Kicking off the New Year on the GEM - Long Review

[scfa99]

Hi everyone,

 

We recently cruised on the Norwegian GEM from 1/1/12 – 1/8/12 and had a fantastic time. I would like to stress upfront that the GEM and its crew are an absolutely tremendous vacation experience. The negative reviews that I’ve read on CC baffle me, but everyone is different and the following is my family’s experience.

 

Background

We are a family of 4 which includes me age 40, DW upper 30’s, DS 12, DD 8. This was our 6th cruise, 3rd on NCL and the GEM is now our favorite ship. We were in an aft cabin mini suite, 11150 (more on the cabin later). We are not food snobs but DW is an amazing chef at home and has a very good palate. Some of us are noise sensitive while sleeping and we select our rooms based on location with quietness being a big factor. We are also germaphobes, some more than others, so cleanliness is very important. With that said, we might sound very picky, however we do not let little things ruin our vacation and bring us down.

 

This is going to be a long review as I took notes during the week and will point out the good, the not so good and things we discovered along the way. I plan on completing this in one shot as I don’t want to drag this out for weeks and weeks. I don’t plan to arrange it in sequential order, rather try to group things by topic/event hopefully its somewhat logical.

 

Embarkation Day

We were dropped off at Pier 88 at 10:45 and it was painless. No line on the Latitudes line either. After we got past the first que, we breezed through security and then que’d for about 5-10 mins to check-in. Contrary to most comments the NY terminal staff was very friendly; especially considering it was New Years day. We got our keycards, etc and were seated in group 22. They started calling groups at 12 noon and we were on the ship by 12:20.

 

Lots of friendly smiles and warm greetings welcomed us on the ship. We found our way to the Grand Pacific dining room (GPDR) where we met Olivia, our server. We had our first delicious meal of the week with even better service. Since our past cruises on NCL had sporadic dining service, I asked Olivia if she was going to be in the GPDR each evening or if she rotated. She said she was assigned there every night and did not rotate for dinner. I asked if we could request her and she said of course. I gave her a small tip for her lunch service and said we would see her that evening for dinner.

 

Sail away we stayed up on deck 13 as long as we could but the wind sent us back to our windless aft balcony to enjoy going under the bridge. Here are a couple pics:

 

 

 

 

 

Meet and Greet

We had a small gathering in the Star Bar (12-15ppl). Most of NCL’s senior officers attended and Sinan kicked things off. NCL supplied light snacks with juice and coffee. I got a chance to talk to Sinan about his days on the Dawn as Bingo Boy and my kids had a picture taken with him. He said he hasn’t called bingo in over a year since his promotion and that he did it for 8 years prior. I also got a chance to talk with Capt. Roger before he left. I asked him if NCL plans to remove the Spinnaker lounge from the GEM like they did on the Dawn. Good news, he said that there are no plans and he doesn’t think they will since the GEM has enough head count that they don’t need to add any additional space. I told him this was great news as I couldn’t imagine sailing on the Dawn again because of the lack of the Spinnaker. He nodded and said he hopes NCL will carefully consider itinerary choices for the Dawn and not schedule her for Alaska where having the Spinnaker is key for observing/viewing.

 

What I found nice about the Captain is that he seemed to hurry on his way out but, once I stopped and started talking to him, he was in no rush to leave. He was extremely personable and detailed in his responses. I had the pleasure of talking with him several more times during the week and he is by far the most outgoing and charismatic captain I’ve met.

 

After he left I was able to spend some time with all my fellow cruise critics. Even though we were a small group it was actually nicer because I had a chance to talk to everyone one on one. It was also fun to run into everyone during the rest of the cruise and compare our experiences.

 

Cabin

Cabin 1150 and aft mini suite, our first time sailing in an aft cabin. I was so looking forward to sailing aft and thought I would love it. Well after 1 week aft I’m really torn. Cabins were ready by 2 pm and our bags were already there when we got back from the muster drill.

