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

[mugtech]

Last night we enjoyed Asian night in the buffet, all the Filipinos were happy for some lechon. The Second City did their improv show in Spinnaker and it was a very enjoyable 45 minutes. We caught the 9 PM Swing production , completely new cast from the previous eek, but the same great music and dancing for 65 minutes. I do believe it is the best production show I have seen on NCL. Even if you don't like swing music or productionshows I would advise checking out Swing. The new lead singer looks like a performer we saw on the Sun in May, 2015. Hope to talk to her later. We are sharing St Kitts with Celebrity Summit today.

[easyboy]

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.

Did the guide give any example of what a $200 per entree is?

[mugtech]

Did the guide give any example of what a $200 per entree is?

 

No, sorry. Probably not lobster.:D

[mugtech]

Can use your tablet or other device on go onto FB and hit likes, make comments without using minutes as long as you have purchased any plan. All these items post to FB the next time you log in to use minutes. Also FB messaging can be used, my wife uses her cell phone to send me messages I can read as long as I am on the ship

[mugtech]

The NCL website is available for free to everyone, even if you don't have any Internet package. It is very slow, took about 2 minutes to pull up Jade on the schedule, and then 4 more minutes to get to cruises 1-10 and then another 4 minutes to get to 11-20. Hitting details took over 4 minutes to pull up the itinerary. Free Wi-Fi worth the price.

[mugtech]

Waiting for breakfast to open in Garden Cafe, 7 AM, had a fun time in St Kitts yesterday. Went up to the Caribbean International Bank to take a picture of the signs on the bank. A security officer came out the solid door to tell me pictures are not allowed. I smiled and said OK, having already taken the picture. I was tempted to take his picture, but his uniform was quite dull and I did not want to be the ugly American. Banking laws much stricter on St Kitts, no sunglasses allowed. Hung out across the street for 30 minutes, saw no one go in or out of the bank. Hours are 8-2 Monday-Thursday, 8-4 on Friday, closed weekends.

[mugtech]

Don't waste your money on a NCL excursion to Maho Beach, it is just a 30 minutes utensils bus ride and 3 hours later a ride back. You can do the same thing at whatever time you want by taxi, cheaper and more convenient. Had the same trivia questions today as yesterday, at least two teams got them all correct. Watched Captain America yesterday on the big screen, reminded me of why I don't go to movies.

Juggler last night was sometimes corny but mostly very good. His grand finale was balancing a TV on a platform with a pole on his forehead while juggling three pins, claims he did that on David Letterman. Now if I could just remember his name. Well,you could look it up. It is a national holiday today on 11/11 in St Maarten, so there will be parades, bicycle races and many stores closed. We were assured the the tourist gauntlet I'll be open. Being the only ship in port means it is not as crowded as on previous visits.

[rjm11]

thank you so much for all these updates!! What time was the juggler? And was it only once? I think my kids would enjoy that one.

[mugtech]

thank you so much for all these updates!! What time was the juggler? And was it only once? I think my kids would enjoy that one.

 

All the shows except Sunday night are 7 and 9 PM. Don't have the paperwork with me so I forget his name, if you go to the Sunday 9:30 PM preview of the shows he may be there. He was not on last week, don't know how many he will do in a row. There were only 160 b2b this time, so not that many would be seeing him a second time.

[mugtech]

Stopped at the Algeria Hotel next to the casino at Maho Beach and told them what a beautiful hotel they have, very convenient, can hear the airplanes., what are your prices, website etc. So they let us use their WiFi. We were going to buy something, but their vending machines were broken. They advised going to the beachfront bar. Meanwhile at the casino I could have bet on NFL games, the Falcons getting 1.5 points in Philly. No drinks to be had at the casino. "We will give you free drinks once you start playing the machines." Not today

[TSUmom]

Thank you for your live review. We want to do a b2b from San Juan also but are having to wait and see if NCL will be sailing from there in 2017 and or 2018

[$hip$hape]

Stopped at the Algeria Hotel next to the casino at Maho Beach and told them what a beautiful hotel they have,

very convenient, can hear the airplanes., what are your prices, website etc. So they let us use their WiFi.

 

We were going to buy something, but their vending machines were broken.

 

They advised going to the beachfront bar. Meanwhile at the casino I could have bet on NFL games, the Falcons getting 1.5 points in Philly. No drinks to be had at the casino. "We will give you free drinks once you start playing the machines." Not today

Read this review on TripAdvisor:

"This place is in a sorry state of disrepair. It only had four rooms occupied out of hundreds. Dirty.

Elevator doesn't work. One building looks like it was under construction then abandoned.

Only nice thing there was Marty's poolside bar.

Rest of the place should be shut down. "

Edited November 11, 2016 by $hip$hape

[mugtech]

Thank you for your live review. We want to do a b2b from San Juan also but are having to wait and see if NCL will be sailing from there in 2017 and or 2018

 

The Dawn is doing cruises out of San Juan same time of year in 2017, too early for 2018 schedule.

[mugtech]

Read this review on TripAdvisor:

"This place is in a sorry state of disrepair. It only had four rooms occupied out of hundreds. Dirty.

Elevator doesn't work. One building looks like it was under construction then abandoned.

Only nice thing there was Marty's poolside bar.

Rest of the place should be shut down. "

 

Never intend to stay there, just talking nice to them so they give me their WiFi password. WiFi worked rather well.

[mugtech]

Had no trouble getting mouthwash back on board last night, they did not check my bag, just sent it through. Many days my wife brought back her water bottle with water still in it, never questioned. The policy is written and announced at every port, but seemingly not enforced as long as it is small amounts Going to Coral World Ocean Park on St Thomas today, our last stop before San Juan.

[pokerpro5]

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.

