REVIEW Gem 10/30-11/13/16 San Juan

[mugtech]

Did the Easy Dominica and Rainforest drive today, was pleasant and informative. Enjoyed especially the botanical gardens and waterfall. Pax are told to wear swimming suites and bring a towel, but few did, the water was cold, and at 10 AM and 2,000 feet above sea level, not too hot. I would recomend this trip, it inclued fruit snacks and rum punch or grapefruit juice.

Second City was much better last night at 8:45 PM in Spinaker, doing 45 minutes of improv, a lot of fun, high energy young company, very nice to talk to them afterwords. Also Leo in Magnums, the only constant besides SC on all 4 of our Gem cruises, did his usual great job. I love hearing Steely Dan's Do It Again, monkee's I'm a Believer, various Beatles and Dylan tunes plus some love songs. Will see him numerous times, and SC doing their adults only improv Friday or Saturday. Running out of minutes!!

[rjm11]

Mugtech- I just noticed your signature line- I love it!!! "you don't have to love your butler" makes me laugh.

 

And thanks for all the updates! We sail on Nov 20!

[mugtech]

Enjoying your review. We're boarding this coming Sunday. Is the water slide for kids only, or can us old folks enjoy it too?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Saw large adults going many times,laughing as they hit the pool.

[mugtech]

Went to LA Cucina last night,food was good but it took 75 minutes to have our entree served from the time we arrived, so we missed the 7PM juggler. I have had bigger disappointments Gonna miss the Get Down Tonight showtonight,saw in on the Gem in May, and my limit is one discs how per year. Only got 9 out of 20 at the 80'same name that tune last night, one team got 19. No Talking Heads.

[mugtech]

Keeps jumping out on me,hence all the short posts. Tonight at 5:30 PM we have a meeting in Bliss to explain the b2b procedures on Sunday, will let you know what they say. No tour today, but plenty of trivia, always meet the nicest people by asking to be part of their team. Biggest island in the Caribbean Sea Cuba, cost us the victory today. Beautiful 84F at 8 AM,going to 89F. Shopping is within walking distance, so my wife is very happy. Time for email and Facebook catchup, please ask any questions, as I will get another free 250 minutes on Sunday, 11/6.

[$hip$hape]

Time for email and Facebook catchup, please ask any questions, as I will get another free 250 minutes on Sunday, 11/6.

 

Thanks for your live, rolling review!

 

Question... We are about 90 days out(until sailing) and will be looking at dinner reservations on the NCL Website, but NCL does not list showtimes.

 

Could you please confirm, that standard showtimes on the NCL Gem are at 7 and 9 PM?

Me thinks, even though we don't sail until Feb.7th,2017, there's a good chance showtimes will not change.

[iampegasus]

Thanks. I will have to give it a try.

[dexddd]

Thanks for your live, rolling review!

 

Question... We are about 90 days out(until sailing) and will be looking at dinner reservations on the NCL Website, but NCL does not list showtimes.

 

Could you please confirm, that standard showtimes on the NCL Gem are at 7 and 9 PM?

Me thinks, even though we don't sail until Feb.7th,2017, there's a good chance showtimes will not change.

 

That is what I've seen recently from two posters for the Gem. No Cutty Sarks for me yet. Do you have the UBP at home or work?

Edited November 4, 2016 by dexddd

[mugtech]

Ship has been cruising at 11 knots tonight, the islands are to close to each other that other nights have been cruised at 9 or 10 knots, very smooth ride so far, usually cannot feel the seas at all. Shows at 7 & 9 PM, got the procedure for b2b, do not have to get off the ship, but can if you want "at 7 or 7:30 AM", then must stay off until at least noon, can come back at 8PM. b2b will receive a STILL ON VACATION sticker to wear, must go to customer service on deck 7 at 10 AM to get a new key card giving the new date, 11/13 for us. All must go to Stardust at 10:45 AM with passport to be signed off then back on the ship. Not required to attend the 4:30 muster drill and the Great Outdoors bar will remain open for b2b drinks during the lifeboat drill. lokks like at least 200 are b2b this trip. hopefully I will give more info and answer any questions on Sunday when I get another 250 minutes. Gonna use my tablet next week, see if it makes a difference instead of deck 12 computers. ENJOY YOUR DAY!!!

