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Another belated review...Gem to Bahamas 7/12/14-7/19/14

Dorhead1230

By Dorhead1230,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Dorhead1230

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I seem to have formed a bad habit of waiting a while before I post a review...but, hey, it's the summer and time just seems to get away from me! For those of you who might have read my Dawn review last summer, you know that I write quite a lot, and then I write some more. This will be another monumentally long review, so be sure you're ready to park it for a while if you intend to read the whole thing!

 

A little background first--I am a 30-year-old English teacher and travelled with my 34-year-old boyfriend, who is a police officer. This was my second NCL cruise, fourth cruise overall (my first two being during my teen years), and it was DB's second NCL cruise and second cruise overall. We live on Long Island, in Suffolk County, making the NYC departure quite convenient. We booked this cruise on a comp voucher that DB received from the Caesar's (Total Rewards) properties in Atlantic City, where we visit and gamble several times per year. We paid to upgrade and for the taxes and fees so, overall, the deal worked out to approximately a 2-for-1 fare for an aft balcony cabin.

 

Before you commit yourself to reading a super-long review and then get disappointed, I'll give you an idea of what information I will and will not include here. There will be plenty of information about the ship itself, the crew, the nightly entertainment, the food, what we did in ports (not ship excursions, except for the cabana on GSC), and the casino. We did attend the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet and I organized a slot pull. We do not spend much time at the pool, we only drink in the casino where we have our free drink cards, and we do not have children. Therefore, there will not be extensive information about the pool scene, any other bars on the ship, or any information at all on children's areas or activities.

 

If you would like the dime version of this review, because you lack either the time or the interest to read the whole thing, here it is: we had a great time, the ship is very nice, the crew and entertainment were fantastic, and we definitely had our fair share of very good or even great meals. With all of that being said, I am not sure that we’ll take this cruise again, only because we both fell madly in love with Bermuda last summer, and the itinerary just can’t compare for us. That is really just our opinion, and I am sure just as many people would say the opposite because they dislike cruising to one place and remaining there for three days. If there was a good enough deal, the experience on the ship and the convenience of sailing from NYC would persuade me to go again, but this itinerary would never be my preference. Great Stirrup Cay was beautiful and a lot of fun. I enjoyed Kennedy Space Center because we’d never seen it before, but now that I have, I feel no burning desire to return to Port Canaveral. And, I just don’t particularly care for Nassau. We saw a few nice things there, which I’ll describe in detail later, but there is no comparison whatsoever to the beauty and cleanliness of Bermuda, along with the friendliness and warmth of the Bermudan people. Again, we had fantastic time, and I would never dissuade anyone from taking this cruise, but all other things being equal, the itinerary would tip the scales for me in favor of returning to the Dawn, or trying the Breakaway next year.

 

For all of you hardy souls who would like the extended version, here goes! I hope that this proves useful to you.

 

Saturday 7/12 (Embarkation):

We decided a while before the cruise that we would not even consider paying $280 to park at the pier for a week. To reiterate, though, we did not travel with children and we are both capable of carrying/rolling our own luggage over reasonable distances. Therefore, driving to the pier was not necessary for us. We live near a pick-up location (Ronkonkoma) for the 7 bus (a Long Island-to-NYC commuter bus). We took an 8:30AM bus to 59th St. and 3rd Ave. It was supposed to arrive in NYC at 10:10AM, but arrived at 9:55AM. I definitely recommend this transportation method to LI folks for whom it is feasible. The driver was friendly, the bus was comfortable enough, it had Wi-Fi and power outlets, and it makes only two other stops on the way into NYC. All of that, plus the early arrival, and I was perfectly happy.

 

We walked down to 57th Street, because it goes in the direction of the pier. We had no trouble getting a cab to the pier immediately. We quickly dropped off our bags with the porter, went through security, and checked in via the casino line. This was after my ditzy moment of thinking that a very nice lady who had the list of suite guests actually had a list of casino guests, and us all not understanding why we weren’t listed on there. Oops! We were sent to a separate area within the main waiting area to wait for boarding. All of this was done by 10:30. At about 11:30, casino guests were permitted to board, just after suite guests. They started general boarding right after that, so it was all right on time.

 

DB and I eat the first lunch in the MDR, not the buffet, so we took a short stroll around deck 7 as we waited for Grand Pacific to open. On Jewel-class ships, deck 7 is where you will find the atrium and atrium bar, the photo gallery, the art gallery, the shops, the entrance to the Grand Pacific dining room (you go down a short flight of stairs), Bliss Lounge, the sushi bar, Orchid Garden, and Teppanyaki. We were able to be seated in Grand Pacific promptly at noon. The new menus had just been implemented. Perhaps inadvertently, we had a bit of a seafood fest for lunch! We ordered fried calamari and Atlantic crab appetizers, and fish and chips and salmon burger entrees. We shared all of these dishes. All of the lunch food was quite good. The garlic aioli with the calamari was very tasty, and, oddly enough, the tartar sauce with the fish and chips had a slight spice to it that was delicious. I mean, who remembers tartar sauce?! This girl! I had a scoop of raspberry sherbet (I was saving myself for the chocolate volcano at dinner), and DB tried the peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake, which he said was okay, but not that impressive. In NCL’s defense, I am quite the bad-ass baker, and DB is used to that, so… ;) The service was polite and efficient. I’m sorry, but anyone who complains about the service relative to the new menus has no patience. We experienced few to no issues with this, and I want to see how well any of us deals with massive changes to how we do our jobs from one day to the next! Incidentally, I will use this opportunity to say that we leave an additional tip after any MDR or specialty meal. We’re Italian New Yorkers, and in the immortal words of Steve Martin in My Blue Heaven, “I tip everybody.” But, I digress. We always felt that these tips were deserved. You need not do this; I’m just saying, it happens sometimes.

