Back From the Gem Today

[candybars]

Arzeena. I agree Tortola.. Much too quick, very pretty. About the chairs Friend saw people putting towels on chairs at 6:30 a.m. each day when he was leaving the gym. That should not be allowed. Seriously its on every ship... I was on a line, can't remember which one.. After 30 minutes of seeing an unoccupied chair you can remove the towel.. Could be celebrity. Great rule but it needs to be enforced.

[dreadnot]

I am tired and having PCD (post cruise depression) so I will write quickly.

Arrived at the port around 11:30 (2 hours in traffic) and found out there was a delay in boarding. NY terminal seemed a lot more dysfunctional than our past experiences. I guess the delay really backed things up. We had booked a non-haven suite (2 bedroom) so were lucky to board right away which was around 12:30 or 1. We went to Cagneys for lunch which was perfect.

Passengers- most families like us from the tri state area (it was school break). 1000 kids onboard but they were fine. In fact everyone was very nice and polite. No issues other than chair hog.

 

Room-Room 11006 was very nice and had new carpet. The bed was heavenly. Our butler Rush was excellent and concierge Francesco a sweetheart. We never really used the concierge since we had already made our reservations.

 

Food-We had booked all our dining 100 days out so had no issues, but other suite peeps thought they would walk on and get what they wanted. Well, no way- doesn't happen when the UDP was available a year ago (everyone pre-booked specialty's) so just be warned to book your dinners ahead of time so you wont be disappointed. Food was great everywhere except I noticed Osheehans could not get the appetizers out before entrée. Oh- good news- Osheehans still has pot pie:). Honestly we really did not need specialty dining for 10 nights. We cancelled a few and went to main dining room for some meals. They were very good and never felt rushed or delayed in any venue.

 

Booze- our biggest issue that they did not have enough bartenders at sailaway party (Spinnaker) or cold sea days when only a few bars were open. We landed up tipping a nice waiter up front and he catered to us all night. He took care of us the entire cruise by the pool on hot days too. Unfortunately we are beer drinkers and the entire tap system was broken at Maltings so there was no tap beer. Nor was there tap beer at the pool bar. We found a few drafts at Osheehans ands but they ran out of Newcastle around day 6 so only had 3 US beers available on draft.

 

Weather- fantastic! A bit rocky on day 2 and return but waves only about 8 feet.

 

Chair Hogs - Galore!! I was up at 7:15 on sea day 4 and some lady reserved 18 chairs!!!! OMG- she even put her crap at a table too. I was sickened by it. I had 2 and sat my butt there until 3pm. My husband went up there on return sea days and she was doing it again!! I don't know what to say except it is tolerated and ignored. They definitely need a new process.

 

Entertainment- Prism band excellent along with Leo and Reggae band. Tenors of Rock show excellent. Magika (magician) was not very good and a bit cheesy.

 

Ports- Definitely recommend Numero Uno Beach Club (Pamelas) in San Juan. It was a great beach day with 6 drinks, lunch, chair and umbrella for $45.00. Google it for more info but it was well worth it.

 

St. Thomas- 6 ships in port. Went on thriller boat ride which was excellent than a cab to coki beach. Best snorkeling spot but crowded.

 

St.Martin- Orient beach for the day. Unfortunately they ruined the south part of the beach where we loved to hang out. Orange Fever is gone along with some other little beach bars and replaced them with concrete structures. We went to bikini beach on the north end which was fine and the kids had a ball. $10 a chair and drinks were reasonable.

 

Tortola- Excursion to Jost Van Dyke. This was our 3rd time there and each time it's perfect. They only take 50 people so it books quickly. Honestly 3 hours is enough and we were back on the ship by noon. Drinking painkillers at 8am so we were ready for a little nap upon return.

 

All I can say is the trip was fabulous. Unfortunately I received a call that my mother was ill and hospitalized ( I'm the nurse in the family) so it put a damper on the trip for me but when I realized it was not horrible (infection only) I perked up a bit. It's just scary dealing with this in the middle of the ocean! Food, weather, service was great and cannot wait to get back on the sea next year !

Those who pay for upscale ,but non haven price rooms, like balcony ,mini suites ,etc ,are getting a little peeved at not being able to find a lounge chair. Seems like common sense ,and good business sense , to have small reserved lounge areas for those rooms. There are on every ship ,crude , selfish people who ruin a good time for others. On my Summit to Bermuda in 2014 ,my wife and I as usual .took our after breakfast 1.5 mile walk around the jogging track. 2 days in a row , a typical lounge hog parked her chair in the track , 1030 in the am , with cheese nachos and beer. A real workout that needed a spot in the jogging track. Next day we got a cabin survey, asking for feedback. My feedback was that you could eat anywhere , but only walk or jog on the designated track. As a courtesy , we don't run over gorging hogs ,and would expect them not to block the track Next day an announcement , no chairs or lounges in jogging track area, violators will be asked to move . The crew responds to criticisms ,so should the parent company

 

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[mizLORInj]

I can gladly give my impressions of the 2/21-3/2 cruise .How can I start a new thread ?

Go to the Norwegian page (or just close out of this thread) and just before all the threads should be NEW THREAD. Click that.

Edited March 9, 2016 by mizlorinj