Another Perspective(Review) of the GEM 4/9-4/16

[Staci0615]

Hi all....I just want to start by saying I read all the reviews and all the posts prior to my sailing, and alot of the information was helpful so this is my try at adding to that. Plus I also liked to hear about others expierences, so now I am going to share mine.

 

First our background. We are a married couple 45 and 46 with a 7 1/2 year old girl. We live in Jersey, This was my 4th(I think) cruise on NCL but I have also cruised on Carnival, RCCL, and Celebrity and way back Commodore(lol).

 

Sat- Had a friend drive us to the pier and got there around 1-the line looked intimidating but actually wasn't that bad as it did move. All in all it took about 45 min from drop off till we had our key cards and were walking up the gangway. My DD actually made a friend with a 6 yr old boy while waiting on the line and it helped her adjust to the kids club a bit better.

Once on the boat we decided to go to the Magenta dining room as I had read it was the least crowded place for your first lunch and that was true. We walked right in and were seated immediately unfortunetly though the food was so-so at best. I had ordered an omlette and it was by far the worst one I had on the ship the whole time. I was starting to think maybe the reviews of the food were correct...but I was wrong as the week showed me.

A few minutes after fininshing our lunch they announced that cabins on deck 8 were open. Now when I had booked I went with the oceanview obstructed guaranty(G) as it was the best price and we were on a budget. They did upgrade us to a CC which was a fwd full view oceanview...it was on deck 8. 8512...I was a bit concerned that I would feel the ship alot as we were so far forward but it really wasn't that bad. When I had booked it with NCL thay had told me that it would have a bunk bed that came from the wall for my daughter-but when we opened th door to the cabin there was clearly no bunk bed in the room. So I walked over to guest services to question where my daughter was going to sleep. It did say it slept 3 in the cabin. Guest services was not helpful as she also told me there was a bunk bed and maybe I didn't see it. It turned out there was a cot under the bed and when they turned down the room they just squished it next to the other two beds...so it was like a wall to wall bed under the window. Not the best with a 7 year old whom doesn't like to fall asleep but what can you do. We can not imagine how families who live in little one bedroom apartments do it. After settling in we decided to go to Magenta again for dinner. It was the closer of the two main dining rooms to our cabin. Also that first day we attended the spa raffle(my husband won the seaweed wrap and back massage- I loved it lol) and signed up our daughter for the kids club. Dinner was better than lunch and not bad..Nothing reallly stood out either way but I was satisfied. I attended the show- which was preview of the comedian Bud Andersen- funny- He had an adults only show later in the week but I was unable to attend that one.

 

Sunday-

I had read that there were coffee makers in the rooms- Half truth. There are coffee makers in balconies and suites- BUT not in oceanview or inside cabins. I am a bit of a coffee snob so we had brought on with us a box of Folgers instant coffee bags(like tea bags but with coffee) and a box of flavored creamers and sugar-with the intention of using the coffee pot to make hot water. My plan was foiled so we ended up bringing the coffee bags to the dining room and getting a tea pot of water and making our coffee that way. We decided to go to the Buffet for breakfast and as we were walking- I remembered I had the coffee in the room. So I went back to get it and promptly lost my husband and child for about 3 hours. I had signed up for the Roll Call and our Meet and Greet was scheduled for 11 am - I really wanted my daughter to go with me as there was another little girl in the group but it was not to be :(. And I never saw that other family again the whole cruise. The Meet and Greet was very nice(and I want to extent a huge thank you for the night light in my goody bag that was the BEST thing ever)...I highly encourage people sailing to join the roll calls. Afterwards I went back to the cabin and did in fact find my husband and DD. We then checked out the Wii in the lobby(but you could only play tennis or boxing -so only really played it that once- although my DD did tell me they had it in the kids club and she played Mario Cart. I wandered around the ship and basically relaxed all day- switching into vacation mode...I loved the bed/chair things in the spinnaker lounge- and I was there when they did the music trivia even though I didn't play it it was fun to help out others. We did dinner in the Grand Pacific this evening...and even though the room is nicer I liked the Magenta better service wise. This was lobster night and When asked they switched out my red snapper for a second tail no problem. It was good...but I liked the starters better. The one thing was scallop starter dish- it had 3 of the smallest scallops I have ever seen, and so did my DH- we were laughing about how we could hide them under a rice grain. they were good wish either they gave more or they were bigger. Next time I will order 3 or 4 of them for my meal lol. The show this night was a 70's theme song and dance show. Very enjoyable.