 

The hard-working housekeeping crew had the cabins ready at 12:30, while we were still eating lunch, so we proceeded directly to aft balcony 10668 when we finished. This cabin is the same as other balconies, perfectly adequate for two people, but what a balcony! Cruise critic members extolling the virtues of deck 10 aft balconies on Jewel-class ships did not lie. Loungers, chairs, and a small table were already on the balcony, and there was still some room to walk around. The room had shelves right near the door, a few drawers, and a decent-sized closet. We really had no issues whatsoever with unpacking and putting our things away. There was a flat-screen TV, a couple of little tables, and a couch. The bathroom has a shower door and a separate door for the toilet area. Our cabin steward, Jonathan, who already knew our names upon arrival, introduced himself, emptied our fridge for us, and brought me extra towels (my hair is so thick, you could misplace a toddler in it, so extra towels are key!). Later, we asked him to change the top sheet on the bed, as we noticed a couple of un-identifiable spots on it. He cheerfully obliged and unnecessarily apologized. That was the one and only issue we experienced with the cabin for the duration of the cruise, as Jonathan was completely on top of everything throughout.

 

Our muster station was the Grand Pacific, and the muster drill was totally painless and quick. Our bags had already arrived by the time we were done, just before 3. Score! For the first part of sail-away, we stayed on our balcony to see the incredible skyline views and the Statue of Liberty. I must say, I can’t imagine any other place (at least in the Eastern US) being as amazing to sail out of as NYC. I am a born-and-bred Long Island girl, and I’ve been fortunate to travel extensively throughout the world; nonetheless, that view of NYC just took my breath away. Then, we took a quick trip up to deck 14 for the very cool sight of passing under the Verrazano Bridge. That was fun. Now, every time we go to Atlantic City, I whine about how much cooler it is to go under the bridge than over it!

 

We headed off directly to the casino welcome party, which was completely chaotic compared to the one on the Dawn. It just wasn’t handled as well at all. There were no snacks, there was no organization, and it simply was not a very productive use of our time. We played for just a short time when the casino opened, got completely killed, and this would prove to be the theme of the night later on. We took a quick trip to the buffet for some fruit, cheese, and pretzel sticks to tide us over until dinner (because obviously if you don’t eat every couple of hours on a cruise, you die), and returned to the cabin to get cleaned up.

 

We returned to Grand Pacific for dinner, because DB could get away with wearing shorts on the first night. We were politely reminded of the dress code taking effect on the second night. For appetizers, DB ordered smoked salmon tartare and I ordered crab cakes. They were both good, but DB said the tartare was salty that night. For entrees, DB had the Caribbean roasted pork with rice, beans, and plantains. He said it was very good; the pork was cooked perfectly and was a nice thick slice. I tried one of the plantains, which was delicious. I ordered the Thai green chicken curry. I have noticed that not many people order the Indian or Thai dishes in the MDRs. Big mistake! They are so good! My entrée had a delicious sauce which was just spicy enough. I highly recommend it. For dessert, DB had the pistachio creme brûlée. He said it was really delicious and it did look good, but it’s just not my thing. I had the chocolate volcano (which I was inordinately excited about from the moment I saw the new menus on CC!). I have had better molten chocolate cake, but overall, it was delicious, mainly because of the awesome combination of the strawberry sauce and straciatella ice cream with the cake.

 

We attended the late welcome aboard show in the theater. Dan Dan the CD is awesome! I seriously have a huge non-romantic crush on him. He should do stand-up. Really, pretty much every time the man opens his mouth, you’ll laugh until you almost pee.

 

The Gem has a very talented production cast. I think a few of them have Broadway-quality voices. They also included a cute little number for the kiddies with the Nickelodeon characters. Jeff Harms, the stand-up comedian, did a set and was pretty funny, considering how difficult it is to be funny while keeping it clean. He did a good job of playing off some teenaged audience members.

 

Then, we headed to the casino for more slaughter, but at least we had a pleasant time with Rolando and Ricky, two fabulous bartenders that the Gem is lucky enough to have. Incidentally, our personal tipping philosophy applies to the bartenders, too (we had the drink cards and were not paying the 15% gratuity, so we just tipped). I do it because that’s what I do, but I won’t deny the awesome side effects of extra-amazing service and drinks.

 

Finally, off to bed because it was a long day!

 

Sunday 7/13 (At Sea):

We woke up early enough to get ready and have breakfast before our 11AM meet and greet in Bliss Lounge. We headed to the buffet, which was insanely crowded, but we ended up easily finding seats in La Cucina, which they open up for buffet overflow seating. We ended up sitting in La Cucina almost every day to eat our breakfast. We are not early risers, so we got our breakfast at Great Outdoors every day after this, because they keep it open for breakfast a bit later. They have almost everything that is offered inside, including cooked-to-order eggs and omelets. The ample choices for breakfast each day included bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, waffles, pancakes, fruit, cereal, yogurt, breads and bagels, pastries (hooray for chocolate croissants!), French toast, breakfast potatoes, hash brown patties, grilled tomatoes, and baked beans. Everything was always good; I am partial to NCL’s French toast, which is odd because I rarely eat it at home. Again, people can whine incessantly about powdered eggs, but by maintaining a modicum of patience one can wait five minutes for the friendly omelet chefs to make you any eggs you want, and I had fresh fried eggs every day. Drinks offered at breakfast include orange, apple, and cranberry juices, milk and chocolate milk, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.

The meet and greet was nice, albeit attended by only a small group (but such a nice group, it really didn’t matter!). NCL truly goes out of their way to show cruise critic members attention. All of the senior officers came, including the captain. They emphasized that they want feedback (and you’ll see later in this review, they mean it). We hung out with fellow CCers, including our new friends M&S that we would be lucky enough to spend plenty of time with over the course of the cruise. Then, we all headed to the casino for the slot pull, which I organized (yay gambling!). We had 13 participants and were having absolutely no luck, when finally one of our lucky members hit a $400 spin on WoF (when we were almost completely out of money in the machine), so everyone's money was doubled (we cashed out with $30 each), with our extra-lucky spinner winning $55. DB and I hung around the casino a little while longer, played a slot tournament, lost, and I managed to win back some of the previous night's losses. Incidentally, when I talked to one of the assistant casino hosts about the slot pull (after the welcome reception on the first day), she said that they always use the WoF machines for slot pulls. We did that because the group was fine with it, but I don’t think the casino staff could have cared less what machine we played. They paid no attention whatsoever. I am only mentioning this because, although we eventually got lucky, there were way looser machines in the casino that you might want to try for a slot pull.

