Any GEM Secrets to Pass Along

[LizzyMagee]

me too elizabeth.henderson12@gmail.com

 

Thanks :)

[shof515]

Hi All:

 

our travel agent is awful, and we have a suite - you would think they would kill for business when you can do it all on your own. Anyway, sometimes a NY cruise actually leaves from NJ in the past...is the GEM and NCL NY-Bermuda always a NY port?

could it be possible that your travel agent is confused by rci, celebrity?. these two lines sometimes advertise sailings out of ny when they are really sailing out of NJ

[crusinmama06]

Sure, I am bringing it together in terms of areas of tips and I"ll send it when I am done.

 

Remaining issues I haven't seen addressed here:

 

1. anybody bring kids and any tips on the junior sailor programs?

 

2. there is NO babysitting, right? Just the Jr sailors?

 

3. can anyone speak to how strict they are in terms of bags/weight of bags? We have to bring food for my daughter, rice milk/soy milk in boxes, they are heavy

 

THANKS

 

Your daughter is Under 2? If you are asking if the NCL Kids Crew does babysitting, then no, the age starts at 2. :) The details are here...

http://www2.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/freestyle-family-fun/kids-crew-and-teen-crew#tab6

[crusinmama06]

Hi All:

 

our travel agent is awful, and we have a suite - you would think they would kill for business when you can do it all on your own. Anyway, sometimes a NY cruise actually leaves from NJ in the past...is the GEM and NCL NY-Bermuda always a NY port?

 

NCL always cruises from NY. ;)

 

RCI cruises from Bayonne, NJ.

 

Your TA scares me. :p

[Carissagem]

thanks all

 

Yes, she was confused. YIKES

 

So, we leave from NYC which is WAY better than NJ for us, and my daughter is 2. I guess I meant whether there are individual sitters, so we can take our parent's out but I dont' think there are.

 

can't wait!

[gail-s]

No, on all of the NCL pages I've read they don't offer one on one babysitting. Just the kid's club.

[crusinmama06]

thanks all

 

Yes, she was confused. YIKES

 

So, we leave from NYC which is WAY better than NJ for us, and my daughter is 2. I guess I meant whether there are individual sitters, so we can take our parent's out but I dont' think there are.

 

can't wait!

 

No, there are no individual in cabin babysitting. But I would HIGHLY recommend trying the kids crew! They will page you for diaper changes (if she's not potty trained yet). And she may love it. ;)

 

My kids started cruising as babies and now they refuse to do anything else. Actually, my oldest daughter's first cruise was on the NCL Norway :eek: now that I think about it. So I guess that was the ship that started her cruise obsession. She is 11 years old now and would rather cruise than go to Disney World. ;)

 

I remember checking in on her constantly on that first cruise (nothing has changed, I STILL check in on them constantly...lol)

[Carissagem]

thank you!

 

a few questions, and thank you:

 

1. the wine question above - i heard you can bring wine- true? does it count for your weight in luggage?

2. what is the thing that you have brought on a cruise that you were SO happy you had? (id ziplock bags, extension cord, that kind of tip)

3. how chilly are the restaurants with AC?

4. I know our luggage doesn't come, but can we get to rooms right away?

5. bringing other food: like almonds or baby snacks- is the rule that they just have to be sealed? A woman at NCL said something like that

[scubadiver75]

thank you!

 

a few questions, and thank you:

 

1. the wine question above - i heard you can bring wine- true? does it count for your weight in luggage?

2. what is the thing that you have brought on a cruise that you were SO happy you had? (id ziplock bags, extension cord, that kind of tip)

3. how chilly are the restaurants with AC?

4. I know our luggage doesn't come, but can we get to rooms right away?

5. bringing other food: like almonds or baby snacks- is the rule that they just have to be sealed? A woman at NCL said something like that

 

3. I didn't find the restaurants to be chilly at all.

4. Rooms are open at 2pm.

5. We brought along plenty of snacks and juice for our toddler. All were sealed. We had no issues.

[Carissagem]

Thank you! we can do a late nap at 2 unless we get in sooner.

 

thanks

[MAMAFIX]

We were on the Dawn in December with two vegans in our group - they brought soy milk in boxes and snacks (some were opend, some not) and no one said a word about it. They only problems were fresh fruit & veg. and liquor.:D

[Carissagem]

Thanks all for tips.

 

Gem tips for me:

- the spa pass was more than worth it- gorgeous space

- the gym was not crowded when I went, which was great

- the food was varied enough and had great melon salads

- the suites are amaizng, and having a concierge/butler really makes the whole week better- if we cruise again i will do it this way for sure.

- if you have a VIP in your group, they will most likely treat the whole group as VIPS. my parents had a huge suite and we had smaller connecting rooms that would not have gotten us that treatment but they were amazing to all of us

- second city show was very funny

- food in bistro was nothing to write home about, service very slow

- loved the tepanyaki - a nice change

- tex/mex restaurant: food was amazing.

- I found that there were fewer kids than i thought which was nice -even having a 2yo i didn't want to be surrounded

- I found it to be very polite, all the guests, I had no negative interactions

- service was amazing throughout

- kids club was good to have- used it twice

- for us it was worth teh horseshoe beach excursion

- snuba a total waste of money

- I am not sure our boat was at full capacity. If it was I am amazed at how easy the whole thing was -even on sea days

 

After having gone, I am glad I brought the following things:

- a flashlight to check in on daughter in her room at night

- coffee travel mugs because those coffee cups were way too small and hard to carry around without dripping

- personal blender for my shake, when I didn't feel like going to eat out

- delicates hanger, to hang suits from every day on teh balcony- dried way faster than in the bathroom

- power strip

- wine

 

 

I didn't need the following:

- anythign to hodl open doors- they had door stops and some doors had strong magnets to hold them open

- suite had a wine opener

-

 

things i wish I had known:

how EASY it was to bring extra bags. I overdid it on trying to get into two bags and then they don't care, truly- how much you take on. I wish I brought snacks/almonds, baby's favorite foods.

