alicia68

NCL is getting crazy with some of their pricing. Gem Jan 14 2021 it is a 14 night sailing but they want $7912 CAD for a BF balcony with no dining, drinks etc. I just came of a 14 Bliss that was $4900 CAD for an MA

They did have a grill night at the buffet with lots of options however I didnt see any kabobs. There really is plenty to choose from though from Asian to Indian (for Indian food you need to go right to the very end of the buffet). Biggest thing with buffet food and this is every cruiseline/ship is not to expect piping hot. Lots of people complaining about cold food. Even in the Taste and Savor food was always warm but not hot. OSheehans food was prepared the hottest out of the places we chose to eat.

I will not likely repeat this itinerary as I prefer an Eastern or Southern when it comes to Caribbean but for anyone going it is wise to not tell your children if you plan on doing the Disney excursion. Let it be a surprise should you make it and not a disappointment should you not be able too. There were alot of sad faces from kids and parents because of it.

We loved the Waterfront area to sit and have a drink.

There was no where other than your stateroom to get away from noise and just read a book or relax without the craziness of the people on this voyage. We went to the library a few times but it was too busy with no seating available.

The card room did get good use on this ship.

The Ice Bar- Didnt see many people utilize this space on this or previous Breakaway cruises. Maybe they will rethink this space when she goes in for a refurb.

Wasabi/ Ocean Blue and the Raw Bar were also places that only very very few people seems to try. Empty most times.

Teppanyaki was always busy as was the noodle bar.

I would love to see the Manhattan Room be open for breakfast and lunch somewhere for a more relaxing experience.

I understand that many people like the freestyle aspect of NCL but it would be nice to have the option of freestyle or traditional dining. With freestyle it seems waiters are rushed trying to turn over the table so quickly. I dont need a waiter that dotes on us but would prefer one who had time to smile

Casino is fairly large but smoking and non smoking areas are not marked or not clearly marked at least and you could always see smokers bewildered as to where they should be. Not having a proper bar in the casino is also a drawback on this ship. A main bar inside the casino I think would be a better option than Bar 21 on your way out of the one end of the casino.

The Iconcierge app. If you are going to pay the $9.99 pp to use this app for text/talk be prepared that it will not always work. It worked about half the time. Its good when it does but frustrating when it doesnt.

This was out 7th NCL and our least favourite. It just didnt have the service we have received on other NCL ships. We personally dont need the bells and whistles of the newer ships and prefer the Gem/ Jewel ect.

Just returned from the March 4 Breakaway. Good and bad on this particular NCL cruise. The ship is lovely and well kept. Tons of things for people to do.

This was a spring breaker cruise so it was extremely busy but expected. Cruise was mostly made up of local NY/NJ and French Canadians. A ton of kids but most were well behaved. Saw some issues with a few of them but security guard was posted on deck 8 top of the atrium for the last few days to get after kids playing on the main stair cases. Life guard/pool attendant posted at the pool the few times I was out there seemed to be keeping an eye on things which was great too see.

Entertainment- Reserved Escape the Big Top. Was placed with a very nice group of young people from Montreal. This experience was a lot of fun and enjoyed by all. Wont go into more detail as we were sworn to secrecy when leaving lol

Rock of Ages- I thought the show was fantastic! My travel partner did not. She thought it too be a bit on the vulgar side, so did I but they give plenty of warning before the show so if you are on the prudish side be prepared. Also if you are a parent, please respect the age limit of the show. I saw a ton of kids under 10 being brought into the show then the parents getting mad about the content. My second warning would be to use the bathroom before you go to the show as it is almost 2 hours!

Burn the Floor- While I thought it was entertaining it did get a bit boring but thats just my personal taste For me this show has no repeat value.

Levity comedy shows- I really enjoyed the two shows I saw. The comedians were quite good.

Cirque Dreams- The enjoyed the show very much definitely worth seeing. I do think the price would be more in line with say the $30-$35 pp cost rather than $47.99 pp. The food was ok but nothing to write home about. On the most part you wont walk out thinking "wow that was a great meal"

Onboard activities- There is a lot too do during the day. Like any other ship there is an abundance of things to do during the day from bingo to trivia to art auctions. Something for everyone.

