Gem Mini-review, 3/12-3/19

[DerekNJ]

Just got back from our first cruise ever, here's a mini-review..

 

7-Day Florida/Bahamas on the NCL Gem.

 

Food:

 

Buffet - Look, I know it's a point of contention on this board, but the buffet sucked. Some specific foods there were OK, but we were often finding the meals overcooked/undercooked/raw or completely devoid of taste. That being said, the corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty's Day wasn't half bad.

 

MDRs - Hit or Miss. Some food was good, some was rather bland.

 

Teppanyaki (Hibachi): Pretty good. Not the best Hibachi place I've ever been to, but a refreshing break from the monotony of the buffet / MDRs.

 

Le Bistro: Excellent. We had the Escargot, Onion soup, mussels for apps, Lobster artichoke thing and beef tenderloin for dinner. Chocolate fondue for dessert. Amazing food. +++

 

 

Main shows:

 

Comedian Jeff Harms - He was pretty funny, but told a lot of jokes we've heard before.

 

Second City Improv - Very Funny, should have done more improv, less "sketch" comedy.

 

Man from Mars - Cirque de soleil kinda thing, not really my cup of tea, but entertaining nonetheless.

 

These were repeated in a few forms throughout the cruise.

 

In addition, the NCL "players" did a 70's music show, and "world beat" - some kind of dance show that we skipped.

 

Also, anyone on the Gem needs to make sure they stop and see Randy the Piano man @ Magnum's champagne bar nightly. We found him the first night and made sure to stop by every night after!

 

What else?

 

Weather was great the whole time (mid 70s most days, sunny).

Florida - Kennedy Space Center. I'm still debating as to whether it was worth the $.

Private island was amazing, water was cold to begin with but you got used to it quickly.

We were sunburnt the day after the private island so we walked around Nassau's straw market for a few hours rather than hitting the beach. Make sure you try crack (fried) conch!

 

We stayed in a inside cabin on deck 11, forward. Found this to be a good location as it was 2 minutes from the spa. (Got the spa passes, well worth it!)

 

Any questions?

[DerekNJ]

Few more things that popped in my head:

 

Sinan, the cruise director, was awesome. Hilarious guy...

Megan, asst. cruise director - eh, not so much.

 

Lobster night - it was apparently Weds night, but was not in the Freestyle daily, and wasn't on the menu for the MDR we checked. We were really disappointed about this when we called the front desk on Thurs to see when lobster night was. (Weds we went to Le Bistro..)

 

The schedule was jam packed from 7:00-12:45 every night. At times I wished they spread some of the game shows, shows, etc. out over the course of the day (especially sea days), since it seems like from dinner until bed we were running around trying to go to everything!

[andychris]

thanks for your review-

I do have a question about the main dining rooms and specialty restaurants.

Was it hard to get a reservation at the specialty restaurants? Do you have to book all of the reservations for the week as soon as you board? We would like to see the menus in the main dining rooms before making reservations. I see that you had a problem with that-why was the lobster not on the menu when you looked?

Thanks

[DerekNJ]

Regarding booking the specialty restaurants, you can do them at the pier, on the phone from your stateroom, or in person at one of a few desks. The only one that was getting consistently "sold out" was the hibachi place, since it only seats 32 people. So, you probably want to book that place on the pier/on board early, and anything else shouldn't present a problem.

 

Also, no clue why the lobster wasn't on the menu, but I'm guessing they didn't post the current day's menu yet. They don't list the current date or day with whatever menu is up there, so we just assumed they stayed on top of it... (Guess not!)

[Journey11]

Derek, thanks for your review. I will be on the Gem in about two months. I was curious about when Lobster night was. Your mini-review was helpful.

[DerekNJ]

Derek, thanks for your review. I will be on the Gem in about two months. I was curious about when Lobster night was. Your mini-review was helpful.

 

You're welcome- We had heard/read that it was on the last sea night somewhere... (Perhaps a review here? Not sure).. but on our cruise, it was definitely Wednesday (the day the boat is in Nassau).

[youngestof9]

Derek - how easy was embarkation and disembarkation? Wondering what time I can tell my ride to be there to pick us up and what time we should get there to get onboard.

[mister_two]

Again, thanks for the heads up on Lobster night. Was going to try one of the specialty restuarant, probably Le Bistro, will make sure to book on another night.

[DerekNJ]

Derek - how easy was embarkation and disembarkation? Wondering what time I can tell my ride to be there to pick us up and what time we should get there to get onboard.

