My experience on the Norwegian Gem

[krzi]

See you do learn something new everyday. I was always under the impression the Gem was the first of the NCL Fleet to have the bridge viewing room. At least that is what my travel agent had told me. Thanks for the clarification.

 

Another fun fact is the dolphin carpet in the hallways. The dolphins swim (face) the front of the ship. This is handy information if you get turned around as your getting use to the ship.

 

I did learn about the dolphins on the ship after asking my room steward how which way is forward and which way is aft and he explained the dolphins on the carpet always swim forward.

[AuntieLil]

Wow, I didn't know notice the dolphin carpet. I need to book another cruise on the Gem to check it out :D

[snorklinbarb]

Hi krzi,

 

Anything you can find from the Dailies regarding entertainment would be highly appreciated. If you can scan and post them I'm sure many would love to see them but I know it's a big job.

 

Wow, not happy to hear that they have increased the selling before the theater shows. They've always had those instant win tabs (don't know if they still call them "krackits") and they would sell those and throw in extra raffle tickets or sometimes include a tee shirt or something like that.

 

But in all my yrs of sailing NCL (including 2011) I've never seen them selling bingo pkgs before the Stardust shows. Usually there's just an announcement in the Daily and then on the PA system when bingo is being played.

 

That's way too much hawking, if true.:eek:

[buckirj1]

...But in all my yrs of sailing NCL (including 2011) I've never seen them selling bingo pkgs before the Stardust shows. Usually there's just an announcement in the Daily and then on the PA system when bingo is being played.

 

That's way too much hawking' date=' if true.:eek:[/quote']

 

I think they did this one or two nights when I was on the Jewel, but it was very low key. I don't gamble at all, so I might not have been paying attention. The announcements weren't intrusive.

[Surfgirl]

I just got off the Gem this morning, and also experienced the slow service in the MDR... and am not bothered about it, particularly when I found out why.

 

I got to know some of the waiters, and it seems that there are now a lot of special dietary requests which really slow them down.

 

For example, the staff said there were a lot of Orthodox Jewish people on the cruise during my week and the week prior. The Kosher meals are prepared prior to the cruise. They are all in plastic and foil, and must be steamed. The waiters tell me the plastic require individual cutting, and the plastic is very difficult to remove.. which slows things down. They also serve the Kosher food on paper plates and cups because the cruise lines can't keep the Kosher/non Kosher dishes separate. That also takes time.

 

I was traveling with someone with Celiac. She needs gluten free food. If she wanted a scrambled egg, for example, instead of using the eggs from the can, they must use a fresh egg because they couldn't be sure whether the canned eggs had any gluten in them. The dining staff went out of their way for her, pre-ordering her meals the night before, and cooking them in their special gluten-free prep area.

 

I think it's great how Norwegian goes out of their way to make sure all religious and health related dietary requirements are met. Yes, the MDR was very, very slow, and yes, they twice forgot to bring something I ordered, but they're doing the best they can considering all the Kosher/salt free/gluten free/vegetarian, etc. requirements.

[Matt4nyc]

Good to know.

[krzi]

Hi krzi' date='

 

Anything you can find from the Dailies regarding entertainment would be highly appreciated. If you can scan and post them I'm sure many would love to see them but I know it's a big job.

 

Wow, not happy to hear that they have increased the selling before the theater shows. They've always had those instant win tabs (don't know if they still call them "krackits") and they would sell those and throw in extra raffle tickets or sometimes include a tee shirt or something like that.

 

But in all my yrs of sailing NCL (including 2011) I've never seen them selling bingo pkgs before the Stardust shows. Usually there's just an announcement in the Daily and then on the PA system when bingo is being played.

 

That's way too much hawking, if true.:eek:[/quote']

 

I will try to get them scanned soon but im gonna be very honest, I still have not unpacked yet...... (tomorrow will be 1 whole month)

[Ask4Jay]

About that Bridge Viewing Room- Here it is:

 

 

via iPod touch and Tapatalk.

[gelo7]

Nice review.

[redlef]

Here is a picture I took of the viewing room on deck 11 - http://vincentwong.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Norwegian-Gem-Viewing-Room-2.jpg

 

Nice picture. I wonder how the crew likes being "on display" 24/7.

[DrFootball]

We were on the GEM the day after it performed the "Rescue at sea" which caused it to dock 2.5 hrs late.

 

By getting to know the Capt., CD, Asst. HD and Several Security personnel, I discovered what a special group this is crewing this ship!

 

We had the last Bermuda Iten. of the season for the Gem.

 

We did have "slow" service one night in Magenta, but outside of that, we had no issues with MDR service.

 

Garden Cafe was one of the better buffet experiences I ever had we did lots of Breakfasts & lunches there...

 

Cons: Burger Rolls were always "stale" it seemed...