[mugtech]

Just got the rundown on the exchange rate for crew signatures. 40 gets you a t-shirt,20 a water bottle, 10 or less is a Keychain. Fou d a free Wi-Fi spot on Tortola, had to buy a $2 cupcake, works better than the ship. Did not see any promos for a whiteout,but there's always something going down. Gonna try Le Bistro tonight and the Second City adults only at 10 PM in the Bliss. Found out that if doing b2b one can take along any unursed minutes to the next cruise, and if you have the 250 minutes perk you can see Ana at her desk on the edge of the art gallery, deck 7, on Sunday from1-3 PM to verify your minutes and to help you to get the minutes on your own devices plus how to log out every day. South Ds like you must go to logout.com to do this. More info tomorrow. If you need more info, please realize I will not be back online until tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, time depending on football available where and when.

[lor74]

Have a great remainder of the cruise. Thanks for posting

 

 

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[$hip$hape]

mugtech,

Thanks for confirming the 7PM and 9PM showtimes.

 

However, I don't understand what THIS is:

"Just got the rundown on the exchange rate for crew signatures." (?)

40 gets you a t-shirt,20 a water bottle, 10 or less is a Keychain.

Edited November 5, 2016 by $hip$hape

[Medtech2]

mugtech,

Thanks for confirming the 7PM and 9PM showtimes.

 

However, I don't understand what THIS is:

"Just got the rundown on the exchange rate for crew signatures." (?)

40 gets you a t-shirt,20 a water bottle, 10 or less is a Keychain.

When you participate in activities you can get a card where the crew sign off. I believe you get more signatures depending on whether you win a game, etc. so if you like to participate in Trivia or other games You might as well get the signatures and win some swag...

[mugtech]

Did the b2b thing today, got our key cards exchanged for new ones at customer service at 8:30 AM, got into the Stardust at 10:30 AM, had to wait until everyone clocked out. At 11:45 there were still 2 pax who had not signed out,but we showed our passports and then signed back in, with the new pax starting at the same time. Word has it the b2b went poorly the previous Sunday when they made everyone leave the ship. There were about 200 doing b2b.

People were lined up before 7AM to do the self deportation thing, they started at 7 AM and by 7:15 there was no line. I got up at 6:30 and the ship was already docked, heard it pulled in about 6 AM. Grand Pacific is also open for lunch from noon to 2. Went to get signed up for my 250 complimentary minutes, took 5 minutes, works much better on my tablet than their 12th deck hardware.

Thought I was gonna watch Steelers/Ravens football at 1 PM,but there was some English "football" on instead, staff said there were connection problems. It did rainforest an hour,doubt that had anything to do with it. Gonna try Orchid Garden at 6 PM, earliest hours they schedule.

[herdingdogmom]

Thanks so much for noting the self walk off times. 7:00/7:15 will be perfect for us. Enjoy the next cruise!

[mugtech]

Some confusion here today concerning the time. NCL always does local time, so when people in the East moved their clocks back one hour, Puerto Rico did NOT change, so now local time here is one hour ahead of NYC. Unfortunately the Freestyle Daily listed the football times at 1, 4:25, and 8:30 today, but local times for the starts are 2, 5:25, and 9:30. Might want to keep this in mind if you are flying into San Juan. My schedule says we're are leaving on 11/14 at 2:51 PM and arriving in Newark at 5:58 PM for a 4 hour 7 minute flight. This is correct using the local time in each case.

[mugtech]

Ate at Orchid Garden this evening, a good Asian restaurant open 6-10 daily , is complementary. We enjoyed hot and sour soup, calamari, spring rolls, fried rice and Kung Paolo chicken. The restaurant is right above Magnums, tonight we heard Leo for 75 minutes, a plus for us.

[rjm11]

Thanks for all your updates! Did you notice whether Canvas By U was offered at all last week? Did you happen to see it in the daily?