 

The positives: the view is spectacular, the sound is so soothing from the props, louder than I expected. No wind! This was key on this cruise because our weather was lousy for most of the cruise but the aft balcony had zero wind and allowed us to enjoy being out there much more than a traditional balcony. Balcony was larger than the side balconies but not as big as deck 10 and 9. It had the traditional two chairs and small table. The mini suite is the perfect size for the 4 of us. Traditional bath room setup was well laid out, hair dryer was great, and there was plenty of storage in the room. Cabin steward, Loey, was polite, efficient and unobtrusive, towel animals every night except the first and latitudes mints left on our pillow every night. Zero noise from the sides, we heard nothing all week from our neighbors. I purposely booked this cabin because it had a suite on one side with no balcony and therefore only one balcony next to it. It was nice to be able to lean out and look left without worrying if there were people on the balcony next to us.

 

The negatives (minor): mattresses definitely slump a bit and were a bit uncomfortable even with a topper. Also I’m 6’ and my feet were over the edge. One thing that this mini didn’t have is the curtain to separate the beds like we had in our Dawn mini. There was a Velcro strip down the ceiling but we asked our cabin steward and he said there is no curtain. I read all the complaints about the mini tubs and thought people were just being picky. Well I found out the hard way during my first shower. I turned on the shower put my left foot in and boom it slid out until my right knee slammed into the outside of the tub and stopped my momentum. What had happened is my left foot was on a curved part of the tub and it was wet and I lost my footing. The tub/shower has very little flat surface area so be careful when getting in and out. Its also a high step over, the top of the tub was above my knee. Needless to say it only happened once, clearly was due to user error and was fine the rest of the week after I learned my lesson. Pillows were like bricks. After the first night we requested feather pillows and our wonderful room steward, Loey, provided them before our second night. He also replaced a broken chair that we didn’t even know about.

 

The biggest disappointment we had about sailing aft is that the bed is east/west not north south. Normally we sleep like babies and the rougher the seas the better but not so in the aft. Because the bed is east west we were not lulled to sleep by the waves and really missed the motion of the ocean.

 

The biggest complaint about the cabin is noise from above. Around 5 or 530 every morning we were woken up by noise from above. It sounded like chairs being slammed and dragged around in the Great Outdoors buffet area. The big issue is that it wasn’t for a min or two, it lasted up to 40 mins most mornings. Once it stopped we would occasionally hear chairs being dragged from time to time when people were dining, this was not too bad. I finally broke down and called the Head of Hospitality, Stephen, on Thursday to see if they could do anything. He was extremely nice and knew exactly what was causing and apologized. He was on his sat. phone so I think he said it was because of power washing. He was very positive that they could correct this. We went to bed Thursday night upset that we didn’t call sooner. Unfortunately, 5:30 Friday morning crash boom bam, even louder but it stopped after a couple mins. To NCL’s credit they did follow-up to see if it was corrected. When I told the guest services rep what happened she seemed puzzled. She then apologized and tried to make it up to us. I told her we weren’t looking to get anything out of this and she kept trying to make it up to us so I finally accepted one of her offers. We did hear the noise again on Saturday morning again it was loud but was short lived. So my recommendation is if you are a light sleeper, this is not the room to book. But if you are an early riser it does offer a lot of privacy and there is zero sound side to side.

 

As far as our overall experience with cruising aft, I’m still undecided. I think I would cruise aft again but it’s not a cabin that I have to have or will pay a lot more for. Also due to the Great Outdoors, noise I doubt I would book an aft mini again.

 

Muster drill

NCL really shines here. No life vest required, we were seated in the GPDR and it was quick and easy. 10 mins tops and we were on our way back to our cabins.