 

My only other issue was with "Special Embarkation" for folks like me with disabilities, but part of that was due to the late docking....

 

Plus: bought 3 bottles of wine from home + one from TA,..only drank 2, got a ref. from NCL for the otehr two.....

 

Bridge Viewing room....If you were there, you saw "Robbie" the Mermaid. We presented the Captain with a replica Navy Commendation Medal. My uncle won one in WWII as a Navy SEABEE working with the Marines on Iwo Jima..It's on the Mermaid's(Red & Blue Ribbon w/Eagle holding an anchor in it's beak)Tower of Charms....

 

CD: we had Johnny "CASH" Sanchez because Sinan was on Vacation,..Johnny was Excellent tho, and we'd sail with him Again!(if we could not sail w/Sinan)

 

Meet & Greet: 90 PPl. Scheduled-65 attended! (I organized it!)

met some fine folks i'd be glad to sail with again, and several "Fellow" vets...Including the "second most decorated U.S. Army Combat (helo)Pilot of the Vietnam war..." which for me being a former Army Pilot was a special moment...

Together DW & I(she's the Pro Shooter) took almost 4100 Pics...

 

My review is long gone off the boards by now but I know almost 4K folks here read it....

 

Because I was organizing the M&G and Writing a review, I was Given "VIP" status....very nice....got to meet and talk with several officers, ESP. 'The Fab. Jenny LIM(AHD) who should have her own ship someday...

 

Bill(DrFootball)(Moving to N.AZ. Next WEEK!!)

(U.S. Army Aviation Branch-active 1979-1984-active reserve 1984-1990-Ret. Med. Crosstrained-Abn./Ranger)

("Energetically will I meet the Enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might.")

Line 5 of the U.S. Army Ranger Creed....

Bill's Brainiac Random Quote Generator V0.99 Golden master release for Mac

[camz]

I just got off the Gem this morning, and also experienced the slow service in the MDR... and am not bothered about it, particularly when I found out why.

 

I got to know some of the waiters, and it seems that there are now a lot of special dietary requests which really slow them down.

 

For example, the staff said there were a lot of Orthodox Jewish people on the cruise during my week and the week prior. The Kosher meals are prepared prior to the cruise. They are all in plastic and foil, and must be steamed. The waiters tell me the plastic require individual cutting, and the plastic is very difficult to remove.. which slows things down. They also serve the Kosher food on paper plates and cups because the cruise lines can't keep the Kosher/non Kosher dishes separate. That also takes time.

 

I was traveling with someone with Celiac. She needs gluten free food. If she wanted a scrambled egg, for example, instead of using the eggs from the can, they must use a fresh egg because they couldn't be sure whether the canned eggs had any gluten in them. The dining staff went out of their way for her, pre-ordering her meals the night before, and cooking them in their special gluten-free prep area.

 

I think it's great how Norwegian goes out of their way to make sure all religious and health related dietary requirements are met. Yes, the MDR was very, very slow, and yes, they twice forgot to bring something I ordered, but they're doing the best they can considering all the Kosher/salt free/gluten free/vegetarian, etc. requirements.

 

Very nice of you to post the reasons surrounding the slower service in the MDR. These are reasons most people would not think of as they are waiting for service. It is also good to know that NCL does all these special orders. I would imagine given the passenger count, this is a horrendous task by itself. Kudos to NCL. :)

[snorklinbarb]

I will try to get them scanned soon but im gonna be very honest, I still have not unpacked yet...... (tomorrow will be 1 whole month)

 

lol...very easy to solve...just book another cruise and you're good to go!;):)

[bunnie857]

Thank you for your bravery and service to our country.

[johnsak123]

Was on the Jewel in august with some friends

We went to MDR(i think tsars) got seated and no one helped us for about 45 minutes. We were amused watching all the wait staff discussing our table and why we werent served. We werent in a rush and were just hanging out so we didnt object. Then finally we mentioned this to the restaurant manager who took our order and gave my dinner mates and I a lecture on why he isnt changing ships the following week to one that sails in the middle east and why his next cruise is not sailing to israel because of the jews. Yes he did say that. Of course 2 out of 3 at the table were jewish but didnt say anything to him. I for one didnt want to engage him in conversation in the first place but he just wouldnt stop talking. Im not rude or anything I just dont like to converse with someone I dont know when I am eating.

I think service or lack there of is a crap shoot and the generalization that the service was bad is something I myself say when I should say it was bad the time I went

Enjoy!!

[krzi]

As a few people requested I finally got to unpacking almost a month and half after. I have uploaded the pictures of the FreeStyle Daily from this trip. You can view the entire week's FreeStyle daily here-

[url]http://vincentwong.info/blog/?photo=ncl-gem-free-style-daily-november-2011[/url]