Norwegian Gem Jan 16-25 Bermuda/Bahamas live report

[pookel]

We made it to GSC today! No problems. Came over on the first tender and going back to the ship around 2:20. Lovely weather, beautiful sand, free drinks, buffet was passable. The sun is brutal so bring plenty of sunscreen. If you stay still in the water you'll see some fish. Not crowded at all - we didn't have trouble even getting chairs in the shade. The Zipline was pretty impressive looking but we didn't try it. Saw the Wonder of the Seas next door at Coco Cay plus a smaller Royal Caribbean ship I couldn't identify. They have a hot air balloon over there!

 

Props to the skinny blond girl in the hula hoop contest who could have kept going forever and they had to cut her off - she was amazing.

 

Sorry if this is a bit muddled, I've been swimming all day and I've never been this tired *ever*.  Note if you have a cane or mobility issues that loose sand is hard to walk in. We saw some other folks with canes that had end caps made for soft surfaces, with the four rubber pieces instead of just one - that looked like it would work better than my husband's basic cane. 

[pookel]

PS if you're on the ship I'm the fat white lady with braided hair - I got my hair done in Nassau and i guess it's distinctive because everyone comments. 🙂

[pookel]

PPS if you go over to the area with the swing in the water, it's rockier and there's more seaweed but you'll also see more fish and the water is very clear. Nice for watching for sea creatures if you don't rent snorkel equipment. 

[cruiservictor]

4 minutes ago, pookel said:

We made it to GSC today! No problems. Came over on the first tender and going back to the ship around 2:20. Lovely weather, beautiful sand, free drinks, buffet was passable. The sun is brutal so bring plenty of sunscreen. If you stay still in the water you'll see some fish. Not crowded at all - we didn't have trouble even getting chairs in the shade. The Zipline was pretty impressive looking but we didn't try it. Saw the Wonder of the Seas next door at Coco Cay plus a smaller Royal Caribbean ship I couldn't identify. They have a hot air balloon over there!

 

Props to the skinny blond girl in the hula hoop contest who could have kept going forever and they had to cut her off - she was amazing.

 

Sorry if this is a bit muddled, I've been swimming all day and I've never been this tired *ever*.  Note if you have a cane or mobility issues that loose sand is hard to walk in. We saw some other folks with canes that had end caps made for soft surfaces, with the four rubber pieces instead of just one - that looked like it would work better than my husband's basic cane. 

Glad you were able to make it to GSC and that you enjoyed it so much. That smaller RC ship, by the way, is the Freedom of the Seas, maiden voyage in 2006. 

[pookel]

Btw here's an odd thing - I had no internet connectivity on the Gem, but got connected on the island. Still connected all the way back on the tender. Now I don't have it again. I suspect maybe there's a tower on the island or on Coco Cay. (I use Google Fi).

 

Going to do a quick photo dump here with my internet minutes. 

[pookel]

Sorry the photo dump didn't work - internet too slow at the moment. I'll post it when we get in range of Florida. 

[pookel]

On 1/19/2023 at 7:08 PM, Birdnutty said:

Thank you for your daily report.  We're getting more excited by the day - we get on when you get off.  If you have a chance, would you please be so kind as to post a picture or two of the dailies?  The activities part is what I'm most interested in, especially on sea days.

 

Any shows happening?

 

Just noticed I missed this post. I have all the dailies sitting on my desk and will try to post them Monday when we have a sea day. I have limited internet right now and tomorrow we're going to EPCOT.

 

Shows so far: Blazing Boots, comedy show, Divos and Divas, Get Down Tonight (that's tonight). Our itinerary mentions Swing! but it hadn't happened yet. 

[Birdnutty]

1 hour ago, pookel said:

Shows so far: Blazing Boots, comedy show, Divos and Divas, Get Down Tonight (that's tonight). Our itinerary mentions Swing! but it hadn't happened yet. 

That's very encouraging.  Have heard many reports of shows not happening on so many ships, and not just because of weather...  Hope they're still happening when we're on.  Thanks for all the great info!

[pookel]

One more thing I should mention - we had the free 6 liters of Flow water package. But there were about 14 liters in the room when we arrived. It would be extremely easy to go over the free 6 without noticing and I assume we'd get charged for that. 

[pookel]

Photos. 

[pookel]

On the bus to Disney now. We'll be at the park from 10 am to 6 pm so hopefully enough time to do something fun! The shuttle employees took everyone's name & cabin number & cell phone number so they can make sure no one is left behind - seems like a well run operation. 

[CruisinMaterial]

I sailed on January 2nd and know someone from my sailing still on the ship. You folks are having a lovely time overall. You were quite fortunate with the tendering process in Great Stirrup Cay and also for not having the Prima be with you there. Our tendering process was quite the crap show! Love reading about your journey and hope you have an amazing day at Disney.

[Mlake09]

21 hours ago, pookel said:

One more thing I should mention - we had the free 6 liters of Flow water package. But there were about 14 liters in the room when we arrived. It would be extremely easy to go over the free 6 without noticing and I assume we'd get charged for that. 

If you’re platinum or above, that would make sense- platinum or above get an additional two bottles per stateroom. We had 14 total on our room last week on Gem. Hope you’re enjoying your trip!

[pookel]

1 hour ago, Mlake09 said:

If you’re platinum or above, that would make sense- platinum or above get an additional two bottles per stateroom. We had 14 total on our room last week on Gem. Hope you’re enjoying your trip!

