Review (with pics) of Gem's 1 night CTN 11.15.13 with Freestyle Daily

[bradpole]

Hello everyone!

 

Overall the trip was quick, and we had an excellent dinner in Cagney’s!

 

We returned yesterday from the one night Cruise to Nowhere (CTN) on the Norwegian Gem. This was both the shortest cruise we have ever taken, as well as our first CTN. Thursday of last week was my husband’s birthday and a few weeks ago while looking for a quick weekend trip I decided to check NCL’s website to see if there was a CTN anytime soon, and how much it was. To my surprise I found a CTN departing friday 11.15 with DIRT CHEAP interior cabins (generally the only cabin type we book). The cabin was so cheap the taxes were actually more than the cruise portion! This wasn’t our first NCL cruise, our first was the Norwegian Pearl a few years earlier out of Miami for seven nights. We weren’t particularly “thrilled” with our experience onboard that week, but decided to give the Gem 1 night cruise a try. After calling our travel agent and receiving our confirmation numbers I quickly booked Cagney’s for our evening meal. We figured if we’re only having one evening meal onboard we should at least book the restaurant we enjoyed the most from the Pearl.

 

In trying to decide the time to book I tried finding past Freestyle dailies to get an idea of what shows were offered and at what time. I couldn’t find any, but we decided to make dinner at 6:30.

 

For those that are interested I have posted a PDF of the Freestyle Daily on my server.

 

http://polerez.com/cruisephotos/pdfs/NCL%20Gem%20freestyle%20daily.pdf

 

Fast Forward to embarkation day…

 

Gem, as seen from the parking lot on top of the terminal

 

We left our home in Wilmington, Delaware at 7am for the drive to NYC. After breakfast and a slight delay at the tunnel we arrived at the pier just after 10. I explored many options on how to get to the pier and home, in the end driving and parking at the terminal seemed the easiest and nearly the cheapest for the one night. Had the cruise been 2 or more nights I’m sure parking in NJ and taking the PATH train would have been more economical but for 1 night the $35 parking fee at the pier wasn’t too bad. After parking and entering the terminal we waited in line for a few short minutes before security opened and we began the check in process. Although passports weren’t required to decided to use them as our ID instead of our drivers license. Sadly it has been experience that our Delaware license isn’t always accepted. Why? There are people who don’t know we’re a state (the first state by the way). Although these issues have mostly occurred on the west coast (Twice in the Seattle area, and once at TSA at LAX) we figured why risk it, just bring our passports!

 

After checking in we were given boarding group #5. We were directed to the seating area and boarding started promptly at noon!

 

We immediately went to the Garden Cafe, deck 12, for an enjoyable lunch. By the time we finished lunch and left the buffet was PACKED! Here’s a tip, before getting in the first line you see, make a lap of the serving stations. Most items were available at multiple spots. I know others will disagree with me, but we prefer the island format that the Radiance class ships on RCCL use, they greatly cut down on the need to for a line. One funny thing…we didn’t know at first that the forks and napkins were on the table, we must have circled the buffet area 4 times looking for forks before noticing them wrapped up on the tables already.

 

Some of the tasty breads available in the Garden Cafe

 

Food serving area just after boarding

 

 

 

 

After quickly exploring the ship (a near identical twin to the Pearl) we made our way to an outdoor table at the very aft of the ship to enjoy a cup of coffee and to read before the cabins were available. We had planned to camp out in the Spinnaker Lounger, but the weather was just too nice to waste indoors!

 

...more to come

[russianmom]

We were going to book but couldn't get a sitter :(

 

Great Outdoors is my favorite place on the Jewel class ships.

 

Can't wait to see/read the rest.

[bradpole]

Various photos from around the ship..

Main lobby with glass sculpture

 

 

Bar staff ready for the party to come…

 

BBQ (we passed) for later that afternoon

 

 

[bradpole]

Bliss ultra lounge

(this was also a location where after boarding you could drop off your hand carry to store until the cabins were ready)

 

(Later that evening the bowling alley was very popular)

 

Entrance to Magenta dining room

(never made it to the aft MDR)

 

Martini Bar

 

[bradpole]

We were going to book but couldn't get a sitter :(

 

Great Outdoors is my favorite place on the Jewel class ships.

 

Can't wait to see/read the rest.

 

I wish more ships had a nice area outdoors like that.

[bradpole]

Spinnaker lounge (we just loved the big comfy yellow chairs on the starboard side of the lounge, sadly I forgot to take a picture of them)

These chairs looked more comfortable than they actually were

 

 

After the muster drill we promptly returned to the Spinnaker Lounge to claim two of the big yellow chairs starboard side to enjoy the impressive views as we sailed down the Hudson river and the passed the statue of liberty. The departure from the west side piers is something every cruiser should experience at least once! Not only that it is fun to watch the approach to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge as the ship just fits under. (but I’m jumping ahead of myself).

