NCL Gem Review - June 4 to 12

[bobdcl]

thanks.. loving you review-- taking same cruise in august and really appreciate the detailed review & dallies-- our cruise is only 7 nights-- looks like yours was longer??

[ExtonTraveler]

 

Thx on whether there are lockers in the cabanas. Well, productivity in my home office slowed to a crawl this afternoon when I found the Gem on the Port Canaveral webcam. So here it is - for your memories and for all of us on future sailings, for the anticipation. My fam and I are departing on July 16. Can't wait.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Lisalk12]

Thanks! And you will have a wonderful time!

[Fpacifico]

great review and thanks for posting all the menus. So glad your family had a wonderful vacation and returned home with your special memories.

[Lisalk12]

Day 8 sea day

Woke up feeling better until my youngest came into the room screaming that he had broke his thumb. He knows me well enough to pass me by and go straight to his dad. Evidently, he had been going into his restroom and the door shut before he could move his thumb. My husband diagnosed it to be smash but not broken.

Because it was swelling we threw on clothes and headed down to O'Sheehan's. We asked the waiter for some ice and he brought us a towel filled. So all was better. We chose to have breakfast here. Eggs and bacon for me. Offered to go to the main dining room and get me GF/DF bread if I would like it. I'm so going to miss all the options that I have had this past week! We even enjoyed mimosas with our breakfast.

[Lisalk12]

Went to spinnaker lounge to play our favorite phone game. It is called Heads up just like Charades. I had never played it before but the kids use it all the time. You place your phone up on your head and others have to give you clues to the keyword that pops up on your phone. We got a few more drinks Mountain Dew and Ginger Ale for the boys and Mango Meltdowns for the adults. We noticed they were setting up for something special and asked what was next. The servers said they were going to have a question and answer session with the Captain. We decided that we had already had the chance so we would move on.

 

The boys went to get ice cream and play basketball (this is how we know his thumb was all better).

 

My husband and I went to the Casino for a blackjack tournament and play slots. My husband was so close to making the main table but he enjoyed playing for quite awhile. I went to the trusted slot machine from earlier in the week. Managed to get over 200 free spins and added over $88 to my winnings!! Love this machine!

 

My oldest said he was going to climb the rock wall so we headed up to the back of the ship right over the buffet. They had him decked out with shoes, helmet, and harness. He had to wait in a rather long line but finally made it up to the front. The middle section is the hardest. And we had witnessed no one make it to the top of it. So I was happy when he said easy one please! Off he went. For someone who has never climbed I was so proud of him. He made it to the top and rang the bell. When he was finished I collected our little basketball player and headed off for bingo.

 

Bingo was a filled house because they were using the red tickets we had collected all week to give away a free cruise. We found a place to stand for the first round of bingo then they had the drawing at which time a lot of people left so we got to set down for the rest of the game.

[Lisalk12]

We went back to find treats in room. And yes the boys got their gummy bears and m&m's just missed the picture of them.

[Lisalk12]

Because I didn't eat at in the dinning room last night I had to call in a preorder. We went off to enjoy one more night at the spa then had dinner together while the boys went to the buffet.

Shrimp and watermelon salad

Crispy Spring Roll

[Lisalk12]

Warm mango with lemon sorbet

 

This by far was my favorite meal! Everything was perfect.

 

After dinner it was time to start packing. We decided since we had one more night in NYC we didn't have to be in a hurry off the ship. So I planned to sit the luggage out in the hallway. In the past this has caused all types of confusion included me wearing mismatched sandals off.

(With one of them being mine and one my 9 year old sons). So this time I was gonna get it right. Well I misread the time and thought I had until 12:00. Nope it was 11:00. So at 11:20 I begged my oldest to put them out in the hall. He said some were still out there. Prayed they would be taken off and that I had everything I might need and went to bed.

[disneygirl]

Lisalk12 - THANK YOU!! What a lovely vacation you had with your family! Thank you so much for sharing it with us and the amazing pictures. We are going on the Gem 20AUG16 and now I am even more excited!! I also can be a bit more prepared as I like to bring the right clothes and fun stuff aka the 70's night Dance party and of course the White Party also.

[Lisalk12]

Disneygirl, you are very welcome & you will have a wonderful time!!

[Lisalk12]

[Lisalk12]

Disembarkation Day

Got up early to get ready and pack the rest of our carry on things. We were parked right next to the Breakaway.

The self assist passengers were called to start their way to the port area. The hallways and public areas were packed and everything seemed to stop. The port authority even stopped the process at one point. I know that some passengers (I assume they had morning flights) were very upset about the pace.

 

We had another day in NYC so we were in no hurry. We said goodbye to Perfecto and Roshan. Then went to eat breakfast at 8:00. After a leisurely service we headed toward the theater at 9:00. We got in line with Monica and was off the ship within 20 minutes. At the port we quickly found our luggage and went through customs.

 

Upon leaving we exited the port and turned to the right and found a long line of taxies. We knew we wouldn't go far but with all of our luggage we didn't want to walk. So $5 later we were at our home for the night.

 

 

Of course our room wasn't ready but they held our luggage and said they would text us as soon as it was ready. They asked if we had plans and we said probably just walk around. At that point she printed off two adult tickets to ride the double decker bus. PERFECT!!

We walked two blocks to find the green bus and got tickets for the boys $75 for the downtown hop on/hop off tour. Buses left every 20 minutes and provided a tour guide.

Some of the sights from the day:

[Lisalk12]

[Lisalk12]

 

Just at the end of the bus tour my husband received a text that our room was ready. The tour guide suggested shopping through a little market place on the way back to our hotel. We found a couple of gifts to bring home. We stopped at a McDonalds down the street because the boys just had to have a snack.

 

The hotel and room was very nice.

We put on some sunscreen and got ready to go see a baseball game. The taxi to the stadium was $25 finding a ride back was terrible but we final found an uber for $50.

We ate dinner at the Founders Bar that was inside the Westin that evening. Wonderful salads and my boys loved their pizza.

[Lisalk12]

We woke up early the next day and new that we would have to be out of the room by 12:00. But because of a late plane ride we were able to have a late checkout for 1:00.

 

Now My husband is a people person and always strikes up a conversation with every driver that we had about places we should go and what we should do. One driver had mentioned going to Carmine's for pasta. Because we knew this was a couple of blocks away we decided to try it for lunch.

That is one bowl of GF/DF pasta. Simply amazing!

 

Coming back to the room at 12:30 we found we were locked out. Luckily, we managed to get security up to the room to let us back in. We checkout and caught a taxi for $40 back to the airport. We had many hours to waste and there is simply nothing to do!! So we ate more, read a couple of books, and drained the batteries on our phones. Until the plane arrived. My son was so happy that the plane had tv access!

A few hours and a late connection later we were home sweet home!

[Lisalk12]

Thanks for reading and all the comments! I love cruising and can't wait until our next one!! If I can answer any questions please let me know.

[rocklinmom]

Fabulous review! Thanks again for posting this!

[adamt12]

thanks for a great review, we are on the gem for the second time on August 20th ( first time was before the refurb ) cant wait

[bobdcl]

adamt12: we are on aug 20th as well. come over to the roll call board... only 4 of us so far

thx

bob