nursemommy7578

Thank you for this chart!!

I cancelled my Breakaway cabin in favor of QOTS! i'm a little concerned about kids menus and "plain" menu choices. Does anyone know what the kids menu will look like and will these new restaurants offer a simpler menu for picky people? I'm imagining eating at the buffet and hot dog stand all week! lol

i'm disappointed with the menu for Michaels Pub...was expecting more "pub fare".

Should be a great cruise nomatter what!!!

I just got a nice $300 price drop and an extra $50 OBC! Works for me!

Those currently on board must be feeling sad, knowing that their cruise is almost over. 7 days are not enough for me anymore.

gosh isnt that the truth!!

Forget the UDP and just go ala carte. You will enjoy some meals in the MDR, buffet or Blue Lagoon. Other meals in the specialty restaurants you can just pay for as you go. Locking yourself into the UDP, especially for a long cruise, is the opposite of freestyle.

I disagree!! you can enjoy whatever restaurant when you choose! you need to decide based on your cruising needs. we enjoy the specialty restaurants for dinners...so the UDP is an excellent choice for us! we use the other choices for breakfast/lunch/snacks.

lol!! this is my last post on this!!

if you re-read my last response you will see that I said I AM still checking for price changes (daily if you must know!). But for us, it is not worth it to spend the extra $1100. I can appreciate everything you are saying, but you dont know me or my family and how we live. we have taken several camping trips (which are tight quarters!!!) and we have been BEYOND fine. we dont cruise to sit in our cabin all day. its just a place to sleep. and it is certainly NOT an inconvenience to ANYONE in our family to stay out of the room if someone is sick or needs a nap. sorry...but thats how our family works!

also, we dont have to worry about airfare or excursions or alcohol or specialty restaurants or spa or casino. we have chosen to keep this trip simple and affordable for our budget. and I did not mean that making an informed choice as being a lemon, lol. I meant that we dont sweat the small things that come up during the trip!

thank you for your comments:)

oh, and cruzsnooze...despite your snarky bolded comment...nomatter how old the thread might be, there was valuable information in it for me. I didnt realize threads had a limited shelf life!

This Cruiser Who Knows Nothing definitely knows something.

 

Please, please, PLEASE do not take the advice of people who are saying, "4 to a room is tight but you'll have a great time anyway!"

 

While everyone is different, I can tell you that the average human being will find it miserable, especially for a length of time like 11 days.

 

These rooms are absolutely tiny. There is just one bathroom, which is already tiny for just one person.

 

Among the issues you'll have:

 

1) Storage of things is going to be very tough, unless you pack super-light. There just isn't room for 4 people's stuff, especially for an 11-day cruise.

 

not an issue. we pack lightly and use laundry!

 

2) Nowhere for people to change. You will have to each change in the bathroom, which is already small and uncomfortable.

 

not an issue. we plan to stagger.

 

3) Conflicts in needing to use the bathroom.

 

again, not an issue. there are plenty of restrooms around the ship. while not ideal, it will work just fine. many people live everyday in homes with just 1 washroom without issues. i`m sure it will be ok!

 

4) Will take an eternity to get ready in the morning, as you will have to wait for 4 people to individually get ready, one after the other.

 

not sure how long it takes you to get ready, lol, but again, this is not an issue for us. we plan to have 2 people get ready first then wait for us in a lounge or some designated place.

 

5) Nowhere to sit.

 

there will be 4 beds....of course there is a place to sit! maybe we are just more simple and easygoing than others.

 

6) You will be in EXTREMELY CLOSE QUARTERS and will get on each other's nerves QUICKLY.

 

but we have an entire cruise ship with numerous spots to escape to! who says we have to stay together all day everyday....we enjoy different things and enjoy time apart!

 

7) If anyone feels sick/tired, you can forget them ever being able to nap during the day.

 

we love and respect each other enough to know that if someone is sick or wants a nap that the others will need to stay away as much as possible. i really dont see this as an issue either.

