Just off the GEM 1/9

[sghetrick]

We just got back from a very relaxing trip. We felt very safe the whole time and had no issue wearing masks (We only encountered a couple people who weren't wearing masks) Here's a few thoughts about our trip. 

 

Leaving NYC - Parking and luggage drop off was super easy. You do have to prepay parking. Testing was well organized and fast. Check in was confused if you are in a full suite but not Haven. Luckily there were a couple staff members with room numbers so we were shown to the lounge area. 

 

Suite 11512 - The suite has a great layout and is very well maintained. Unfortunately, the living room gets noise from the treadmills, and the master bedroom gets noise from people dropping their weights above in the gym. The other issue we ran into was the last two days of our trip the toilet area was smelly. Apparently, the toilet was too dry. 

 

Ports - we made it to Charleston and Port Canaveral but got denied from visiting Great Stirrup Cay (after waiting 1.5 hours for the decision to be made). The shore excursions booked were refunded but to the onboard account not original payment method. It was a bummer to not go to the beach but with Covid we were expecting a hiccup so it didn't affect us greatly. 

 

Staff - Hands down the best staff we have encountered in a very long time. Almost every single person was happy, smiling, friendly, sociable, and took care of anything we needed. If I'm being critical our 2nd butler (1st got promoted to a different ship at pt canaveral) wasn't as good as the 1st and the concierge wasn't really necessary during this trip (we found it was easier to do things on the app).

 

Food- We dined at Moderno/Cagneys for our breakfast and lunches. For dinner we tried Moderno, Cagneys, Le Bistro, O'Sheehans and Orchid. We enjoyed all of our meals (too much so) with the exception of Moderno. We all agreed that Moderno was too salty. 

 

It had been over 10 years since we sailed on the GEM and while it's smaller than the ships we choose lately we really had a wonderful trip!

[natefish95]

Thanks for the report! How was the evening entertainment? Can't wait to be on in less than a month! 

[sghetrick]

2 hours ago, natefish95 said:

Thanks for the report! How was the evening entertainment? Can't wait to be on in less than a month! 

We're late diners so we didn't make it to many shows/entertainment. The guitarist on board (played at Magnums) definitely had the crowd involved and was enjoyable. There was also a band on board (can't remember their name) they were good but extremely loud. 

[Cruising to Retirement]

Were there any Production Shows that were cancelled or any other activities due to COVID issues. How about capacity- plenty of deck chairs, etc.  Thank you for any info-  going on the 1/19 Ten night sailing.. 

[sghetrick]

10 hours ago, Cruising to Retirement said:

Were there any Production Shows that were cancelled or any other activities due to COVID issues. How about capacity- plenty of deck chairs, etc.  Thank you for any info-  going on the 1/19 Ten night sailing.. 

I don't know the details about capacity but it must have been pretty low.  We were always able to find deck chairs, seating at bars (with space from others), dining reservations, etc.  The most congested day was when the bahamas got canceled and even then it wasn't difficult to find space outside for the 3 of us. 

 

I'm not sure what the regular shows are on the gem. In addition to musical performers throughout the ship there was a variety show in the theater, line dancing in the spinnaker, glow party outside, and 80s dance party in bliss.