Timing Dinner and Shows - Gem

[Zippeedee]

I have the UDP and booked all of my dinners when I booked my cruise. I picked mostly 7:00 or 7:30 so I wouldn't be rushed from the spa or other activities. I should have checked the show times first. Will I likely be able to make it to a 9:00 show from a 7:30 dinner? I picked just about every specialty restaurant, Cagney's twice. Are the shows worth skipping dessert?

[Turtles06]

This is purely a matter of personal preference, but I don't like to feel rushed at dinner (nor skip dessert :) ) to make a show, and particularly not when I'm eating at a specialty venue. The shows are typically at 7PM and 9PM. We usually go to the show at 7PM, then eat afterwards.

 

Do you care where you sit in the theatre? If not, you may be fine eating at 7:30PM if there are just two of you, but you might also be looking at your watch.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Turtles06

[Zippeedee]

I'm solo on this cruise and don't really care where I sit. I'll just see how it goes. At least the comedy shows seem to be a bit later.

[khaide612]

They don't lock the doors so being a solo, you can go in late and grab a seat in the show. The Gem shows aren't very plot driven - more song and dance shows - so arriving late and grabbing a seat for just one person shouldn't be disruptive.

[Kattus]

From my experience on the Gem this past spring, service was VERY slow, and we just dined in the Specialties. One night, we had dinner reservations at 7 at Le Bistro, and wound up missing a 9pm show. I think for our cruise next spring, we'll just go to the 7pm show and eat afterwards, as others have suggested in this thread. You can definitely change your reservation times by calling NCL directly, or even when you get on the ship.

[Turtles06]

I probably should have added that when we were on the Gem in May, I thought the entertainment, usually an NCL strong suit, was quite disappointing. The production shows were particularly lame.

[laurabegorrah]

I probably should have added that when we were on the Gem in May, I thought the entertainment, usually an NCL strong suit, was quite disappointing. The production shows were particularly lame.

 

I second that. My last Gem cruise, we skipped all but 2 of the nightly shows (my friend was a NCL newbie, and I had to make her see Fountains lol). We hung out and listened to the live music in the deck 6 bar area instead. While I enjoy some cheesy song and dance numbers, these tend to be a little too OTT cheesy.

[Turtles06]

I second that. My last Gem cruise, we skipped all but 2 of the nightly shows (my friend was a NCL newbie, and I had to make her see Fountains lol). We hung out and listened to the live music in the deck 6 bar area instead. While I enjoy some cheesy song and dance numbers, these tend to be a little too OTT cheesy.

 

Even beyond cheesy: the show "World Beat," which supposedly features music from around the world, had the actors singing "Whatever Lola Wants" as part of the Spanish or Mexican segment (hard to tell what). Of course, "Whatever Lola Wants" is not music from either Spain or Mexico, it's from the Broadway show "Damn Yankees." Truly pathetic.

 

(And shame on us; we'd forgotten we'd seen this horrible show before.. Fool me once....)

[tomk3212]

I'd opt for the 7PM rather than the 730PM dinner. This way you won't be too rushed. Worst case let your server know that you want to make the 9PM show and you should be fine. I agree that a specialty dinner (especially if you've purchased the package) should be nice & relaxed; you don't want to gulp dessert then run to a show...lol :eek:

 

RE: the quality of the shows, sad but true. We've been on the Gem A LOT (see signature below) and have seen "World Beat" at least 3 or 4 different times. It's lame but it's still fun because we've now seen it with FOUR different sets of dancers.

 

"Fountains" can be absolutely hilarious, depending on the Cruise Director and staff; our personal faves were Julie when she was CD on the Spirit and now Breakaway and Sinan when he was CD on the Gem.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Tom

[ibrinn]

Does anyone know what time they start dinner service in the speciality restaurants?

[pixiedustdawn]

Does anyone know what time they start dinner service in the speciality restaurants?

 

Main Dining:

 

Grand Pacific - 5:00 pm

Magenta - 5:30 PM

 

Specialty Dining - 5:30 pm

 

Buffet 5:00 pm

Edited August 5, 2015 by pixiedustdawn

[Km323]

Just can off the Gem on 8/1. On Thursday evening we ate at Le Bistro with 8:00pm reservations. We wanted to catch the World Beat show and got up to leave before dessert. Our waitress chased us with the dessert menu and offered to have it delivered to our cabin! Very nice touch!