 

I went to try to watch Mr. Sexy Legs by the pool while DB went to the first art auction, but I couldn't get a good, clear view, so I had a hamburger and some pasta salad from the outdoor grill while I was out there. I am pretty picky about burgers (I’ll rarely eat them outside of the house because then I don’t know what meat is in them), and this burger was actually really good—not greasy and no gristle. I went into the art auction to find DB and we watched the rest of it. It was not a crowd in a purchasing mood! I think that the Park West people seemed a little put out because no one was buying anything…maybe everyone has figured out their scam! We like watching, and I bought a set of seriolithographs last summer for a low price because I really liked them, but do not spend any significant amount of money there unless you know exactly what you’re buying. You will get ripped off.

 

DB wanted a snack, so we went to Great Outdoors. He got a few little things, including a piece of a pastrami hero that he said was quite good. As I mentioned, we are not early risers on sea days, so we never ate lunch when Garden Café was in full lunch swing. The offerings for a late lunch at Great Outdoors were always fine for us. They have various items to make your own sandwiches, a few salads, a soup or two, usually some kind of specialty sandwiches or wraps that changed each day, a few hot dishes, quiches, and a couple of desserts (very good cookies!)

 

We went to check out the bridge viewing room on deck 11, which is a cool thing to see for a few minutes. There are some interesting photos from when they built the Gem and you can watch the bridge a bit. Then we headed back to the casino for a little while and I actually managed to get ahead a bit (this was probably the last time for me!).

 

DB wanted to relax in the cabin for a bit, so I headed to the gym. I intended to visit the gym on all three sea days, but alas, time got away from me on the rest of the cruise and I only made it on this day. The gym is nice enough to get in a bit of activity. There are a couple dozen cardio machines (several treadmills, a few bikes, a few ellipticals, and two rowing machines) and several weight machines. They have towels and cold towels available there. There is another room where they conduct the aerobics classes. It is really quite lovely to get some exercise while the ocean rolls by outside, and there are numerous machines that face right out the floor-to-ceiling windows.

 

After getting cleaned up, we decided on Magenta for dinner. I had a lemon chicken Caesar salad, the always-available steak with Cajun butter, onion rings, and potato wedges, and the chocolate raspberry truffle cake. It was all really delicious. The steak was a generous cut, tender, and cooked to a perfect medium, as I requested. I must note that, after we ate our appetizers, a manager came by to apologize and tell us that it might take some extra time for our entrees, as many people had ordered the steak at once. It really didn’t seem to take any extra time at all, though. I was impressed with the customer service, as I would be on several occasions during the cruise. DB had a sushi appetizer, Szechuan chicken with fried rice, and pecan pie. He enjoyed everything, but had some stomach issues a couple of hours later that thankfully passed pretty quickly. We truly don't know exactly what hit him wrong, but it must have been something he ate, as it was certainly not a virus. Thankfully, it also wasn’t as bad as full-blown food poisoning, either. I mention this only because it is relevant to the one and only negative experience we had on the cruise, which was with room service. I’ll get to that momentarily.

 

We watched the Pure Variety show by the production cast. Amazing! I am a theater enthusiast; my mom and I attend both regional theater and Broadway productions several times per year. I was truly impressed over and over again with the quality performers in the Gem cast. They have some seriously talented folks doing the singing and dancing, especially the two female lead singers. They made really great music choices too, in my opinion. There was some Motown, some Four Seasons, some jazz numbers, a Van Morrison tune...just really great stuff. We returned to the casino shortly, and then attended the "Newlywed, Not So Newlywed" game show in Spinnaker with our new CC friends M&S. This was hilarious, partially because of the couples' funny answers, and very much because Dan Dan is so funny and quick that I was doubled over laughing half the time.

 

We headed back to the cabin, and by then I had a terrible headache (maybe because of the ship rolling a bit) and DB's stomach was still upset, so I called room service for a pitcher of water, chamomile tea, two slices of white toast, and a fruit plate. I was told it would be 30-45 minutes. Okay, we could deal with that. It took 1 hour and 15 minutes (after a second phone call), and when it came, the fruit was inedible as it tasted like it was touching or near something else that gave it a weird smell and taste. This was the only bad experience we had on the cruise, but when I explain how well NCL handled this, you’ll see why I still can’t really consider it a major blemish on the cruise.

 

Monday 7/14 (Port Canaveral):

We didn't rush to get up because we had no plans on the ship prior to getting off as quickly as possible at noon. I was still a bit miffed about the room service experience, so I decided to call the food and beverage manager. I really just thought that, given the officers’ emphasis on feedback, he should know what a lousy experience we had. I wanted them to understand that, had I just known how long it would actually take, I would have just gone to Blue Lagoon myself and picked up take-out. I honestly couldn’t believe Tariq answered his phone, because it was during breakfast. I felt bad that he was so busy and told him we could talk another time, but he took the time to talk to me right then, was very apologetic, and assured me the issue would be addressed. Within a few minutes, the room service manager called to also apologize. He wanted to know if he could do anything to make it up to us. I assured him this was not necessary, because I seriously wasn’t looking for anything but for them to know what happened, but he said he wanted to send us chocolate-covered strawberries that night. I was impressed with their responsiveness to the issue, and what seemed like a genuine commitment to address the problem.

 

We once again visited Great Outdoors, got our breakfast, and sat in La Cucina to eat. It was very hot in Florida that day, too hot to sit outside. We were a few minutes early getting into Port Canaveral, and the crew worked quickly to allow passengers off the ship. We did not do a ship excursion because I managed to get complimentary tickets to the space center from my member of Congress (this must be attempted several months in advance and, from what I understand, some members of Congress are more responsive than others). We were in the shuttle to Thrifty car rental by 11:45AM (by ourselves). The shuttle driver was very friendly and there was a courteous and helpful agent at the counter. He quickly got us checked out with our car, which was a VW Passat due to the "wild card" reservation! I definitely recommend Thrifty and the “wild card” reservation. Thrifty has after-hours drop-off, without charging you for an extra night with the car. With the “wild card,” you are guaranteed at least a compact (because that’s the rate you pay), but can get something better. If you don’t need to worry about requiring a certain size vehicle, it can work out! The drive to Kennedy Space Center was very simple. Our directions were clear (I had printed them from Google maps prior to the cruise), plus there are signs. We picked up our tickets around 1PM and entered KSC.

