4/11-4/18 NCL Gem disappointed VERY LONG

[Traveller20074]

I know that it's a different ship than what I sailed...(Pearl was my cruise) but these ships are "related" This is the kind of post I was thinking about when during my 7 days I kept saying to myself after reading reviews on CC "Some people are really picky!! I LOVE THIS SHIP!!" The buffet had wonderful food, so much so, we never ate anywhere else. Our cabin was well taken care of, and everything was perfect except for the Main dining room's service. Very slow and they did act like they didn't know what they were doing *shrug* The rest of the cruise was incredible. The SPA was one of the highlights of the cruise for me. I downloaded some "spa" music just like what I heard on the ship, and when I take a bath...I go back in my mind to that wonderful spa on the ship with that breathtaking view :) Great Stirrup Cay was awesome to me. BEAUFIFUL snorkeling. I just took my time getting off the ship...getting there when I think a lot of people were thinking of heading back. I didn't mind the crowds..it didn't seem too bad to me.

 

 

Just got back from our 2nd sailing with NCL aboard the Gem. Our first sailing was aboard the Spirit last year for our honeymoon. We liked it so much we came back for more, except this time wasn't as nice.

4/11 - First disappointment was while waiting in line to make reservations, we overheard the folks in front of us make reservations for several specialty restaurants for the entire week. Something that isn't allowed. Well, when it was our turn we didn't get that special treatment. Went to Magenta for dinner. Food was great but the staff seemed confused and wandering around like it was their first day on the job.

4/12 - Sea day. Lattitudes party was fun. We made a deposit on our 3rd cruise. We got the spa package for the week. I got talked into overpriced spa and detox products that will hopefully work. Ate dinner at La Cuccina. Food was great but the service was slow. Last year they were picking up your empty plate and setting down the next plate. I had to leave the table early before I could get dessert to make my spa appointment and then ended up missing that nights show.4/13 - Port Canaveral. Airboat and pontoon boat dolphin and manatee encounter was pretty fun. Cagneys for dinner. Good food but my strip steak was fattier than a normal strip steak.4/14 - Great Stirrup Cay.Parasailing was cancelled due to wind.I'm glad we were on the 1st tender over so we could actually get some chairs.3 other guests of ours weren't as lucky. They finally made it over on the 4th or 5th tender almost 2 hours later. It took several hours to get everyone over to the island. WAY TOO CROWDED!!! Terrible tendering. Snorkeling was the highlight of the day. Buffet for dinner.4/15 - Nassau. See & Sea. Nice underwater viewing of fish and coral. Then a trip through the beautiful (not) city of Nassau. A bus tour through the poverty areas. At least we got to walk the streets for a few hours and get Starbucks and new Del Sol shirts Dinner - We arrived at Tappenyaki at 8:00 to find our reservation was mysterioulsy cancelled. Turns out a group with the same last name had called to cancel and they didn't confirm the room number and we ended up getting bumped. So to make us feel better, they offered us the Orchid Garden and a Friday reservation for Teppanyaki. So 2 sets of cover charges for their screw up. I flipped and after voicing my frustration they offered to get us right into the Grand Pacific. Great dinner with awesome service and a free drink for the mistake and apologees from the restaurant manager. Too bad I had to be a jerk to get the best treatment of the entire week.4/16 - Freeport. Another wonderful scenic city tour. WOW. Let me say that again WOW!!! We did the Beaches and Caves. Unless you're a diver the "caves" are a joke. A spiral set of stairs down to a pool of water to look at some bats. And another "cave" with a platform to look around at a pool of water. The beach portion was nice though with a couple dolphins swimming around within 20 ft or so and some rays swimming around the shore. Dinner was room service and Blue Lagoon.

4/17 - Sea Day. Spent some time at the spa(the spa pool was drained, maybe because of the waves) Relaxed all day. Dinner was Tappenyaki. Food was good but the show was weak. We get much more entertainment at our local Habachi restaurant for the same price. IMHO not worth the $25 per person cover charge.

Housekepping didn't earn their $36 daily fee. They didn't clean the bathroom once. It was the same old seal and bunny towel creations as last year.For a ship less than a year in service it wasn't in that great of shape. At least our balcony room wasn't. The balcony door trim was falling out. I fixed that. The door wouldn't shut and lock without using the child safety latch. That woke us up in the middle of the night slamming open and closed. The TV was crap flashing green all through the nightly news.

 

We didn't care for the seating layout of the Theatre. Some spots it was difficult to see the entire stage. The shows were good. We love watching the Second City. Jane L Powell was the singing act and she was very good. Typical dancing crew barely clothed and Bob the magician with the usual tricks.

