Gem 1/22 - some practical lessons and a little encouragement

[brikee]

Thank you for the cruise summary. It goes to support how good it is to have insurance.

 

I'm sorry to hear about the yeshiva group though. I'm planning to go on a 14 day cruise on breakaway next Jan 15-30. Do you know if this overlaps with yeshiva week? I hope they aren't on our ship in 2017.

[MsTabbyKats]

thanks...that is also where I shop for our trip insurance...guess I choose wrong company ;) from the list....:(

 

I always speak to the agent....they know how to "do it" better than me.

 

I generally buy the insurance just in case someone needs to be airlifted.

 

When DH got off a cruise and immediately "didn't feel well" (flu like symptoms) I never thought about using the insurance to extend the trip. But, when I called the company to see if they covered the doctor, the agent said I had "trip interruption" insurance also and explained what it covered (everything up to limits).

[MaryLS]

Just wanted to put a few more thoughts out there on the Gem 1/22 10 day run.

 

I am a former crew member -- worked as an entertainer on NCL, RCI, and Cunard through the 1990s and 2000s.....my husband, daughter and I have cruised together 4 times as passengers -- all out of NYC, 3x on the Gem. Even so - I learned some VALUABLE lessons on this cruise that I hope can be of encouragement and help.

 

Yes. There was a giant storm. We threw snowballs on a cruise ship, and I'd never done that. It was awesome. It was rocky the first 2 days -- like my old transatlantic days on the QE2 rocky -- I LOVE that! My husband and daughter, not so much...so they wore sea bands. We were fine. If you cruise in the winter, be prepared for storms. Roll with it. (hah hah - see what I did there?)

 

Yes. The Yeshiva group was awful. Horrible people - an entitled, rude, nasty group that challenged every liberal open-minded value I hold dear - but it was just that group, I know, and not an entire population of people. Made for good conversation about stereotypes with my 11 year old. Another plus -- when my ADHD child is shocked by other childrens' behavior and ability to get banned from the kids club for the entire cruise before the second day? I feel just a little better about my own parenting skills. :)

 

Okay -- the nuts and bolts of what this haggard sea hag actually learned on her third trip on the Gem:

 

UDP -- we chose the UDP over UBP because my husband doesn't drink. We considered trying to switch that back after we did the math, knowing that we didn't NEED to eat in a specialty venue EVERY night. But given the affect the aforementioned group had on the main dining rooms, it turned out to be the best choice ever. We had UDP for all three of us, and my daughter now has a steak and lobster palette, for sure. With the new a la carte prices we ate well over $1000 worth of fantastic food, in delightful ambiance, with excellent service. MUCH more than my bar bill....although I will hold out for that "pick two" perk before I book again, because I was jealous of the people who had both. Five out of ten nights would have been fine though; sometimes you just want a burger and beer out in the Great Outdoors while you watch the stars. :)

 

iCONCIERGE -- this was THE DEAL! My daughter was able to check herself in and out of the kids club, which saved us the 45 minute drop off/pick up experience that was only thus because of - you guessed it -- the aforementioned Yeshiva group. That for some reason had to drop of their children as a family herd, pushing in front of anyone waiting, and then spending 15 minutes berating the staff before bustling off. But I digress -- my daughter loved this first shot at independence. She proved herself well -- texting us where she was, and when she got there. Being able to converse with one another freely across the ship proved vital for my husband and I later in the cruise....

 

AFT BALCONY - BEST MONEY SPENT EVER. We had a balcony aft on 10 (10668), which became our haven from the chaotic pool deck. It was not only overcrowded and terrorized by Yeshiva, but honestly, got too windy and cold to really enjoy yourself up there on the first and last days. We had 80 degree sun all day, both final days at sea. My tan is awesome! The aft balconies on 10 have 2 loungers, 2 chairs, and a table. The sail aways, too, were glorious, and sunsets and views magnificent. I sailed quite happily in inside cabins for a decade, and questioned spending the extra dough; I will never question that again.

 

ALWAYS BUY THE INSURANCE AND ALWAYS TAKE AN NCL TOUR. This was the biggest learning I had on the trip - and counter to everything I believed I knew about cruising. We always book tours privately - they are the same tours for less money and usually very well run. We never buy the insurance because...we spent the money on the aft balcony. But this time we did, knowing that job issues could have caused us to cancel after the cancellation date. And in Tortola, we took the ship sponsored tour to Virgin Gorda and The Baths because of the short time in port and the guarantee that we would not be left behind.