 

We took the bus tour around the complex first. It was very informative and interesting. There are several areas which visitors cannot enter, for obvious reasons, such as the Vehicle Assembly Building. We also got to see the launch towers and the crawlers, which are absolutely fascinating. They are these massive platforms that have the caterpillar tracks like tanks, and they can actually transport the rockets on top of them!

 

The tour stops to let you off at a building where they describe the Apollo missions, and you get to see a re-created launch control room and Saturn V rocket. The re-created launch room has the actual equipment and monitors they used for the missions. It’s crazy to think that they could get rockets into space with equipment that outwardly appears less advanced than most of our cell phones. The Saturn V rocket is huge! We had to use the panorama shots on our cameras to try to photograph the whole thing! The tour also lets you off at the Atlantis building, where you learn about the invention and production of the space shuttle, get to see the actual shuttle Atlantis, and get to ride in the launch simulator. This was all a lot of fun and it's amazing to see the shuttle and think about how many times it successfully ventured to space and back. We also watched the "Hubble 3-D" IMAX presentation. There is another one about the ISS, but we didn't have time for both. The film is comprised of actual astronauts' footage from the last mission to fix the space telescope. It also features some jaw-dropping images from the telescope itself. I can't even believe that they could create something capable of seeing what this telescope sees. We hit the gift shop, picked up t-shirts for the nieces and nephews, and then exited the center.

 

We decided to stop at Wal-Mart for two or three odds and ends we needed to pick up, as it was on our way back to Thrifty. As New Yorkers, we were duly amazed as usual by a foreign Wal-Mart with its full grocery store, hair salon, etc. right in it. We filled the gas tank, dropped off the car, called 888 taxi, and in just over 10 minutes, a van arrived with a very courteous driver who took us back to the pier. It was just under $15 for the taxi ride, and we tipped the driver $5 (He was nice enough not to start the meter until he had turned back around in the direction of the pier after picking us up.).

 

At this point, I would just like to make a side comment about going to the theme parks in Orlando. We did not do this, and I am sure that many people who did had a great time. However, based on our experience in port, I would imagine that it could be very stressful and maybe even a bit disappointing to try to squeeze in a theme park trip. We didn’t even get to do every single thing we’d have liked at KSC, and that is half as far away and has only a fraction of the attractions that any Disney or Universal park does. I just think that I would have been sad if I paid all of that money to go to Disney and then had to tear myself away after only a few rides in one park. My humble opinion, based on the time constraints of the day, would be to save the theme parks for a trip devoted just to that.

 

We arrived back on the ship just after 8PM. The chocolate-covered strawberries from room service were waiting for us. Again, it was totally unnecessary to send anything, but I was duly impressed with their customer service. I changed very quickly and we decided to head to Magenta for dinner. We had not stopped to eat at all during the day, so we were very hungry and ate ridiculous 4-course meals. I had tomato soup, a garden salad, spaghetti carbonara, and peach Melba. It was all tasty, although the pasta could have arrived hotter. DB had French onion soup, duck pate, chicken cordon bleu, and a Mexican chocolate brownie with dulce de leche. He enjoyed everything except the warm potato salad side dish with the chicken, but that was just a matter of personal preference.

 

It was late, and we sailed away from Port Canaveral during our dinner, so we missed the beginning of the Second City show. I did not care, because I had read on CC that it's always pretty much the same. DB wanted to check and see, and after about one minute of standing in the back we realized it was indeed the same, so we left. I mean, it’s funny, but not once you know exactly what’s coming. We hung out in the casino until after the Paradise Lotto drawing and then headed to bed. We had to get up early because we didn't want to miss out on a single minute of our cabana on GSC!

 

Tuesday 7/15 (Great Stirrup Cay):

We got up at 8AM, because we wanted to have plenty of time to get ready and eat before the 10AM disembarkation on the tenders. To our surprise, we had already dropped the anchor (this captain was haulin’ butt all around!), so we got ready as quickly as possible, grabbed breakfast, and then met up with M&S (we had decided to share the cabana before the cruise) to head to the tenders over to the island. It was hot, but not sunny, and I was hoping the rain would hold out, which it somehow miraculously did, all day!

 

We walked right onto a tender, and the ride was quite short and pretty bumpy. We were met by an NCL employee at the tours desk who gave us our wristbands and escorted us to cabana #16. The cabana was totally worth every penny it cost. We didn't have to bring towels or water off the ship. We had a ceiling fan and shade (the sun did pop out from time to time and it was strong when it did), we didn't have to worry even if it did rain at some point, and we had floats for the water, which only I tested out. There was a bowl of fruit waiting for us and an attendant brought us chips and three different salsas shortly afterward. A while later we received our pre-ordered beer buckets plus an extra bucket of ice (as the cruise is a week-long food binge, we used our $50 credit toward beer). It's not as rocky there as I expected, at least not if you've grown up with north shore Long Island beaches! There are, however, some giant rocks out in the lagoon, so depending on where the tide is, you do need to watch it a bit when swimming so that you don’t scrape any body parts on the rocks. The lagoon was very pleasant for swimming, very calm, almost like a pool.

 

We got our own lunch from the buffet, because none of us were about to make the cabana attendant get our food for us, and it was pretty good. There was a decent variety considering that they have to schlep all of that off the ship. I had a grilled chicken sandwich, a jerk drumstick, a rib, and a few salads. There was a very tasty no mayo cole slaw. There were also sausage sandwiches, hamburgers, hotdogs, some other salads, and fruit available. DB, who believes in dessert first, picked up a sampler plate of desserts for us all, but I only tasted a bit of a chocolate Rice Krispie treat. We waited until fairly late to head back (4:30, the last tender is at 5), and then headed back to get ready for Teppanyaki dinner.

