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Burrata

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    Vegetarian and alcohol free on NCL

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    lebais, the dish served at Cagney's does sound grim! 

    There was nothing on the regular menus that didn't appeal to your wife? I also eat primarily vegetarian and there are always vegetarian options that I have enjoyed. If she doesn't eat dairy, I could see it being a challenge to have a wide options of food.

     

    I would think mocktails would be easy to make, many of the cocktails are pre-mixed blends and the bartender adds alcohol. Not sure why this was not offered. I can see why you both were frustrated.

     

     

    mini bus -dock to dock

    in Bermuda

    Posted

    Island Tour Centre is very good company. Good idea to plan out in advance too, much less stressful to do in advance then day of. Bermuda is wonderful, you will have a great time!

     

    ps: love Utica's tomato pie!

    Gem Boston to Bermuda 8/23-8/30, short TR

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    August 23rd-30th NCL Gem Boston to Bermuda trip report

     

    Stateroom: category BC # 9546 very clean, quiet, small couch next to balcony. King sized bed that left a narrow space between the bed and wall. Shower good sized, place were toilet located small!   Requested an ice bucket and robes. Steward quickly brought the items, kept ice bucket filled and serviced the room twice a day. Did receive towel animals every night except first and didn’t have to ask.

     

    SDP:. Ate at La Cucina, Cagney’s and Le Bistro. Cagney’s was the best of the three. Both our meals cooked to our liking, service was great and portions reasonable.  La Cucina: apps were good but pasta was drowning in sauce and too big of a portion, really too much to eat. Same for Le Bistro re: sauce. I ordered the shrimp in some sort of cream sauce with artichokes and potatoes. The food was swimming in sauce, was able to count 8 very large shrimp, but it wasn’t appealing. I suppose if you were paying a la carte ($31) you would want your monies worth. One gentleman was turned away from Le Bistro because he was wearing shorts and had not packed long pants.

     

    MDRs: ate at Grand Pacific for breakfast 2x, lunch 1x, and dinner 1x. The lunch we had on embarkation day took over 40 minutes for one app, and two mains, I thought my husband was going to leave and head up to the buffet. Not the best way to start our cruise, but service did improve for the rest of the cruise. Breakfast and dinner were fine. Can’t wear ball caps at Grand Pacific but did see men in shorts at dinner. Ate at Magenta once, rather forgettable, descriptions of food didn’t match what was served. Husband ordered penne with vodka sauce but it sure looked like baked penne. Hardly any sauce (must have all gone to La Cucina!) He asked for extra with no issues. Service at the MDRs was very good except for lunch.

     

    Room service: ordered a pizza, took 40 minutes and not that tasty. 

     

    Garden Cafe: Surprising good. Lots of variety, several stations of the same food made it easy to grab and go. Two Indian dishes were offered everyday, which I liked. We would fill our plates and head out to the Great Outdoors to eat and get a drink (or two).

     

    Venues: Loved the Great Outdoors and Spinnaker Lounge! We went to those two places many times during the cruise for food and drink. We also enjoyed sitting in Magnums and listening to music. The house band Prism and the other band JamRoc were really good.

     

    Excursions: I booked through NCL the catamaran snorkel and sail, which happened to be fulfilled by Captain Kirk. For one person, it was a great deal because I got a latitudes discount and used the shore excursion perk. One thing I really liked about this excursion is that the two crew members were watching the participants very closely to make sure we were safe. Everytime I popped my head to get my bearings, I could see both crew members scanning the water and counting heads. I used my own gear so can’t comment on the quality of their equipment. Heading back to shore, they provided a Rum Swizzle and you could purchase more for $ 4, a bargain for Bermuda. They also had water too for free. Recommend! 

     

    The other excursion that I booked directly was Fantasea’s Gosling’s Rum Cruise. Got to taste lots of rum and learn the history of said rum. Can also buy duty free rum and it will be brought to the ship but there is no high pressure sales pitch. Nice way to spend a few hours.

     

    Activities: Took the free ferry to St. George on Monday. Walked to Tobacco Bay and had a drink at the bar. It was really hot and humid that day, so sadly we didn’t spend much time there and husband wasn’t in the mood to swim.