 

Latitudes Party

I think this took place Monday early afternoon and was for all latitudes members. This is the first latitudes party we’ve been invited to and we were impressed. Drinks were plentiful and you could order pretty much anything from the bar in addition to what they were carrying on their trays. They kept refilling during the entire party and the bar shut down as soon as Sherry stopped talking. So if you want a last call, be sure to get one while Sherry is talking. The highlight was Captain Roger jumping on the stage, grabbing a bass and singing Eric Clapton’s Wonderful tonight. I think they announced there were 500 latitudes members on board.

 

 

Silver/Gold/Platinum Party

Was held Thursday at 7pm, we completely forgot about this one and so I have no feedback. If anyone was on this sailing and attended please post your feedback.

 

Latitudes pins, never received and forgot about them being a new reward in 2012, oh well no big deal.

 

Weather

Overall the weather was a disappointment. Started great in NY with our sailaway but we ran into the cold front that hit the Northeast last week. Luckily, the aft cabin let us enjoy the balcony a bit on the way down as it was much too windy up on deck. The kids did go swimming on Monday despite the cold winds and the pools were warm all week. I know people say they are not heated but they felt like they were all week.

 

Monday night had really rough seas, captain said they were 20-24’ with up to 100 MPH winds. Our cabin drawers kept opening and slamming, chairs above us kept getting knocked around and there was a lot of noise and vibration in our cabin. We never felt unsafe and knew we were fine because the ship never slowed down; Capt Roger kept the throttle down so we could make port on time. Kids were a bit freaked and we lost 3-4 hours of sleep that night.

 

Tuesday - Florida was cold, windy in the 40’s.

 

Weds - GSC the ship was able to tender. It was chilly and we decided to stay on the ship. This is the closest we got to GSC:

 

Thurs - Nassau was the best day of the 3 port of calls. It was nice when the sun was out but there were a lot of clouds and it was cool when they blocked the sun. More on the port later.

 

Friday- sea day was the nicest day of the cruise, must have been in the 70’s and the kids did a lot of swimming on the ship, pool area was crowded but still found a chair close to the pool.

 

Saturday was nice until 2ish, kids swam for about and hour and had a good time.

[scfa99]

Nassau

My least favorite port primarily because I think it has so much potential that is wasted. The first thing you see when you look out your cabin is huge 30 yard dumpster’s setup all over the pier so the cruise ships can empty all their trash. I don’t ever remember seeing these at other ports, it makes a lousy first impression. Anyway, we grabbed b’fast and found our way over to the Jitney #10 which we rode over to the Sheraton. If you’ve never ridden the Jitney, let’s just say it’s an experience. You can’t beat the price and the efficiency, about 10 mins round trip and we never waited either way.

 

Sheraton was $25 per adult and $12.50 per child. For that, you get the privilege to use their pools, beach, towels and chairs. TIP: don’t bring towels from the ship, they provide and you can keep exchanging for new/dry ones. If it were a nicer day, I would say that it would have been worth it. Due to the clouds and cold water it probably wasn’t the best use of our money but we still had a good time. One pool was ice cold the other pool was tolerable but was still cooler than the ships pools. Later in the day, we finally braved the cold water in the ocean and did some snorkeling. The water is very shallow, even out by the small man made reef. There were small fish but nothing exciting. They have jet ski rentals next door and they were ripping by all day. Grounds were in decent shape, we didn’t eat or drink anything so not sure about prices and the life guards were very disinterested.

 

We grabbed the #10 Jitney back to town and hit the new straw market. Much nicer, almost full, and the aisles are much wider and easier to walk down. And guess what? We must have picked the right day because every vendor was having a sale… We couldn’t believe our luck! Mostly all the same junk made in some country other than the Bahamas although I did see some wood carvers working outside. I will say every person that tried to offer us something was polite and backed off once we said no, even the hair braiders outside the customs/gift shop.