 

We had dinner at Teppanyaki with M&S. They weren't ready to seat us at 7:30 on the dot, but we only waited a few minutes. The chefs are very personable and entertaining, especially ours, Alejandro! DB and I both chose the chicken and shrimp entree, which was very tasty. There's a lot of garlic butter used to cook everything. Being Italian, our blood is 40% garlic, so no trouble for DB or me, but it's something to be aware of. The meal came with miso soup, seaweed salad, a few edamame pods, fried rice, some vegetables, and either green tea cake with green tea ice cream or fruit sashimi with dipping sauces. I had the fruit and the dipping sauces were very tasty. DB had the cake and enjoyed it, but I did not care for it at all when I tasted it. I don’t think I can accurately describe it; it’s just…odd. As much as we enjoyed Teppanyaki, I don’t think it’s as good of a deal as the other specialty restaurants. With the other specialties, I believe that we could never have a meal like that on land for that price, but teppanyaki at home costs about the same as it does on the ship, and we have a few really good places near home.

 

By the time we got to the theater, Jeff Harms was several minutes into his show, but he had me laughing pretty hard right off the bat, so I was willing to stand in the back through the rest of it. He manages to keep it clean and still be really funny, and he plays off the crowd very well. After the comedy show, we headed to Spinnaker for "Dancing with the Gem Stars," which was hilarious and entertaining. A few of the crew member "stars," particularly one of the men from the production cast, had the entire audience practically rolling on the floor. It fact, the audience got so into it, and was rooting for our favorites so fervently, that they declared the match a tie between the final two couples. We then returned to the casino (are you seeing a pattern develop?) for what we thought was going to be a free slot tournament for a free play prize, but it turned out to be for new CAS members only, so I just played slots and video poker for a while. Then, we started playing a knock-down-the-token machine. We managed to knock off the chip with the "bottle of bubbly" on it, so we claimed our bottle at the bar. This was Victory Bottle #1 (make sure you keep track).

 

We decided we wanted a midnight snack, so we got take-out from Blue Lagoon. We ordered chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, the prosciutto and mozzarella panini with potato chips, and the strawberry pound cake. They brought it out quickly, and it was all pretty good. The panini is salty, but it's prosciutto, so that's to be expected. Then, finally off to bed after a very long, but also fun, day.

 

Wednesday 7/16 (Nassau, Bahamas):

We didn't make any effort to wake up especially early, because we had no set plans for the day. We had our breakfast at Great Outdoors, and walked off the ship a little after 11AM. It was super hot, and by the time we took the short walk to John Watling's rum distillery on the Buena Vista estate, we were drenched in sweat already! The estate is beautiful and you can take a look at the distillery, which is small, but interesting. They do as much of the process by hand as possible, which is admirable and creates quality rum. For $5, you can buy a "Casino Royale" chip when you enter (they filmed a scene in the Bond film at the estate). The proceeds go towards maintaining the gorgeous estate and grounds. You can keep the chip or trade it in for a Bahama mama. I drank my chip without hesitation, but DB kept his “casino royale” keepsake. The people who work there are very nice, but obviously they want to sell rum. The rum sells itself, though. I had no intention of buying a bottle, but the 3-year amber rum was so good, I could not resist. I don't even like dark rum normally, but whoa is it good. That rum cost $35 for the bottle, and they do not export it to the US.

 

We needed a little culture in our day, so we went to the National Gallery of the Bahamas, which is right around the corner from John Watling's. Admission is only $5 per person, and they have a really lovely collection of Bahamian art by Bahamian artists, from the 1970s to the present. The collection includes paintings, photography, sculpture, and mixed media art. I definitely recommend a visit there if you enjoy art.

 

We moved on to Graycliff, where DB really wanted to see the cigar rollers in action, but unfortunately they were not rolling that day, which was odd because it was a Wednesday. DB bought one cigar, a rather inexpensive one to try. He did not end up smoking it until our post-cruise AC trip, but he did like it. We bought one piece of chocolate each in the chocolatier and each had a taste of them. We bought one dark chocolate with bacon, and one salted caramel milk chocolate. They were delicious but we didn't buy anything else because it was pretty expensive and because it would have melted in two minutes flat.

 

On the way back to the ship, we went to Señor Frog's at my request, to complete our Bacchanalian tour of Nassau. We ran into M&S. M and I had yard drinks (so absurdly expensive, but who can resist?), and we headed back to the ship after a little bit because DB and S had it with the heat. Overall, we had a nice time, but as previously stated, I could take or leave Nassau. What can I say? Bermuda ruined me for other islands.

 

Back on the ship, we had a snack at Great Outdoors, and then went to the pool for a short while because we figured it would be slightly less crowded than usual. It was. Slightly. We took a dip for a few minutes and then headed back to the cabin. I sat on the balcony for a while to read (DB was resting inside) and proceeded to get annihilated by mosquitos, which I unfortunately did not realize was happening at the time! DB briefly worried that they were bed bug bites. At this suggestion, I sweetly responded, “Yes, bed bugs that wait five nights to bite and then only bite me, not you.” :p We confirmed they were indeed mosquitos when M&S, whose aft penthouse was two doors down from us, also were covered in bites from sitting on their balcony prior to leaving Nassau. The best part is that I had Off! spray in case we needed it on GSC, which we did not. Guess I should have busted it out in Nassau!

 

We got dressed and stopped into the casino before dinner, because they were doing a Wednesday promo that enabled us to each buy $40 slot play for $20. We got a drink and played briefly, and then headed to Le Bistro for our dinner reservation. What a wonderful meal that was! I think Le Bistro will become a staple of our cruises. DB is very difficult to impress, and even he was going on about how great it was. The service was really impeccable. The waitress first brought an amuse bouche of salmon mousse and crostini. DB had the scallop appetizer, which was prepared correctly with no pine nuts, as he is allergic. He really enjoyed it. I had the quatre cornets, which I loved as it gave me several different little tastes. We then shared an order of the mussels. What a delicious sauce they are served in! We were mopping it up with the bread. DB's entrée was the beef tenderloin, and mine was the duo de canard; both were perfectly cooked and delicious, but a tad salty for our taste. We ordered the chocolate fondue and the profiteroles for dessert, because we didn't expect either dessert to be as large as they were. We'll probably stick with just the fondue in the future.

