Briji04

Hi all! We are going on our first NCl cruise on the Gem this saturday. We have cruised RC, Princess and Carnival. We are a family with a 5yo DS and 2 year old DD. Looking for your best tips and secrets for us. Also what is open for lunch on embarkation day. TIA!!! (going to Port Canaveral, GSC and nassau)

Hi Robbie ! DH and I are on this cruise with you. You should take the time to wonder over to the kids club and register your five yr old on embarkation day. Just in case he decides he wants to play there at some point. It will save you time later.

There is a roll call going for this cruise but not an official meet and greet. At least not yet.

Happy sailing!

Thanks peg013

A few nice surprises while getting back on board...wet washcloths to clean up with.

Getting back on in Nassau a large amount of the crew was there singing and dancing and of course they made us join them lol.

Twice while getting back on we were offered frozen fruit bars. It seems that Ncl knows what ypu need before you do.

I have read many comments about Ncl being annoying by trying to sell thongs. No one ever tried to push a drink on me. I heard only a few announcements regarding bingo. At the beginning of each show a very brief and low keyed announcement was made to sell tear off tickets.

 

Do not think of being late back to the ship. We had an all aboard for 5:30. At 6:15 we had already pulled away from the dock. 3 girls came up and missed the ship. One was swearing when the ship wouldn't return. They are serious about getting back on time!

Lol bonni, I know you are typing on your phone but I've never had NCL try to sell me a THONG. Enjoying your review. We will be on the Gem June 21. Can't wait!

Hey y'all! I will be cruising in September with my fiancé (will be my husband then!). This is my first cruise, so any tips and tricks would be helpful.

Hi. You will love this ship. We did. Here are a few things I learned while on the ship over spring break this April.

1. If you have an iPhone download the concierge app to everyone's phone before you leave home. I used this app a lot. It will have each days activities and times. It will allow you to book shows and dinner reservations. It also let us text among ourselves (7.95$) it's like having the dailies in your pocket.

2. If you get turned around in the hallway on the way to your room. Remember the fishes on the carpet always swim forward.

3. Save some of your on board expense money to try Carlos bakery and get some gelato too. It's usually quiet by these two places. So it's a good spot to sit.

4. If the pool deck is too loud and crazy go to the waterfront deck 8 and you'll find couches and chairs that are usually empty.

5. We enjoyed the movies in the atrium most days. They hand out popcorn and strawberry milk shakes while you watch the movie.

6. Don't forget to pack OTC meds. I needed an Advil one day and it was expensive.

7. Watch for spa specials. DH and I both got head to toe hot stone message with facials on special.

We ate at most of the specialty restaurants. All were good. If you have never had snails , it's a good time to try them at le Bistro. Also le Bistro has the best coffee on the ship! Be sure you dress for dinner at le Bistro. I had on Capri pants and they made me change.

Congrats on your upcoming nuptials!!

So a follow up question... actually, re-asking the ones I already asked.

 

Did you try booking just one soda package?

 

Did you try calling NCL?

I just tried to book one package for our cruise in 16 days on my ncl. It defaults to both DH and myself. You have to purchase for everyone in the cabin age 3 yrs to adult.

Is the class just on decorating? Not making them from scratch right?

Yes. I am almost positive it's just decorating an already baked cupcake/cake. But you get to eat it afterwards so it seems like a good thing. The price was not listed in the dailies. Not sure how much it costs.

Is this do-able for a 4.30 international flight from MIA

Yes. You will have plenty of time.

DH, myself and our two teenage boys did this tour in April. It was great. The boys loved it. Bring sunscreen and bug spray. They told us if you have on flip flops to stay on the concrete path. They do pass out ear plugs before the air boat ride.The bus ride to the park is nice. The ride to the airport was very helpful. It sure beats sitting in the airport for 6 hrs waiting on a flight.

I'm looking for information about the cupcake classes held on the Getaway. Specifically if anyone know what days and times they are?

 

Thanks

Hi,

We were just on the Getaway in April. I looked through the dailies that I brought back (I'm missing day 4 &6 for some reason). The cupcake class is listed at 1100 am on Day 2

Also, there is a Bermuda Beach Cake Deco Class on Day 3 at 1100 am. Both classes were held in Teppanyaki. I hope this helps

We'll be aboard the Sky next week and the opening ceremony of the World Cup is on Thursday. Does anybody know if the opening will be shown at any of the bars on the ship?

 

 

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http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/pressroom/pressRelease.html?storyCode=PR_040814

I also called to make sure it was on every ship.

DH and I were just discussing last night if we should trade our South American cruise for this TA. Also, the crossing will be done during hurricane season. Any worries about a rough crossing? Great job gathering info. Can't wait for more!

Thanks for the reply. I will try to be patient and wait for your review before asking lots of questions. You might have the answers in your review. However, DH is wondering about the privacy on the front balcony. If we are sitting out there will we be on display to the whole bridge?

Can't wait to read your review. We have that room for the 21st. :D. I just got an email from NCL with pillow and liquor choices but haven't responded yet. Any suggestions?

I've been trying to find pictures and video of that room. There aren't many out there for the Gem.

Would love to hear peoples' experience with having this added to existing reservations. I know it could be done last time, hoping it's the same this time.

I received my letter from HSN. I called my PCC to use the offer but he tells me it would cost me more to use that promotion for my already booked Getaway in October. The difference was $ 400. Not worth it for me.