We aren't, this is our very first cruise! Maybe it was just a happy accident but I don't want to drink them just in case.

 

We had a great day at EPCOT and were only 2 minutes late back to the shuttle but were still the last people on, oops! Heading back to the port now extremely tired - I got 20k steps on my Fitbit, a personal record. Not sure if we'll be up for events on the ship tonight. Iirc there's some kind of 70s themed dance party. 

[lgrover]

On 1/20/2023 at 6:46 AM, EllieinNJ said:

While you were in Bermuda were you able to walk around with just a shirt or did you need a jacket/sweater?

Bring a jacket your never know, think today was 66 degrees. Could be cooler or warmer!

[pookel]

Day 9 - last sea day. I was too tired to post yesterday, still recovering from EPCOT. I don't know why I thought I'd have mobile internet access between Florida and New York, but I don't, so I still can't post the dailies, sorry. 

 

Sea was very rough yesterday & they put out seasick bags on all the stairway landings, although I didn't see anyone using them. Cold and windy outside so they moved the Glow Party indoors to Spinnaker. The Glow Party itself was fun but I wish theyd had more glow stuff/blacklights outside the small Spinnaker dancefloor as it got so crowded it was hard to get into the "glow" area. Also a bit difficult to dance with the movement of the ship - you could see the whole crowd moving to the side at times as the ship tilted.

 

Tried a Dark and Stormy last night at Spinnaker and I just did not care for it - oh well. Got a mudslide instead which was perfect. Tried to order a chocolate martini but apparently those are only available in the martini bar, fyi.

 

We met a nice couple from New York (hi Mike and Mary!) who told us that the previous cruise had 3000 people including 1200 children, which I absolutely cannot imagine. A passing crew member agreed this cruise is much nicer & quieter and people are in a better mood.

 

We're back in NYC at 7 am - anyone have any last minute questions about the ship? 

[laurabegorrah]

Thank you so much for the play by play!  I board tomorrow so it was nice to get some recent info!

[Epiro Funchal]

10 minutes ago, pookel said:

We're back in NYC at 7 am - anyone have any last minute questions about the ship? 

Say Hello to Luz. She was my Karaoke buddy on the Breakaway the October before last.

Make sure to keep the vessel in shipshape. I board the GEM tomorrow.

Dan

 

[pookel]

1 hour ago, Epiro Funchal said:

Say Hello to Luz. She was my Karaoke buddy on the Breakaway the October before last.

Make sure to keep the vessel in shipshape. I board the GEM tomorrow.

Dan

 

 

I'll do that if I see her again!! We haven't met but I've seen her do karaoke a couple nights, she's really good!

 

One more funny story from last night - we went to the singer Anthony Nunziatto's show in the Stardust. It was cheesy but fun - some opera, some love songs, some Disney songs. Anyway he did a bit where he asked three audience members to come up and sing a response line in an opera song. The first two were passable ... the third sounded like a professional singer & he asked what she did for a living. "I'm an opera singer" she says. So they did the song and she sang her parts in full operatic soprano style & the audience went nuts. After the show I heard him invite her to do a guest appearance with him if she's ever in New Jersey. (Her mom responded, "she should ask you to be HER guest!")

 

Overall a great evening & a fun time.

 

Tonight the entertainment is Swing! so we'll have gotten all three promised shows. 

[Turtles06]

Have a wonderful last night, and thanks again for sharing your cruise with us. Be prepared for a wet home-coming. 

[nmuller328]

12 hours ago, pookel said:

We're back in NYC at 7 am - anyone have any last minute questions about the ship? 

Heads up- rain going to snow & back to rain coming in- may end up being NY's first measurable snow. I see NYC's lights just off the bow on the ship's camera- guess you'll be docking a few hours earlier. Thanks for the info and safe travels home. 

 

[pookel]

28 minutes ago, nmuller328 said:

Heads up- rain going to snow & back to rain coming in- may end up being NY's first measurable snow. I see NYC's lights just off the bow on the ship's camera- guess you'll be docking a few hours earlier. Thanks for the info and safe travels home. 

 

 

Thanks for the info! We'll be dressed for the cold anyway as we're heading back to North Dakota, but now I wish the umbrellas weren't in the suitcase.

 

Looks like we are already docked or at least stopped in the vicinity - I see city lights & we're not moving and my internet is working great.

 

Fwiw, went to Swing! last night and it was OK but not really what I expected. I expected more of a "greatest hits of swing" show like Blazing Boots did for country music, but this one had more odd little songs I'd never heard before. Very talented singers/musicians/dancers though, it was a well done production, just not quite my thing. 

[LadyBerard]

On 1/20/2023 at 12:13 AM, GMCOLT said:

Gem is favorite ship. Was on 2007 maiden voyage out of Boston in a snow storm.

Always enjoyed size, activities and the great outdoors on the stern.

Jao is a great GM. Had great time last April. Who is the captain?

Deck 12 card room is good for board games.

The model of the SS UNITED STATES I gave the ship in 2008 resides there.

We were on the ship that day too.  I remember they delayed sailaway due to so many passengers arriving late.  Ship's crew were making snowangels and enjoying seeing the snow.  They didn't enjoy having to shovel the snow later on though.  It was a spectacular day and wonderful, but short cruise to  nowhere.