 

My husband was "that guy" who broke his foot at the bottom of the Baths, mis-calculating distance between rocks. We are young and healthy -- but stuff happens. And the tour company (Speedys) was useless in helping him. They had no medical kit, no triage plan, no CLUE how they were going to get him off of the rock at the bottom of the hill and back to the ferry/back to the ship. They left us stranded. BUT (and more on this in moment) God sent angels in the form of our fellow cruisers and three random tourists from Canada. One fellow passenger, a nurse, was beside my husband (on the top of a very scary rock!) triaging and stabilizing him before I could find the so called tour guide. When the tour guide could not produce any kind of medical kit or tape to help stabilize what we thought could be a snapped Achilles or broken ankle, this God-sent fellow passenger (and several others) set out to carry my husband up the rocky hill. They were met halfway up by the three Canadian tourists, one of whom was a paramedic. They got my husband up the hill, made a stabilizing boot out of cardboard and toilet paper, and set us off to the ferry in the car of a now very relieved Speedy tour guide. When we got to the ship, we received ex-rays, cast, and crutches. And chocolate covered strawberries. :) THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART -- HAD WE NOT BOUGHT THE INSURANCE, THIS WOULD HAVE COST US THOUSANDS. HAD WE NOT BEEN ON AN NCL SPONSORED TOUR, THE INSURANCE WOULD HAVE BEEN MOOT. As it was - they could have airlifted us to Puerto Rico (if it was warranted) and put us up there until the injury was stable, then fly us home - and all would have been covered. His medical bills on land, now? Covered. Lesson SO learned - and we are SO grateful.

 

A FINAL LESSON - and perhaps this actually was the most important. Humanity is good. We encountered some of the nastiest, ugliest individuals and groups of individuals we have ever met on this cruise. But. We also met some of the kindest, self-less, classiest people ever as well. And that's the lesson, isn't it? Cherish the good. From the roll call peeps we shared slot pulls and balcony sail-aways with, to the kind and attentive staff, to the ANGELS who carried my husband up that hill while I tried to keep our daughter calm, to the random people on that Baths tour who sent my husband drinks (which I happily consumed) and gave us well wishes. I have more faith in humanity than I ever had before.

 

OKAY ONE MORE LESSON -- crutches? Will get you disembarked seamlessly. And you can find a porter easily in the baggage claim. And they will take you upstairs to arrivals, where you can catch a cab without having to cross the West Side Highway.

 

We will sail NCL again. But not on Yeshiva week. :) And we hope to sail again with some of you wonderful people who helped teach us, this trip, about what's really important.

 

Is Yeshiva Week the same week every year? I've read several horror stories recently and want to make sure I never encounter the same.

[Gershep]

Thank you for the cruise summary. It goes to support how good it is to have insurance.

 

I'm sorry to hear about the yeshiva group though. I'm planning to go on a 14 day cruise on breakaway next Jan 15-30. Do you know if this overlaps with yeshiva week? I hope they aren't on our ship in 2017.

 

 

These dates sound like prime time for Yeshiva week. I couldn't tell you if they will be on the Breakaway but since both this group and the Breakaway are from New York I would NOT book this cruise.

[slhopper]

Thank you for such a wonderful report, I SO appreciate your attitude! You are the kind of people my husband and I always look for :)

 

We are sailing late Jan of next year, does this group only sail out of NY or do they sail everywhere that week? We will be on the Dawn out of NOLA.

 

Travel insurance is definitely worth getting!

 

For those of you that were on this cruise, have any of you contacted NCL directly? If enough people demand reparations for that group causing so much detriment to their own vacation, maybe NCL will either ban them or hold them to an acceptable standard of behavior in the future.

[bbryan5]

QUESTION for anyone of the "yeshiva" cruise.. About how many (approx of course) of the yeshiva folk were on this trip? I'm trying to get a clear picture here.. I mean, was it a group of 20? 50? or was it 1,000? Just curious. Thanks!

[joe s]

I would say at least 500 passengers from the Yeshiva group were on board

[neniukas]

At least 400

[nbbell]

The hotel director said 500.

[bbryan5]

Wow, that's a big percentage of the total passengers!

[antsnanny]

Is Yeshiva Week the same week every year? I've read several horror stories recently and want to make sure I never encounter the same.

 

Mary, great review... My sister and brother in law were on the ship and they also experienced exactly what you did. My brother in law told me he is going to write to NCL to let him know how professional the crew was throughout the entire cruise. He has some specific names of crew members that he personally witnessed this group berate, belittle, snap their fingers at and verbally abuse. I think the crew deserves honorable mention since it had to be 10 days from hell for them..

Love that you made lemons out of lemonade. Great lesson for your children.

[bbryan5]

The more I read this thread, the more mad it makes me. What a disgusting group of passengers they must have been..

[tiger-91]

Thank you for the cruise summary. It goes to support how good it is to have insurance.

