pcreek

We asked our butler for a couple of straight back chairs, as there was a small couch (leather) and 2 padded stools that slid under 2 separate desk areas. Well, I guess one of these was the make-up place, as there was a lighted magnifying mirror (attached almost in the middle of the desktop area) and the hairdryer was there.

 

\Seems like I goofed and moved these cabin photos into their own folder.

Here is the link to look at all of them! Sorry about that!! You can click on a lot of other photos that I didn't post on here, as well. Thanks for reading!!

 

http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/pcreek1/library/NCL%20GEM%209672?sort=3&page=1

We had a nice time on the GEM. Our vacation was exactly what we made of it and we got in a lot of down time! I felt very well taken care of by all the crew & staff aboard and in the terminal. It was an amazing time – even with the scooter! Can't wait to see what next year's cruise will bring! Hopefully, I will again be fully mobile and able to do a lot more!

Final Thoughts:

We played several sessions of trivia with Leslie from St. Lucia. He was a lot of fun!

We spent quite a bit of time in the casino, but no big wins. I think my largest win was about $60.00 on the slots. We only played the slots. We used both the coupon from slotplay.com and from NCL website/gifts. We each spent out of pocket about $400 each – and didn't earn anything while onboard, nor did we receive any special treats in cabin. Dh was supposed to go down to casino on last day to see if we could get anything off on board bill, but I think he forgot. Oh well.

We saw a couple of the shows and Jeff Harms the comedian. We sat in the upper balcony in the back, where they had straight back chairs set up. Very comfortable.

We enjoyed listening to guitar and songs with Leo – Elton John tribute & Billy Joel tribute. We also enjoyed piano with Michael in Magnums – outside Le Bistro several times.

We attended the 'finale' show where all the crew comes out. Love that and every time I get teary! Must be getting old!!

We spent a lot of time relaxing (our plan) and reading.

I enjoyed sitting at Bali Hai, overlooking the pool deck and reading or writing in my journal. The water kept spilling out of the pool! Looked like fun!

Watched a young woman who was in a wheelchair, get lifted into the pool and enjoyed a swim with the orange ring on. She seemed to be having a great time! Nice that they had that option for her!

Samana:

Well, we did have plans – bought excursion tickets to Cayo Levantado online – today. Unfortunately, I woke up very achy and my ankle was really bothering me. I decided that I wasn't going to be comfortable with all the walking and the 15 steps to the ferry boat (as I was told by special services when they called the day before to make arrangements for me to get off the ship. They were going to send a wheelchair for me to go to meeting place, then there were these steps, then there was walking from drop off to beach. Decided it was not for me this day.) I called Carlos to ask if he could let them know we wouldn't be showing up for our tour time/location. He said he would and that he would also try to get us a refund. I said I really wasn't asking for that..just didn't want to hold everyone up, if they were waiting for us to show up to go. It was very nice of him – and he did get us a refund that showed up on our cabin billing.

We had room service breakfast and hung out in the cabin most of the morning. We ventured out later to find the bridge viewing room and Coka's mermaid!

We were going to go to Grand Pacific for lunch – but according to the Freestyle Daily, they weren't open for lunch today. So, Cagney's it was. We were the only pax there the entire time.

We then wandered around the ship and saw that the casino was open!?! Talked to one of the hosts, and she assured us that yes, they were open, as Samana didn't care! There were maybe 5 others in there playing, so it wasn't publicized very much!

St. Thomas:

Captain came on this morning and said there was about a 20% chance of rain. I think he meant that there was about a 20% chance of no rain! LOL It was pouring when we arrived. Great Outdoors for breakfast. It also rained while we were here. Good thing we were sitting under cover! I had brought my journal, Mark his kindle. Eventually, we moved inside to the back area of the buffet – totally empty!

We were the only ship on port today. I had no plans of getting off, but Mark thought he might wander around the shops.

The rain let up and he was off. He bought a hat for himself and a glass emery board for me. He called when he returned as we thought to catch the movie in the atrium on the big screen.

I went down to meet him there. They passed out popcorn in little bags. It was some kids' cartoon movie, so we didn't stay long.

Lunched at the buffet – big mistake – very crowded and non-handicapped folks were in all the designated handicapped reserved seating. (well, to be honest I don't know if they needed those seats, but there were no wheelchairs or scooters or walkers or canes anywhere near them) Difficult to find a place to get in with the scooter – or to find a place to park it and then a seat. We grabbed something quick and made a fast getaway!

More storms came through – complete with lightening and thunder!