 

Both were very easy-

 

Embark: Give the bags to the porters directly at the curb. Go inside, security / check passports / etc., then get in line at the NCL desks. They give you a keycard, take your photo, etc., give you a slip w/ a number on it. Ours was like.. 32? Probably 20-30 min after that, they start calling #'s, and we got on maybe 20 min after that. They have all the stands up in the terminal to sign up for things (soda card, reservations for the restaurants, kids clubs, spa, etc.)

 

Disembark: We did the easy walk off. Waited until about 9AM to do it cause we were lazy, and even still it only took maybe 20 min to get through everything and outside. You'll need to either take an elevator up a flight to get picked up or tell your friends to meet you across the street.. 12th and 46th? I can't remember the street names. Easy walk-offs could leave the boat as early as 8am.

[housepeepers]

Don't feel too badly about missing "Lobster Night". It is NOT Maine Lobster, but Caribbean lobster tails, usually served with grouper over some linguine. It is not a bad meal, but nothing to write home about ( as my mother would say).

[juliecious]

Everyday we check the menus for all restaurants by the reception desk. (if you're facing the reception desk it'll be on your left). The only menu that change daily is the MDR and Grand Pacific (they share the same menu). They usually have the updated one by late morning and you can made reservations for the day (or other days) there too.

 

That's how we saw that MDR had lobster night, can't really remember the day - so we went and made reservations for MDR. According to DH (cause I don't remember it :o) it was two lobster tails and a small steak.

[juliecious]

Don't feel too badly about missing "Lobster Night". It is NOT Maine Lobster, but Caribbean lobster tails, usually served with grouper over some linguine. It is not a bad meal, but nothing to write home about ( as my mother would say).

 

i agree. i remember we had lobster but don't remember the taste or what came with it. which means it probably wasn't great. LOL

[Gregor4500]

Again, thanks for the heads up on Lobster night. Was going to try one of the specialty restuarant, probably Le Bistro, will make sure to book on another night.

 

We always ask to see the menus for the week. So we know where we want to eat in advance.

If It's your first lobster night, and your not a light eater, be sure to order double or triple tails.

[DerekNJ]

Don't feel too badly about missing "Lobster Night". It is NOT Maine Lobster, but Caribbean lobster tails, usually served with grouper over some linguine. It is not a bad meal, but nothing to write home about ( as my mother would say).

 

I hear you, but it would have been nice if NCL actually included in the freestyle daily (or Sinan announced it was lobster night, etc.)

[KevinsCruising]

Thanks for the review.... So this was your first ever cruise.. Just curious...would you do it again ?????? :confused:

 

What is great about this site, is thanks to your review, I will not book any speciality restaurants on Wednesday. I have been to LeBistro several times....it is the bomb ! :D

[andychris]

We always ask to see the menus for the week. So we know where we want to eat in advance.

If It's your first lobster night, and your not a light eater, be sure to order double or triple tails.

 

May I ask- where did go or ask to see the menus for the entire week? Would love to do the same and make reservations at the specialty restaurants

Thanks

[DerekNJ]

Thanks for the review.... So this was your first ever cruise.. Just curious...would you do it again ?????? :confused:

 

Actually, we're planning on going through NCL again. We just know what to avoid and what to prepare for now! We're looking at probably taking the 9 or 10 day eastern carribean...

[KevinsCruising]

Actually, we're planning on going through NCL again. We just know what to avoid and what to prepare for now! We're looking at probably taking the 9 or 10 day eastern carribean...

 

Excellent... we are actually looking at that one also.... FYI: on April 1st prices are going up so if you can book before then and put a deposit down you are locked into the old rates ;)

[DerekNJ]

Excellent... we are actually looking at that one also.... FYI: on April 1st prices are going up so if you can book before then and put a deposit down you are locked into the old rates ;)

 

We got one of the $250 cruise deposit/reward things on the boat. I assume we'd need to pick a sailing to apply it to by 4/1 qualify for the lower rates?

[ARI421]

we were on the gem the week before, you can check the menus in the am for that evening, they are posted outside the magenta and the grand pacific and the menus for everything else was outside at that desk i cant rememeber what resstarant it was outside.. and the lobster was yucky and overcooked..

[KevinsCruising]

We got one of the $250 cruise deposit/reward things on the boat. I assume we'd need to pick a sailing to apply it to by 4/1 qualify for the lower rates?

 

Yes you do. Or else it will be applied to that days rates ( which will be higher )

[KevinsCruising]

Derek,

 

One more piece of advice..... if possible, use an American Express for your deposit and final payment....NCL has and AMEX promotion where you will receive some on board credit. For a balcony you will receive $100.00 that will go towards your bill at the end of the week. ;)

[john970]

How was the live music? Any idea about the bands and the name of the calypso band? Thinking of trying the Gem soon.