 

Monday-

We booked the Kennedy Space Center tour as we had never been there and wanted to check it out. We nice place - just wish we would have had more time(it closed at 6 and we got there around 1). Got to see the shuttle on the launch pad -Very neat. I also saw two sea turtles swimming next to the ship as we pulled into the port also very cool...but I couldn't get a picture of them. Tonight we did dinner in the Magenta again but my DH felt sick after ordering so he left us to go back to the cabin- they nicely gave it to me to take back to him(he never ate it though). My DD and I went to Karoke and she sang - it was cute. Afterwards we went back to the cabin to check on DH who was sleeping..so she joined him and I went to see the show by myself. It was an entertainer called George Solomon. Personally I was bored ...so I called it a night right afterwards.

 

Tuesday-

Had booked the Hippo slide for my daughter because I understood you get on the first tenders- WELL what they don't tell you is you have to still go up to the Spinaker and get tender tickets...So we were eating breakfast and talking and never got tender tickets. After I had asked at the shore excusion desk how it works then tell tell me I need to get tickets...It was already 10am by this point and they had started giving out tickets at 7:30...Well went to the crew and explained how I did not know about how the process was working and she gave each of us a leftover single ticket so we could get on the earliest tender possible. We had gotten a 4, a 5 and a 7. This is where NCL is definetly lacking...Communication. The whole process was confusing and poorly executed. Somehow though we ended up on the island and after that it wasn't bad. We found a few lounge chairs I laid down with my book and I enjoyed the whole reason I went on this trip. IT was a beautiful sunny day. DH and DD played in the ocean, went down the hippo slide(DD lost her front tooth, it was ready to come out) and played in the ocean some more. I just baked. Now I did have sunscreen on all of us 30+ and even with that I did burn a little...be warned it is a strong sun esp not having seen it in so many months. We stayed till about 4:30- didn't want to be the last ones off but also didn't want to wait in long lines for the tenders back. it was a good time and we only waited about 5 min till we got on the tender and headed back. I think we ate in the Magenta again(and DD lost her second front tooth) and tonights show was the Second City Comedy troupe...HIGHLY Recommend this. It was very enjoyable. I was going to check out the comedian Bud Andersens late nite adult show but a whole day in the sun wiped me out. Tooth fairy had to make a visit and then it was nite nite.

 

Wednesday-

This morning I am set to redeem my spa treatment courtsey of DH and I guess I was excited- I woke up at 5am and couldn't fall back asleep so I snuck out of the cabin-didn't want to wake DH or DD. Even the Blue Lagoon was closed but I had my coffee bags so I took a glass of hot water and made coffee and read my book...and since I was up a great excuse to get some sunrise pictures. It was cool as I saw theNCL SKY also coming up to Nassau next to us with her lights on...got some really nice pictures that morning.

Went to my 8am spa appointment- loved it. If I was wealthy I would be at a spa all the time. Afterwards met up with DH and DD they had already eaten so we just stopped at the Blue Lagoon for me. The breakfast there was simple but nice.. We decided we were just going to walk around town...so we walked around. I really wasn't that impressed but it had been a number of years since I had been there. I remembered that Atlantic had a cool underground walkway and we decided to take the water taxi over to Paradise Island. So we went back on the ship ate some lunch and then headed to the Water Taxi. It is 3/ a person to take the water taxi and 4/a person to take a cab- they definetly compete with each other...so be prepared for lots of do you want a taxi everywhere you walk. The Atlantis is way more built up then the last time I was there- about 10 years ago I think(boy does time fly as you get older). And you couldn't really walk around unless you bought a wristband but since we were only going to be there for an hour didn't see the point. We found a Ben and Jerry's and ate yummy expensive ice cream instead. It was cool to see all the yachts parked in the marina. Tonight was our romantic night- as the kids club had a dinner and movie planned for the kid. So we had booked reservations at Le Bistro for 6:15.