We were dropped off at the taxi stop and waited for the people mover. Decided it wasn't coming so we slowly headed back toward the ship. We made frequent bench stops! One time, I spied the Diamonds International store and checked my charm bracelet punch card. I did not have the one from here and Mark headed over to get me a free charm. Nice!

We took our time getting back to the ship. There were – thankfully – several benches to rest at. No red carpet dance party – however, there was water/orange drink, squeeze up freeze-pops and cold wash cloths! Really nice touch and very refreshing! Got my scooter and we headed back to cabin.

Our cabin in RED:

About 5pm, Mark decided to grab some grapes from the fruit bowl and saw that they were really past their prime. Just at that moment, Jayson arrived with 2 plates of garlic toast & cheese. Perfect snack / perfect timing! This was our most enjoyable afternoon treat ever!

All aboard was 5:30. Shortly after that, they were calling names over the loud speaker. Finally about 6:45, a golf cart came flying down the pier with what appeared to be several children/teens in it – all with those big swim noodles. We then immediately got ready to pull out. We wondered if they were on a ship sponsored tour that was late for some reason?

Whoops - I guess some of these are really blurry!!

Great day!

We decided to head back around 2:30. Saw a man with a taxi to cruise ship sign and grabbed him and we were off. Same price on way back – again only the 2 of us. He asked if we wanted to wait for more people and we said no. Another chatty driver, telling us a bunch of stuff! Mark asked if it were possible to stop at Hard Rock so he could run in for a shot glass for our collection. Driver said sure, no problem! It was bumper to bumper traffic on Front St – shopping street. Our driver was like the local mayor – several people came up to the van to chat as we waited in traffic!

Mark went to check the surfboard for plane times and only saw arrivals, no departures. At least not while we were there. It was very sunny and difficult for him to see the screen on the video camera. I think we got a 3 min. one of actual plane in it! LOL It was hard to catch a good photo with the camera, as well. I tried! But we did see them in person, so that was good! We small planes come in and a couple large ones, too! How fun it was!

We got a photo of our waitress and she took one of us as well. She was very nice. She seemed surprised with we asked for a menu. I said, well, since we're sitting at the table, it would be rude not to order – she said most do not! Really? Strange.

Luckily, the rain was holding off and we were off at about 11:30! I called special services to see if there was a place to leave my scooter close to where we were leaving the ship – and security said I could park under the stairs there. Nice!

Maho Beach, look out, here we come! This was one of the highlights of the trip! We got off the ship, waited at the bottom of the ramp for a people mover to take us to the taxi stand. We got a cab (mini-van – with an extra step to help me get in). Our driver was our own personal tour guide and we chatted the whole way there. There was a LOT of traffic and we asked if this was normal. She said, no, it's because of Black Friday – lots of shoppers! She also said that a lot of locals even went to the states to shop for the day! She offered a lot of information, including where to find the restroom and how to get a taxi to come back to the ship whenever we were ready!

We went to Sunset Bar & Grill, right next to Maho Beach. Charge was $10 pp, would have been less if more than just the 2 of us – but we enjoyed being alone! We found a table and decided to have lunch while we were there. It was almost 1pm when we got there. I decided to try something called Dutch Croquette Von domme. She explained that it was like a hush puppy, with shredded beef inside, served on a hot dog roll. Okay, I'll try it! Mark had a cheeseburger. When she brought the food, she told me to squish the croquette down on the roll and that most people use mustard, but she prefers mayo. I tried the mayo. It was delish!

it was breezy this day - good excuse for bad hair! LOL

St. Maartin:

We went to Great Outdoors for breakfast, then back to cabin to sit on balcony. We were backed in and had the perfect view of the pier! There is a steel drum band playing on the pier. The guy with the mic was saying 'Good Morning”, then “ I SAID Good Morning!!” Apparently, folks were ignoring him as they passed by! I thought it was funny and thought good for you to repeat yourself! Mark found it annoying. Shows our different views of things sometimes! LOL

There was a P&O Ship, I think Ventura, here as well. Also, there were several private yachts – even one with a helicopter!

San Juan:

Our plan was to just get off the ship and wander around Old San Juan and take photos. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day. It rained off and on the whole time we were there. I couldn't take the scooter out in the rain/wet, so Mark ventured out alone for a little while. He had to at least say he was there! He took a couple photos, and found a wifi hotspot to send off Thanksgiving wishes. I was disappointed in not getting a lot of photos, but took some off the balcony!

Carnival Conquest was there when we arrived. They left and returned about an hour later. They stayed about 30 minutes, then took off again. They didn't feel the need to explain it to me, so I wonder what was going on?

