Is The Gem Still A Gem? Almost live... 6-28-2024 sailing

[Laszlo]

Little bummed…. it’s been too windy to fly my drone, this evening the gust have really picked up. Will try in the Moro f before we leave for H20 Sports

 

Is the facial recognition a new thing they have been trying? Seems like they are using it half the time we have been here…. And it seems so be working not great, maybe it’s just my mug. It takes 5x as long as reading my ship card.

[JIMESOPUS]

They have been using facial recognition for a while but it's random. On one cruise every stop, then the next cruise only once.

 

Remember your stop in Maine will be your US immigration inspection.

[Candy Apple 12]

2 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Little bummed…. it’s been too windy to fly my drone, this evening the gust have really picked up. Will try in the Moro f before we leave for H20 Sports

 

Is the facial recognition a new thing they have been trying? Seems like they are using it half the time we have been here…. And it seems so be working not great, maybe it’s just my mug. It takes 5x as long as reading my ship card.

Since drones are on NCL’s prohibited items list, do you have to pick it up from security on your way off the ship?

[havoc315]

1 hour ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

Since drones are on NCL’s prohibited items list, do you have to pick it up from security on your way off the ship?

 

Good question and thanks for pointing that out. I was thinking of bringing my drone, just use to in Arcadia national park. 

[Laszlo]

7 hours ago, havoc315 said:

 

Good question and thanks for pointing that out. I was thinking of bringing my drone, just use to in Arcadia national park. 

Drones are not allowed in National Parks. I won’t go into details since I do t want to get into a pissing match but I’ve never had any problems getting a drone back on the ship, getting it off is the easy part. Too windy again today so it’s a wash out

[JIMESOPUS]

You still have a few hours left in Bermuda, Windy is forecasting an increase in the wave height, so keep an eye out for those little white gift bags.  If the captain decides to go west first before heading north to Maine it would be smoother.

Wave forecast for tomorrow around 11 AM, happy 4th of July

[Candy Apple 12]

Enjoy your extra hour of sleep tonight and your sea day tomorrow. This was the Gem as she left port about an hour ago. 

[Laszlo]

Bear with me for another day, some of my post are not going thru, because the internet speed is so bad. I’ll try to do a photo dump while we are in Portland tomorrow. I have a lot of video footage to go thru overt the next week or so.

 

we had a great time in Bermuda, we just got back from our boat rental when the rain came in. 
 

The winds pick up over night, The ship is moving a little but nothing  too terrible. I did go out to the balcony, yea it’s windy out there Lol

 

Breakfast, Thermal Spa and pool deck today in that order

 

[Laszlo]

Winds are pretty strong, some of the outside decks are closed

 

[Laszlo]

It will be limited use of the balcony today until the winds lower in intensity.

 

 

[Candy Apple 12]

4 hours ago, Laszlo said:

It will be limited use of the balcony today until the winds lower in intensity.

 

 

The seas look a little choppy, but the weather looks beautiful. Did they have to close the pool at all due to the strong winds you mentioned earlier?

Edited 22 hours ago by Candy Apple 12

[Laszlo]

2 hours ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

The seas look a little choppy, but the weather looks beautiful. Did they have to close the pool at all due to the strong winds you mentioned earlier?

Yes, pools were closed for a few hours this afternoon as well as the thermal spa pools

 

At Noon, it’s now 6:20 the Captain said later today we would have guest up to 45 

[umpisoccer]

We are sailing on the Gem Aug 2nd.  Can't wait to go back to Bermuda for 3 days.  We also love sailing out of Boston as we are from Maine.

[umpisoccer]

Can anyone tell me where we should go to sign up for specialty dining reservations when we first get on board the Gem embarkation day?  The times and days we want to make reservations for are not available to book on the NCL App.

[Buford T Justiice]

1 hour ago, umpisoccer said:

Can anyone tell me where we should go to sign up for specialty dining reservations when we first get on board the Gem embarkation day?  The times and days we want to make reservations for are not available to book on the NCL App.

Last week there was a table setup outside the buffet midship... by the elevators.

[ggTexasGal]

10 hours ago, umpisoccer said:

Can anyone tell me where we should go to sign up for specialty dining reservations when we first get on board the Gem embarkation day?  The times and days we want to make reservations for are not available to book on the NCL App.

On May 31 cruise, the Freestyle Daily listed:

* Walk up to any Restaurant Hostess podium

* Stop by Orchid Garden, Deck 7 Mid

* Call Restaurant Reservations by dialing 050

 

[Laszlo]

[Laszlo]

We got off right around 9am, stood in line for 30 minutes, this was the “early-fast” way off for Haven and Suites. It was a bit of a cluster…. I swear the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing half the time

 

I will address some of the issues we had on this cruise, no deal breakers but next time we go to Bermuda will be flying. Stopping here in Portland was a waste, at least for us. 
 

I’m curious to find out how everyone else on this cruise liked it? One thing for sure, the internet speed and WiFi was horrible, everyone around the ship thought it was horrible. All week long I saw groups of 4-6 what looked to be like IT guys working on at least 4 decks the entire day. Maybe they were upgrading the system, I tried to speak to two of them but they did no know any English 

Edited 2 hours ago by Laszlo

[havoc315]

11 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

We got off right around 9am, stood in line for 30 minutes, this was the “early-fast” way off for Haven and Suites. It was a bit of a cluster…. I swear the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing half the time

 

I will address some of the issues we had on this cruise, no deal breakers but next time we go to Bermuda will be flying. Stopping here in Portland was a waste, at least for us. 
 

I’m curious to find out how everyone else on this cruise liked it? One thing for sure, the internet speed and WiFi was horrible, everyone around the ship thought it was horrible. All week long I saw groups of 4-6 what looked to be like IT guys working on at least 4 decks the entire day. Maybe they were upgrading the system, I tried to speak to two of them but they did no know any English 

 

Supposedly they are upgrading the entire fleet to Starlink, but I don't know how quickly.  

I'm on the same cruise 2 weeks from tomorrow.  I won't even attempt a live review.  

[Laszlo]

38 minutes ago, havoc315 said:

 

Supposedly they are upgrading the entire fleet to Starlink, but I don't know how quickly.  

I'm on the same cruise 2 weeks from tomorrow.  I won't even attempt a live review.  

It’s not just the speed but I swear I walk 10ft and go from 5 bars of WiFi to none. 

[Laszlo]

On 7/1/2024 at 2:46 PM, Candy Apple 12 said:

That would work for the coffee drinkers I know. Do they have Tea Forte? I love the English Breakfast tea from Tea Forte. 

Yes they do, in every suite and Haven cabin they have had Tea Forte