JellyBean07

The slides on the Gem and Pearl have always been ridiculously slow. Even as brand new ships people were getting stuck as you describe! I remember about 5 years after the ships were built they had the slides shut down for maintenance to try to make them work. They are just terribly, terribly designed and need to be removed.

Just off the Gem and the slides were never in operation!

Redo your math. They picked up your laundry on day 4 and returned it on day 10? In my experience, it's normally available the next day and they often provide the offer twice on 9 - 14 day cruises. And how is that nickle and diming?

I was also just on the Gem for 11 days. They offered this ‘deal’ once towards the end of the cruise around day 7. A bit too late for us.

I've only ever cruised with NCL and am looking at booking with HAL. For those that have cruised both lines what differences will I notice?

We have literally just returned from our first NCL (Gem) cruise and will never go back. Nothing beats the classiness of Holland IMHO.

We have just returned from our first NCL cruise and were very disappointed. They have got nothing on HAL by any means! We are now looking at booking our next cruise and it will probably be back with Holland. We missed this classy outfit!

Would you book this cabin on deck 10 Panorama? I am not familiar with this particular ship and am looking for a quiet space. Is there usually a lot of activity on deck 10?

We will be in cabin E1-7226 next April. Would you show us where this is located? Thanks!

We are currently in Manhattan for a pre-cruise stay. We heard good things on this site about Dial7 and decided to go with them. Booked on line with a first time discount of $5 off. They were on time, friendly, courteous and we sat in a clean and cool air conditioned town-car. We were stuck in traffic for 45 minutes but that didn’t change the prearranged price. Price depends on car type and distance. We have also arranged for the same service for Saturday morning to take us to the pier. Highly recommended!

I have also been thinking of both of these cruises and have found this thread very helpful.

7 days;)

We told our TA we wanted robes, CPAP water and a mattress topper. She said we should have all that on arrival.

May I ask why you request a topper? I didn’t know this was available. Is it for comfort? Should I call for one for an upcoming cruise (no TA).

Just got off of the Gem. No noise at all from O'Sheehan's. You can hear if it's really busy as you approach it, but we observed no noise from there that you can hear in your cabin. We were on deck 8 mid OV.

Will be on the Gem in less than two weeks. What did you think of her?

Quiet at night is my only criterion. That's why we book midship balconies with cabins above and below and will never bid on an upgrade. I couldn't appreciate a suite if it meant listening to ugly music or deck chairs scraping at quiet moments.

I feel exactly the same way 👍

Does anyone recall what were the nightly showtimes of the main shows?

 

 

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I’ve been told 7:00 and 9:00.

Anyone have a link to recent Gem dailies? Thanks

Any must see and/or excursions recommended for the following ports? Bar Harbour ME, Newport RI, Boston MA, Saint John NB, Sydney NS, Halifax NS, Charlottetown PEI, Saguenay QC, Québec City QC

I would imagine being non US residents we would need a talk and text data plan from our service provider for our cruise sailing out of NYC throughout New England and on to Canada in order to use this. Can someone please confirm? Do you need this perk if you want to use ‘What’s APP’ to stay in touch with the folks back home? Are these minutes per cabin or per person? Can you use them for an iPad or just a cell phone? Would you being using these minutes for Instagram?

Are you referring to the slant of the decks from top deck down to the Eden space? The current S class ships are also slanted.

I’m referring to the glass portion above the signature.

because they built it that way.

Nice! I thought that maybe an engineer would have an informative answer.

Why does the back end of the new Edge look slanted?

Just booked my first NCL cruise on the Gem. I usually cruise with Royal but my husband hates flying and not many cruises leave from Northeast. For those who have cruised both, what are some similarities and differences. With boarding and disembarkation be similar? Do you pre-book entertainment? I see the drink package doesn’t include water or specialty coffee, that saddens me a bit!

Also interested in the thermal spa pass pros and cons?

 

 

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We will be on our first NCL cruise (Gem) sailing out of NYC to New England and Canada on 09/08. I have been asking a lot of questions here and have been reassured by everyone. We can’t wait!

My sister who is in her mid fifties will be on the Equinox in 2 weeks. Can anyone tell me what the average age group is?

Garden Cafe refers to the buffet on deck 12 Mid-Aft, including the "Great Outdoors" Aft-extension, open for breakfast, lunch & dinner and PM snacks ... weather permitting on sea days, usually some sort of pool-side BBQ.

It has evening snacks & light food from 9:30 to 11:30 pm (closed afterward till 6 am)

 

O'Sheehan's is 24/7 - Mid ship, deck 8 - above the atrium lobby, serving comfort food w. late night ... with even more limited menu.

 

Orchid Garden is the "Asian" Fusion dining option open for evenings only, deck 7 Fwd ... not to be confused with the Garden Cafe, the official name for the buffet.

Thank you for clearing that up !

What are the bathroom amenities on the Gem i.e. shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap (gel or not gel) bar soap? I would like to not have to pack my own.

Yes thank you, hubby and I will be in the gem 8/4 Gods will and we love osheehans. We definitely will be making frequent stops there. When the garden cafe is closed that’s our go place.

 

 

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Are you referring to the Asian Garden Café? If so, didn’t know that it sometimes closes. Going on the Gem 9/8 for the first time on NCL.

53 on the Gem out of NYC