lritch426

This happened to me when I booked 4 cabins and a few months later found a better deal and called to get lower price. I did this directly through ncl. They never told me my rooms would be changed. When i got off the phone and looked at the confirmation I noticed the change.. Different rooms all separated. I called back and they were able to place us back but said anytime you adjust the reservation they have to cancel and rebook, and the rooms may change. Can't trust anyone but must be diligent yourself. You will have a wonderful time anyway! And now maybe your post will help the next person ;) Have a wonderful cruise!

I just would order a virgin drink with my card for my child. She was not allowed a smoothie with the soda card... Quite silly considering how much the soda card is!

Were there any renovations going on that you saw?

Just painting on our balcony roof , sides and railing. Always done when in port so never an issue. Rock wall was closed but never saw any activity there. Honestly for a ship going into dry dock it is very well maintained. It's obvious that the crew works very hard to keep the ship beautiful.

I didn't see any other boats in Tortola that day.

I read on cc that surf and turf was back in the MDR? Do you know if this is true? If it is, do you know what night it was served?

Neither my husband nor I remember seeing it on the menu but we didn't eat there every night

We were on the same sailing, I think. We also did Virgin Gorda baths excursion through NCL. We didn't have any problems, the only thing we wished is that we would have more time to explore the caves. We went to Devil's Bay first and it wasn't crowded at all. We spent some time on the beach snorkeling and then went through the caves to go back. We had some traffic on the way back, but not too much. We found that it was beautiful and we wished that we had more time to walk through different paths and take pictures. I think NCL should really extend Tortola time, so that people have more time. We really enjoyed our Gem experience, which was our first time on the Gem.

Maybe the fact that we were on the last taxi to get to Virgin Gorda affected us too. Everyone was already heading down the paths when we arrived. We sat up top on the ferry... So took us very long to get off.

Thanks for the post. We are on the Gem next January, so hopefully the dock in Tortola will be finished. Looking forward to The Baths. Sorry to hear your tour was disorganized. We are on the same excursion.

Should be better once dock is finished, you should arrive on time to excursion. Also, if all else fails do devils bay first (amazing) then go back the way you came (short hike no caves) and go to the baths beach, then if time allows go through the caves that connects the two. Basically you are dropped off in the middle and can go either way. The problem was 1/2 went one way and1/2 went another... Caused a huge traffic jam in the middle at the caves. If our excursion was told to go one way.. It may have helped alleviate the congestion.

We had Gio this past week on the Gem. He was very energetic friendly and always around the ship. Crazy Kristine was the assistant and she was great as well. Enjoy your cruise!

Glad you liked the Gem. Did they have menu's with all the different fancy drinks?

They posted the drinks of the day for the week so you could look at those.. And some others but really anything I asked for they made. No issues :)

Do you recall what other cruisers did it Tortola?

 

Other types if excursions?

 

Taxi to beaches?

 

 

 

 

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My friends just went shopping in Tortola. It really does seem like a wasted stop since we were only there 7-1 and by time you get on Tortola, you have to worry about getting back to the boats by 11:30 to make it back on ship for 12:30.. Listen, it wasnt horrible to be wading in the Caribbean waters I'll take a traffic jam like that over the west side highway in NYC anyday but once the dock is complete it will be much better but right now may pay to just stay in ship and enjoy the view and prime pool seating... Lol

Who was the Captain and the Hotel Director?

The Captain was Lars from Norway and Hotel Director was Tony from USA. Not sure last names.

Do you know if Gio will be cruise director for a while. You liked him?

Thanks again

Patti

Gio just came off of a vacation so I assume he will be there awhile. He is very energetic friendly and funny. Won't disappoint :)

Did you or anyone you knew stay in an obstructed ov cabin and were the windows/portholes glazed over like someone reported on a sister ship, Jewel?

No I'm sorry we didn't we were in 11038-11042 the mini suites, which btw, the noise from up above was minimal. I was very nervous before boarding thinking it would be loud, but no worries there.

Did the ship dock at the pier in Tortola or did you tender? Thanks Carol

We tendered... Then went on excurstuon in Virgin Gorda so the ferry was a decent size. But they used the lifeboats otherwise.

Had a fantastic time on my 10 cruise on the Gem. I'll answer all questions I can. Ask away!

Food was good... After 10 days could use a home cooked meal...

Dinner in magenta and grand pacific took way too long. I enjoy a slow meal but we would be there for almost 2 hours whenever we went.

Crew was VERY friendly and fun. Gio was the Cruise Director and Kristine was the assistant. They were great!

Had the UBP and it was well worth it. No issues with any drinks my balance at the end if the cruise was only what I bought in the photo Gallery.

The excursion in Tortola (Virgin Gorda) was horrendous. Bathrooms were closed when we got there (after a 40!minute ferry and 10 minute taxi ride)Although it is a beautiful place there was so much Chaos in the caves and people were coming from both sides we had to wait 20 minutes just to get past small areas... Very tight. And we had less then 2 hours to explore, not worth the money. It could have been very nice but was extremely disorganized.

I do have all the Dailies.. I will try to post some. Btw, rock wall still closed.

Overall a fantastic cruise I love the Gem!

We did this a couple of years ago. It was definitely not worth it. My kids only got on about 3 rides. It took a lot of time to get settled, by time we got on rides the lines were very long. It's a very rushed day and we did not find it enjoyable.d

My friends daughter likes to watch a show before bed (4 year old) are there children's shows on the tvs?

I'm hoping within the next few weeks!

When are the scrubbers set to be completed?

Ugh! That stinks!

You can adjust/fix room keys and credit cards once on board.

Great! Thanks guys. Feel much better about it now. Was worried we'd get held up at check in. Rather have to do it on ship... Maybe with a cocktail... ;)

Hello, we have 4 rooms (each adjoining) booked and after looking into our setup we woud like to switch 2 of the cabins. Although we can just do this easily enough, we are worried about how it will affect the credit cards on file etc. I tried to changed it by calling ncl but because some rooms had 3 people and some had 4 they couldn't change it without affecting the price, but that I could do it at check in. Has anyone else done this? Is it easy to do? Thanks!

How long does it take to explore the forts? Was planning to hit the beach too. thanks!

Thanks for the responses! I love getting to the pier early, while the lines are short, and I've never waited that long to board. Glad to see the process hasen't changed :)

I have been on NCL before... The Dawn about 5 years ago and have had them opened but I am hearing now that they no longer do this.