     

    Horseshoe Bay Beach: On departure day, we were up early but we would have to wait awhile for a minibus to fill up before heading out. We decided to take a taxi instead, it was a splurge ($35.10 before tip) but it meant we got the beach when very few people were there. We walked away from the entrance and down along water until we found shade. Water was a little choppy but still so beautiful!

     

    We shared a fish cake sandwich combo and some mac n’ cheese from the snack bar. The mac n’ cheese was a special and it was tasty!  $18 total

     

    I ordered two large Dark and Stormy’s from the bar @ $11 apiece, I gave the bartender $ 25 US and he gives me $ 1 Bermudian coin back. I ask him about the price, and he is like “oh sorry” and gives the rest of my change as $ 2 Bermudian dollar.  I put the $ 2 bill in the tip jar and he happily chirps, “ I’ll just put that back in the till!” That was the only time I was given Bermudian money as change.

     

    This was our 4th cruise with NCL and first on Gem. We really liked the layout of the ship, the crew members and enjoyed being pampered. We spent our days reading, snoozing, and watching the sunset. Love Bermuda and can’t for our next cruise!




     

    • Like 1

    Can someone explain this bidding process I'm reading about?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    NCL sends an email asking if you like to bid on higher category room then the one you currently have booked. Not everyone receives the email. 

    for example, I booked a balcony room on the Gem and received an email about upgrading. I could go up two categories which included everything from a suite to a huge room in the Haven.

     

    If your bid is accepted, you only keep the perks you had with the original booking and you don't get a choice of room.

    short trip snorkel

    in Bermuda

    Posted

    I did a shipwreck snorkel excursion with NCL. Was not really happy with the company that did the actual trip but enjoyed the snorkeling. The boat took us to a popular site of two shipwrecks, The Constellation and the Montana. The water is so clear and beautiful. Saw fish (boat feed them) and tiny jellyfish. In my mind. that would be the  Triangle Shipwreck Snorkel excursion.

     

    I would think if you did a coral reef snorkel you would see more variety of fish. 

     

    I did snorkel off Horseshoe Bay Beach (a little way from the crowds) saw a few small fish and a HUGE parrot fish nibbling on some rocks. 

     

    I agree that on day 2, best to book through the ship so in case there is a delay or whatever you will not be left behind!

    Arriving at 3:15 on cruiseship

    in Bermuda

    Posted

    Hi Laurab23!

     

    If you are docking at the Royal Naval Dockyard, there are several companies that offer late afternoon/evening activities.

     

    Restless Native does a sunset cruise on a catamaran with Rum Swizzle and freshly made chocolate chip cookies. Did this last year and really enjoyed it. This year hubby and I are going to take the Gosling Rum one. We booked through the individual companies and not through the cruise ship.

     

    Restless Native: https://www.restlessnative.bm/excursions    (scroll down for information on the Sunset & Swizzle Cruise)

    Gosling Rum Cruise: https://fantasea.bm/tours-activitieslinks/#Inventory/2684

     

    You could also walk around the Dockyard area and do a little shopping. Depending on what day you are there, they might be live music or other events.

     

    https://www.dockyardbermuda.com/

    Bermuda...Questions....

    in Bermuda

    Posted

    Hello Nessa1dc!

    you will be docking at the Royal Naval Dockyard. There is lots of things to do right off the ship and a short walk away. There are shops, craft market, a national museum, restaurants. There is a man made beach as well (Snorkel Park) that has an entrance fee and you can snorkel, paddle board etc. there. On Monday night they have a bonfire party.

     

    You can use US $ and it is 1:1 to the Bermudian dollar. There is a visitor center at the dockyards that can help with booking excursions if you decide to do one. The sunset catamarans are great!

     

    http://dockyardbermuda.com/

     

    There is the beautiful Horseshoe Bay Beach (blue water, pink sand) about 25 minutes away by taxi (best if you have 4 people) or shared mini bus ($7 pp, cash only). At the beach, there are showers and a place to buy food. 

     

    re: time to be on ship, do you mean while you docked there or the day you depart? If you are there overnight I don't believe there is a curfew to be back on board. The day you leave probably have to be on board an hour before you depart.

     

    you will love Bermuda! People are very friendly.

     

     

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