 

We walked back to the ship which happened to be docked next to the Disney Dream. Now I’m not sure if NCL normally does this but on the pier outside the GEM, they had many senior officers greeting passengers, music blaring, a tent with couches setup for people to rest in, a water station and crew handing out hot towels. It was very impressive and having senior officers out greeting you was a really nice touch. Not sure if this had anything to do with the gleaming new Dream right next to the ship or if this is a new NCL/GEM practice, anyway bravo NCL. All aboard was 6pm and I didn’t get a chance to watch any pier runners as we wanted to get to dinner and catch Man from Mars.

 

Couple pics from Nassau:

 

 

 

 

 

Dining

During the course of the week, we ate all of our dinners in the GPDR and Olivia was our server each night. The only 2 times we didn’t eat there was the final night when we ate at Teppenyaki. Requesting Olivia and having great service each night resulted in a hybrid dining experience for us. It combined the benefits of freestyle dining, getting there when we wanted, no tablemates with the benefits of traditional dining which is getting to know your server and them getting to know your needs. Based on this personalized service and very good food in the GPDR we decided to dine there all week. Some notable meals that we really enjoyed were the Tai Curry Chicken, the Caribbean lobster was decent but the snapper that came with it was really good. Both kids really liked the spring rolls and all deserts were delicious. The only complaints we had were a couple of dishes were under seasoned and lacked taste but all dishes were cooked properly, none overcooked. All dishes were served warm to slightly hot.

 

I did see them checking the dress code at the GPDR for dinner and strictly enforcing the no shorts policy on several occasions, bravo NCL.

 

TIP: If you find a server you like and plan on eating in that restaurant again, feel free to ask to be seated in that server’s section. If you would like a very good server ask for Olivia, tell her Matt & Michelle say hi. NCL if you’re listening, please grant her ship request, she is an asset to your company.

 

Buffet: let me say upfront we are not buffet people due to the craziness and unsanitary habits of other cruisers. The first morning, my DW was waiting to get her made to order omelet when she observed someone next to her eating from their plate licking their fingers and then picking up the tongs and grabbing more food. I saw a kid pick his nose and grab food with his hands, no parent around and also observed people put things back with their hands. Years ago, the buffet didn’t bother us but after experiencing a Noro Virus like illness that made us sick for days, we’ve changed. We hit the buffet for quick things, fruit, water etc. We were disappointed that the “washy washy girls” were not that forceful and they didn’t have anyone posted at the back entrance to the Garden café or the entrance to the Great Outdoors. I realize it’s a resourcing thing but they didn’t even have the globes in the proper position at times and they were out of fluid a few times.

 

Blue Lagoon, we really like the location and openness to the atrium. Typical comfort food, everything was good, service was very slow the one time we ate there.

 

Room service was good, usually took 30-45 mins, menu seemed to be really limited, BLT was better than I expected.

 

Teppenyaki was good, but I don’t think I would do it again. Don’t get me wrong. The food and service were really good. The filet I had was excellent but the show was lacking. If you’ve dined at a really good land based hibachi you might be disappointed in the show. If you haven’t or don’t have one near your home, then I recommend it because I heard lots of people saying it was their favorite meal and dining experience, so to each his/her own. Do schedule a reservation asap as it was the busiest venue and sold out quickly.

[scfa99]

Shows

Overall the in-house production shows seemed to be on par or better than the previous Jean Anne Ryan productions. They still have a live band in the Stardust theatre and singers and dancers were all very good. You need to set your expectations accordingly this isn’t broadway but everyone in my family was entertained and never left early like we have on other cruises.

 

Man from Mars show I thought was good. It didn’t blow me away. Maybe my expectations were set too high but all of the aerials I’ve seen in other shows and the only thing original was the boo bah ball thing that he did. I am a little jaded because I have seen BMG and Cirque many times but my kids loved it though. His skit at the finale was funny but I had a vested interest in that show…

 

Second City – only caught them once and the canned material was the same if not similar to what they have done on other ships. The improv performance was just ok but we were in back of the Star Dust so that does make a difference in terms of audience engagement at least with someone with a low attention span like me.

