all the information!!

[bean24]

This is my very first comment so I'm not sure if I am doing this right. Boopsahoy... do you have kids cruising with you? this will be our first cruise, and with our kids, is it a good idea to meet people and do excursions with them?

 

We are also on this cruise with our 3 yr old and there is at least one other family with three children.

[QuickieGlenn]

i see in your review that the water taxis now is acessable

 

I know before they would take you if you could climb in the boat

 

I am going there in a few months and it would be great to roll onto the taxi instead of going down the road

 

is this something you witnessed?

[mking8288]

Thanks all, glad to know that the info is helpful in learning some useful tips to plan for your upcoming Gem/East Caribbean Sailing.

 

Here's a little bit of extra info for St. Thomas, USVI for those planning your own excurison, shopping , etc. from latest published 2012 "Official Shopping Guide" & free tourism maps distributed on land -

 

Group fares per person / Taxi Rates -

Havensight Dock (where the Gem is usually docked) to/from Town $4,

to/from Magens Beach $8, to/from Coral World $10, to/from Red Hook Ferry $10

Crown Bay Dock to/from Town $4, to/from Magens Beach $9, and

Crown Bay Dock to/from Havensight Dock $8

 

There is a Kmart for shoppers at the Lockhart Gardens, not far but away from the Havensight Cruise Ship Dock (15 minutes walking distance or, better yet, a quick taxi ride) - for prescriptions, Western Union, US bottled water, soda, liquor/wine/beer, snorkel equipment, VI souvenirs and other usual items. For those who didn't pickup needed items at CVS on the waterfront while making the 1st. stop at San Juan, PR - this will be ideal to stock up

 

i see in your review that the water taxis now is acessable ... I know before they would take you if you could climb in the boat ... I am going there in a few months and it would be great to roll onto the taxi instead of going down the road ... is this something you witnessed?

Glad you bring up this questions - the gentleman did used the water taxi - and, he was traveling with his family as a group in a wheelchair, and the last person to board the water taxi with assistance. But, he has to climb into & out of the water taxi - as the gangway wasn't wide enough to just wheel him on & off the boat. Then, wheelchair was folded up & taken onboard, and we're on our way - didn't slow down others that much, maybe took an extra 2 or 3 minutes. Once we're across the beach & at the town's pier, the wheelchair & gentleman were the first to come off the water taxi. He was physcially strong enough to hold onto and use the railings to steady himself.

 

The folks running the water taxi were very helpful as we weren't riding it with a long line of folks rushing to the town shops that day (as most of them're closed for a major public holiday).

 

The challenge has more to do with the way these water taxis were designed & configured, and aren't exactly ferries (like the big ones used in Bermuda's dockyard with ramps, capable of transporting bikes & scouters, etc.)

 

[cruisin0504]

What a great review!! Thank you! I have been on the Gem twice and still learned things that I did not know for our upcoming trip.

[PatJim]

Yes, I also want to add my thanks for your always thoughtful, detailed comments. Often, I read reviews but never say thanks to the OP. Your review and photos deserve a BIG THANKS!:)

We sailed the Gem for the first time last December. It's a wonderful ship and crew. Had to cancel two planned trips this Sept. and Dec. for a medical emergency, and now that THAT is behind us, promptly booked the Gem for next month. We don't usually do excursions, but prefer walking around, so I was very interested to hear your reviews of the various ports. Thanks, again.

[jmwjones]

Thank you for the review. I have been studying it! I bought two Belkin extension plugs last night!

[mking8288]

All of us have CC to thank for in providing the "platform" to read, post & share our tips, tricks, secrets & know-hows, and to be get more out of it - had we only discovered CC much earlier - better late than never, right ;)Recognizing that some of you are sailing soon on the Gem and/or going to the Caribbeans, please post & write your review - help us and each other for things that "we" couldn't possibly cover and comment on, i.e. Samana/Cayo - as we stayed on the ship to relax, slept late & didn't use our Priority Tender tickets at all (hintsight, maybe we should've)

 

... a wonderful ship and crew. Had to cancel two trips ... for a medical emergency, and now that THAT is behind us, promptly booked the Gem for next month. We don't usually do excursions, but prefer walking around, so I was very interested to hear your reviews of the various ports.

It is a beautiful ship at 5 years, running year-round - we stood underneath the lifeboat & amazed at how well kept the tenders are - as if they're all just freshly repainted white. There is an old saying, health is wealth and with it, one is mobile and go anywhere & everywhere.

 

Prior to our cruise, I did research the ports & also looked at the NCL offered excurisions, none of them appealed to us - we aren't into baking on the beach or water sports, or flying across ziplines, etc. City tours & hightlights often meant paying a premium price just to ride local transportation with a tour guide pointing out many of the obvious along the route. We often just "wing" it - exceptions being Alaksa & Hawaii ...

 

(Old) San Juan, PR is an afternoon arrival for a short stopover with all abroad 8:30 pm. Hotels, bars & restaurants are just across the street, outside the pier - less than 10 minutes easy/slow walking distance, gift shops & stores just slightly uphill on comfortable shoes - no taxis needed (unless you want to ride the $$ horse carriages on the waterfront.) We waited for the herds to rush off to their waiting tour buses to see the fort then leisurely strolled off around 4 pm - there are venders & taxis outside making offers for city tour, politely declined & they backed off (unlike Nassau.) It's good to be on "solid" land after 3 days at sea - it's very warm but not too hot & humid.