This was the only specialty rest we booked and other that our window seat with the view of the sunset I wasn't that impressed with the food. It semed to be about the same as the main dining room....They did have escargot(but they served it in the free dining room on friday- so I had it 2x) and the mushroom soup was good. I had the lamb but I had also had it in one of the free dining rooms and it seemed almost the same- Which was quite tasty.

We ordered a bottle of wine and really enjoyed the meal just the two of us so in that aspect it was nice. I guess you are paying for the ambiance not the food. For dessert we had a chocolate fondue for two- but we were both quite full so couldn't eat it all. They do bring you crackers and a salmon mousse, as well as chocolate truffles as a gift from the chef...but you can find something similiar in other free places if you look. So no regrets that we did it- but really didn't feel that mostly eating in the free dining rooms was a negative, and that we were missing out by not doing more specialties.

 

Thursday-

Breakfast in the Grand Pacific- I am missing that right now :). Today was our CC cabin crawl...since I had offered up my oceanview I went. It's nice to see how the other half lives. We got to see a Mini-Suite aft( nice layout and roomy- may consider that if I can get a good price one day) A balcony mid ship(not much bigger than my oceanview but the coffee maker is a plus) A fwd penthouse(this is how the other half really lives- so when I win the lotto that will be where I stay) and then our closet- I mean cabin.

Second city also had a workshop this afternoon...which I enjoyed. Tonights show was World Beat- music and dancing from around the world.

 

Friday-

Went to the cruise raffle- Didn't win- Went to the casino and donated some money and just wandered around the ship today- It was too cold and windy to go out doors so mostly we just wandered. DD went to the kids club - I checked out the other Second city little get together in the Spinnaker. We did dinner in the Magenta again tonight and I was happy to see the escargo on the menu. My DD tried it and liked it but DH still won't try it. Packed our bags and chose Orange which got us off the ship at 9:20am. I stayed and watched both improv shows this evening and it was fun...but I like Improv.

 

Saturday-

Smooth Disembarkation except for the blaring music as you waited to get off the ship.

 

 

My only real complaint is the air in the cabins- It was so dry that every morning we woke up coughing...and both me and DD are sick with colds. So even with all the washy, washy it isn't helping if the air that circulates thru out the ship is bad.

 

Any questions feel free to ask. I did keep the dailes..but I do not have a scanner :(

[Hopes4]

I'm loving these reviews, I'm so happy everyone is posting them. :)

Was there karaoke every night? Was it the same time and place or did it change daily?

[Staci0615]

There was Karoke I think 3 or 4 nights in the Bliss Lounge....the song selection was decent and it was fun to watch. My DD did it 2x but there weren't that many songs she knew

[Hopes4]

There was Karoke I think 3 or 4 nights in the Bliss Lounge....the song selection was decent and it was fun to watch. My DD did it 2x but there weren't that many songs she knew

 

Thank you! :)

[Journey11]

Thanks for your detailed and informative review. I am glad that overall you seemed to have enjoyed your cruise.

[dres40]

 

I had signed up for the Roll Call and our Meet and Greet was scheduled for 11 am - I really wanted my daughter to go with me as there was another little girl in the group but it was not to be :(. And I never saw that other family again the whole cruise.

 

 

Hi Staci,

We are the other family you never saw again… We showed up late to the meet and greet and did talk with you for a bit. You were so nice to come over and introduce yourself. Too bad our little girls did not get together at the meet and greet but my DD did mention your little girl’s name from the kids club so I do think they both had a good time. My daughter did enjoy the kids club and asked to stay when we tried to pick her up.

Glad to hear you had fun on the cruise! We did like it but were not happy with the food in the main dining rooms. We liked the food in the buffet much better. Teppanyaki was really good and so was Cagney’s.

We ended up going to Aquatica, Sea World’s water park instead of KSC because it was so hot that day. It was really fun and to my surprise not too crowded.

On debarkation day I took the elevator up to the 14th floor and took a look at the private courtyard and Garden Villa suite. I ran into some staff but just asked if I could look around and they said sure! It was fun to see how the other half lives!

Back to the real world, oh well……….

Take care,

Diana