 

I'm sorry to hear about the yeshiva group though. I'm planning to go on a 14 day cruise on breakaway next Jan 15-30. Do you know if this overlaps with yeshiva week? I hope they aren't on our ship in 2017.

 

You're OK. In 2017, Tu Bishvat, the day Yeshiva week is based on, occurs February 11.

 

 

 

For those who are planning travel, use Google Calendar to review religious holidays and various country holidays.

In GCal website, on left side, choose the drop down arrow next to "Other Calendars", and then "Browse Interesting Calendars" and then preview or subscribe to desired calendars.

[saigonsister]

The OP is a graceful person, I do not think I would have handled it as well as they did. So kudos to you. I agree with most of the other people on the forum who think that these people are simply disgusting - parents and children alike. Does anyone know if any of the other cruise lines also were affected that same week? It would be interesting to know as I would like to plan for January 2017 but am a little weary now. My experiences out of NYC ( I am from Canada) is that I meet some great people.

[pokerpro5]

First off, I hope your husband recovers soon, and I'm sorry the Yeshivas made your cruise so stressful. Sounds like they were awful.

 

I do have to take a bit of issue with what you said regarding insurance and cruise ship tours, however.

 

Cruise insurance is mostly for those who will be financially devastated from the unexpected. It is a negative bet in the long run. If it wasn't, then the insurance companies wouldn't make money from it!

 

So if this is a once-in-a-few-years vacation to where losing the money would impact your life, then by all means get the insurance.

 

However, for those who are financially stable enough to eat the cost of the trip without it affecting their lifestyle, it is smart NOT to buy insurance.

 

FYI, I am 44 years old, and I have never once bought travel insurance. And I have never once had to cancel a prepaid trip.

 

The only exception is foreign medical and evacuation insurance, because that can get quite expensive if you don't have it, and those policies tend to be cheap. So that type of insurance is a lot smarter and doesn't cost you much.

 

 

Regarding ship tours, while your situation was unfortunate, it was very uncommon. In fact, I have never once heard of someone just being "left there" if injured! I'm not doubting your story at all, but your fluke situation isn't really justification for others to spend a lot of extra money for what is usually a WORSE experience on ship tours.

 

Bottom line about ship tours:

 

- They are slow

- They are expensive, especially with multiple people in your party

- You don't see that much

- There is ZERO flexibility. You spend too long in some places, and too short in others.

 

I absolutely NEVER take ship tours. I try to arrange my own PRIVATE tours, where everything is done at my own pace, we see what I want to see, and I'm not forced to tour around with strangers that I may or may not like.

 

You know all of this, because you already said that you typically DON'T take ship tours. You just changed your mind because of a highly unusual negative experience.

 

Ship tours are for those too lazy (or too scared) to arrange private tours, so they pay for the privilege of convenience (and get a lot less for it).

 

Anyway, again, I feel really bad for your husband's injury and everything that occurred after, but I think your judgment for the future is a bit clouded.

 

You did do a great service by warning people to stay off the Gem during the Yeshiva weeks. So thanks for that.

[2boyzmom]

You're OK. In 2017, Tu Bishvat, the day Yeshiva week is based on, occurs February 11.

 

 

 

For those who are planning travel, use Google Calendar to review religious holidays and various country holidays.

In GCal website, on left side, choose the drop down arrow next to "Other Calendars", and then "Browse Interesting Calendars" and then preview or subscribe to desired calendars.

 

So Yeshiva week will fall the same as my kids President week winter break? Oh boy...

[maryisme]

2boyzmom,

Where are you that it falls on that week? Checked again as I have presidents week booked for 2017 and it falls third week in February. We are cruising week of the 19th.

 

Just reread post. Does this group hit the Gem only?

I live in NYC by the way.

Edited February 7, 2016 by maryisme

[Crusin6]

So Yeshiva week will fall the same as my kids President week winter break? Oh boy...

 

 

I would only be concerned if ncl is running a true ksf during presidents week. The reason the Jan 22 cruise was ruined by this group with enormous families was because of the ksf and coincided with yeshiva week 2016

 

Chances are that the price for presidents week will be excessive and will only rise going forward however I would be concerned that this group....which ncl seems to give priority too....will demand and get....special pricing from ncl.

 

Also yeshiva week isn't a religious holiday for the most part and for years has fallen during mlk week approx and since there are no orthodox religious mandated procedures that is why it is attractive to travel at that time

 

Btw the Jewish schools work on their own timeframe anyway. I've checked out the school calendars of the 2 well known schools in my area.....which are not in Brooklyn....and are the type of schools that attracts kids of doctors and lawyers and 2/3 kids per family is max and it's very difficult to pinpoint 2017 yeshiva week....as they don't call it that of course....