 

We hated the atrium of the Gem. With the Spirit you walked in and looked all the way to the top level with the elevators and mirrored walls. The Gem, you walked in and saw a ceiling with fake purple crystals sticking out. We couldn't really catch our bearings on this ship.

 

We were a little upset that there is only 5 restaurants without cover charge. Not much of a choice between burgers, buffet, a few decent plates or waiting for the main dining rooms.

 

Do you have to sit outside all day or wait till the night to get a photo taken? Last year it seemed like every corner you turned they were taking a picture.

 

No arts and crafts activities or technical seminars.

 

As Lattitudes members all we recieved was a couple pins, express boarding which was slightly shorter than the regular line and $50 off our tickets. Not exactly incentive to come back.

 

For almost $9,000 for 2 adults and a child, we don't feel that the Gem was worth this amount of money.

 

I'm a little weary of using this deposit with this line. I do know that it won't be spent on the Gem again.

 

On a positive note the crew and staff are always friendly whenever you see them.

 

Happy Happy!, Smiley Smiley!

[prg2101]

Too bad some very legitimate complaints were lost in a fog of confusion and a rather odd attitude.

 

Strictly my opinion (which I (like the OP) have a perfect right to post):

 

Legitimate complaints:

Teppanaki mess - I know I would have been annoyed too. This should have been better handled without OP having to resort to a scene.

Bathroom not being cleaned - NEVER acceptable. I assume OP complained to Housekeeping department

Balcony door latch. Once again I assume OP complained to maintenance.

 

Legitimate opinions: (I might disagree but OP is perfectly entitled to feel this way (in my opinion)):

any dining issues (food, slowness etc)

any entertainment dislikes, lack of seminars

latitude perks or lack thereof ( I personally really don't care but obviously OP does)

decor of ship (personally I just don't get excited about this but I know some people do)

Great Stirrp Cay - some people like it some people don't

 

So OP had 3 very real complaints (Two I consider serious (my opinion)) and some things he did not care for and some things he liked - so far so good.

 

Now comes the part I found confusing and irritating (my opinion). Obviously the OP felt this was an appropriate way to make his feelings on certain things known.

 

1. The initial $9000 cruise cost figure (initially NOT explained as his total vacation costs until some posters questioned it). Why not just say - this vacation cost me in total $9000 (or just a lot of money) and I wish I had spent it elsewhere rather than saying that THE GEM was not worth $9000. One balcony cabin for 3 people on THE GEM did not cost $9000, THE VACATION did for 5 people (at least that is what I think it did after reading the OPs follow-up posts). OK I am finicky about accuracy and some might not find this annoying but I did.

 

2. "Housekeeping did not earn their $36 daily fee" - $36 daily fee is totally inaccurate but once again not corrected until other posters pointed this out. Why not just say HK did not earn their portion of the service charge rather than toss out an inaccurate figure. OP seems to have a thing for throwing out inaccurate figures and then wonders why he is questioned on them. This was especially annoying since OP HAD a very legitimate complaint about HK - so why taint it with unnecessary inaccurate stuff???

 

Frankly it just really bugs me when posters cannot make a point without being wildly inaccurate. It really lowers my opinion of a review. To give OP credit, he did clarify these points later on in the thread. BUT why confuse (and annoy) people in the first place.

 

The other thing I take issue with simply because I disagree (OP is entitled to his opinion) is his complaint that it is somehow wrong that suites get the privilage of making reservations for the entire week and other cabin types don't. My feeling is that's one of the perks they get with their suite (like the fact that the suite is larger than an inside cabin).

 

 

Couldnt have put it better myself Zeno...;)

[suzyed]

I'm really disappointed at how everyone has attacked extremez for his review and opinions. They are his opinions. If this is to be a "fair" forum, we should all be open to what others have to say, even if we don't agree. You can tell he isn't just a "one-time hit the board with a horrible review and run" poster so why is everyone so defensive? Geesh. I, for one, appreciate ALL feedback, good or bad as I can make my own decisions. And I probably won't post a trip report unless I have good things to say because I don't want to be personally attacked for my view of my experience. Thanks for your trip report, extremez! :)

Well said!!

 

Who ever said this is a "fair" forum?

It seems there is a group of folks on here who feel they have the right to express their opinions when ever...but the "newbies" have no such rights.

They measure the worth of folks opinions by how many posts they have..really pathetic at times...:rolleyes:

[pixiedustdawn]

What is strange is this review is getting so much attention. I, as well as other CC's posted a review from the same cruise as the OP and I can't even find either one anymore. They were gone as soon as we posted them.

[Zeno]

Well said!!