 

Nadeen, the hypnotist, this was probably my favorite show. I don’t want to give too much away but it was definitely something I haven’t seen before and its also an act where you can watch the first show and then hit the 2nd show and still enjoy it because the participants are what make the show. It is a different experience every time.

 

I caught the comedian at the intro show and thought he was funny but holding back. I guess he doesn’t have too much clean material because he only did one show at Midnight and it was adult only. We didn’t make it unfortunately. He did appear at a couple other venues and we caught him at the Liar Liar game where he was extremely quick witted when 7 kids tried crashing the adult only show and scored the funniest line of the night at their absentee parents expense (after the kids were asked to leave). Sinan also had a funny line about what would happen to his career if the kids stayed: he would get fired and have to work for Carnival. Haha, I will get to Sinan later….

 

Fountains, it is what it is, always better the first time but still funny, don’t want to give it away.

 

Musical Entertainment

Ocean Vibe, a British band was ok. We didn’t catch their Beatles show and only saw them twice and they always seemed to have tuning issues. Oh NCL if you’re listening please think about re-engineering the sound board in Magnums to be on the other side of the stage so the sound engineer can access it without being on stage all the time.

 

Piano melodies with Michael, nice guy but didn’t really dig his voice and renditions. We are also jaded after the EPIC and Howl at the Moon.

 

Listening to Leo J was our favorite way to spend our evenings and have a night cap. Great guy, good musician, very engaging with the crowd and was a crowd pleaser. Unfortunately, he was in the atrium later in the week and its just not a great venue for acoustics and seating/viewing. In Magnums, he really shined and it’s a much more comfortable venue.

 

Leo:

 

Atrium from above:

 

Musician’s Jam on the last night was great, might need a bigger venue. We thought it would go a lot later and were hoping Capt. Roger would show up and jam but no such luck.

 

Ocean Jam we only caught the last night at the jam and they were fun and closed out the night with Bob Marley.

 

Sinan the Cruise Director

Yes he deserves his own separate mention. Sinan was our Asst CD on the Dawn and, at the time, he was called Bingo Boy. To be blunt, he annoyed the hell out of me. However my kids LOVED him on the Dawn so they were really excited about him being the CD. Leading up to the GEM, I read all the raving reviews about him and tried to keep and open mind. Well guess what. On day 1 he still annoyed me, but after talking with him a few times and getting to know him he started to turn me by day 2. Then his jokes seemed to get better, I started watching his tv channel and he really won me over when around mid week he stole the show at almost every performance. I won’t give anything away but he has definitely won me over and I think he is a fantastic CD. I would love to know how many miles he walks in a day because we saw him EVERY WHERE all day long.

 

Sinan did disembark on the 8th and was flying back home for knee surgery; apparently he blew out his knee during Quest on the New Years cruise. I think he’s out for a few weeks, not sure who the CD will be in his absence.

 

[scfa99]

Drink Service

Good news is we didn’t feel the constant pressure and hounding on the pool deck. I didn’t have any of servers approach me directly, rather once in a while they would just call out “drink service”. Much less obtrusive and they were always off to the side if you needed something and all it took was a nod, or a hand wave. Big improvement NCL!

 

Three areas for improvement:

 

1) Theater service was very slow. They were fast to take the drink order but delivery was very slow and often drinks were delivered after the lights were out. I’m not sure if the bar is far away but it seemed there were plenty of servers but it just took forever once the order was placed. They also didn’t have flash lights so it was very hard to see the receipt, read it and sign it in the dark.

2) Magnums and atrium drink service was spotty, sometimes they were fast and other times you couldn’t find a server or they were disinterested. All of this in the same night and server.

3) Many times if we didn’t specify that we did NOT want a souvenir plastic glass they would bring our drinks in them. This happened in all areas and even for drinks that were not drinks of the day. I know this is a way to up sell but this is frustrating after it happens outside of day one. After it happened to us the second time we knew we had to tell them we did not want the souvenir glass.