[mugtech]

Thanks for all your updates! Did you notice whether Canvas By U was offered at all last week? Did you happen to see it in the daily?

 

Saw or read nothing.

[mugtech]

Sail away trivia last night was 20 questions all about NYC, I got 19 correct, was the easy winner. I had heard all the questions before on the Gem out of NYC. A British woman complained to crew member Bin that not everyone was Americans, they should have more variety of questions. She did NOT accept the idea that we are usually out of NYC, there will be other trivia. I informed her that at one of the trivia the London subway was touted as the most recognizable subway map in the world. Not even a smile, hope she avoids future trivia.

[mugtech]

Went to customer service on Sunday morning, told them I was charged $19.95 for Laundry on Thursday even though , as instructed,I wrote PLATINUM in big letters on the bag. Was told it would be corrected in 15 minutes, went back 2 hours later, person I talked to had to look it up to see if I was entitled to Platinum free laundry. Then she told me it was Sunday, they were working on the new cruisers, it would be fixed on Monday. At 6 PM Monday I was told it would be fixed Tuesday morning. Went back at 2 PM Tuesday and it still was not fixed, so they finally fixed it as I waited. Asked them if this was gonna happen again this week with my Platinum laundry, she said I should put the card I was given in the bag to be sure. I said we are entitled to one bag each, and she said to write Platinum on the second bag. Can't wait.

[$hip$hape]

Went to customer service on Sunday morning, told them I was charged $19.95 for Laundry on Thursday even though , as instructed,I wrote PLATINUM in big letters on the bag.

Was told it would be corrected in 15 minutes, went back 2 hours later, person I talked to had to look it up to

see if I was entitled to Platinum free laundry. Then she told me it was Sunday, they were working on the new cruisers, it would be fixed on Monday. At 6 PM Monday I was told it would be fixed Tuesday morning. Went back at 2 PM Tuesday and it still was not fixed, so they finally fixed it as I waited. Asked them if this was gonna happen again this week with my Platinum laundry, she said I should put the card I was given in the bag to be sure. I said we are entitled to one bag each, and she said to write Platinum on the second bag. Can't wait.

We have not had an issue with Platinum Laundry

Yes, all you SHOULD have to do is write "Platinum" on the card.:rolleyes:

 

But things happen.

If you want to have some more "fun", ask the Customer Service Desk for the name of your concierge.

As you may know, NCL says, at the Latitudes Rewards level of Platinum, you are given concierge service.

The concierge will take care of your needs.

 

On the Breakaway, WE were only given the runaround.:o

I asked the Customer Service Desk to speak to our concierge about a restaurant reservation.

Their reply was(after asking for our room number) concierge service was only available to suites and above.

After explaining to the desk that Latitudes Platinum pax get concierge service, they sent me to the Latitudes Desk.

The Latitudes Desk gave me a big welcome, and asked what cruise I'd like to book next?:)

Told them I'd like the name of our concierge.

Confused, the latitudes person told me if I needed any help, to go to the Customer Service Desk.

The Customer Service Desk sent us back to the Restaurant Reservations Rep. who only replied that, if you were not in a Suite,

the Specialty restaurants were fully booked, unless we wanted to eat after 9PM. :)

Edited November 8, 2016 by $hip$hape

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[mugtech]

Just testing to see if I can post on here using the "free" WiFi here in the coffee shop in the mall on Martinique

[mugtech]

Took the Coast to Coasthe 3.5 hour bus tour on Barbados yesterday. Was a nice drive through all the Anglican parishes. For best results on all of these islands, since the bus drives on the left side I would advise sitting on the left side of the bus, better views and photo ops. The beaches were not very impressive, but the guide said there is a big surfing competition every year in late November. We also saw the $18 million apartment owned by Rhianna and the restaurant where Elton John eats when he visits, prices starting at $200 per entree. And a hotel where the cheapest rooms are $3,500 a night and the penthouse goes for $25,000 a night and must be rented for at least 14 days during high season. Like most islands there were a few very rich and many very poor.