 

My guess is they schedule this week once they secure travel deals. That is not a far fetched analysis btw. Private schools work on their own personal whatever works for them agenda as long as it meets state guidelines. Think of them as homeschooling in a brick and mortar setting

 

25 years of raising kids in private and public schools and one can see this all too clearly unfortunately. Lol

 

 

 

IMHO ncl should be ashamed of themselves for letting this happen on the gem and they ruined the cruise for 1700 pax in order to be PC for 500 pax and not be accused of discrimination

 

 

As a moderate practical person who is well bred enough to act with decorum.....I am disgusted with what this group did and how ncl let them do it

 

 

That slope is getting slippery and more slippery every day and we continue to slide right on down it however I am glad to see that many pax on this cruise are not afraid to start voicing their disgust with this group and ncl!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[joe s]

2boyzmom,

Where are you that it falls on that week? Checked again as I have presidents week booked for 2017 and it falls third week in February. We are cruising week of the 19th.

 

Just reread post. Does this group hit the Gem only?

I live in NYC by the way.

 

Don't take the chance of sailing on the same cruise with this group,I promise you it will ruin your vacation.Take RC on the other side of the river if you sail in Jan./Feb

[Barb Nahoumi]

To the OP,

 

We wish your husband a speedy recovery.

[brikee]

You're OK. In 2017, Tu Bishvat, the day Yeshiva week is based on, occurs February 11.

 

 

 

For those who are planning travel, use Google Calendar to review religious holidays and various country holidays.

In GCal website, on left side, choose the drop down arrow next to "Other Calendars", and then "Browse Interesting Calendars" and then preview or subscribe to desired calendars.

 

Thanks for this info!! My mind is at ease now. I'm looking forward to a hopefully peaceful vacation next year. :)

[tiger-91]

...

Also yeshiva week isn't a religious holiday for the most part and for years has fallen during mlk week approx and since there are no orthodox religious mandated procedures that is why it is attractive to travel at that time

...

 

Thanks Crusin! In people being so PC and not talking about the group, I thought it was all about religion. I did some more investigating after your post and agree that it has nothing to do with that day I thought it revolved around. See this 2015 schedule:

http://themesivta.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Calendar-Academic-2014-2015.pdf

 

arrrgghhh.

Calendar-Academic-2014-2015.pdf

[tiger-91]

Thanks for this info!! My mind is at ease now. I'm looking forward to a hopefully peaceful vacation next year. :)

 

oh no brikee. I regret to say I was wrong about the religiosity of the vacation week. It's just an arbitrarily chosen Winter Break and has nothing to do with a holiday....my apologies. I'm trying to figure this out too.

[tiger-91]

So Yeshiva week will fall the same as my kids President week winter break? Oh boy...

 

I know I sounded confident in my response. I shouldn't have. My apologies.

[Barb Nahoumi]

I cruised on the Gem this past November...and had the most wonderful and relaxing cruise.....Never once, did i see an adult of child out of line.....

 

Read all the reviews on the 1/22/16 cruise....and thank you for all the information....I will certainly avoid sailing the last two weeks in January.... I am apauled to think that nothing was said to them...and how their unruly children were acting....I also was reading that this group use to sail Carnival Splendor when the ship use to sail out of NYC....Since then, this group has been banned to sail on Carnival Cruise Lines.... this should be done...on all cruise lines....it some group comes onboard and acts like this....also was reading that this group also sailed NCL Dawn when Dawn use to sail of of NYC....the kids blocking stairways...pushing elderly people....many injuries....one broken ankle, and one broken leg....due to thes unruly children purposely tripping people....there is no excuse for parents and children acting this way....these people should have been put of the ship PERIOD!!!!! and what is wrong with NCL? But it did say Captain on the Dawn...sent a letter out to every person in their stateroom....saying if there were any more outbursts that the people and their children that they will be taken off the ship in the next port of call....and they can find their own transporation home.....Hope that there was enough complaints and letters sent to NCL so maybe they will look into this matter more in depth....

 

Something has to be done...as this group arent the only people sailing this ship...they think that they can do and say whatever they want...and noone else can tell them otherwise....Well what about all the other paying passengers, they vacation on the Gem....Arent they taken into consideration....and how much they spent to sail this 10 day caribbean sailing.... Just because they are a big group does not entitle them to think that the entire ship is their's for the 10 nights.... Believe i know about these people and they are the most rudest people that i know...and their children are no better.....and what about the school? Doesn't the school teach them how to respect others when out in public.....I dont have any mercy on them...

 

But again thank you for this information...and i will definitely make sure i do not sail in January...

 

 

If NCL knows the name and address of the school or schools involved, would it be a good idea to write to the headmasters and inform them of their students' and parents bad behavior?

 

I attended public schools, but our teachers and parents taught us to always treat others as we we want to be treated. and always be on best behavior.