 

Ship Board Activities

The freestyle daily seemed to be packed with even more things to do than I can recall from the EPIC and Dawn. Many of them are free and often times there were 2 or 3 things at the same time and we had to make some tough choices. Awe poor us.

 

Up Sells/Hawking Stuff/Nickel & Diming

Aside from the bingo announcements we didn’t feel there was a lot of “noise” about buying this and that. The bingo announcements didn’t broadcast in our room so they never bothered us. We were happy that drink servers were not as pushy as in the past. The one increase I did see was communication about purchasing future cruise credits, but it was unobtrusive and must have worked because we bought a few. The way I feel about the whole nickel and diming debate is I prefer to have a lower base fare and choose where to spend my money. I have no issue with it at all.

 

Kids Club

It was tough to get either of our kids to the kids club. They seem to cling to us all cruise, I guess we are just so much fun they don’t want to miss out, haha.

 

DS was not really happy about going, however he did go two nights (forced) and he didn’t have much to say about his experience. 12 is a very tough age so I don’t put this on NCL. I do applaud them for having a separate room for the 10-12 ages and not stuffing them in with the younger kids.

 

DD picked out the activities she was interested in and, once she started going, she had fun. She even told us to leave her in longer when we checked in her a few times. But she definitely preferred going during “off times” when the club had less children and commotion. According to her, the boys were playing too rough.

 

Overall the counselors were very nice and there was never a line at check-in and check-out and it never seemed overly busy even with 500+ kids. DD did stay for extended hours a couple nights and one night we picked her up at 11:15 and she was the only kid there, we felt bad but she said she had a great time and got lots of attention. On another occasion I forgot my key card and tried to check her out, the counselor said he couldn’t release her. I tried to talk him into it and he refused (politely), I thanked him for doing his job and told him I really appreciated it. Hats off to NCL for enforcing a strict check out procedure, as a parent this is very comforting.

 

Ship Layout/Flow

Even with 3000+ passengers the ship rarely ever felt full or crowded. We never waited on line to get into the GPDR and usually found good seats at Star Dust if we showed up 10-15 mins early. The ship layout is very easy to master and has nice flow. I also didn’t notice too many kiosks and tables set-up hawking goods like on other ships that can sometimes lead to congestion in the public walk ways. Bridge viewing area is quite large and had better views than the EPIC offers. Jogging track is the standard, short jogging track and gets quite busy with walkers and gawkers. It’s a shame that the verandah deck (7) doesn’t permit jogging as this is a much wider and longer deck with less “traffic”. The breath or steps of a runner can’t be any more disturbing than the clanking of the shuffle board games being played on that same deck if it is noise issue to guests using nearby loungers.

 

Crew

This is where the GEM really outperforms other cruises we have been on. This crew seems to have hit its full stride and really seem to enjoy what they are doing and is very customer service focused. An early indication is on day 1 when they handed out a sheet with every dept. head, their picture and phone number and asked you to call them with any issues. Previously, I’ve received business cards at CC meet and greets but I don’t recall any other ship delivering this sheet to every cabin.

 

Friendliness, I only came across one crew member that didn’t seem to be happy the entire week. From the cabin stewards, all the way up to the senior officers the GEM, crew goes out of their way to not only make sure and acknowledge you but to inquire and genuinely seem to care about your day and or vacation. We’ve also never experienced senior officers all over the ship greeting passengers, checking up on things and stopping to answer questions. On other ships we felt like we were bothering the CD or Captain if we asked a question. Not so on the GEM. This is truly a great crew and they really seem to enjoy what they do and each others company. Early on in the cruise when I had the pleasure of chatting with Capt. Roger, he went out of his way to praise his crew and was very genuine in telling me that the GEM crew is very special. At the time, I thought it was odd that he was so adamant about it but, as the week progressed, I definitely observed and understood his comment more and more. If you get a chance, ask some of the senior staff about some of rescues/saves they have performed at sea and you will see the pride light up in their faces. The GEM crew is truly a TEAM and should serve as a model for NCL.