 

We've seen our share of historic forts & churches around the world, so just walked around a bit & took our share of pictures, found our way over to Starbuck (air-conditioned) for a "boost" & surf the web on the iPad/downloaded emails and walked the narrow streets to checkout the stores & shops (many do NOT have running AC's.) We then walked 2 blocks over to the local CVS to stock up on sodas & other consumables - suffice to say, non-tourist pricing & very reasonable, no need to drag & carry everything out of NYC. Spend about 2 hours exploring the area on our own & get back onto the ship for MDR dinner, ship-excursion pax were starting to return already and afterward, we listend to ship's public PA announcements over 10 or so "late" passengers around 8:45 pm still unaccounted for.

 

St. Maarteen was virtually closed for a major public holiday, except for a few smart shop owners & businesses that did a booming business with 3 ships docked at the pier. Water taxis were the easy & fast way to get into town, inexpensive at $7 p/p round-trip, unlimited all-day riding. There are shops just outside the piers and stores in-town, just steps away from the beachfront. Plenty of beach chairs with shades to rent, beer at $2 and WiFi available while eating, it is very much tourist-friendly. With a good tourist map, it should be very easy to see things without a guide or get around.

 

As for USVI, we docked at Havensight Pier with 2 other ships, it's a long walk to the stores and we rode the free mall shuttles that took 5 minutes, driver was happy with a nominal tip from everyone. Duty-free shopping is nice here, with generous & special allowances for US Citizens - many buying up cigarettes & alcohol (kept/stored by NCL security upon re-boarding the ship until the last evening.) We didn't venure further into town - plenty of local transportation riding in groups sharing taxis (converted pickup trucks with extended cabs) - ditto same for the beaches, so it's fairly easy to get around & locals are friendly & helpful as English is spoken everywhere. I do have official tourism maps and could scan & post them here, if interested - so that it can be easily referenced together for download (as *.pdf files - for iOS & Android devices)

 

Samana - reviews & opinions among others are mixed, consensus being that there is little to see or do unless you are on a tour, which has been discounted (lack of interest due to words-of-mouth ???) but Cayo beach sounded okay. I would read & gather more info at the Ports of Call for the island.

 

BTW, since you're on the Gem before - did you recall having the Chocoholic Buffet previously?? Last year, on the Jewel - it was held in the Garden Cafe (buffet) instead of the MDR - we've been to too many of them, but still kind of surprised that we didn't have one (while reading about it on other ship sailings). It's mostly for show & tell - good for photo ops ...

 

I bought two Belkin extension plugs last night!

Great - it's indispensable on the road - always keep one in my backpack with the electronic gadgets & accessories. The 3-prong plug is tight but hold down the little white button and it will rotate 90 or 180 degree for optimal position to use the outlets, the charging rate for the 2 mini-usb plug is adequate for camera & cellphone but not for high power devices including iPads or smartphones as some of them will not pair up, test it at home first or bring along the OEM charging.

[jmwjones]

Thanks! Will test charging at home first.

[jmwjones]

If my iphone is on airplane mode will it update time? I was hoping to use it as an alarm clock. I'm worried it needs a signal.

[mking8288]

If my iphone is on airplane mode will it update time? I was hoping to use it as an alarm clock. I'm worried it needs a signal.

Sailing between NYC and the East Caribbean itinerary on the Gem, you will be changing to a time zone with 1 hour difference - the devices (our Androids & iPad) will continue to function as a clock & alarm clock, but not update to the new (land-based) time zone on the ship when it's in the airplane mode (data is turned off).

 

It's very easy to change it, just go into your Settings & find the time/date - and manually change it; and, again on your way to homeport toward the end of the cruise. There will be a reminder card in all the cabins reminding you to change the clock/time overnight as you sleep. The first port-stop is San Juan, PR and as soon as you exit Airplane Mode (as it's extended by still "home" zone for billing purposes with no extra charges for VZW, our carrier) - the clock will be automatically adjusted.

 

Just beware of smartphone devices using up background data while roaming, and turn it off or disabled it - that will allow voice calls and SMS to come thru in case of emergencies. Putting it in Airplane Mode will disabled it all completely, as I'm sure you knew that already.

 

My Android was essentially in Airplane Mode during the cruise and used as a PDA, camera & alarm clock in "Dock Mode" at night inside the cabin - Happy sailing !

[Benji84]

I am going on this itinerary 1/27/13, and I can't wait! Thank you so much for all the great information, this will be my first cruise and this will help me immensely!!!

[boopsahoy]

I am going on this itinerary 1/27/13, and I can't wait! Thank you so much for all the great information, this will be my first cruise and this will help me immensely!!!

 

 

You will be getting on the cruise the day Im getting off! Have a great time!

[PathfinderEss]

Great Review, thanks for posting.

[MNallan]

I thoroughly enjoyed your review! We are going on the Gem April 27th for the Bahamas itinerary. I loved hearing about the ship. I have been on the Jewel but not the Gem. Thank you so much. For talking the time to write all of this. I am sure it was not an easy task. :o