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Norwegian Gem Extended Hurricane Sandy Cruise Review with Photos!

YankeeFan4Ever

By YankeeFan4Ever,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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YankeeFan4Ever

YankeeFan4Ever

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Yes, with the exception of the Yankees propaganda (;)) this is, so far, one of the most interesting reviews I have read. And the pics are great!

 

What is a nice guy from Canada like you doing rooting for the Evil Empire????:D

 

 

LOL! Long live the Bronx Bombers! :D

 

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Unfortunately I will have to continue this review after the weekend. But let's all meet back on Monday and find out how the story ends, shall we?

 

Stay safe during the Snowpocalypse.

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Joannel1958

Joannel1958

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We were on the October 20th, Disney Fantasy. We left St Thomas on Wednesday and our captain tried to stay behind the storm. We hugged Cuba and then up the florida coast. Needless to say Sandy slowed down and we were in it. So many people were sick and it was a little scary. Gift shops were a mess, folks with balconies said some of the chairs went over. We hit a wave so big in the middle of the night friday that everything in our room that was on the desk and shelves flew off. We were about six hours late getting back into canaveral and we missed castaway cay. So we sailed an extra day and were still late. It was an experience. The entertainers had a had time on the stage. Dinner was empty since so many were sick. I felt bad for housekeeping they were cleaning up messed everywhere. It took three tugboats to push us back into the dock at Canaveral!!! Was an experience I hope never to have again but the captain could not control the weather. Disney gave us 25% off our next cruise. If you missed you flight they put you up at the park for the night. People were so mad it was crazy. We just took it in stride and will enjoy our 25% off!!!

 

 

I am loving your pictures!!

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Rockapulco

Rockapulco

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Norwegian Star Departing St-Thomas ahead of us

 

incowi.jpg

 

Next stop, New York! (or so we thought...)

 

 

 

We were on the Star,on a 14 night repo NY to NOLA. we had no issues other than some wind. Seas were 3-6', but we went south. I can see my balcony from this picture and I know I was on it during sail away but cannot see us lol. We had a wonderful cruise until 10/30 when I finally spoke to my kids in Rockaway NY and heard about our house getting flooded. We lost the whole ground floor.We tried to get home from every port but the airports were closed, and then we had sea days and couldn't get home. Stayed on the ship, cried for a week and got off in NOLA and flew immediately home. Now we are almost done with the reconstruction and have the Gem booked for June 1st. Can't wait for the rest of your review. Thanks for posting! Fran

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camz

camz

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Yes, with the exception of the Yankees propaganda (;)) this is, so far, one of the most interesting reviews I have read. And the pics are great!

 

What is a nice guy from Canada like you doing rooting for the Evil Empire????:D

 

 

Being a Phillies fan myself, I have to agree with this question. :cool:

Edited by camz
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NayRN

NayRN

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LOL! Long live the Bronx Bombers! :D

 

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Unfortunately I will have to continue this review after the weekend. But let's all meet back on Monday and find out how the story ends, shall we?

 

Stay safe during the Snowpocalypse.

 

Besides the Yankees thing you have going on, you're now going to make us wait until after the weekend:eek:!! Wrong, just plain wrong:rolleyes:!!! Now instead of having some great reading, I get to just watch the snow fly!!! Well, I hope you enjoy your weekend! ;)

 

Seriously, this is probably one of the best reviews I've read and at least we know that you both made it home safely...so there is a happy ending!!

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CruisinMaterial

CruisinMaterial

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Being a Yankees fan living in Red Sox territory I'm glad you made it into Boston. I was at Long Wharf pier watching you folks pull in that morning. Lots of ships came into Boston harbor to ride out the storm. One Princess ship spent her whole cruise here in Boston instead of heading to Bermuda. The cruise season usually ends by that time for Cruiseport Boston but they worked tirelessly to accommodate any and all stranded vessels at sea who wanted to come in! :)

 

Keep those final updates coming. Would love to see the pics of the ship pulling into our fair city!

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emcee207

emcee207

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Being a Yankees fan living in Red Sox territory I'm glad you made it into Boston. I was at Long Wharf pier watching you folks pull in that morning. Lots of ships came into Boston harbor to ride out the storm. One Princess ship spent her whole cruise here in Boston instead of heading to Bermuda. The cruise season usually ends by that time for Cruiseport Boston but they worked tirelessly to accommodate any and all stranded vessels at sea who wanted to come in! :)

 

Keep those final updates coming. Would love to see the pics of the ship pulling into our fair city!

 

Traitor!!!;)

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kylenyc

kylenyc

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Great review. Love the pictures and sorry you got caught up in Sandy. Can't believe they didn't let you into NY but can't blame them for not wanting the ship docked there when Sandy made landfall. I'm guessing we were one of the ships already safe harbored in Boston so you couldn't escape there in time. I still feel bad for those seriously affected by Sandy. I heard about the trip from Terry from Tour Samana wih Terry who was on your cruise. I was on this itinerary in December and repeating it 12 days.