[KerCar]

Great thread! Thanks for all the tips, everyone!

[kaijunky]

long time lurker and first time poster / cruiser..

 

this was a resourceful thread for my research and read upon other cruisers' experiences.

 

heading to Bermuda on NCL Gem via NYC for my honeymoon 6/25/11 so it's getting down to the wire...

 

nervous and excited. can't wait...!

[sunny sky]

Can you send me the information please.

mbc329@aol.com

[travelerblue]

long time lurker and first time poster / cruiser..

 

this was a resourceful thread for my research and read upon other cruisers' experiences.

 

heading to Bermuda on NCL Gem via NYC for my honeymoon 6/25/11 so it's getting down to the wire...

 

nervous and excited. can't wait...!

 

We will be on that same cruise. Can't believe it is almost here!! Congrats on the marriage.

[Richpontone]

1. I like Magenta restaurant-it was way more intimate than the Grand Pacific and easier to get to. Ask to be seated with Jeff, the waiter-the best server in the fleet.

2. The coffee station in the Garden Cafe is way crowded.

Go around the corner, to the other coffee station that 98 percent of the cruisers don't know about. No lines.

3. Get to the evening entertainment show in the Stardust Theater about ten minutes earlier in order to get a good seat. Leave five minutes earlier than the show ends to get a good seat in the Spinnaker Lounge--usually when the CD speaks.

4. Sinan, the CD is best CD in the NCL fleet. Talk to him, he is a very friendly guy.

5. If you have trouble with your cabin, ask for Jenny Lim, the assistant hotel director. She is friendly and gets things done asap.

[GSLMOM]

4. Sinan, the CD is best CD in the NCL fleet. Talk to him, he is a very friendly guy.

 

Couldn't agree with you more!!! We LOVE Sinan!!!!!!!!

[newyorker123]

Keep these tips coming!!

[sebas030]

thank you!

 

a few questions, and thank you:

 

1. the wine question above - i heard you can bring wine- true? does it count for your weight in luggage?

2. what is the thing that you have brought on a cruise that you were SO happy you had? (id ziplock bags, extension cord, that kind of tip)

3. how chilly are the restaurants with AC?

4. I know our luggage doesn't come, but can we get to rooms right away?

5. bringing other food: like almonds or baby snacks- is the rule that they just have to be sealed? A woman at NCL said something like that

 

Hi,

 

1- No, the wine doesn't count in you baggage weight because you simply don't put it in your luggage. You have the wine with you at check in at the pier because you have to pay your 15$ per bottle fee there at the pier.

 

Than you carry the wine yourself onboard. I brought the wine in a official ( air line style ) carry-on so I could roll the wine ( 7 bottles can be heavy ) and I had an empty luggage to bring back souvenirs and stuff we got.

 

2- Ziplocks, yes bring some or at least something watertight for your passeport, cruise id, money, etc... if you plan to go in the water on shore excursion.

 

And some kind of rope to suspend all of your wet clothes on. The one in the bathroom is 4 feet long. With rope you cold make one much longer in the room.

 

Have fun !!!!

[Lovely_Star]

Can someone tell me what are the main differences between the Magenta and the Grand Pacific MDR on the Gem? Is one better than the other in terms of quality, service, etc?

[sebas030]

Can someone tell me what are the main differences between the Magenta and the Grand Pacific MDR on the Gem? Is one better than the other in terms of quality, service, etc?

 

The service IMO is way better at Magenta's, it is more intimate, almost the feeling of a specialty restaurant on the ship.

 

Grand Pacific is really grand.... you have waiters running all around and to me is not great.

 

Menu is the same but the overall experience is better in Magenta ( and usually open on sailaway, a fast not crowed lunch :p )

[Lovely_Star]

The service IMO is way better at Magenta's, it is more intimate, almost the feeling of a specialty restaurant on the ship.

 

Grand Pacific is really grand.... you have waiters running all around and to me is not great.

 

Menu is the same but the overall experience is better in Magenta ( and usually open on sailaway, a fast not crowed lunch :p )

 

Thanks sebas030, this is good to know. I'm glad to hear this about Magenta, from looking at pictures I like the way that MDR looks by comparison.

[domi411]

The 99$ spa pass is still available ????????

[glorialagos]

The service IMO is way better at Magenta's, it is more intimate, almost the feeling of a specialty restaurant on the ship.

 

Grand Pacific is really grand.... you have waiters running all around and to me is not great.

 

Menu is the same but the overall experience is better in Magenta ( and usually open on sailaway, a fast not crowed lunch :p )

 

I am going to have to disagree on this one. On our recent Gem experience, we dined most nights at The Grand Pacific and loves the atmosphere. One night there was a wait and we decided to go to Magenta. It seemed dingy and dark, service was terribly slow, we felt packed in to a small, dark place with people right at our elbows. We had no desire to return to Magenta. Plus, there was also a wait there. With much more space and tables in Grand Pacific, waits were very short (even if they said 20 minutes, we were usually buzzed in less than 5). At Magenta, waits were longer because of fewer tables.

 

Each has his/her own preference but thought I would share my opposite opinion. Either way - you will have a great trip!