 

After dinner, we went to watch Chip Romeo, the comic magician. DB liked the show; I loved it! I’m like a little kid with magic; I don’t want to figure it out, I just want to be entertained and amazed. Chip totally acknowledges the fact that he is performing tricks and illusions. It's not abracadabra nonsense; he is just really good at performing close-up illusions and tricks, and really funny to boot.

 

In Spinnaker, they were having the comical game show "Liar's Club." It's like the old show "To Tell the Truth." The panel telling the stories to define the words was Dan Dan, Jeff Harms, and Chip Romero. It doesn't get much funnier than that. We had a really good time.

 

Back to the casino for a while to see our buddies Ricky and Rolando. I’ll tell you, I love those guys. No love from the slot machines. Then, off to bed.

 

Thursday 7/17 (At Sea):

Again, we didn't make a special effort to get up too early. We had breakfast at Great Outdoors. We passed by the casino for a little while, played one more slot tournament, lost again, and then headed to the "Masters" art auction. We looked at the art, but I left for a while right when they were about to start the auction, because I wanted to watch Chip Romero's afternoon close-up magic show. Magic trumps art for me, and I’m not afraid to admit it!. He was awesome once again. He had the theater packed out in the middle of the afternoon. I only tore myself away a few minutes before the end because they were announcing the "Guess the Price of the Picasso" winner at the art auction. DB won last year on the Dawn, but we didn't get lucky again.

 

We went back to the casino after the auction and got sucked into a knock-down-the-token machine. We ended up going for a late-afternoon snack at Blue Lagoon. We had potato skins, wings, fish and chips, and a brownie sundae. DB didn't like the seasoning on the potato skins, but I didn't mind it. It was all pretty good, and we were served quickly and courteously.

 

This was our lazy day, a lot of which we just spent in the casino. The weather was pretty lousy all day anyway. We didn't even bother to change our clothes for the evening (which for me on vacation is almost unheard of), as we weren't too interested in the MDR menu choices and figured we'd just pass by the buffet at some point. We hung out in the casino more, as DB's luck had finally begun to turn and I was only bleeding out very slowly.

 

We went to watch the early "Get Down Tonight" show in the theater. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—that production cast is incredible! Their energy and the fact that they can do such a good job at performing multiple shows every week is just awesome. I loved the show, because I was totally born in the wrong decade and I like a lot of 70s music, and thankfully they didn't spend too much time on disco. They did some rock, some Motown, some Four Seasons, even sitcom themes, which turned out to be a fabulous and funny segment of the show. Even DB liked it, and I was worried he wouldn't because it's not really his kind of music. I am not sure how much people younger than me would get into it. I guess it just depends if they like that period in music history.

 

Back to the home base (casino, not cabin…come on people, keep up!), then to Garden Cafe. This was the only time we went to the buffet at dinner. It wasn't bad, but wasn't impressive, either. They had a decent variety of dishes, and I quite liked the vegetarian Indian dishes I tried, but most of the offerings were just okay. DB didn't think the prime rib was that good. He said it's better in the Waterfront Buffet at Harrah’s in AC. It was chocolate night, as they no longer have the chocolate buffet. They had a variety of chocolate desserts, but DB just had a mini eclair and I just had an ice cream cone. Honestly, the items they had on the chocolate buffet last summer weren’t fantastic (and I would bathe in chocolate if it were socially acceptable), but I mainly just miss the beautiful chocolate sculptures. There was one really good one of a dragon, though.

 

I don’t want to shock you, but we went back to the casino for the remainder of the night. We didn't bother with the White Hot party, because it's just not really our thing. M&S told us they only stayed there for an hour anyway, because it was so hot and crowded. We stayed in the casino quite late. DB finally had the hot hand pushing those buttons, and he won back all of his losses plus, on a few different machines. We played a knock-down-the-token machine for way too long, then back to a slot machine where DB won a little more.

 

Friday 7/18 (At Sea):

Now, the sadness of the end of vacation began to set in, but there was more fun to be had before they tore me off the ship kicking and screaming. We got up and headed to breakfast at Great Outdoors, then headed straight to the casino for Slot Pull: The Sequel. We had 9 participants this time, and, unfortunately didn't get lucky like the first time. But, you don't need to tell a gambler how gambling goes! We ended up hanging around in the casino because I wanted to play in the last blackjack tournament qualifier at 1:15. I actually won my round and had a high enough score to be second on the leaderboard, but I came in 3rd place during the final round because I had some pretty craptastic cards. It was a lot of fun though, and I earned Victory Bottle #2. That’s right, mark your score cards.

 

A while later, we went to put Victory Bottle #2 in the cabin, and then we had a late lunch at Great Outdoors. There was one offering I have to comment on because it was so good. It was a Thai chicken salad. Very simple—just spiced grilled chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce, but it had a really delicious sesame vinaigrette and sesame seeds on it. Very tasty!

 

We went to buy the professional picture that was taken at Le Bistro, because it actually came out quite nicely, and we are bad about making sure we get pictures of ourselves. I dropped off our future cruise reward form to buy our $250 deposit for the next cruise and get the $100 OBC for this one. I bought a bracelet from the "inch of gold and silver" setup in the lobby. I wouldn't normally, but when I was looking at the chain options, they had one with tiny peace sign charms hanging off of it, and that’s my thing, so I couldn't resist. It was one of the $2 per inch chains, but it was only a bracelet, so with the clasp it came to only $17. They give you the info for the lifetime guarantee with it, so you can mail it in if it ever breaks. Then, we went to the “win a cruise” raffle, but we only had 15 tickets that came with the instant win strips we bought the night before, so no luck for us.

 

I wanted to pack because I knew we wouldn't want to once we headed out for the night, so we went back to the cabin and took care of that. We keep ourselves reasonably well-organized throughout the cruise, so it wasn't too bad. We got dressed for the evening, and then headed to Stardust to catch the early farewell variety show. The wonderful production cast opened with a few ABBA numbers. If ABBA doesn't put you in a good mood, then you're the love child of The Grinch and Oscar the Grouch, and I can do nothing for you. Then, Chip Romero did a few more tricks and was every bit as entertaining as in his other shows. Jeff Harms did one more set and was once again very funny, and handled the rowdier audience members well as usual. Dan Dan wrapped things up with a song, and who knew that amazing voice would come out of him?! It was lovely. I told you, I am smitten.

