A Teen's Review of the NCL Gem 6/21-6/27/15

[GonzoWCS]

Thanks for this! Enjoying the read and the fresh perspective. We will be on the Gem in October. Can't wait to read more.

 

Gonzo

[DreamingBig1]

I am living vicariously through your journey to Canada on the Gem. I can do this because your review is so fun and thorough. I am enjoying the pictures.

 

I look forward to reading more, and hopefully we get to experience more of your adventures in the future.

 

Good luck at the University of Scranton!

[live_to_cruise]

Thank you to everyone for all of the very kind feedback! I sincerely apologize for the length between my most recent and next postings, as we were on vacation with very limited internet access! Stay tuned for the next installment shortly :)

[live_to_cruise]

I woke up at 7:20 and was in the gym by 7:30 (record time!), it was pretty empty. We had breakfast in the Garden Cafe from 8-8:40, and were off the ship by 9:00 (very easy). We are pretty active people, and when I planned our day in Portland, I read that there are a variety of active things you can do on Peaks Island, so we decided to go there. We walked around the corner to the ferry terminal, bought our $7.50 round-trip tickets, and took the 9:15 ferry to Peaks Island. The ride was about 10 minutes and was smooth and very beautiful. After we arrived, we walked up the hill and down the street, stopping in a few shops, before renting bikes at Brad’s Recycled Bike Shop. The people at Brad’s were VERY friendly, and gave us lots of advice on sights to see. We rented the bikes for 2 hours, and biked around the entire island (about 5 miles). There were a few tough hills, but this gave us a great workout. There were many different places to stop, explore and take pictures off-bike. The scenery was absolutely amazing. It really does take your breath away, and I would love to go back sometime just to take it all in again. Initially, we had thought about kayaking, but decided our decision to bike was best, because we wouldn’t have been able to stop and explore as much as we did. At 12:15 we returned the bikes, and walked to The Inn on Peaks Island (right by the ferry stop), and ordered lunch to-go. The people there were SO friendly, and offered to let us check out a few of the rooms in the inn. They were adorable and we will definitely stay there if we ever happen to be in Portland again. Our lunch was quickly made, and we took it with us as we caught the 12:45 ferry back to Portland. We ordered two lobster rolls with coleslaw, and an order of sweet potato fries. The buns on this lobster roll weren’t as flavorful as the ones yesterday, but the sandwich overall was just as good. The sweet potato fries were fabulous, I would definitely recommend them!

 

Back in Portland, we shopped around for a while. There were tons of vendors selling craft items, as well as few stores along the main street. My mom stayed to shop some more while I went back on the ship at around 3:00- there was a pretty long line to get back on board. The pool deck was pretty lively, but there were still a bunch of comfy chairs open on the sundeck at the front. We ate at the Grand Pacific at 5:45- our waiter for the evening, Roberto, provided excellent, fast service. He was very friendly, attentive, and always checked up on us. He and his assistant provided us the best service in the Grand Pacific we had the entire cruise! I ordered the garden greens salad and the sauteed lemon sole (from the daily menu), which was light and delicious. I skipped dessert in the Grand Pacific that night, since the menu was specialty chocolate items, but mixed with other flavors that I wasn’t really interested in, such as hazelnut or raspberry. Also, I knew my friends and I would be going for dessert later, so I wanted to save room for that ;) Apparently this was considered the “Chocolate Night,” as I learned there was no longer a “Chocoholic Buffet” as there had been on our previous Dawn cruise (more on this below). As I was leaving the Grand Pacific at 6:45 to go meet with my friends, a bunch of the kids from the teen club (including some of my friends) were heading to the show in the Stardust Theater with one of the counselors (this was an Entourage teen event), so I joined in and we watched the world dancing show. Personally, I’m not a big theater person, and don’t attend many productions, besides maybe my high school’s play, but I really enjoyed this performance! It was lots of dancing from a variety of cultures, and included a PHENOMENAL acrobatic/aerialist piece. My friends and I were entertained the entire time. After the show, a bunch of the crew; dining staff, youth staff, cabin attendants, etc, as well as the captain and his assistants, went up on stage for a finale performance and sang “You Are Norwegian Now” and there were spoken parts about how great of a cruise this has been. We all started to get a little sad, knowing that tomorrow would be our last day. Then, they played “Hey Baby (Be My Girl)” and everyone (crew and audience) danced to it, parading out, clapping and yelling the lyrics- it was so much fun! Afterwards, since we were still nicely dressed from dinner, and being the teenage girls that we are, we took a bunch of group pictures on Deck 7 as the sun was setting. They turned out really nicely, and it’s so much better to have your own than having to pay the outrageous prices that NCL charges for the pictures the photo staff takes.

