Gem Review 3/22/08-3/29/08

[Mich1121]

Overall I had a great time on the boat. I have previously sailed on the Spirit and was very pleased with them as well. Out of 10 stars I would give this a 9.

 

Embarkation: Very slow. We were in line for 2 hours and got to the pier at 11:30. Nothing we could do but wait it out. I did not like the set up they had this time of getting on but that was my personal opinion. My previous cruise went much faster. The positive was we were handed a glass of champagne upon walking on! Great touch!!!!!

 

I ate at the buffet, Tequila, Magenta, Cagney's, Grand Pacific and Blue Lagoon. I did not have a bad meal at either place. Cagney's was good-the service a little slow and I asked for a bowl of soup that was never brought to me but when I got my rib eye-it made up for all of it. Blue Lagoon was always good-no matter what time of day. I suggest the fried rice with shrimp. I really can't say anything bad about the food and was worried after reading some reviews. The burgers I had were good-not like hockey pucks. ha I had no trouble with reservations either and didn't have to get up at 7am for them either. In fact I went a couple of hours before we planned on eating and did not have any wait time getting in.

 

Staff: Everyone was every friendly and always said hello and asked me if I needed anything. No one was pushy. By the pool Michael always made sure he found me to see if I needed anything. The cleaning staff of the cabins were good too. They knew my childrens names and make sure we had a towel animal on the bed too. My son had a break down one night because his elephant was messed up and they immediately asked him what animal he wanted and made it for him to keep. They sure saved the day! They even rearragnged the room to what was best for a family of 4.

 

Pools: I have read concerns about the kids pool and adult pool being next to each other but I was actually thankful for this. I am always stuck at the kiddie pool away from adults and this time I was right where I wanted to be. You did have to get up early to get a lounge chair and I did see a lot of people dropping off towels to claim a chair and didn't come back for hours! I didn't see any staff removing these items every 30 min. as signs say. I just thought it was rude-if you don't plan on swimming until 12-don't hold up the chair. I felt bad for people with children with no where to sit but I was out there early to make sure I got mine. The slide was a nice touch for kids. My son really liked it. And one say they did an ice sculpture by the pool which drew in a huge crowd.

 

Bars/Lounges: My son loved bowling in Bliss and it was a nice open area to hang out in at night. No kids after 10pm which is strictly enforced which should be. You could buy a helmet of beer and you end up getting a beer or free (they are 16 ounce bottles) so it actually is a good deal. ($5 deposit for the bucket). Grey goose vodka is actually cheaper on the boat so if that's your thing-order a drink. Spinnaker lounge had karaoke and an 80's party one night. I hit up the martini bar one day and had a great time there. Good drinks-a little expensive but worth the money. They tasted so good. As I previosly read some didn't like the set up-all the bars in a row too congested. I agree with this-it didn't ruin my time at all-just my opinion. It would be better spread out more. But I managed to sit at all of them. hahaha

 

We missed GSC which didn't bother me as it did some. I preferred going to Nassau instead. We went to the Atlantis-not through NCL-on our own-it's cheaper that way. I know NCL wants their profit but I decided to save some money.

 

Kids club: Unfortunately my son was not really interested in the kids club at all. He went one night and hated it. He was taken out after 1/2 hour. He said it was boring. He is 5. He liked it on the Spirit but I think if he was removed from the pool or arcade he was not happy so don't take his word on it.

 

Overall I had a great trip and would sail on the Gem again. We had great weather, great food and great drinks. Nothing else to ask for. Getting off the boat was terrible. We did express and carried off our own luggage and waited on line again forever. People were yelling at each other in line and I over heard arguments. Nothing express about that check out but I expected as much. It had no impact on my vacation!

 

Oh one last thing-as I read on previous posts about the shadowed naked ladies on the screens-they are everywhere. They played in the bowling alley at around dinner time-not young child appropriate but my son didn't notice it. I can see why some would complain about it though. I go with the flow so nothing really bothered me at all.

 

If you have any questions I would be happy to answer.

[CTCruisers]

Thanks for the info. We leave for the Gem this weekend. It has been a long winter and we can use the break.

 

How was the weather/temps sailing out of NYC down to Florida?

[Mich1121]

The morning we left it was cold. We started to have flurries and I was expecting the worse but it got warmer by the time we got on the boat. We were comfortable on the top deck with a light jacket. When we woke up at our first full sea day kids were swimming. I didn't swim-it was a little chilly for me but my son had no problem swimming all day and he didn't turn blue. The water was warmed and he said it was nice to be in the hot tub. When we got to Port Canaveral it was beautiful. Nice and warm. When we hit Nassau it was beautiful. A warm 80 degrees. I got a bad sun burn the first day there and wised up the second day and layered on the sun screen. A word of caution-even if it is breezy and cloudy-put on the sun screen. I was very happy with the weather and could not have asked for a better week.