 

We went to Grand Pacific for our final dinner, because DB was wearing jeans for once at that point (he’s a shorts guy on vacation). I started with a cream of broccoli soup and a duck succotash. This will sound so dumb, but the soup was a bit too broccoli-y...it needed a bit more creaminess. I know succotash has Lima beans in it, but there were way too many, although the dish was seasoned nicely and the duck tasted like cold duck bacon. It had a nice smokiness and was very tasty. DB started with the smoked salmon tartare again, as he enjoys that dish. He had the prime rib entree, which seemed to be cooked to the proper temperature, but he once again asserted that they cook it better and with more flavor at the buffet in AC, so we’ll just have to go with that. I am not entirely sure why I ordered the gnocchi entree, but I am glad I did. It just had a bechamel sauce, some peas, and sliced portobello mushrooms, but it was so tasty. The gnocchi were pan-toasted a bit, so they had a nice crunch on the outside that gave the dish a great texture. DB finished with the bananas foster, which he thought was pretty good, and I had to get in one last chocolate volcano. Again, that combination of the cake, the strawberries, and the straciatella ice cream is just wonderful. I’d like it now, as a matter of fact.

 

We briefly returned to the cabin so that DB could return to shorts and we could grab Victory Bottle #1 to share with our buddies at the evening's entertainment. We headed to Spinnaker for the Second City scriptless adult show. Now, I like Second City, I just don't go gaga over them, and this show fit that bill. Some of it was hilarious, some of it just not at all, but they were lucky that there were a lot of funny people in the audience to give them great suggestions.

 

We stayed for the Quest, and played with our new friends, M&S and M&M. For the second year in a row, we managed to be on the first place team. This essentially means that we are sick, sick people, who manage to gravitate to other sick, sick people and form wonder-Quest teams. If you’ve seen the Quest, don’t judge me. If you’ve never seen the Quest, I refuse to ruin it for you. All I’ll say is, they are serious about leaving if you’re easily offended and, if you plan to play, wear clean underwear. Anyway, this led to Victory Bottle #3 (score cards, people). Now, I affectionately term these “Victory Bottles,” but there is little victory to be had in this sparkling wine they give away as prizes, other than the solid buzz of cheap booze. We enjoyed (choked down?) Victory Bottle #3 as a team. For those of you keeping score, who need to know the fate of Victory Bottle #2, it now resides in the wine rack in my dining room. One day, when there’s nothing else in the house…one day.

 

Back to the casino to let them kick our butts one last time (actually DB left the ship with the money he came with, so I consider that a major victory), and to hang with my buddies Rolando and Ricky one more time. I’m glad that I had some time to talk to them more that night. They’re great people. Definitely stop in and say hi when you’re on the ship.

 

Then we finally headed to bed, me knowing I'd be so cranky in the morning when I looked outside and saw NYC again. I love the homeland, but not when it means vacation is over!

 

Saturday 7/19 (Disembarkation):

I must confess, I have a terrible and frightening power. I am surly and sad when a cruise ends, and therefore the weather is lousy on disembarkation day. So, make a note, don’t leave for a cruise on the day I come back! Actually, when we came home on the Dawn, it poured; this day was just very cloudy. We had our final breakfast at Great Outdoors and sat outside because it wasn’t too hot/buggy/ravaged by murderous seagulls. We returned to the cabin to get our luggage (we do easy walk-off), give Jonathan his tip, and tell him to take the rest of the bottled water we brought on in Florida.

 

We were very lucky getting off the ship. We just happened to head down at a time when very few people were in line to get off. We went through customs and immigration pretty easily, and then headed out to the taxi area on the street (it involves an elevator, but they direct you). There were plenty of taxis waiting, and we got to Penn Station quickly. We took the LIRR home because the 7 bus schedule didn’t work out properly, and if I realized how easy the LIRR would be, we probably would just have done it both ways. Keep in mind, though, we left and came home on the weekend; I don’t think I’d mess with it during the week. The only negative aspect is carrying the luggage downstairs to the train platform, but we survived. We were back at Ronkonkoma train station, in my mom’s car, by about 11:30AM.

 

Parting Thoughts:

Vacation is an awesome thing. Even for those of us who have to save, budget, etc. to make it happen, we’re all so lucky to be able to have these great experiences. Was this a perfect trip? Of course not. What is? If you expect perfection, you’d better be Oprah-rich, or you’re setting yourself up for serious disappointment. I think that there are very few things that can happen on vacation that are worth getting really riled up about. There’s enough in real life to get riled up about. The bottom line is, this was a nice ship, kept clean and in good condition, with a crew that bent over backwards to give us a great cruise, very talented entertainers, great games and activities, and good enough food that I came home with a few extra pounds on me. When I say I’m not sure if we’ll take this cruise again, it’s only because the Siren song of Bermuda is luring us back. However, if you’re booked on this cruise, you have plenty to look forward to, and if you’re considering it, it’s certainly a trip worth taking if it’s the right fit for your budget and geographic location! I enjoy NCL. They have given us two great cruise experiences. And we did put our money where our mouths are once again, as we have our paid deposit for the next one!

 

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope that this was useful and informative for you. Please let me know if you have any questions that I might be able to help you with. Safe sailing, everyone! :D

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Freespir8

Freespir8

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Thanks for the review. After reading your last review about Bermuda, we have started planning that cruise for 2016. We have our Panamal Canal cruise on the Star this Oct. And a family vacation to the Caribbean on the Dawn Nov 2015. Reading your reviews has me even more excited! Thanks again for taking the time.

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Dorhead1230 Great Review Rare

Dorhead1230

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Thanks for the review. After reading your last review about Bermuda, we have started planning that cruise for 2016. We have our Panamal Canal cruise on the Star this Oct. And a family vacation to the Caribbean on the Dawn Nov 2015. Reading your reviews has me even more excited! Thanks again for taking the time.