 

Hi. I will be on this cruise later this month.

 

La Cucina has been increasingly lousy on each of my past 3 NCL cruises.

 

I am thinking of skipping it this time.

 

What did you order that you would describe as "good"?

 

How were the other specialities?

[pokerpro5]

Can use your tablet or other device on go onto FB and hit likes, make comments without using minutes as long as you have purchased any plan. All these items post to FB the next time you log in to use minutes. Also FB messaging can be used, my wife uses her cell phone to send me messages I can read as long as I am on the ship

 

Wait, are you saying we can use Facebook completely free while on the ship, provided we purchased (or received free) some kind of internet plan?

 

How do we do this?

[mugtech]

Wait, are you saying we can use Facebook completely free while on the ship, provided we purchased (or received free) some kind of internet plan?

 

How do we do this?

 

The use is limited,but you just go to FB directly on your devise, can like and write comments,but none of it gets posted until you next sign in to your onboard account. Also pictures will not post on FB from others until you login to onboard account. Ana the onboard expert will help with any questions,her desk is at the edge of the Art Gallery.

[mugtech]

Hi. I will be on this cruise later this month.

 

La Cucina has been increasingly lousy on each of my past 3 NCL cruises.

 

I am thinking of skipping it this time.

 

What did you order that you would describe as "good"?

 

How were the other specialities?

 

Only other one we did was two Le Bistro,and only because we are platinum and get free wine. The French is a little rich for me, but I enjoyed the chicken and the veal, wife liked the seafood,including crabs Aladdin. Would not go if we had to pay,the other food is good enough for us.

[mugtech]

Another computer problem a few minutes ago, the printer in the library is not printing, so people trying to check in for flight home tomorrow wasted time and money for no results. They went down to the manager on deck 7, don't know how they made out, 10 were waiting in line when I went by. One guy said JetBlue told him at 5 PM today that he was checking in too early for a 10 AM flight tomorrow.

[mugtech]

We found the Coral World Ocean Park to be informative and amusing, a great place for children. The bus left the pier at 8:30 AM and arrived at the park a few minutes before 9, when the park opens. We were told we were on our own, the bus leaves at 11:30 AM. There was plenty of stuff planned, we received a schedule which read as follows:

9:30am Caribbean Reef Encounter

945am Shark Shallows

10:10am Stingray Lagoon

10:30am Sea Lion Presentation at Marine Gardens

11:00am Turtle Talk

Noon Bird Talk - Aviary

Then a repeat of the morning shows in the afternoon

 

There were many kids there, many of them locals as it was a Saturday. Most events are easily accessible. We checked out the stingrays, 4 in a small pond with sand on the bottom. At 10am they started getting restless, flopping up along the sides of the pond waiting for the 10:10 feeding. The staff allowed anyone who wanted to feed them by holding food in the water, some children were scared, just let the food float when the rays got near. A lot of good info dispensed. Right next door is the Sea Lion Presentation, and I would advise going in there as soon as the ray show is over. It got very crowded and there were people still trying to get in when the 10 minute show was in minute nine. There were nice turtles and sharks and an undersea viewing point for all kinds of fish. Bird feeding is also available, and by 11:00 AM there were iguanas all over the park. Best thing we ever did on St Thomas, third time we were there. The tickets for the Skytrain are $21 each, the same price you pay if you buy it through the ship, and I think the ship price may include a drink. We enjoyed it once, probably not doing it again.

 

Getting off the ship today was a breeze. Once again the first ones off started right after 7am and at 7:30 no one was waiting in line. We fooled around, eating a late breakfast, filling out cruise hero forms, and talking to our new friends. They asked everyone to leave except Still On Vacation people at 10:30, we were in line for customs at 10:45 and got a taxi at 11:15. We were at Hyatt Place in 10 minutes and were told we could check in at 2 pm. They gave us the WiFi code, so we are catching up on everything we have been ignoring online while enjoying our vacation. Heard there was an election.

[mugtech]

Another thing we like to do on the last night of a cruise is to get together with our new Filipino American, Filipino Canadians, and any other new friends to have a Filipino meal in one of the complimentary restaurants, this time the Grand Pacific. Of course Filipinos usually outnumber all other crew members, so getting the food properly cooked is no problem. This time 16 of us had pork adobo , pork sinigang and plenty of rice, plus anything else to supplement the meal. No halo halo available for dessert. We always wind up with new emails and possible future cruise mates, another added benefit of cruising. Right now I am feeling incomplete, currently having no future cruises planned. I am sure this will change in two days when we are home with 4 Next Cruises looking for a trip.

[TSUmom]

The Dawn is doing cruises out of San Juan same time of year in 2017, too early for 2018 schedule.

 

Thank you. We now have a 2017 booked with some friends so I will now watch and wait for 2018. I was hoping for the Gem but if it is the Dawn again it will be fine. We seem to prefer the Mega ships but with the busy itinerary I think a small ship will be great too.

[easyboy]

Another thing we like to do on the last night of a cruise is to get together with our new Filipino American, Filipino Canadians, and any other new friends to have a Filipino meal in one of the complimentary restaurants, this time the Grand Pacific. Of course Filipinos usually outnumber all other crew members, so getting the food properly cooked is no problem. This time 16 of us had pork adobo , pork sinigang and plenty of rice, plus anything else to supplement the meal. No halo halo available for dessert. We always wind up with new emails and possible future cruise mates, another added benefit of cruising. Right now I am feeling incomplete, currently having no future cruises planned. I am sure this will change in two days when we are home with 4 Next Cruises looking for a trip.

There are really many Filipino crews in many cruise lines. They always smile and very hardworking. We love them.

[mugtech]

Others have been asking questions on other threads about these Gem cruises, so I thought I would help by moving this review to the front of the pack.