Have a question. I have read on the forums where NCL is in the process (or has already completed) changing lobster from night 1 in the MDR to night 2 on the buffet. Is this a fleetwide change? More specifically, is this what is the current practice on the Sun? If it has not changed yet but will be changed, does anyone know when? Thanks for any info you can provide so I can set up my specialty restaurants accordingly (I want to do teppanyaki on lobster night as I feel teppanyaki will be the least filling meal in the specialty restaurants).

Hello, we were on the Getaway last month. Lobster was on the buffet along with steak on the second night.

. As far as Teppanyaki goes don't expect to have much room to eat again unless u go early or really late. They gave us a lot of food. There was soup,salad,tons of rice,your entree and then dessert.

Hi. You will love this ship. We did. Here are a few things I learned while on the ship over spring break this April.

1. If you have an iPhone download the concierge app to everyone's phone before you leave home. I used this app a lot. It will have each days activities and times. It will allow you to book shows and dinner reservations. It also let us text amount our selfs (7.95$) it's like having the dailies in your pocket.

2. If you get turned around in the hallway on the way to your room. Remember the fishes on the carpet always swim forward.

3. Save some of your on board expense money to try Carlos bakery and get some gelato too. It's usually quiet by these two places. So it's a good spot to sit.

4. If the pool deck is too loud and crazy go to the waterfront deck 8 and you'll find couches and chairs that are usually empty.

5. We enjoyed the movies in the atrium most days. They hand out popcorn and strawberry milk shakes while you watch the movie.

6. Don't forget to pack OTC meds. I needed an Advil one day and it was expensive.

7. Watch for spa specials. DH and I both got head to toe hot stone message with facials on special. My macho Latino husband even went back to the spa later with out me for a special shave beard trim.

We ate at most of the specialty restaurants. All were good. If you have never had snails , it's a good time to try them at le Bistro. Also le Bistro has the best coffee on the ship! Be sure you dress for dinner at le Bistro. I had on Capri pants and they made me change.

Enjoy your trip!

We went on the getaway. It was nice. They have nonalcoholic drinks for the

Kids. The glass is made of ice set in a real glass. If you don't finish your drink they let you take it with you.

I've seen a few threads that claimed Vibe Beach Club never completely sold out on their sailings and I've just read a recent review that spoke of people who waited at the pier for 3 hours before check in and made the mad dash for customer service along with the rest of the masses and still couldn't score a Vibe Pass.

 

So, what's been your experience in recent sailings? Did Vibe sell out before you had a chance to purchase a pass? If so, how early did you get to the pier and how bad was the dash to customer service?

 

I'm just thinking that even though we would really like a pass, if it is really that hard and crazy to get one, maybe we'll just avoid starting our vacation off with major stress all together and skip it. Wanted to hear other's experience first....

My husband and I were able to get vibe tickets on the Getaway April 12 -19. We boarded around 12:30pm. We didn't go to guest services until 1:30 or 2:00. There was a crew member asking those of us in line at guest services what we needed. Since we just wanted vibe he sent us straight over to a separate counter. We had no trouble getting in.

I was slightly disappointed in the Vibe beach club. We are a 45 and 50 yr old married couple. We weren't there to party. I was hoping for a quiet place away from the main pool without kids and craziness. What we got were hot tubs full of young adults talking loud and drinking. Discussing their conquests. It is windy up there. There is a stair case next to the club that always has people going back and forth looking over the wall. You can hear the noise from the pool deck below.

The bartender and valet were nice though. They brought around trays of fruit and cookies. You could exchange your towel there so no need to take wet towel back to room. There are umbrellas if like me you can't take too much sun. The private cabanas do sell out very early. A nice lady showed us her cabana. They look comfy and roomy.

DH really into world cup soccer, trip already booked. Are major sporting events available on NCL? Thanks!!!!

Yes! It will be shown on board. I had to be sure too or DH wasn't going.

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/pressroom/pressRelease.html?storyCode=PR_040814

We were just on the Getaway in a balcony on deck 11 April 12 across from the studios. We slept thru the meet and greet so I missed meeting SissasmomE :( maybe next time.

The balcony was small in our forward cabin. My 14 yr old 6 ft 4in son had to sit sideways or his knees hit the plexiglass.

The studios are behind a locked door. The individual rooms do not open into the main hallway. So I guess you are not really across the hallway but you will be close

I heard women can wear Capri pants and nice tops . That is my summer staple since I'm not a fan of shorts. My hubby is planing on shorts with a nice shirt or polo for dinner. He is bringing one dress outfit and I'm bringing a dress if we go to le Bistro and a dinner at Cagneys. Women can dress up anything with accessories, but I totally agree with not wanting to see arm pit hair while I'm eating, lol

 

 

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We were just on the Getaway last month and ate at Le Bistro. I was wearing capris and they asked me to go back to cabin to change. I ate Le Bistro on the sky In capris with no problem. I guess it depends on the hostess.

We were just on the Getaway last month. They did not have a place to check your carry on. I checked with a few ncl crew just to make sure. We ended up going to our cabin and dropping it off even before the announcement was made that our cabin was ready. I'm not sure if it was pure luck or good timing but our cabin was clean before 100pm. We didn't stay in the room at that time. Too much to see....