 

We headed up to the Garden Cafe for desserts, then went back to our cabins to change into white clothes, since it was the night of the White Hot Party (more on this below). We met up at Bliss to do some karaoke (the wait was really long to get a turn to sing) until 10:00, and eventually ended up at the Teen White Hot Party at Entourage. The Teen White Hot Party was very awkward at first- it was a lot of younger teens sitting on the lounge chairs or playing air hockey, avoiding the dance floor. My friends and I wanted to have fun, so we went on the dance floor ourselves and danced for a while (we got really into it)- getting a few uncomfortable glances from the younger teens initially, but eventually everyone joined in for some line dances. After that, we played Man Hunt (not an Entourage-sponsored teen event, my friend group just decided to do it on our own) on Decks 12 and 13, which was fun and windy on the outside decks. A little after 1am, we wanted to eat at O’Sheehans, which was open, but when we asked for a table, the host asked if everyone was over 18, which not all of us were, so we sat and talked in the hallways before going to bed. This was the only time the entire cruise that we encountered the Under-18 1:00am ship curfew being enforced.

 

 

I have to say, this night I was a little disappointed with the differences in events from our Dawn cruise in 2013 to now:

 

Chocolate Night:

 

On our Dawn cruise in 2013, one entire side of the Garden Cafe served all chocolate items- there were tons of different desserts, food sculptures, etc., and the “Chocoholic Buffet” was well talked about and was a pretty big deal. This cruise, as I wrote earlier, had specialty chocolate desserts in the main dining room, and in the Garden Cafe that night, all of the desserts were chocolate-themed, and were a lot more simple than the ones in the Grand Pacific; chocolate cheesecake (excellent), specialty brownies, chocolate tartlets, etc., and the crepe station even offered chocolate crepes! The main difference was that on this cruise, they made no changes to the amount of desserts offered (still the same number the Grand Pacific and the Garden Cafe offered each night), they just served all chocolate ones (I hope that makes sense!), and “Chocolate Night” wasn’t really advertised or talked about, whereas on our previous cruise, they had a whole huge buffet just for specialty chocolate desserts!

 

White Hot Party:

 

On our previous cruise, the night of the White Hot Party was my absolute favorite night, especially because we had so much fun at the party. It was held out on the pool deck, with the White Hot dancers, and was open to all of the passengers. The teen club got to go on the stadium seating area and dance with the dancers, AND we then had our own White Hot After Party in the teen club, afterwards. Additionally, there were really cool “Norwegians Like It White Hot” t-shirts sold in the gift shop. I missed out on getting one last time, so I was looking forward to buying one on this cruise, only to find that they weren’t for sale :( . Also, on this cruise, the White Hot party was held in the Spinnaker (understandable given the cold itinerary), but was closed off to anyone under 18. I remember hearing about a “Family White Hot Party” earlier that night, so I’m assuming there were three different White Hot parties- segregated into kids/parents, teens, and adults. I think it’s a lot more fun when you have passengers of all ages dancing together, but understand given the space in the Spinnaker, and that kids/teens can get rowdy. Nonetheless, my friends and I were still able to have a great time at the Teen White Hot Party, and love that NCL has continued to do this!

[live_to_cruise]

Freestyle Dailies:

 

 

Menu:

 

[live_to_cruise]

Gnocchi:

 

 

Sole:

 

 

The show:

 

 

 

Thanks, Wendell!

 

[conandrob240]

Thanks for the great, detailed review. I am taking my 16 yr old nephew on the Gem in August and am confused about why Entourage would close every night from 9-10pm. Did you ever get any explanation? Anyone know if this is the case on every Gem cruise?

[Adambob]

How many teens would you say where on board like 200-300? Or what?

 

Also is their much flirting going on with the teens :) :D

 

 

Thanks :P

Edited July 18, 2015 by Adambob

[Presbycruiser]

Thank you for such a detailed review! Makes me look forward to my own cruise more.

 

And best wishes in college ... the best years of your life.

[rocklinmom]

Thanks for finishing this review! Fabulous job, I especially love seeing the menus and food pics.

[live_to_cruise]

View from the ferry:

 

 

Beautiful sights during our bike ride around Peaks Island:

 

 

Great lunch from The Inn on Peaks Island:

 

 

All smiles as we head back to the Gem:

 

[live_to_cruise]

Our "friend pictures" turned out nicely:

 

Some of our friends singing karaoke at Bliss:

 

 

Dressed up for the Teen White Hot Party:

 

[clarkg]

Nice review. We've done cruises similar to this twice, but in the fall so we got the colors as the trees changed.