 

... Lots of ships came into Boston harbor to ride out the storm. One Princess ship spent her whole cruise here in Boston instead of heading to Bermuda. The cruise season usually ends by that time for Cruiseport Boston but they worked tirelessly to accommodate any and all stranded vessels at sea who wanted to come in! :)...

Yup. I was on Caribbean Princess. Princess and Boston took good care of us. I woke in the night a few times as the ship was vibrating while they had tugs pushing up against the hull all night to keep the ship against the dock. Unfortunately many people were stressed with their loved ones and homes in the storm path . Many people were from the area anyway and already been to Boston and so weren't exactly thrilled to be in Boston in the rain either. We had no chance to go to Halifax or other ports because they were closed for the season, but at least not stuck in 20-30 ft swells :eek:

 

Pictures of the CP parked in front another ship safe harbored in Boston and calm before the storm.

sandy-1.JPGsandy-2.JPGsandy-3.JPG

Edited by kylenyc
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Brighton Line

Brighton Line

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Yup. I was on Caribbean Princess. Princess and Boston took good care of us.

 

Same here on the Caribbean Princess in Boston as well. Two Tugs, 21 lines and 6 thrustors were used to keep the ship against the pier in 70 to 90 knot winds pushing away at us at the height of the storm.

 

Great review, I'll post some pix of the Tugs in action tonight.

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YankeeFan4Ever

YankeeFan4Ever

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Landfall

 

Ok, where were we? Ah yes…Captain Gustavsen made the official decision to head east of Nantucket Island to ride out Hurricane Sandy. She was expected to make landfall in the early evening hours of Monday October 29th.

 

As we sailed towards Nantucket, the ship was really starting to rock and roll. The Captain even announced that the elevators had to be shut down because it was too dangerous and although the movement of the ship was quite unnerving, my wife and I never felt that we were in any kind of danger.

 

It got really bad around dinner time, as my wife and I made our way to the Grand Pacific dining room. We literally had to hold on to the backs of chairs as we made our way to our table. We were seated all the way in the back of the restaurant and the ship was bobbing violently up and down with each massive swell. I had to grab my wine glass a couple of times to avoid having it fall of the table.

 

As soon as our appetizers were served, the ship decided to lurch up and sideways over a wave making it tilt at what seemed to be an impossible angle. Everyone in the dining room let out a collective “WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” It was quite the scene. Even our waiter seemed a little flustered by the movement.

 

After dinner we decided we’d better stay midship in order to avoid feeling nauseous. We proceeded to the atrium and had a few drinks and enjoyed some live music. Around 9 o’clock, feeling a little better, we proceeded to the showroom for the comedian’s set (I apologize, his name escapes me at the moment) who came out wearing a life vest and blowing the emergency whistle. This stunt got a good laugh and seemed to loosen up the crowd. The ship was still rockin’ and several times during his routine, the bow of the ship would crash into a wave and make a sound that I can only describe as cannons being fired. WILD!!!

 

 

Important note

 

I’d like to emphasize that throughout all this, the crew of the Gem did a fantastic job.

 

Captain Gustavsen did a great job of keeping us informed with twice daily updates on Hurricane Sandy and the sea conditions we’d be facing. He and Cruise Director Sinan even put together a video showing our progress towards New York in relation to the path of the storm.

 

The Captain seemed to be out and about a lot during this cruise and I even spoke to him briefly in the atrium as we enjoyed our morning coffees. I shook his hand and thanked him for his decision to leave early and head to New York ahead of the storm. He told me that some people were upset with him, but the majority seemed to echo my feelings.

 

The entire restaurant, hotel and entertainment staff did a fantastic job of feeding us delicious meals, keeping our rooms spotless and entertaining us. There was always live music, trivia, shows and activities to help keep morale up. Our cruise director Sinan was, in 1 word: AMAZING.

 

I can’t say enough positive things regarding the entire staff of the Norwegian Gem, they kept us safe, fed and entertained throughout the entire ordeal and deserve a big kudos from everyone who was onboard.

Edited by YankeeFan4Ever
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www3traveler Holiday Sharing Rare

www3traveler

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I would hope that this is not the LAST posting of your cruise. I would love to hear about getting into Boston and NYC.

I will be on the Gem in May. As I said I had several friends on board The Gem for your cruise (Staff Captain Zeljko Jurac and Sinan and some others). I am glad that cruises like that do not happen very often.

 

Thank You for taking the time write and post pictures.

 

Mandy

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SliceOfLife

SliceOfLife

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I’ve also uploaded 2 youtube videos of the sea conditions on October 28th if anyone’s interested. I think they’re worth a look. :eek:

 

 

 

 

Coming up: The seas increase to 40-50 feet!

 

Wow, impressive videos!!! The sounds of the waves was incredible!

 

Fantastic review! This has been the best review I've read in ages!

 

It's great you were able to still enjoy yourself and not be grumpy that the hurricane ruined your cruise.

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