[suzimack]

Overall I had a great time on the boat. I have previously sailed on the Spirit and was very pleased with them as well. Out of 10 stars I would give this a 9.

 

Embarkation: Very slow. We were in line for 2 hours and got to the pier at 11:30. Nothing we could do but wait it out. I did not like the set up they had this time of getting on but that was my personal opinion. My previous cruise went much faster. The positive was we were handed a glass of champagne upon walking on! Great touch!!!!!

 

I ate at the buffet, Tequila, Magenta, Cagney's, Grand Pacific and Blue Lagoon. I did not have a bad meal at either place. Cagney's was good-the service a little slow and I asked for a bowl of soup that was never brought to me but when I got my rib eye-it made up for all of it. Blue Lagoon was always good-no matter what time of day. I suggest the fried rice with shrimp. I really can't say anything bad about the food and was worried after reading some reviews. The burgers I had were good-not like hockey pucks. ha I had no trouble with reservations either and didn't have to get up at 7am for them either. In fact I went a couple of hours before we planned on eating and did not have any wait time getting in.

 

Staff: Everyone was every friendly and always said hello and asked me if I needed anything. No one was pushy. By the pool Michael always made sure he found me to see if I needed anything. The cleaning staff of the cabins were good too. They knew my childrens names and make sure we had a towel animal on the bed too. My son had a break down one night because his elephant was messed up and they immediately asked him what animal he wanted and made it for him to keep. They sure saved the day! They even rearragnged the room to what was best for a family of 4.

 

Pools: I have read concerns about the kids pool and adult pool being next to each other but I was actually thankful for this. I am always stuck at the kiddie pool away from adults and this time I was right where I wanted to be. You did have to get up early to get a lounge chair and I did see a lot of people dropping off towels to claim a chair and didn't come back for hours! I didn't see any staff removing these items every 30 min. as signs say. I just thought it was rude-if you don't plan on swimming until 12-don't hold up the chair. I felt bad for people with children with no where to sit but I was out there early to make sure I got mine. The slide was a nice touch for kids. My son really liked it. And one say they did an ice sculpture by the pool which drew in a huge crowd.

 

Bars/Lounges: My son loved bowling in Bliss and it was a nice open area to hang out in at night. No kids after 10pm which is strictly enforced which should be. You could buy a helmet of beer and you end up getting a beer or free (they are 16 ounce bottles) so it actually is a good deal. ($5 deposit for the bucket). Grey goose vodka is actually cheaper on the boat so if that's your thing-order a drink. Spinnaker lounge had karaoke and an 80's party one night. I hit up the martini bar one day and had a great time there. Good drinks-a little expensive but worth the money. They tasted so good. As I previosly read some didn't like the set up-all the bars in a row too congested. I agree with this-it didn't ruin my time at all-just my opinion. It would be better spread out more. But I managed to sit at all of them. hahaha

 

We missed GSC which didn't bother me as it did some. I preferred going to Nassau instead. We went to the Atlantis-not through NCL-on our own-it's cheaper that way. I know NCL wants their profit but I decided to save some money.

 

Kids club: Unfortunately my son was not really interested in the kids club at all. He went one night and hated it. He was taken out after 1/2 hour. He said it was boring. He is 5. He liked it on the Spirit but I think if he was removed from the pool or arcade he was not happy so don't take his word on it.

 

Overall I had a great trip and would sail on the Gem again. We had great weather, great food and great drinks. Nothing else to ask for. Getting off the boat was terrible. We did express and carried off our own luggage and waited on line again forever. People were yelling at each other in line and I over heard arguments. Nothing express about that check out but I expected as much. It had no impact on my vacation!

 

Oh one last thing-as I read on previous posts about the shadowed naked ladies on the screens-they are everywhere. They played in the bowling alley at around dinner time-not young child appropriate but my son didn't notice it. I can see why some would complain about it though. I go with the flow so nothing really bothered me at all.

 

If you have any questions I would be happy to answer.

 

What is a shadowed naked lady?

[kingtns]

there are tv screens that have a silhouette of a women dancing, it's very noticeable that she has no clothes on...I believe it's the dancers because it said in the daily a few times at Bliss at night you can see the dancers silhouette on screens...I guess it belongs in a nightclub atmosphere however I thought it was strange passing & seeing this with my 8 yr. old.