[tawaik]

Very nice review!!

[3kidsncats]

Thank you for the wonderful, detailed review from exactly the perspective I was looking for! We will be traveling on the Jewel in a few months, and it will be my kid's first cruise.

 

Unfortunately, they are split into different age groups and we are really curious how to make it work for them so they can have a great time. Sounds like a lot will depend on how stringently the staff adhere to the age policy.

 

In terms of over 17's joining in on teen club activities, was it less of an issue if the activity was not in the actual Entourage lounge?

[RiotAct]

Great review so far - looking forward to the rest!

[live_to_cruise]

Thank you for the wonderful, detailed review from exactly the perspective I was looking for! We will be traveling on the Jewel in a few months, and it will be my kid's first cruise.

 

Unfortunately, they are split into different age groups and we are really curious how to make it work for them so they can have a great time. Sounds like a lot will depend on how stringently the staff adhere to the age policy.

 

In terms of over 17's joining in on teen club activities, was it less of an issue if the activity was not in the actual Entourage lounge?

 

I would say that this would vary from activity to activity. For example, we had to sign up for bowling in advance, and the sign-up sheet was in Entourage, so that probably wouldn't be allowed for anyone over 17, and same would go for any other events that you have to sign up for in advance. As for the activities such as Capture the Flag, kickball, and pickup type games, I don't see why that would be a problem!

[3kidsncats]

I would say that this would vary from activity to activity. For example, we had to sign up for bowling in advance, and the sign-up sheet was in Entourage, so that probably wouldn't be allowed for anyone over 17, and same would go for any other events that you have to sign up for in advance. As for the activities such as Capture the Flag, kickball, and pickup type games, I don't see why that would be a problem!

 

 

Not sure if the Jewel has bowling? It's been difficult to pin down exactly what the Jewel has (rock climbing? Rope course?) compared to the other Jewel class ships, but yes, I agree, the type of activity could make a world of difference.

[js4rq]

What a wonderful cruise review, thanks for posting! :)

[live_to_cruise]

Day 6- At Sea

I slept in until 9:15 this morning, went to a very crowded Garden Cafe for a pre-run glass of water and banana. From 10-10:25 I was able to do my run on the treadmill easily- there were lots of machines available. I had breakfast with my parents at the Great Outdoors before returning to the fitness center to lift from 11-12 (again, mostly every machine was open). Afterwards, I met up with my friends at the Garden Cafe for lunch. We went to the sports deck at around 1:00 to checkout “Teen Capture the Flag”. It was cancelled so I went back to my cabin to pack up my suitcase before going back to the sports deck to play pickup soccer and basketball. There were TONS of kids on the sports deck so we ended up splitting the court with everyone else, which we made do. Afterwards we went to the Garden Cafe to have drinks and sit and talk for a while before going to get ready for dinner with our families. We were all a little sad since it was the last day, but knew we would make the most of it tonight.

 

My parents and I decided we wanted to have Rachel as our waitress so we went to O’Sheehans for dinner. My dad was thankful he didn’t have to wear dress pants to dinner for once, but my mom and I still wore dresses, as we like to dress up when we get the opportunity. There weren’t too many dinner choices on the menu, and it was mostly “pub food”. My mom and I split the Spinach Artichoke Dip for a starter, which was good, a little too cheesy, and served hot, and it came with tortilla chips (I usually like my dip with pita chips or pita bread but it worked out fine), while my dad had the wings, which he enjoyed. Tonight’s dinner special was prime rib, I believe, so my dad ordered that and really liked it. My mom and I both got the grilled chicken sandwich which came with a side or fries and coleslaw. I put the coleslaw on my sandwich and it was DELICIOUS. For dessert, we got the brownie cheesecake which was pretty good. It was so nice having Rachel as our waitress like old times- she is definitely a GEM on the NCL Gem. (We later filled out a paper about her being our “Vacation hero”). Afterwards, my parents went to the photo gallery to buy some pictures of us, and I met up with my friends to go to the show. We went to the theater at 8:30 because the cruise director, Dan Dan had said seats would fill quickly, but we found that even by 9:00 there were plenty of seats available (I’m guessing people went to the earlier show). This was an aerialist show that was really neat and involved the audience a lot. We hit up our two favorite places for one last time- Bliss to do some karaoke, then the Garden Cafe for late-night desserts. Some of us had to go to bed around 12 because of early flights, so we said our goodbyes, and the rest of us played cards in the card room until we went to bed.

 

And thus ends my amazing cruise vacation. Thank you for following along and please feel free to ask any questions!