Speaking of the bridge, here are some pictures I took this summer from Ft. Waddsworth on Staten Island. I was mainly there that day to capture the QM2 going under the bridge, but I’ll never turn down the opportunity to photograph a cruise ship in such a setting.

 

 

next up, our cabin…

[bradpole]

Our cabin, 10035, the first interior cabin aft of the forward stairs. Honestly it was a perfect location, not that it mattered for a one night cruise. A couple of decks up to the pool deck and buffet, and a few decks down to main theater. We love our interior cabins for the darkness they provide when you want to sleep in.

 

 

although I don’t have a picture of it, the shower is HUGE with a sliding glass door. A HUGE improvement over the “friendly” shower curtain found on some other ships.

 

 

There is TONS of storage in the cabin

 

And a nice shelf for charging your electronics.

(just one 110v outlet there, another 110 under the television, and a 220v behind the ice bucket)

One tip I like to offer is for most modern electronics you can use the European outlet found on most ships. All you need to do is find a cheap adapter to allow your charger to fit in the 220 outlet and your existing charger will convert to the correct voltage). On longer cruises we normally charge our iPhones in the 220 plugs using something like this

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-compatible-Interchange-Adapter-Plug-white/dp/B001CC215M

you can slide of the USA prongs and use that to fit your charger in the 220 European outlet.

 

Our only complaint about the cabin was, it wasn’t all that clean sadly. This is what each shelf looked like under the safe. Sand from a previous cruise.

Also, although I don’t have a picture, the shelf for the television had a thick layer of dust on it. Had we been on a longer cruise we would have said something, but for the CTN we didn’t say anything, I think we were there less than 7 hours total, and most of that time was sleeping.

 

next up, sail away...

[cashier]

Thank you for the review and pictures. Keep them coming !!! We are going on the Gem in Feb. We have been on the Jewel, but never the Gem. We also loved the Great Outdoors on the Jewel, so I know we will love the Gem.

[bradpole]

After dropping our stuff in the cabin we made our way back up to the Spinnaker Lounge to claim our seats for sail away! In warmer weather I would have picked a nice spot out on deck, but it was getting a bit chilly. The big yellow chairs (almost beds) were calling us!

 

It was a few minutes after 4 and we felt the slight vibrations of the bow thrusters kicking in, our cruise was officially starting! I stepped out on deck a couple of times to grab some photos before running back in to warm up.

 

Some pics of the new world trade center and the sail down the Hudson River.

 

 

 

 

 

[bradpole]

Although these pictures don’t do the experience justice, I wanted to post them. As the ship approaches the bridge it really looks like the ship isn’t going to fit under the bridge…but thankfully it does!

 

 

 

 

[bradpole]

Pictures just as we passed under the bridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up Next, Cagney's

Edited November 18, 2013 by bradpole

[bradpole]

When we booked the Gem, we knew would be doing a pay restaurant, we figured lets have a grand meal! When we were on the Pearl a few years ago Cagney’s was by far our most favorite restaurant-we dined there twice! Our meal did not disappoint!

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the restaurant was practically empty!

[pcreek]

Thanks so much for posting! I am super excited and waiting patiently (??) for my turn! :D This definitely helps while I'm waiting!!

 

We will definitely be going to Cagney's - it's our favorite pay restaurant on NCL. (and we recently upgraded to suite, so we'll be there for some breakfasts & lunches too!):D

[bradpole]

For our starters I ordered I the Short Rib Confit (small, but so yummy!!!), My husband had the Shrimp cocktail (sorry no picture), and we shared the chicken wings. The portions are on the small side (You can order more than one) but they were just perfect! For our entree’s I had the bone in Rib-eye, rare, and he had the Lobster and shrimp Alfredo. I have to say, my steak was one of the best steaks I’ve had in a speciality restaurant. It was cooked perfectly (sadly many times when I order rare they serve it medium)! For sides we ordered the mac and cheese and onion rings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We barely ate the sides, i’m glad I didn’t listen to our server and order more. She kept suggesting, “order as many as you want!” I doubted we would be able to eat the two we ordered, I was so glad we didn’t order more!

 

To end the meal we ordered two items to split, the warm chocolate brownie, and the almond ice cream sandwich.

 

The brownie looks better than it tasted, a bit dry and bland. But the almond ice cream sandwich, divine!

 

[mgf316]

Great Review! I was also on that sailing for the one nighter and my room was also very dirty. Dust on every shelf and in the bathroom still soap marks and toothpaste from the previous cruiser. I also found the service in the Grand Pacific dining room to be very slow. We were there for 2 1/2 hours. overall i would give it an ok. I was on the gem last year for the 9 nighter and everything was top notch. I dont know if the crew was just overwhelmed or what. But i rather be on an ok 1 night cruise then be at home so it was all good.

[bob brown]

Thanks for your review. I was on the Gem for a week in October, and found our cabin very clean...

I was curious about the Freestyle Daily for a one-nighter....thanks so much for providing it on your link.

