Gem 12/14-12/23/13

We returned home last evening from our wonderful family vacation on-board the NCL Gem. This trip was a Christmas present to our adult children, daughter in law and 3 year old grandson. We sailed from 12/14-12/23/13. We had a great time. The following information is not meant to be a comprehensive review. Instead, I just wanted to share some follow up information related to the many questions that I had asked fellow cruise critics members prior to sailing.

We (self, husband and youngest son) were booked in a penthouse suite (9672), our son’s family was booked in an ocean view stateroom (5566). This was our first suite and I wondered if the suite perks would be worth the extra cost of the stateroom, since we planned on spending a lot of time together with our non-suite family during this trip. I had read repeated posts prior to leaving that the passengers in the ocean view cabin would NOT receive any of the suite perks. I did not expect any suite perks for my family, nor did I ask for any suite perks for my family, but certain perks were offered and enjoyed without asking. (Embarkation, VIP invites to parties/events, Debarkation)

We drove to NYC and paid the ridiculous fee of $35.00 per day to park. (Effective 1/1/13, the price is going up to $40.00 per day!) Even though I feel it is akin to highway robbery, I am sure that I will pay this fee again. To me it is worth it to get off the ship and immediately hit the road.

Upon entering the cruise terminal, we were asked our cabin number. When it was provided, they tried to usher us over to the priority check in. I declined and explained that our son’s non-suite family was behind us and we were going to stay with them. At that point they told me that they would send our family over to priority with us and that we would all stay together! Under these circumstances, I accepted.

We were all checked in via priority without any waiting at all. They then took our group over to the suite lounge were they had complimentary snacks and beverages available. We weren’t in the lounge but 15 minutes or so and we were escorted onto the ship. This was the easiest embarkation we have EVER had!

While checking in to the suite lounge I was informed that my name had caused a bit of a stir prior to my embarkation. Apparently a high ranking NCL executive shares the same name as mine and the staff had noticed his name on the manifest and reported it up the chain. They were a little worried since they hadn’t had any official notice of this person traveling with them on this week! I think they were a little relieved to see that I wasn’t the person they were expecting! However, we were treated very well this week and my family is certain that everyone didn’t get the message that I had the same name, but different person! (I, however, am sure that all suite guests received the same, wonderful treatment as we did!)

It was a very cold, blowing and snowing day for sail away in NYC. It was kind of sad seeing our balcony covered in snow! All of the public outside decks were closed. We tried to watch sail away from our balcony, however it was so foggy that we really couldn’t enjoy the sail away this trip.

I was worried that I would not be happy with our cabin. I had originally booked a mini-suite, but then closer to sailing, I upgraded to the last remaining aft penthouse suite, which happened to be handicapped accessible. Just before sailing, thanks to a fellow Cruise Critic poster, I learned a bit more about our cabin. I found out there was no curtain separating the bed and there was no table in the room. I was most upset over the missing table as we planned on playing board games and enjoying a few meals in the cabin on the cold sea days.

Fortunately, I also learned from Cruise Critic that you can email the concierge prior to sailing and they would try to take care of any special requests. I did this and requested a table be added to the room. In addition, I asked that the min-bar be cleaned out and the main dining room menus be left in the room. I was ecstatic to find that all of my requests had been honored! They added a small table and 4 chairs which added greatly to our enjoyment of the trip!

In the end I loved our cabin. The aft location makes it PERFECT for sailing out of NYC in the winter. There is NO wind, which makes it possible to enjoy the weather much sooner than usual. We “backed” into the pier in St. Maarten as well as St. Thomas….this gave us front row seats!

But it wasn’t long until it was like this:

The Balcony had a lounge chair and 2 regular chairs along with a small table. If you wanted to, you could fit a 2nd lounge chair. We considered it, but never bothered as it wasn’t needed. The only non-desirable minor issues I had with the cabin were no tub and annoyingly slow balcony door.

Our Butler Elvie was WONDERFUL. We REALLY enjoyed the ability to order from any dining room and have the meals delivered to our cabin. To me, this was a wonderful perk! I did not like the Elmis shampoo /conditioner provided for suite guests. It just did not work for my coarse, curly hair. I should mention that when the little bottles were emptied, they were NOT replenished. I ended up using the shampoo on the wall, along with a little back up conditioner I had brought from home just in case (I had read this happened to previous cruisers in our same cabin as well). Next time, I will pack my own.

I had read on cruise critic prior to the trip that the butlers sometimes just “came into your cabin” without permission and had discussed this with fellow cruisers prior to the cruise. In the end, as assured by fellow cruise critic members, I had nothing to worry about.

Once again, thanks to Cruise Critic for sharing information, We per-purchased casino vouchers…..($25 spent, $50.00 value). I found certain slot machines to be fairly generous. The “Village People” slot machine over by the bar seemed to hit a high number of bonus’s as well as the “lucky penguin” facing the window. The Village People is a penny machine, so I played this when wanting to place lower bets. The lucky penguin is a minimum 25 cents up to $2.50. I saw a woman win over $400.00 on the lucky penguin, after she left, I sat down and won $300.00, betting 50 cents at a time. Overall, I walked away with a profit of a couple of hundred dollars…..Lots of fun………

My 3 year old grandson really enjoyed the Nickelodeon aspect of the cruise. He was very excited to meet the characters. I didn’t attend the Pajama breakfast after reading unfavorable information regarding the food here. I do not feel that he missed out on anything. There are plenty of other opportunities for the little ones to interact with the characters.

We had been to the ports multiple times before with the exception of Samana. In St. Maarten we once again enjoyed the local “bus” to go to Maho beach and watch the planes come in. It is $2.00 a person and super easy to access. Usually the buses pick up on back street, however since there were 8 ships in that day, we had to walk back one more street to catch the bus.

In St. Thomas we had a great day at Coki beach. My good friend lives on the island and she suggested it as a great place to snorkel. Since we had a 3 year old with us, we didn’t snorkel, but it wasn’t necessary to do so. While holding a dog biscuit we had swarms of fish eating out of our hands. Really nice!

In Samana my family was really impressed with the monkeys available for photo-ops!

Debarkation was simply the best ever! Priority guests doing self debarkation, simply met at the Stardust lounge and were escorted off the ship. Totally painless.

All in all....a wonderful vacation that we will remember for years to come!

Me and my family were also on this ship and we also had a wonderful time. This is my 4th time on the Gem. We were invited by the casino only wish I had some winnings to bring home but no such luck maybe next time.

We found 8 ships in St. Martin a bit too much. St. Thomas we went to Coki Beach it was a very relaxing day we all decided to stay on the ship for Samana since we were there so many other times.

Glad that you enjoyed a great cruise! Happy that I was able to help a little prior to your cruising! :D

Nice that they gave you a table & chairs - must have been a tight fit, though.

You had a different butler than we did, but I understood quite a few of the crew were leaving for vacation.

Thanks for reviewing!!:)

Actually, having the table and chairs still left room to spare!

We were in cabin 9670 a few months ago with a different butler. We had shampoo , conditioner replenished each day as needed. That has to do with the steward you have. I happen to love Elemis products. We also enjoyed how we were treated with all the extras.

Enjoyed your comments.

Keith

"Actually, having the table and chairs still left room to spare!"

Nice! I see it was where my scooter was always parked!

Did they leave the pink chairs there - or did you have to ask for them again?

I thought they were comfortable! :)

They left the pink chairs....Thanks for getting them for us.....I agree they were very comfortable!

They left the pink chairs....Thanks for getting them for us.....I agree they were very comfortable!