 

You want to feel like you can RELAX in your room, and with 4 people, it will be anything BUT relaxing!

 

we dont book the cabin for relaxing...we book it for sleeping. again, there are so many spots on the ship to relax. I intend to find them all and slip on my headphones and melt away!

 

I just took a cruise in December, 2013. It was for 7 days. We had a balcony room and an inside room. We all hung out in the balcony room at times (which is a huge difference from an inside room), and I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, I'm so glad we have that second room so we aren't forced to do this constantly for a week."

 

our first cruise we had 2 rooms and yes it was ideal. I will continue to monitor the pricing and if it changes to something in my comfort zone I will change our reservation. Its really not that big of a deal:)

 

I caught a cold while on board, and at the peak of the symptoms, I needed to take an afternoon nap on one of the sea days. I went to the inside cabin and did that, waking up feeling much better. This would have been impossible if all 4 of us were in one cabin.

 

how would it be impossible. you go to room and rest...others stay out and play!

 

 

Look, I don't know what your vacation budget is. But you're committing to spend $5000 on the fares alone, so you are obviously already investing some good money into this trip. If the choice is $6100 to be comfortable and $5000 to be miserable, I would pay the extra $1100 every time, or otherwise you're wasting the $5000 (plus airfare, tips, and all other expenses) just to end up with a lousy experience. It will be extra money WELL SPENT, trust me. And as I said, you will likely have much less than a $1100 difference once it actually comes down to the final deadline.

 

maybe $1100 is not much to you...but it is for us. in addition we have to add more with the exchange rates.

 

I like Cruise Critic and I think this site is extremely helpful, but one problem is that you have a lot of "rah-rah-rah-cruising-is-so-wonderful" cheerleading types, who paint an all-too-rosy picture of cruising without being realistic about some of its pitfalls and challenges.

 

I appreciate hearing what everyone has to say. in this case it helps us to be more prepared! we are also the type to `roll with it`and make lemonade out of lemons!

 

I enjoy cruising, and have been doing it for 20 years, but I cannot stress enough that one of the biggest mistakes people make is cramming 4 to a small room. This is the one area where you do NOT want to attempt to skimp. If it resulted in a huge percentage savings (like being able to spend half as much overall), I could understand, but the savings here just don't justify the misery you will be giving yourself.

 

obviously we differ in what constitutes `misery`. now...if I was forced to share a cabin with my MIL i`m sure THAT would be MISERY!!! lol

 

(PS - I just looked and noticed that you have cruised a number of times already. I was confusing you for the OP in this thread 5 years ago. But my points remain the same. Even if you have successfully stuffed 4 people in an inside cabin in the past and had a good time, you will enjoy it much more with a 2-and-2 configuration.)

hopefully it will work out that we can have 2 cabins. if not, I know we will be just fine! why would we complain when we are blessed to be on a cruise at all:D

I wish they had online agents to help!!

Ooooh mine, an old thread coming alive again.

 

Just looking at Dec. 2014 Gem's pricing, it seemed to be lowered a bit - for an Obstructed Oceanview cabin for 4, which will give you natural light & it's on Deck 8 (a floor that we happened to like, sailed GEM previously - but NCL "upgraded" our GTY down to deck 4 FWD instead) - fare for 4 to a cabin is $4,936 plus $737 for taxes/charges/fees, etc. for a total of $5,663

 

Not seeing any OBC offered but if you use an online T/A - you will get some issued to offset the $$$ sailing, just saying.

 

Also, look into getting one of the sideway cabin as those stateroom layout can work a bit better for 4 cozy folks sharing, especially if you can do a U bed setup plus 1 upper bunk/pullman.

 

Otherwise, for late December 2014 "holiday" sailing - I'm seeing a NY resident + Latitude fare of around $5,300 in total for 4 so that's almost $700 less than what you said. The Gem is very nice, a bit aged so dry docking is good but we might be sailing her again this Fall so we've been tracking prices closely.