Music- Always a place to watch live entertainment. For me it was just too loud. Alvin and Emily in the atrium were great but I dont think the volume needs to be that loud. They are playing an atrium not a stadium. Impossible to talk to your table mates if eating at O Sheehans. Pool music again pretty good but overly loud to the point of distortion. Fats Cats had a band with a female singer that was just bad. She was loud and screechy. The first night we saw here she was doing a Tina Turner "impression" that led to her falling and knocking over a table. Maybe she was having an off week who knows.

Dining- always subjective.

Le Bistro was fabulous. The french onion soup was some of the best we have had. Filet was cooked perfect. Little skimpy on the potato but thats ok. Best coffee on the ship.

Main Dining room- tried at 6 pm, 7 pm and 8 pm for the Manhattan room never got in waiting upwards of 45 minutes each time and just couldnt wait any longer we were too hungry

Did go to Taste one night waiting and hour and 15 minutes and finally got in. Service was fair. Food was ok.

Savor Breakfast- Were seated very fast which was great. Waitress took our order. Simple bacon eggs and toast. When it arrived it was delivered to the table by a different waitress. Toast didnt show so I asked about it and she said she would get our waitress. When our waitress arrived I asked again about the toast. She sighed heavily and said that was in another kitchen and stood there. I looked at her and she said do you really want me to get it. I said yes please. When she did finally bring it it was cold and not buttered. Butter is on the table but was too hard to spread.

Buffet- Well its buffet and not expected to be top notch food but it was ok. There are plenty of things to choose from. I find the stations are spaced too far apart and broken up so much that when you think you have seen everything if you walk a bit further you will find something else you didnt see before. Biggest tip here is find a table first. If you dont by the time you get your food and find one food will be ice cold. No waiters walking around offering coffee or juices so be sure to get those if you want them. Tables were not cleaned very fast. Also when you are on a full ship please keep in mind that when you are done eating chances are there are other people waiting for a table. Please socialize elsewhere so someone else can enjoy a meal.

Cabin 13790 MA minisuite. Personal opinion dont waste money on a mini suite they are small and the balcony is a joke. A standard balcony would suffice. The only difference really is a larger bathroom.

Itinerary- We left NYC 4 hours late due to currents or something along those lines. Captain did make announcements but you really couldnt hear them. Majority of the passengers did not seem to care what he was saying and just talked louder to their group to drown out the announcement. Same with the muster drill. Guess they already knew what they are supposed to do in the case of an emergency because they had better things to talk about. Seas were a bit rough but I have had worse. Missed Great Stirrup as it was not safe to tender. Alot of people disappointed in this but I would rather be safe. Late getting into Port Canaveral. Again lots of disappointed passengers that couldnt do the Disney things they planned. We went to Kennedy Space Center. Granted we didnt get to stay very long but we were able to see some of the things we wanted to and will make that a destination unto itself on a later non cruise trip. The drive to Kennedy was interesting in that we saw many alligators, some type of little shark or fish with fins jumping in the water and a wild boar!

Nassau well its a been there dont that day for us. Weather wasnt the greatest so didnt support a beach day. Just a bit of shopping and a Starbucks coffee. Sad that Starbucks seems like great coffee after being on a ship! We did end up in Nassau early arriving the early evening before. Shops and casino were allowed to stay open on the ship that night.

Staff- This is the first time on any cruise that the staff seemed subpar and unhappy. No good mornings when passing crew in the hallways, no smiles. They all seemed over worked and I get that it was spring break but it was almost impossible to get a drink at any bar. Bars were filled with people who spent the whole day sitting in one spot and yelling drink order to the bar tenders. If you were a casual customer you were over run by the "regulars"

The Escape pulled in beside us in Nassau and I was appalled to see a mom on the balcony who sat her daughter on the balcony railing. Many letting their small children play on the balcony unsupervised. This is why bad things happen.

All in all we were away from home so that was great. I think whatever team designed this ship needs to rethink layout. 1 large dining and 2 smaller restaurants is not enough room to feed that many people in a timely fashion. Best tip is book ahead with the dining and drink plan. That way you can go to the specialty restaurants for good food and better service.