 

Wow! You have some great cruises planned. A Panama Canal cruise is definitely on my to-do list at some point. I hope you'll let us all know how that is! Enjoy :)

 

Thanks for the report!

 

My pleasure!

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Tralfie

Tralfie

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This review made me want to cruise with you. LOL.

 

Seriously, everything about y'all was right up my alley, from the "knock-the-tokens-down" addiction to the belief that it's vacation, and it takes a LOT to upset me on vacation.

 

I'm getting on the Gem in 10 days, and hope to have every bit as awesome a time as you did!

 

Quick question: you mentioned having pre-ordered food for the cabana. How did you go about doing that? I've got a cabana reserved, but didn't realize you could pre-order drinks/food!

 

Richard/Tralfie

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Dorhead1230 Great Review Rare

Dorhead1230

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This review made me want to cruise with you. LOL.

 

Seriously, everything about y'all was right up my alley, from the "knock-the-tokens-down" addiction to the belief that it's vacation, and it takes a LOT to upset me on vacation.

 

I'm getting on the Gem in 10 days, and hope to have every bit as awesome a time as you did!

 

Quick question: you mentioned having pre-ordered food for the cabana. How did you go about doing that? I've got a cabana reserved, but didn't realize you could pre-order drinks/food!

 

Richard/Tralfie

 

Hopefully, we'll be on the same cruise one day! :)

 

There will be a menu for the cabanas in with your excursion tickets. There are several food platter options (shrimp cocktail, sushi, snack platter with some dips and stuff, and a couple of others) and an alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage menu. They will have the fruit bowl waiting for you already and then bring you the chips and salsa no matter what--you need not order those items. We figured between that stuff and all of the buffet food, we'd spend the $50 on beer...I don't think we could have handled any more food that day! Whatever you'd like to pre-order, you just fill out the menu and drop it off at the excursions desk (it will say the deadline in the excursion info). Have an awesome cruise!! :D

 

Thanks for the review.

 

It was my pleasure!

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din2play2

din2play2

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Wow - you weren't kidding that it was going to be a "long review" Was Fantastic!

I will be going on Gem in April with Hubby and Son and enjoyed reading it very much :D THANK YOU :D

 

Wondering 2 things:

1) How did you get your complimentary tickets for space shuttle. I know you said from a member of Congress but what did you say... I'm going to space center and I want free tickets? (I'm an idiot when it comes to things like this) :eek:

2) I would like to get cabana at GSC but thought $300 is too much for 3 of us since they will be jet skiing and I will be lounging on raft most of the time. I had mentioned to hubby that I wish we could share with someone but didn't know how to go about inquiring that. Did you do it through Roll Call here prior to sail or did you meet people during cruise and arranged with them then :confused:

 

Thank you again for your GREAT review!!!

Edited by din2play2
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Dorhead1230

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Wow - you weren't kidding that it was going to be a "long review" Was Fantastic!

I will be going on Gem in April with Hubby and Son and enjoyed reading it very much :D THANK YOU :D

 

Wondering 2 things:

1) How did you get your complimentary tickets for space shuttle. I know you said from a member of Congress but what did you say... I'm going to space center and I want free tickets? (I'm an idiot when it comes to things like this) :eek:

2) I would like to get cabana at GSC but thought $300 is too much for 3 of us since they will be jet skiing and I will be lounging on raft most of the time. I had mentioned to hubby that I wish we could share with someone but didn't know how to go about inquiring that. Did you do it through Roll Call here prior to sail or did you meet people during cruise and arranged with them then :confused:

 

Thank you again for your GREAT review!!!

 

1. I wrote an email to my Congressman explaining that I read it was sometimes possible to get the tickets, and I was wondering if anyone could help me with that. I was fortunate; my congressman happens to have an amazing assistant who got back to me quickly and took care of everything. From what I've read, sometimes it works, sometimes no, but I figured it was worth a shot!

2. I had actually already booked the cabana for DB and me, even thought it is pricey. I figured it would be the one big splurge, and he is not a fan of laying out in the sun, so it would make the day more pleasant for both of us. I was lucky that, on our roll call, there was another couple our age who I started talking to a lot, and we ended up sharing it and having a lot of fun! They just paid me for half on the ship.

 

Thanks for the kind words about the review!

 

A+!

 

:o

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Dorhead1230 Great Review Rare

Dorhead1230

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A++

Nice review. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us!

Have to agree about beautiful Bermuda. Nothing compares.

Going again next June :)

Happy Cruising!!

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

 

Thank you! I am hoping that next summer will bring another Bermuda cruise for me, too!

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hbooden

hbooden

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Ok so your bf sounds like my husband. :) no dressing up (years in a jacket and tie at school will do that to you). So magenta is the dining room that has the less strict dress code?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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Dorhead1230

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Ok so your bf sounds like my husband. :) no dressing up (years in a jacket and tie at school will do that to you). So magenta is the dining room that has the less strict dress code?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Yes, shorts are fine there. My bf generally wears shorts with a polo. He always looks neat, but he's more comfortable in shorts and has to wear his police uniform every other day of his life, so I am certainly not going to bust his chops about it lol. Magenta was perfectly fine with me, and I think the longest we ever waited for a table was maybe 10 minutes. Enjoy your cruise!!

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hbooden

hbooden

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Yes, shorts are fine there. My bf generally wears shorts with a polo. He always looks neat, but he's more comfortable in shorts and has to wear his police uniform every other day of his life, so I am certainly not going to bust his chops about it lol. Magenta was perfectly fine with me, and I think the longest we ever waited for a table was maybe 10 minutes. Enjoy your cruise!!

 

 

Thank you :)

 

 

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Dorhead1230

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Thanks for your nice review, enjoyed it.:)

 

Thanks!

 

Thank you for your refreshing view!

 

What restraunts ( Included) are open on sea days for lunch?:cool:

 

Is it anytime lunch .

 

 

 

Thanks for the compliment :).

 

On sea days, the Garden Cafe (buffet) is open for lunch, and Great Outdoors (buffet) for late lunch. The Grand Pacific dining room serves sit-down lunch for a couple of hours (times will be listed in the Daily). Blue Lagoon is open 24 hours a day for the duration of the cruise.

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