YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 #1 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) Better late than never right? I wasn't planning on writing up a review but since I've read so many helpful reviews here in the past, I decided I would attempt it. I will try to have everything wrapped up within the next 2 days, but no promises!!! Brief introduction My wife and I sailed the October 20th Norwegian Gem cruise out of NYC. It was our 8th cruise overall, second on the Gem. We are 31 and 35, married with no kids, from Canada. Here we are all tanned from our last cruise aboard the Carnival Miracle! Me My beautiful wife We made the 8.5 hour drive from Canada a few nights before and stayed at my dad’s, who lives in Edgewater NJ, right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. We always love to cruise from New York since I don’t like to fly and we can park at my dad’s place for free. Plus I get to spend some time with pops! We spent a bit of time in the city before the cruise. The High Line Park Times Square More to come! Edited February 7, 2013 by YankeeFan4Ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdvmd Posted February 7, 2013 #2 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Great start! Keep it coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #3 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) Day 1 Embarkation We arrived around noon and proceeded through security without incident. After a brief lineup to check-in, we were on board by 12:45. We proceeded directly to the Grand Pacific dining room for lunch. Overall, embarkation was very smooth and efficient. Grand Pacific dining room Norwegian Gem docked in NYC At 1:30, the announcement was made that our rooms were ready. We had a regular, midship inside cabin on deck 9. It definitely wasn’t huge, but it was clean and comfortable. We don’t spend too much time in our cabin anyway!!! Cabin 9079 More to come! Edited February 7, 2013 by YankeeFan4Ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #4 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Sailaway Since this was our 8th sailaway from NYC, we decided to avoid the loud party on the lido deck and spend some quiet time on the promenade deck instead. Sailing away from NYC. Statue of Liberty Sailing alongside the Celebrity Summit More to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) Day 2 Sea Day A pretty uneventful day. Lounged around in the sun on deck 10 for most of the day and went to dinner at Grand Pacific, followed by a trip to the casino for a donation and some jazz music in the atrium. Ready for dinner Towel Mouse Day 3 Sea Day Basically an exact re-peat of day 2!!! Very relaxing! :) Edited February 7, 2013 by YankeeFan4Ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #6 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Day 4 Puerto Rico We docked at 3:00 PM and just walked off the ship to explore on our own. We made our way to Barrachina’s and ordered a few drinks including a cucumber mint blended mojito and the original Pina Colada. It was awesome! Arriving in Puerto Rico Norwegian Gem docked in San Juan Fort Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazydaz Posted February 7, 2013 #7 Share Posted February 7, 2013 DH and I were on the Dawn in Boston when the Gem arrived in port. We had started out in Quebec City and were enroute to Tampa when we had an unscheduled stop in Halifax to avoid the storm. We then proceeded to Boston and by that time had missed most of the hurricane . As we got off the boat the Gem arrived along side us and you never heard such cheering and hollering. I wondered what was going on and it wasn't until a few hours later that I learned about their delays, trials and tribulations with the storm. We continued on later in the day but unfortunately our New York City stop was cancelled so a visit to the Big Apple remains on my bucket list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #8 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Old San Juan Cucumber mint blended mojito Coming up next: St-Maarten, St-Thomas and the first rumours of Hurricane Sandy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moondawgie Posted February 7, 2013 #9 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Wonderful so far. Beautiful couple you are. Love the photos of NYC - glad you are a Yankee fan. Can't wait for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #10 Share Posted February 7, 2013 DH and I were on the Dawn in Boston when the Gem arrived in port. We had started out in Quebec City and were enroute to Tampa when we had an unscheduled stop in Halifax to avoid the storm. We then proceeded to Boston and by that time had missed most of the hurricane . As we got off the boat the Gem arrived along side us and you never heard such cheering and hollering. I wondered what was going on and it wasn't until a few hours later that I learned about their delays, trials and tribulations with the storm. We continued on later in the day but unfortunately our New York City stop was cancelled so a visit to the Big Apple remains on my bucket list. I'm guessing people were cheering because we had been out at sea for 5 straight days. Passengers were given the option to disembark in Boston and try to make their way back to NYC but we chose to stay on board until we could sail back to New York. Apparently nearly half the passengers chose to disembark in Boston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #11 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Wonderful so far. Beautiful couple you are. Love the photos of NYC - glad you are a Yankee fan. Can't wait for more. Thank you for the kind words! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare www3traveler Posted February 7, 2013 #12 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Enjoying your review. I had a number of staff member friends on that cruise. I did a lot of praying for all of you. I am looking forward to my next adventure on The Gem this May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #13 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Enjoying your review. I had a number of staff member friends on that cruise. I did a lot of praying for all of you. I am looking forward to my next adventure on The Gem this May. Thanks! Enjoy your May cruise! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherylroslyn Posted February 7, 2013 #14 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Sailaway Since this was our 8th sailaway from NYC, we decided to avoid the loud party on the lido deck and spend some quiet time on the promenade deck instead. Sailing away from NYC. Statue of Liberty Sailing alongside the Celebrity Summit More to come! I was on the back of the Celebrity Summit taking pictures of you guys chasing us that day. We were also in St. Marteen together and I did a lovely day sail with a bunch of passengers from your ship who were having a great time..... (love the GEM!!!!) My ship docked in San Juan on October 27, 2013. I was scheduled to fly back to Kennedy Airport on 10/29....Needless to say THAT didn't happen....... We were all very worried about our friends on the Gem when we heard you were left out to sea and delayed........because of our friend SANDY. We felt connected to you because we all left at the same time and were being chased by you.....then you guys blew passed us.....in a BIG RUSH:) Looks so far like you had a great time........I would have preferred to be caught out at sea on the Gem rather than be in the San Juan airport in the middle of a near riot trying to get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #15 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) I was on the back of the Celebrity Summit taking pictures of you guys chasing us that day. We were also in St. Marteen together and I did a lovely day sail with a bunch of passengers from your ship who were having a great time..... (love the GEM!!!!) My ship docked in San Juan on October 27, 2013. I was scheduled to fly back to Kennedy Airport on 10/29....Needless to say THAT didn't happen....... We were all very worried about our friends on the Gem when we heard you were left out to sea and delayed........because of our friend SANDY. We felt connected to you because we all left at the same time and were being chased by you.....then you guys blew passed us.....in a BIG RUSH:) Looks so far like you had a great time........I would have preferred to be caught out at sea on the Gem rather than be in the San Juan airport in the middle of a near riot trying to get home. What a cool coincidence! Do you have any pictures of us as we're sailing past you? ;) My wife and I would love to sail on a Celebrity cruise one day. We're big-time foodies and from everything I've heard, the food on Celebrity is to amazing! Edited February 7, 2013 by YankeeFan4Ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gelo7 Posted February 7, 2013 #16 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Very nice pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canehdn Posted February 7, 2013 #17 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Doing a great job with your review. Enjoying it very much and your pictures are awesome. Looking forward to more ... Cdn in KS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Nahoumi Posted February 7, 2013 #18 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Beautiful pix-----thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #19 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Thank you gelo7, canehdn and Barb Nahoumi! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boopsahoy Posted February 7, 2013 #20 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Was the sailing very rocky due to the weather? Looking forward to more:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #21 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Day 5 St-Maarten My wife and I both really love St-Maarten and this was our first time back to this beautiful island in nearly 5 years. We docked in St-Maarten just after 9:00 AM. The weather was absolutely perfect and we proceeded off the ship and towards the water taxi stand. We paid the $7 fare and were at the shopping area on Front Street in no time. Water taxi Front Street We checked out the boardwalk explored a few shops before finding a cab to bring us to Mullet Bay beach. I believe the fare was $18 for both of us. Our driver was a character! He drove us to the beach while giving us a funny yet informative mini-tour of his island. Once on the beach, my wife and I relaxed and enjoyed the surf and sand. Mullet Bay is close to Maho bay so we could see a few planes landing at the nearby airport. Mullet Bay beach Air France A-340 coming in for a landing at Princess Juliana International Airport After a relaxing day on the beach, we grabbed another taxi and proceeded back to the ship. Once onboard, we showered and got ready for dinner in the Grand Pacific dining room followed by the comedian in the main showroom and some great live jazz in the Spinnaker lounge. Ready for dinner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #22 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Was the sailing very rocky due to the weather? Looking forward to more:D Oh yes, it was! I'll explain in more detail as we go along. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeFan4Ever Posted February 7, 2013 Author #23 Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) Day 6 St-Thomas We woke up early to watch us sail into port. It was a little overcast and very warm and humid…more perfect beach weather! We had a quick breakfast, disembarked the ship and went looking for a cab. We eventually found an open air taxi and asked the driver to bring us to Emerald Bay beach. My wife and I are beach bums...we like to check out as many as we can when we're on vacation. We had already been to Sapphire beach and Magen’s Bay on previous cruises so we decided to try a different beach this time. Overall, Emerald beach was decent but next time we’ll stick with Sapphire or check out Coki beach. Themain advantage of Emerald bay was that it was quiet. It's usually much less crowded than Magen's bay although the sand and the water isn't as beautiful. Emerald beach Trying to get my wife a coconut! After our dayof relaxation on the beach, we made our way back to the ship. While relaxing and enjoying some drinks at the Great Outdoors at the back of the ship, we heard the Captain announce that due to Tropical Storm Sandy (she was just a TS at the time) we would be skipping tomorrow's port of Samana and heading straight back to New York at full speed in order to get back to NYC ahead of the storm. Captain Roger Gustavsen also informed us that he would keep us updated regarding the storm's path and status and that although we would definitely feel the boat rocking, he would keep us at a safe distance of the storm. Obviously the mood on board quickly changed once people learned that we would be skipping Samana. Personally I was a little bummed out as well since we had booked an excursion to Cayo Levantado beach, but I agreed with the Captain that the best and safest course of action was to get ahead of Sandy. Norwegian Star Departing St-Thomas ahead of us Next stop, New York! (or so we thought...) Edited February 7, 2013 by YankeeFan4Ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEW 2 CRUISIN Posted February 7, 2013 #24 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Great pics YANKEEFAN!!! Getting excited, as we are taking this cruise for the first time in a couple weeks -- hopefully without the added excitement of a hurricane! LOL :D Thanks for sharing your adventure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddles99 Posted February 7, 2013 #25 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Your pics really are fantastic - I'm enjoying reading along! We're on this same itinerary in November (and like others have said, we hope to skip the hurricane experience!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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