Mark got a little wet while he was out, but not drenched. He said the sidewalks would have been difficult with the scooter.

Oh well – next time!

Other meals: We had room service breakfast twice, and lunch once. Mark sat on the bed, using the small round glass table and I sat in a pink chair at the vanity.

We had breakfast a couple of times at the Great Outdoors – we love the hash browns!

Lunch we also ate at the buffet once and at the pool side grill once.

We had Thanksgiving dinner in the buffet – it was amazingly good and food was plentiful! I think we did one other dinner there.

Once we had dinner in Magenta. We had tried another night, and there was a 30-40 min wait. The time we did eat there, there was no wait at all. It was very nice, but excruciatingly slow. That was our only MDR experience.

We had a lunch at Blue Lagoon once – it was okay.

La Cucina: This was our first time eating here. It turned out to be our best meal! Mark had the chicken parm and I had a Lobster Fettucini dish – with lobster & shrimp. Yummy! Service was most excellent and we absolutely loved the fresh warm bread! Shortly after being seated, our butler appeared at our table. I thought at first, he was going to be our waiter! LOL He was apologizing for not delivering our afternoon treat, as our DND sign was out. Really? You need to hunt us down at dinner to tell us this? I said “Good! Now we have appetite for dinner!” (Several times we left our afternoon treats went uneaten. They either didn't appeal to us, we weren't hungry, we were on our way out as they were being delivered or they arrived while we were gone and not interested when we returned.) We really loved this meal. We also had entertainment, as a wedding party was seated near us and it was fun watching them have a great time.

Moderno: We had a nice dinner here. I called and made our reservation, no need to bother Carlos. Only one photo, and I have no idea why – and it's kinda blurry – sorry!

Service was excellent, everyone was very nice. They gave us a table closest to the salad bar, so that I wouldn't have far to walk. Very nice of them. For our bottle of wine, we chose the White Zinfandel – which we enjoyed last year. It was the only alcohol we had all cruise – and we didn't even finish it! The salad bar had a lot of options – not self service, of course. The meats just kept on coming – even after turning our cards to red! We did not get through them all.

other fav servers in Cagney's :

door to Cagney's :

Our most fun dinner was in Cagney's. Marlon was our waiter – and we'd had him several times for breakfast/lunch there as well. He was a lot of fun and we had a really good time! The food, of course, was excellent – filet melts in your mouth!

Breakfast:

Lunch:

french dip

empty:

This is 'my' parking space for my scooter! :-)

Cagney's: We found the chilled fruit soups!

We had them several times - there was at least a peach, a banana and a coconut one! AWESOME!

We had this option for breakfast & lunch, as suite guests. The menu is static, so we explored other options, as well. The service here was THE best option! This place was the most full on embarkation lunch day. The rest of the time, it was always practically empty.

For Suites only:

lunch:

We purchased the trio of dining specialty restaurants prior to leaving. This only saves you $8 pp, however, if it's already paid for, we're more likely to actually go. Otherwise, we have a tendency to skip them and just grab something when the mood hits us – not always the best choice for me! This package included: Le Bistro, La Cucina and Cagney's. As a platinum perk, I also received a free dinner for 2, including a bottle of wine, in Le Bistro. We exchanged that for a dinner w/wine in Moderno.

Le Bistro: I already wrote about this in a previous post. It was our only time here this trip. Unfortunately, no photos of anything here. Sorry.:(

I have not heard anything more from her since she was 'honored'. Maybe she's not on cruise critic?

I had some medical issues and my ankle surgery was postponed until Thurs. 12/19. I just haven't had the time to get back here!! SORRY!!

Here are some photos of the bridge viewing room - and the famous GEM Mermaid!! :D

"Clinical Disease

A majority of people infected with chikungunya virus become symptomatic. The incubation period is typically 3–7 days (range, 2–12 days). The most common clinical findings are acute onset of fever and polyarthralgia. Joint pains are often severe and debilitating. Other symptoms may include headache, myalgia, arthritis, or rash. Persons at risk for more severe disease include neonates (aged <1 month) exposed intrapartum, older adults (e.g., > 65 years), and persons with underlying medical conditions (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease).

"

WOW - I think this is what I had! I was off the ship in St. Maartin - on Friday - and was sleeping 20 out of 24hrs on Tuesday. I was tired, achy all over, headache and probably had fever, as I was hot / cold and had chills. I felt much better on Wed. morning.

Thanks for posting! At least I know what I had! :rolleyes:

just testing photo upload.

nevermind