 

Summary

Despite cold weather, rough seas, and sleep deprivation we had a terrific cruise. All four of us rated this as our favorite ship and crew. Was the cruise perfect? No, but I’ve also never been on a vacation (land or sea) that was perfect. The bottom line is we had a wonderful vacation; I came back extremely relaxed, found out that we love the GEM and its crew, and would sail again on her in a heart beat. We feel that when you factor in price, that NCL offers a tremendous product and the best bang for the buck for us. That’s not to say we won’t cruise other lines but, for the money, NCL is the perfect fit for us at this time in our lives.

 

Couple more pics:

Benefits of an aft balcony:

 

 

 

Blis Lounge:

 

The very slow slide, kids loved it despite not having a lot of speed:

[scfa99]

Last couple random pics:

 

Ah we miss you so much!

 

Boo we made it back to NYC:

 

Last stroll on deck 13:

 

Last goodbye to our favorite ship:

 

Any questions fire away.

[youngestof9]

great review! GORGEOUS pictures - may have to steal one for my scrapbook :)

 

We loved Leo also - thought he was so engaging!

 

We didn't have our kids on our sailing, but are hoping to take them on the Gem summer 2013.

 

We had different CD and Captain as you did (we sailed in October to Bermuda), however, I have to agree about the staff. So friendly and accommodating.

 

Loved reading your review!

[ColinIllinois]

Excellent review and pictures. Thank you for taking the time to do that. Very enjoyable.

[Cruiser_SG77]

Great review and fantastic pictures! Thanks for posting!

[Frick_&_Frack]

Thanks so much for the review! :)

[PorkChopKid]

scfa99.... I abslutely LOVE the images you posted. You certainly have a talent for photography. My wife and I are avid amateur photographers and would like to know something about the equipment you were using.... camera, lens, etc. Also, did you have a tripod with you? The depth of field in some of your images would seem to mean a small lens opening and a slow shutter speed. Did I detect a hint of HDR on a couple of the images?

Thanks

[mizLORInj]

Thanks for your review and the photos are great!

We enjoyed our 12/18-25 Gem cruise and I thought Sinan was very entertaining. I was told he had been injured, and I don't think he'll be back for our Gem one nigher 1/28--disappointing but I understand. I thought "Fountains" was very amusing, but it was my first time seeing it. I liked The Man From Mars show a lot.

[Journey11]

Fantastic pictures with an excellent and thorough review. Good job! Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us.

[cliffd64]

Thanks for the well balanced review! We're heading to the Gem in March again.... Can't wait!

[scfa99]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone.

 

Joe thanks for the praise. We shoot a lot of pics and I only posted a few that don't contain any family in them. We have some really good ones with Sinan, Capt Roger and crew.

 

My wife and I both like to take pictures. Our equipment is nothing fancy and will make some people laugh. A few of the pics were taken with an old relic, a Nikon D70 paired with a $200 35 mm 1.8 lens. The bridge pic was taken with the D70 mounted to a rickety tripod, shutter fired by hand. The rest were all hand held and the majority were taken with a Panasonic LX5. To me this little P&S is the best camera money can buy and once you understand its strengths you can really take some great pics. Of course its not a DLSR but its also so easy to carry around and can provide good images 75% of the time. I also use a Panasonic TS3 for underwater shots and video. Some day I'll upgrade to a 300s or newer model.

 

Oh yeh and post processing, LR3.

[Dolphins]

Delighted to hear that there are no plans to remove the Spinnaker Lounge from the Gem. We are sailing on the Gem next week and again in January 2014. We especially like the ballroom dancing in Spinnaker's. Did they have a Big Band night there on your cruise?