I cant use the resident rate as i'm not a resident:) i've been on the phone with them 4 times and it is what it is. In addition we have to convert to Canadian funds...so it is a huge price difference for us. I'm not complaining at all...we are happy to deal with it....we will be cruising!

inside cabin for 4 ppl total is 4800

inside cabin for 2 ppl total is 3000

3000 x 2= 6000

6000-4800= 1200

in this case the 3 and 4 passengers are being heavily discounted to share the cabin. this is direct from NCL website (I never use a TA).

its a holiday sailing...not much I can do;)

wow! what a jerk! I suggest you "part ways", lol.

I deal directly with NCL and am so happy with the service!! With our current holiday booking i've made 4 changes :eek::eek: lol but they always seem happy to help and very understanding of our needs.

good luck!!

But hey you're cruising and life is good!

Exactly!!! I swore we would never do this....but the holiday cruise is SOOOOOO expensive...we have no choice:) It is $1200 more to have 2 inside rooms:eek:

We will follow the tips of others......stagger shower times and/or make use of the gym showers, re-arrange the beds if possible, cut down our luggage.

We are lucky in that we tolerate each other well and we can deal with the "closeness".

We are blessed in that we are able to cruise at all!!

we never have our balcony light on...the light from inside the cabin is sufficient enough:)

I totally agree that stargazing is so enjoyable in the middle of the ocean!!

we are booked for this christmas on the Gem and we cant wait! we are on holiday and will try not to even worry about the little things. i'm sure it will be busy...but as long as people are polite and respectful, i'm good. i'm actually looking forward to seeing excited kids! lol

better book soon though!!

thanks amber I will look into that!

What "safety reasons" for only doing an excursion to the El Yunque? It's perfectly safe - thousands of people go there without an excursion.

I'm curious because I'm planning a trip to Puerto Rico in the Fall and was not planning any excursions - I'm just doing things myself. Have I missed warnings about hijackings, murders, robberies of tourists not no excursions? I'm pretty good about researching my areas of travel.

you are entitled to your opinion and so am I. we tend to take caution when travelling in strange countries, nomatter how "safe" they are deemed. All the research in the world will not prevent something from happening. And even things can happen on an excursion through the ship. But we feel "safer" so to speak doing excursions with a group through the ship as opposed to on our own.

When travelling with my kids, i'm a bit more cautious when we venture out.

I'm sure something will come up for us:) I'm just not happy with todays current selections.

yes I did...and I emailed 4 people about tours but all 4 said the same thing....they wont work on that day. I respect that it might be a religious/cultural thing for them to stay with family that day...but it stinks for us! lol

thanks for the replies. we prefer to take an excursion through the ship for safety reasons...and there is no option for the rainforest.

we would rather not just pick some "random" person at the pier....again...safety reasons.

hopefully more excursions will be added in the next few months!

there seem to be no tour guides available and the rainforest is closed??

we are not interested in just walking around the city or going to a rum factory. we refuse to pay $1000 for the 4 of us to go ATV'ing...and 2 of us wont go horseback riding. there are no other excursions offered!

any ideas for 2 adults and 2 teens?? should we just take a taxi to isla verde beach?

thanks

I know this is the "smallest" of the aft balconies...but can I put a single lounger out there?

thanks:)

there is a DASH sale on now:) I priced a cruise yesterday and then this morning it was cheaper and had OBC!!

well that wont work for us then! thanks!

I cant find any photos of a mini suite on the GEM set up for 4 people. Is the 4th a pull down (bunk) bed or a trundle or is the sofa a double bed?

thanks!

yup. made a change to my booking today and was informed that there is no longer the "at par" for canadian bookings:mad:

its disappointing...but I understand:)

i'm surprised to hear that you had internet troubles! I was on the same cruise and had NO issues at all! I was even able to facetime with my kids!

thanks for the review and pics...was great to re-live the week:) I miss the Splendor already:(