I would think they should be done by the end of November/beginning of December (by the time she get back to Barbados). Generally, it takes long range planning to schedule a drydock. Since there was a drydock last year, I'm sure that SS had no plans for a 2017 drydock. However, SS received many complaints about the drydock during the 2017 WC, thus they decided to do an in service rehab in November prior to the 2018 WC with a full drydock next year prior to the 2019 WC. I believe Mark Conroy talked about this in his CC Q&A.

I was on the same voyage as the OP. Staff said the ship is going in to a full dry dock this spring lasting 2 months.

I find it interesting that so many of us are concerned about the living wage of cruise line employees. Apparently many of us feel the cruise lines themselves are not too concerned about them.

 

Perhaps before the Automatic Prepaid System was enacted, many cruisers either did not leave enough or any at all. Due to this failure of some cruisers to tip, the cruise lines are trying to ensure that they receive a gratuity. They have set what they feel is a fair amount.

 

I also wonder what percentage of hotel guests truly leave a tip for the room attendant?

As a previous hotel room attendant, tips were few and far between especially one one night stay guests. People forget that even after a one night stay, linens need to be changed, bathrooms cleaned, garbage dumped etc etc. Its just as much work for a 1 night stay as for 7

Just off Gem yesterday and it is Alvin. He wasnt the greatest but far better then his staff. Henry and another girl on the entertainment staff drove me to the point of wanting to jump ship. If you dont have a ton of patience avoid deal or no deal and the bingo!

Just did an upsell from an MX to a SC today. If you booked in CAD your upgrade charge will be in CAD.

You give them a CC

We had prepaid our service charge so they said we wouldnt be charged anything extra but we could tip out butler at our discretion

First cruise out of San Juan, there must have been one of the resident specials that you see from time to time. A group of 5 southern women standing in the atrium complained loudly to some crew members and other passengers that "these people" should go back to their own country. One crew member pointed out to the ladies that they are a part of the US and the women went ballistic.

I realize this post is almost a month old but thought I would add my thoughts. I was on a 12 night Canada/New England voyage in October 2014. This would be my 32nd cruise, first with Cunard. I am 45 and was travelling with a friend.Yes Mary could use a bit of work. There were several sink holes and I did see one lady with heels stumble and fall. One evening outside Sir Samuels there were staff trying to do a small ceiling patch as there had been some water dripping. There was a couple places that water dripped from the ceiling and a noticable sewer smell in some spots.

Even with these things though I have to say it was my favourite cruise so far. Mary is, and I dont mean to be offensive to anyone, but Mary is like seeing an elderly lady, that you can picture her as a young woman and just know she was stunning. I hope that makes sense. She is by far the most beautiful ship I have sailed on. Afternoon tea in the Queens room was brilliant every day, staff was wonderful. Food is subjective but I thought the dining room was very good, I enjoyed the buffet, food was good however it does get a bit repetitive. So does every buffet on every cruiseline though. Todd English was amazing.

As a smoker, that is the only thing I didnt care for. I realize that there are not many of us anymore though. The smoking areas on this ship are few and inconvenient when it is a TA or colder weather cruise. Yes G32 does have a small smoking section however this is never open before 6pm and if there is an event in the Queens room it could be 8 or 9 pm before G 32 is open as they use that venue for a staging area. Normally I dont mind going outside to smoke, but it was freezing and very windy on this sailing, so going outside in formal wear, with hair done was a complete pain. I have to say though, smokers do tend to meet people easier when we are all standing around. I have met some new friends that we all still keep in touch and are planning another sailing on Cunard.

On this cruise I met the most interesting people I have on any other voyage.

Well you really are quite rude. My experience on the ship I am sure was different from yours. Like I said the room steward looked at the bites and said they were bed bug bites. He did change bedding including bed skirt etc and had them come to spray. We were also told that there were no available rooms left on the ship. No we did not ask for compensation, why would we? This is not a problem only for ships, but for private homes, business, hotels etc. Other people had the same problem but not everyone is on cruise critic

I only posted it to give people a heads up to check once they get to their cabin. If you dont want to check, so be it. There really is no reason to be as condescending as you are.

We were on the same cruise and I do not believe Bed Bugs were ever verified. Another case of screaming fire in a crowded movie theater.