[Cosmopolitan]

Mich1121 ~

 

Great review and you are right on the mark...the signs are "posted" at the pool..BUT...staff does not remove the towels after 30 minutes and passengers (chair hogs) "ignore" the signs...a CONSTANT problem;)

[NCL_Cruiser]

What is a shadowed naked lady?

 

This is a shadowdancer in Bliss...they have both Live and Memorex....This picture is Memorex.

[NCL_Cruiser]

Mich1121 ~

 

Great review and you are right on the mark...the signs are "posted" at the pool..BUT...staff does not remove the towels after 30 minutes and passengers (chair hogs) "ignore" the signs...a CONSTANT problem;)

 

Problem is, what members of the staff have 30 minutes to watch a chair to see if anyone's come and attended to the towels left there...What they NEED to do is get some former metermaids to chalk up those towels...if the chalk line isn't move 30 minutes later, all items that don't belong to NCL go overboard!

[Mich1121]

hahaha that is funny. Yeah the staff member's dont have time to watch the chairs every 30 minutes to see who is there and who is not. I just thought it was rude of the passengers to leave the chairs unattended while they weren't there for hours at a time. But you find people like this where ever you go on vacation. It is no fault of NCL. Like everytime the elevator opened at sea days-everyone would run to it while I was slower with a carriage, baby and 5 year old-I always had to wait for the next 2 to 3 elevators. It didn't ruin my time one bit though. I learned to put my daughter in the Snuggli-ditch the carriage and take the stairs. I think maybe that's why I didn't gain much weight. The rude people did me a favor! hahahaha you have to look at the positives!

[Carnac767]

Thanks for the review.

 

I think chair hogs are a problem on any ship. We just ignored the towels and helped ourselves to unattended chairs. Nobody ever came back to claim them.

[kenbach]

Mich1121 - thanks for the review. Questions from a newbie - how did you get to Atlantis? were there cabs close to the Nassau port? does Atlantis have a day rate for usage of thier facilities? thanks again.

[Cosmopolitan]

Problem is, what members of the staff have 30 minutes to watch a chair to see if anyone's come and attended to the towels left there...What they NEED to do is get some former metermaids to chalk up those towels...if the chalk line isn't move 30 minutes later, all items that don't belong to NCL go overboard!

 

Sounds good to me;)

 

But, if NCL posts the signs..they should follow through!

[Cosmopolitan]

Mich1121 - thanks for the review. Questions from a newbie - how did you get to Atlantis? were there cabs close to the Nassau port? does Atlantis have a day rate for usage of thier facilities? thanks again.

 

Just walk straight up one block when you exit the pier...MANY cabs and you can "bargain" the price due to so many cabs.

 

When leaving Atlantis, they have the cab line-up so no problem getting back to the ship.

 

Can't help with Atlantis day rate.

[Mich1121]

Mich1121 - thanks for the review. Questions from a newbie - how did you get to Atlantis? were there cabs close to the Nassau port? does Atlantis have a day rate for usage of thier facilities? thanks again.

 

When you walk off the boat walk through customs and you will see a bunch of people offering taxi's or a bus. We took a taxi for $4.00 per person-it was like a minivan and could fit our carriage and bags. We did not book the Atlantis through NCL because they upped the price. I feel between all of the spending I gave them a load of money and wanted to save some even if it was only $20.00 per person. They will bring you right to the Atlantis. We did the aquarium tour and my son really enjoyed it. It's a bit of walking so wear comfortable shoes. With the admission you have access all day long. We went through and then walked all over the Atlantis to check it out. We also stopped in the casino for a bit. The food prices are outrageous so I would not plan on eating there. A caesar salad was $19.50. If your looking to do the water park/slides-look into a room at Comfort Suites-it's cheaper to book there-you can do 4 in a room and you get all day full access to the Atlantis. I looked into this but they were booked. I'm glad we went.

[Mich1121]

Oh to further answer. For the water slides/park it was $105.00 per adult (I'm not positive of the childrens price-it was a little cheaper) and for the aquarium it was $35.00 per adult and $25.00 per child. It's mostly all fish, sharks and bring string rays. There's one spot where you can touch star fish and horse shoe crabs. You can walk through by yourself or ask for a tour guide. We walked through alone. I saw the tour guides and they stopped at every section for like 20 minutes. I'm sure it was very informative but I don't think my son would of liked all the waiting.

 

If your doing the aquarium heres a hint-when you get to the first outside spot-the tour is not done-you have to walk all the way to the second part of it. We thought we were done and I was like this is it-we were redirected to the second part.