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Does anyone eat lunch after embarkation in the sit-down dining rooms vs. the buffet?


LakelandCat

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It's been since 2005 since we have been on a full cruise (done one/two nighters on the Dawn), but in April the Dawn would do a lunch BBQ on pool deck, complete with band. It was a really nice send off. Will that happen on the GEM or has NCL stopped this?

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It's been since 2005 since we have been on a full cruise (done one/two nighters on the Dawn), but in April the Dawn would do a lunch BBQ on pool deck, complete with band. It was a really nice send off. Will that happen on the GEM or has NCL stopped this?

 

Dining room, buffet and poolside BBQ should all be available, assuming the weather cooperates.

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It's been since 2005 since we have been on a full cruise (done one/two nighters on the Dawn), but in April the Dawn would do a lunch BBQ on pool deck, complete with band. It was a really nice send off. Will that happen on the GEM or has NCL stopped this?

I hope they still have it, we will be on the Gem in November.

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I think their point is that there are virtually no empty tables at the buffet, and someone who is not eating is using a table while they read...Why would you read in a restaurant when you could be enjoying a nice, quiet lounge, or relaxing in the sun and doing your reading? I would suspect it is because the reader has been assigned by their group to be the scout, has procurred the requested window table, and is waiting for their friends with food to relieve them of their duties.

 

No I just like reading and eating. Sometimes I'll eat and read outside in the sun, sometimes not. On NCL I'm free to..whatever :cool:

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I think their point is that there are virtually no empty tables at the buffet, and someone who is not eating is using a table while they read...Why would you read in a restaurant when you could be enjoying a nice, quiet lounge, or relaxing in the sun and doing your reading? I would suspect it is because the reader has been assigned by their group to be the scout, has procurred the requested window table, and is waiting for their friends with food to relieve them of their duties.

 

I sit at an inside table because it is warmer; I'm comfortable, and, no, I'm not with a group or holding a table. I would gladly share my table with others. But, I paid my cruise dollars and...it's my vacation too!! :p

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When we tried to eat a Versailles on the Star' date=' it didn't open until 2 and we boarded at 1130. We even physically tried to open the door, but it was locked. :([/quote']

 

Sorry that was the case for you, but I know I dined in Versailles for lunch on embarkation day when I sailed on the Star. I'm looking at my Freestyle Daily for my sailing and Versailles was open from 12:30 to 2:30 for lunch on embarkation day. That was two years ago. I'm surprised to hear that it has changed.

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The reason they tell you to go to the buffet is because they also tell you the rooms won't be ready until 1:00 so they don't want all those people with their carry on's in the dinning room. The key is to go directly to your room and drop off your carry on's

 

We like to get on, take our carry-on's directly to the cabin as the stewards always say no problem, then we're free to check the ship out while everyone else sits in the buffet. It's actually the BEST time for me to take pictures of the public areas as there is usually no one around and I get clean pictures. But we will certainly be one of the 1st on this year and we'll have the dining room (or any other specialty room) to lunch in thanks to this thread!:D But I won't tell anyone else they can:rolleyes:

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I can't believe I'm opening this can of worms, but I honestly don't remember the answer......

 

Can you wear shorts in the main dining room for lunch? I'm sure that's what we'll be in coming directly out of the car....

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Sorry that was the case for you, but I know I dined in Versailles for lunch on embarkation day when I sailed on the Star. I'm looking at my Freestyle Daily for my sailing and Versailles was open from 12:30 to 2:30 for lunch on embarkation day. That was two years ago. I'm surprised to hear that it has changed.

This was just in September, maybe it was a fluke. I read about eating there on these boards, that's why we tried. It was kind of sad, I thought I had this great secret place to go, so I brought my brother and his family with us. They probably thought I was nuts.

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We wnjoyed eating in the Grand Pacific on the Gem the day we boarded. It was not crowded at all. We had a window seat and could watch the pier as security inspected the food and other supplies to come aboard as well as the many semi trucks that came and went.

 

Yes, they try to discourage you from eating there. We found it relaxing and enjoyable.