If you had Bed Bugs wouldn't you have reported it immediately to the HD not the room Steward?? Wouldn't you have had your room changed? (and there were available rooms)

This was posted as" by the way " under a thread called "Gem Medical in New York" really this is not even worth discussing.

I could have insisted all I wanted but when its a sold out cruise there is no where to move too. The other cabins that had a bigger problem, crew did come up and spray.

I cannot believe that you would not have insisted on moving your room and speaking with the HD immediately . We were in the GV and it was spotless we had friends in various mini suites also spotless. A few years ago I had bites 2 days into the cruise on HAL and thought they were bed bugs, I was told by a doctor in San Juan ( family friend) they were tiny mosquitoes I was allergic to. I am sorry I have a hard time believing they were bed bugs. The Gem is also refurbishing as it sails and those mattresses may have been due to be replaced. Hard to believe that would have gone unspoken and unnoticed by everyone else on the ship.

Our cabin was not "infested" with bed bugs but enough that my husband had several bites. We did a bed bug check along with the cabin steward but being day time we couldn't see much. There were was some bedbug "dirt" as the cabin steward called it and blood spots on the sheets. The cabin steward said it happens, a few get in the cabin at first then it can become wide spread. Our cabin was 9140.

I was on this cruise. We didn't return to port we just sailed slowly until we were past a certain area, then sopped in order for the fire department to board and remove the gentleman and his family.

Unfortunately the way people are after the muster drill, trying to get to where they are going resulted in crowds near the stair well and the man fell. I feel bad for him and his family.

For a quick review of the Feb 27 - March 9 cruise : I will start by saying we had a very good time with a few bumps. Of course food is subjective. We had ok to good food. Nothing great but nothing terrible. Dinners were eaten mostly in the dining rooms for the first half of the cruise. Had a not great service one night in Magenta. Tried the Grand Pacific the next night and service was non existent. We were there for almost 90 minutes and had been only served appetizers. Our waitress disappeared after bringing them to never be seen again. We got up and started to leave but I did ask the maitr'd to let our server know we were leaving. He apologized profusely and wanted to make it up to us but I declines and we ate in specialty and buffet after that.

Biggest problem we had was bed bugs. Cabin 9140 balcony. Not just our problem but others as well. We did bring it to the attention of our room steward the first morning we woke up with bites. He came in and checked both the bites as well as the beds, changed the bedding including the mattress topper, foam and bed skirt. This did not help. A couple days later a few cabins on our floor had their mattresses hauled out and new ones brought in. When we asked for this, we were told they were out of new mattress. They said that this is a problem as people come into NYC early and then bring bugs from the hotels to the ships. I can not comment on that as we did not stay in a hotel before the cruise.

Entertainment was good favourite was the crew talent show. Some of these people are quite skilled.

Entertainers in Magnums, piano guy Billy was good but favoured Billy Joel songs. While I like Billy Joel, I do not want to hear him everynight same songs over and over. The guitar guy wasn't my cup of tea. Last year the piano guy on the Gem was very good, got the crowd involved, joked around and didn't take himself as serious as the 2 this year.

Ports/excursions can not comment on as we did our own thing and did not book excursions.

Casino was fairly busy each night and service here seemed to better than the rest of the ship. Two outstanding bartenders/waiters were Red in the Magnums area and Jer in the casino.

The ship is showing some wear and tear on things like carpets etc for the people who care about that part but over all not in too bad of shape

Just off QM 2 yesterday. Smoking is permitted in G 32 after 6 pm. If there is an event in the Queens Room in the evening, smoking is not permitted in G 32 until after the event is over which is usually 8 45 pm or so. G 32 is utilized as a staging area for Queens Room events and is off limits to guests. This happened about 5 or 6 times during the 12 night cruise.

G 32 is also not an "inclement weather" venue for smokers. Smoking is only allowed outside deck 7 and 8 aft regardless of poor weather.

Cigar and pipe smoking only in Churchills lounge and that was strictly enforced however cigars and pipes were allowed to be smoked on the outside decks as well

Best pool area/theatre server ever Simeon Frank from Grenada. This was back in Sept 2002

Best waiter Jose from Nicuraugua in oct 2003 & oct 2004