It was interesting where they kind of reversed the hours for the Blue Lagoon which is normally open all night, but this time had a 10 PM closing time, while the Garden Cafe buffet which normally closes around that time or an hour later, was open for snacks all night, or at least until 5 AM.......

I suppose that on the one nighter, so many folks stay up late, they would have overwhelmed the small Blue Lagoon.....

Edited November 18, 2013 by bob brown

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your comments and photos.

 

Keith

[BritChickBN1]

Great minds think alike. I was also on this cruise and was going to post a review as well. Oh well. Lol

 

Our cabin was clean but I agree with the previous poster, the grand pacific MDR service was painfully slow for all 3 meals. Not sure why, but we didn't have to cook or clean and the food was great so no complaints.

 

I don't mean to high jack your review. Loving it, thanks for posting!

 

-Ginger

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Edited November 18, 2013 by BritChickBN1

[Ciardasully]

Great minds think alike. I was also on this cruise and was going to post a review as well. Oh well. Lol

 

Our cabin was clean but I agree with the previous poster, the grand pacific MDR service was painfully slow for all 3 meals. Not sure why, but we didn't have to cook or clean and the food was great so no complaints.

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I don't mean to high jack your review. Loving it, thanks for posting!

 

-Ginger

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

You should write a review! I was on this cruise as well and was thinking about doing a review. It would be interesting to see how all our experiences were similar and different. And it would give some different perspectives to people who may be contemplating a CTN.

 

OP-Great review and great photos. We ate in the MDR. Looking at your photos from Cagney's, I wish we ate there!

[cruisegal98]

I have done many 1 night cruises and always love them. The last one on November 15, I had a great time despite the very slow service. We went to Le Bistro and it took us almost 3 hours to get 3 courses. We were 2 people and we both ordered soup and salad and were never served together, very strange. service was awful for breakfast as well in the main dining room. Couple next to us was furious they yelled at waiters and then they yelled at head waiter they were so angry about service. It is not that serious for us but it would have been nice to be served quicker. We missed the shows with a 7:15 reservation we missed both the 9PM show and 10PM show due to the service.

 

I think it was a little unorganized but food was good and we were forced (lol) to spend more time in the casino instead of shows.

 

We are trying this again in December and as long as I do not have to cook or clean I will not be disappointed.

[qvenedandan]

Brad, thank you so much for your CTN review. Yesterday my husband mentioned of the possibility of a CTN cruise to celebrate our wedding anniversary... :rolleyes:

 

I am going to let him know of your review, so he will do the proper planning for next year. :D

 

Thanks again,

Mandy

[francina]

Love your review.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[bradpole]

I'm back!

 

After dinner we made it to the 9pm show (Comedian), and as our luck would have it we’ve seen him before, but he was still funny! After his show was over we made our way back to the Spinnaker Lounge for the 10pm Second City Improv. Overall we enjoyed their improv and it made for an enjoyable evening.

 

Before retiring for the evening we paid a visit to the Garden Cafe to see what they were offering for those needing a snack. Although I didn’t take pictures, I believe there were hotdogs, hamburgers, chicken wings, and other little munchies.

 

One other thing I did want to mention was the shopping onboard. Once we set sail and the casino opened the shops also opened. You wouldn’t believe the line in the liquor store! For those who wanted to buy a bottle of liquor there was a $3 per bottle tax collected (since we never touched foreign soil they couldn’t sell it to us as “duty free”) and a $10 per carton tax on the cigarettes. I priced a couple of bottles that I would drink and even before the $3 tax on a per liter basis the prices onboard were more than what I would pay back in Delaware. For those who did buy liquor they paid for it that night and had to come back the next morning between 7 and 9 am to pick it up.

 

Another thing I wanted to mention was the smell of cigarette smoke. Although we never once walked through the casino, the smell of smoke was carried into the main theater. Considering how new the ship is and how isolated the casino is from other venues you’d think there would be better filtration onboard to keep the smoke smell, in the casino!

 

The next morning we had breakfast and left the ship just after 8am. One enhancement I think NCL could make is to place a flyer in the cabin explaining how the debarkation process was going to work the next morning. Although there was no luggage to put out in the hall, or wait for luggage tags to be called they could have put a little flyer on the bed saying something like, “The ship is expected to dock by 7. By 8 am we estimate being cleared, once you hear the announcement feel free to leave the ship at your leisure. Also, breakfast will be served from x to x in z venue”

 

Overall we had an enjoyable evening onboard, and and excellent dinner! Would we book a 1 night CTN again? Most likely not, it was just too far to drive for us for such a short period onboard. But it was nice to get away for a quick cruise!

 

If you have any other questions just let me know!

 

[Godiva830]

I was also on this CTN. I'm in your Cagney's pic :D lol I had a great time on the cruise. I wish it was longer. It's such a tease the 1 nighter lol

[mizLORInj]

The smoke smell was a bit much--have to agree.

The debark info was in a flyer left in the cabin at turndown; approximate timing and where you can get breakfast.