We are going to have carry ons and we're on Deck 11 on the Gem. Is it ok to bring your carry ons to lunch in Grand Pacific ? Hate to try and drop them off in Cabin only to be turned away. Please advise we're 1st timers!

Thanks

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We are going to have carry ons and we're on Deck 11 on the Gem. Is it ok to bring your carry ons to lunch in Grand Pacific ? Hate to try and drop them off in Cabin only to be turned away. Please advise we're 1st timers!

Thanks

 

That's exactly what I did (also had a cabin on Deck 11), but my carry-on was not very big (just big enough for my valuables and a change of clothes).

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That's exactly what I did (also had a cabin on Deck 11), but my carry-on was not very big (just big enough for my valuables and a change of clothes).

What time was your cabin ready? You did a great review! Do you know if anyone hooked up their laptop to the tv? Asked this before but haven't found out yet...thought I'd try again!

Thanks and Happy Easter to all!

Michelle

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We're on the Gem in 2 weeks. We always carry on all luggage - from planes to the ship. (We've had luggage go on vacation to places we've never been...) There will be 6 of us - I'm hoping they don't try to keep us out of the DR - I don't think I want to try the buffet with all that baggage in tow.

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What time was your cabin ready? You did a great review! Do you know if anyone hooked up their laptop to the tv? Asked this before but haven't found out yet...thought I'd try again!

Thanks and Happy Easter to all!

Michelle

They made an announcement at almost exactly 2 pm that the cabins were ready. What kind of cable are we talking about? I know that I was able to hook up my portable media player, which I use to store photos from my digital camera. It uses an RCA video output cable. Connecting the player to the tv, I was able to view my photos on the cabin tv.

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They made an announcement at almost exactly 2 pm that the cabins were ready. What kind of cable are we talking about? I know that I was able to hook up my portable media player, which I use to store photos from my digital camera. It uses an RCA video output cable. Connecting the player to the tv, I was able to view my photos on the cabin tv.

We want to try hook up our laptop which has a dvd player to the tv to play dvds on the tv. The computer has a "s" connect to get the video and we were wondering if anyone knew if there is something to get the audio hooked up to the tv via the earphone hookup???? Not an electronics person as you can tell....thought if there was someone out there whose done this they could tell us how they did it! Know a lot of people bring dvd players but trying to travel light and we have to bring laptop so we are trying to work it out and avoid $$movies on board!

Thanks

Michelle

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We're on the Gem in 2 weeks. We always carry on all luggage - from planes to the ship. (We've had luggage go on vacation to places we've never been...) There will be 6 of us - I'm hoping they don't try to keep us out of the DR - I don't think I want to try the buffet with all that baggage in tow.

 

Why do you need to carry all of your luggage onto the ship? You can drop off your luggage and they will deliver it to your cabin. Keep one small carry on with you.

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We want to try hook up our laptop which has a dvd player to the tv to play dvds on the tv. The computer has a "s" connect to get the video and we were wondering if anyone knew if there is something to get the audio hooked up to the tv via the earphone hookup???? Not an electronics person as you can tell....thought if there was someone out there whose done this they could tell us how they did it! Know a lot of people bring dvd players but trying to travel light and we have to bring laptop so we are trying to work it out and avoid $$movies on board!

Thanks

Michelle

The S-video output from your laptop should be able to connect to the tv, but you might need an adapter cable. Also, you should also be able to connect the PC's audio out to the tv's audio input. Again, however, you will need the appropriate cable. Check out these links:

 

http://www.svideo.com/compaq1700.html

 

http://videoclub.tiscali.co.uk/info/tv.html

 

Frankly, the tv in an AF cabin is not very big. You won't be gaining all that much over the picture that will display on your laptop. You might want to avoid figuring all of the above out and just plug the laptop in (vs. using its battery) and view your movies on the laptop.

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I will DEFINITELY be going to the sit down dining room (Windows) once I board the Spirit on 4/27. Question for those who have been on Spirit...which way to do I go once I embark? (I've never been on Spirit before!) Maybe I should go look at some Deck maps on NCL.com...;)

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Guest Anorak33
Would Cagney's be open for lunch on embarkation day for penthouse guests/

 

 

 

 

Read post 21 in this thread

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