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Fantastic Week On Gem

swisstwins

By swisstwins,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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swisstwins

swisstwins

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We had a wonderful cruise on the Gem from New York! It was our first time sailing with NCL and we were very impressed. Previously, I have been on Costa, Disney (2x) , and Carnival(most recently). NCL has the best service and most approachable crew. They really went out of their ways to be available and helpful. The officers were very visible and asked us how everything was several times. that really surprised me because I hadn't experienced that on any other ship.

I traveled with my husband and 2 eleven yr old daughters. We had a minisuite on deck 11. The ship was very clean and felt bigger than I expected, although still very manageable with a great layout....especially since our cabin was midship. Our roomsteward was very good, never in the way,but kept the cabin very clean. great towel animals every night.

The food was excellent in all of the places we ate. We had dinner 3 times in the Grand Pacific , once in the Magenta, and we also tried the Tepanyaki, Moderno and Le Bistro. Grand Pacific and Moderno both served very good food, although moderno was much more crowded and nosier. There was always 2or3 items on the menu that looked good and i was always pleased with my choices. I usually dont eat the bread on the table, but it was so good. They were trying out the new menus. I was a bit disappointed that there was no more lobster in the Main dining room. The portions were surprisingly large and we always left very full. We had quick, efficient and friendly service in both venues.

The Moderno Brazilian restaurant was my favorite all week! I loved everything. The grilled pineapple was amazing and the lambchops were delicious! we all love the sides and the cheese bread! The salad bar was also great...very diverse and well presented.

The Habatchi was also very good, although we had to wait until all the others arrived for the 2 tables on our side, but one couple was late so we had to wait an extra 30 minutes and another family seated at our table became upset and restless since they were there with 2 small children. The food was plentiful although a little more salty than I am used to.

The Le Bistro French restaurant was also excellent. The Lamb Chops were amazing. My girls love escargot and both ordered 2 portions for their appetizers. At all the specialty restaurants, my girls were only charged half the cover price no matter what they ordered.

We had lunch the first day in the Main dining room, and once we ate at the Blue Lagoon which also was very good. we loved the wings. we also had one lunch at the Sushi restaurant which was good and not crowded. The rest of the lunches were at the buffet.

For Breakfast, we ate 2x at the main dining room and the rest of the time at the buffet or the great outdoors. the only bad service we had on the entire cruise was at the Main dining room the second breakfast that we had there.. I dont know what went wrong, but it was really slow.

The entertainment was excellent....almost too many choices...I loved Dan Dan the cruise director...he is very talented and extremely funny!!! A real plus for NCL....The singers and dancers were all top quality and the comedian Jeff Harms kept us laughing all week. my girls loved the Deal or No Deal game and it was really well presented. The various musicians and piano players in the different venues were also relaxing to listen to.Second City Comedy Improv was also enjoyable in the Spinnaker lounge.

As for the ports, it doesnt make sense to do any Disney or Universal excursions when the ship doesnt arrive in PC until 12 or 1pm. We just took the shuttle to Cocoa beach and did some shopping at the Ron Jon surf shop which is across the street from where the shuttle drops you off. We loved the water at GSC, but we had 3 hours of Thunderstorms and Lightening so we had to get out and huddle under our clam shell til it stopped. the buffet was good and we got sunburned wearing a number 50 from the 1 1/2 hour we were in the water after lunch once the weather cleared. Unfortunately, the Hippo slide was closed from the weather.

We did the sealion encounter at the blue lagoon in Nassau which we really enjoyed. However, we had originally booked the 10:00 am excursion but our documents for some reason showed the time as 1:00pm. The Blue Lagoon animal encounters includes free time to enjoy the beach which was part of the reason we decided to go there. However, the ferry from Nassau stopped at paradise Island for at least 20 minutes so we didnt arrive at the Blue Lagoon until about 2 :20 and the sealion encounter (which was great) lasted til 3:30 and the last ferry left at 4 (we were told that we had to pick up our pictures at 3:45) so we had less than 10 minutes to enjoy the beautiful beach....such a shame. I complained to the excursions desk and they credited us 20% of the excursion price, but I really wish we could have spent more time there.

If anyone has any questions, please ask!!

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din2play2

din2play2

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TY so much for your wonderful review - I think you covered everything. Glad you had a great time. 3 of us will be sharing mini suite in April 2015 and am wondering how it is. Also on deck 11 more near the aft elevators, (I believe over the buffet). Any info/tips would be greatly appreciated

Edited by din2play2
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swisstwins

swisstwins

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TY so much for your wonderful review - I think you covered everything. Glad you had a great time. 3 of us will be sharing mini suite in April 2015 and am wondering how it is. Also on deck 11 more near the aft elevators, (I believe over the buffet). Any info/tips would be greatly appreciated

 

The Minisuite was really nice!! We were 4 and we still had enough room to unpack all of our things. The drawers are quite deep. The balcony was really nice...covered which gives plenty of shade. There is a little foyer area with some small shelves where we kept our sunscreen. There is a curtain between the living area and the main bed. Also 2 separate A/C controls for both sides of the room. The shower/tub is really deep so be careful getting in and out. The toilet has a separate door and there are some shelves above the sink for putting away toitetries. There is a dispenser in the shower for body wash/ shampoo (ours wasnt labeled so we guessed which was which). Our room was very quiet after about 11:00 pm because we were directly below splash academy. Look at the other reviews for noise issues for cabins below restaurants. I would book this same cabin again.:)

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din2play2

din2play2

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You have been very helpful in your room description Swisstwin - TY. and your right - I meant to say "below" the buffet.:rolleyes: Does the room come with bathrobes? Our last cruise on Carnival did - just womdering

Edited by din2play2
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swisstwins

swisstwins

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You have been very helpful in your room description Swisstwin - TY. and your right - I meant to say "below" the buffet.:rolleyes: Does the room come with bathrobes? Our last cruise on Carnival did - just womdering

 

Yes, there were 2 bathrobes in the closet.

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swisstwins

swisstwins

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Great review! We loved meeting you and yours at the meet and greet and the magnet hangs proudly on my fridge!! It really was a great week! :)

 

It was great to meet you too! I am glad you like the magnet! I wish we were still on the Gem!! It was such a wonderful week, but it went by way too fast!!!

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disneygirl

disneygirl

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So great to hear, Sailing on her Sept. 6th and really can't wait. In need of a good cruise.

 

Last NCL was on the Jewel and that will be hard to top but sailed on the Gem 2 years prior to that.

Do they have any specific theme nights?

How was the bowling?

I myself look forward to the Spa, usually purchase the week's pass because it is just so lovely.

 

Thanks and so glad your family had a great cruise!

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