 

Who ever said this is a "fair" forum?

It seems there is a group of folks on here who feel they have the right to express their opinions when ever...but the "newbies" have no such rights.

They measure the worth of folks opinions by how many posts they have..really pathetic at times...:rolleyes:

 

I would say rather there is a group of people who would deny others the right to express contradictory opinions/criticisms of ANY review. I have a real problem with this attitude. This is a forum for OPINION - NOT a support group. People who do not want their reviews disagreed with can post in the Reviews section of this board. If you post here others should be able to agree or disagree. I don't care if a person is a "newbie" or an "oldie". We all have the right to post our opinions of a review.

[tinker]

Length: 971 Feet

Guests: 2226 to 2252

Tons: 91,000 to 92,000

 

 

Straight from the HORSES MOUTH!

 

 

We were on the Gem the week of 2/28/09 and I always read the capacity before booking a cruise as we prefer the medium to smaller ships.

 

Even before boarding I told my husband that the terminal seemed "packed". My instinct was right when the CD announced at the Welcome Aboard Show that it was spring break in Canada and there were 3000 passengers which included 501 kids! Great.

 

It was not a fun week. Gridlock everywhere. Eating in the Garden Cafe buffet was impossible, getting a tender to GSC was ridiculous and the layout of the ship and confined atrium added to the crowded feeling. We liked the food, our balcony cabin on deck 10 was very nice but I feel NCL was irreponsible and packing all those people onto the ship. We did not get the relaxing vacation we very much looked forward to.

[NSP40]

What is strange is this review is getting so much attention. I, as well as other CC's posted a review from the same cruise as the OP and I can't even find either one anymore. They were gone as soon as we posted them.

Nobody wants to look at the good reviews. No one cares if you had a good time they just want to tell you why you didn't have a good time.

Everyone has their own opinion. I was on this same cruise and had a fantastic time as well as all of those traveling with me, there were 21 in total and if all of them posted a good review they still would not get as much attention as this review has. I find it sad that everyone has to attack someone for stating their feelings. I'm new to these boards but have noticed that posters try to push their views on you if your's differ from their's. I'm suprised people still stick their necks out to write an honest review knowing that they will be attacked for their opinion.

 

Nick

[suzyed]

I would say rather there is a group of people who would deny others the right to express contradictory opinions/criticisms of ANY review. I have a real problem with this attitude. This is a forum for OPINION - NOT a support group. People who do not want their reviews disagreed with can post in the Reviews section of this board. If you post here others should be able to agree or disagree. I don't care if a person is a "newbie" or an "oldie". We all have the right to post our opinions of a review.

Of course...I agree. Everyone has a right to agree or not, it just gets so unpleasent sometimes....it's disconcerting.

 

OTOH, a persons review and opinion of their sailing is just that...their opinion or perception...it's not really meant to agree or disagree..its just from their point of view.

 

JMHO

[sillysailor 1955]

Nobody wants to look at the good reviews. No one cares if you had a good time they just want to tell you why you didn't have a good time.

Everyone has their own opinion. I was on this same cruise and had a fantastic time as well as all of those traveling with me, there were 21 in total and if all of them posted a good review they still would not get as much attention as this review has. I find it sad that everyone has to attack someone for stating their feelings. I'm new to these boards but have noticed that posters try to push their views on you if your's differ from their's. I'm suprised people still stick their necks out to write an honest review knowing that they will be attacked for their opinion.

 

Nick

 

You my friend have said a mouthful... it appears that on CC you cannot for any reason say a discouraging word about NCL - listen I say your opinion or my opinion is just as important as anyone else's:cool:

[extremez]

Holy bump batman!

 

I thought and was hoping this thread would have died off a few days ago. It looked like it was going to fizzle out.

 

I apologize for not being completely thorough in my review. I didn't think it would turn into the fiasco it did.

 

For the steak comment. I used to work in a broiler pit cooking steaks, filets, ribs, chops etc... I can understand a thin strip of fat running down the steak, but this wasn't a strip of fat. It was 2 separated round globs of fat sitting in the steak approx 2inches by 2 inches in size.

 

Also I'm not going to disappear from this board, unless I get banned and if giving one bad opinion of a cruise/vacation is ban worthy, then so be it.

 

I fully intend to keep using this board for what it's worth. Researching cruises for my family and I. I only wish that I had found it sooner. It all ended up being a good vacation in the end no matter what. I got away from work and relaxed with the family.

 

I do want to thank everyone who recognized and respected my opinion though. At least some people here have open minds.

 

I'm sure I haven't made alot of friends with this opinion.

 

Now is it possible to get this thread locked? I'm tired of the pointless bashing.