[snorklinbarb]

Excellent review and pictures! Like Dolphins, we are looking forward to boarding the Gem next wk. We're happy to read that the Gem still has such a wonderful crew and very visible and proactive officers!

 

Will definitely give your regards if we can find Olivia! Where is she from?

 

Any idea if the hypnotist will be on for awhile? I've seen Brenda Kaye a couple of times but this is a new name and sounds like fun!

 

What kind of music did Michael (piano entertainer) play? Vocals, too?

 

Will keep an eye out for the music jams. Was that announced in the Daily?

 

You covered all the bases. Glad your family had such a great week!:D

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Thanks for taking the time to write an excellent review of your experience. I love reading reviews and yours was especially interesting. Pictures are awesome!

[gaylemh]

Do they list who will be playing in the lounges/bars each day in the daily flyer? What night and where was the Beatles show?

[BelleoftheSeas]

Thanks for a great review of your trip. Your pictures are amazing! Well done!

We were on the Gem in Sept. and loved the crew under Capt. Roger as much as you did. They are a wonderful group.

 

Also had Olivia as our server a few times in the MDR. Again, I agree with you - she is an asset to NCL. We did not have her every night, but she still never failed to greet us by name and stop by to say hello when she saw us. We will be on the Gem in 2 weeks and will definitely be looking for her!

 

I am disappointed we most likely will not be seeing Sinan. We enjoyed his enthusiasm and dedication to his job! I wish him a speedy recovery.

 

Again, thanks for taking the time to write a review and upload those awesome pictures!

[maja]

Great review & beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing!

[Laszlo]

Great review & photos and I like how great minds think alike. I have a D70 and just bought a D5100. I also love my Panasonic TS3

[scfa99]

Delighted to hear that there are no plans to remove the Spinnaker Lounge from the Gem. We are sailing on the Gem next week and again in January 2014. We especially like the ballroom dancing in Spinnaker's. Did they have a Big Band night there on your cruise?

 

Hi Dolphins,

 

I'm pretty sure I remember seeing it in the daily, approximately mid week I think. I didn't save the dailies or I would look it up. Have a great time on your cruise.

[scfa99]

Excellent review and pictures! Like Dolphins' date=' we are looking forward to boarding the Gem next wk. We're happy to read that the Gem still has such a wonderful crew and very visible and proactive officers!

 

Will definitely give your regards if we can find Olivia! Where is she from?

 

Any idea if the hypnotist will be on for awhile? I've seen Brenda Kaye a couple of times but this is a new name and sounds like fun!

 

What kind of music did Michael (piano entertainer) play? Vocals, too?

 

Will keep an eye out for the music jams. Was that announced in the Daily?

 

You covered all the bases. Glad your family had such a great week!:D[/quote']

 

Not sure on the hypnotist, her name is Nadeen so you might be able to look her up and see if she has a schedule posted.

 

Michael does sing, he did alot of billy joel, frank sinatra, elton john.

 

Musician jam was the last night and it was in the daily, get there early if you can as it filled up and was standing room only for awhile, it was in Magnums.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[marco_polo11]

Great review and pics, OP! Your photos bring back happy memories of our anniversary celebration with my whole family (kids/grandkids). It was a fabulous cruise all around.

I'm happy you said that the check-in staff at the port were friendly. As I reported in my own review, my family was the first to arrive in the early morning (7:30 am), and we encountered several rude NCL 'greeters'. I told the hotel director, Stephen Knotts, about this when I got on the GEM. He was sincere and apologetic, and said he'd fire off an email to the company contracted to hire those staff members. I would like to think those people were spoken to. To be fair, those were people we encountered before check-in. The check-in people, once the process started, were fine.

It was a miserable start to a happy occasion, but it all ended well.

[Bluwaterz]

Absolutely stunning pictures! Certainly heightened our anticipation for our upcoming cruise on the Gem! Thank you!