Just off the Gem 7/26 – 8/2: VERY LONG review

[jend**]

My advice about arranging a taxi from the port would be to go on the rollcall board for your cruise and get a group together, and then once you know how many people will share the taxi, you can price it through viator. Here is a link for viator: http://www.viator.com/tours/Barcelona/Barcelona-Port-Private-Departure-Transfer/d562-2140BCNHTLPRT

 

Viator may be pricey, so there may be other websites that you can search on that provide transfers from Barcelona's port.

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

Thank you for the very informative review. So many good information I will be using as we just booked on Gem for the 11/08/09 cruise.

The hotel listed has a cruise package which is what we want. It provided transportation from airport and to the cruise port for $340 Euro which is about $480US for 3 adults.

Any thoughts on this deal? Any other hotels have this type of service?

Also, some replies indicated pre-arranged pick up for the post cruise to airport, any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

 

Wants2fly

 

Nice review...thanks!

 

I would stay at the 5 Star Eurostar Grand Marina in Barcelona. It is fantastic and not very expensive (try to get the romance package that includes champagne and breakfast).

[uneamie]

I was seasick and did not go on my balcony until the last day, and I did not notice whether there was an overhang. Sorry!

 

Thanks for responding.....sorry you were so sick. Been there done that...seasickness is miserable. :(

[Cardex]

Great informative review...good job.

 

That said.....we are staying in cabin # 11546 mid ship..a mini suite on Gem too. I was wondering how you liked your "balcony". From what I can see there is an "over hang" that extends further out on the "mid ship" mini suites then it does any where else. Was this "over hang" OK for you....we are not happy with it being there for we like our balcony being completely open etc. Thanks for your input. :)

 

We were in 11052 on the Jade and I was worried about the overhang too. It didn't bother us at all.

Here's a photo from our balcony and you can see the overhang above.

 

 

Hope this helps.

[uneamie]

We were in 11052 on the Jade and I was worried about the overhang too. It didn't bother us at all.

Here's a photo from our balcony and you can see the overhang above.

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for posting this....I will take your word for it, that it did not bother you. I like taking pics off the balcony, especially when coming into ports, and not sure if the over hang is going to destroy the light or get in the way. It looks like it protrudes quite a bit. Thanks again. :)

[steviek49]

I just returned from the 7 days Gem Mediterranean cruise. Here is a quick review, and I am happy to answer any questions. This was my first cruise and first trip to Europe.

Pre-cruise planning: We got Capital One credit cards to use in Europe, because they have no foreign transaction fee (which is normally 3% for most credit cards). We got Euros through Wachovia Bank, because their rate was better than Bank of America, and Wachovia had a flat $15 fee regardless of the amount of Euros you purchased. Also, Wachovia lets you specify the denominations you want. If you are a member of AAA Auto Club, they will give you a free, large book on European cities. Also, I highly recommend the "Streetwise" brand of laminated maps, available at amazon.com (we bought these maps for every port). The Streetwise maps provide an alphabetical listing of all of the streets in the city, along with a citation to where on the map the street can be found. Finally, we got Pacsafe brand travel accessories (the small sling purse for me, which held my passport, cell phone, and credit cards/Euros; and the small backpack for my husband), because we heard that there was a lot of pickpocketing in the ports we were visiting.

Regarding cell phones: If you have a T-Mobile Blackberry, call Tmobile and add the international email plan, which costs $20 for a month, but they will prorate the cost depending on the number of days you need plan. You can email as much as you want from anywhere you want (on ship or land) under the plan at no additional charge beyond the $20 (or prorated) fee. However, texts are not included in the plan - only email is included. If you have Verizon, do not even bother bringing your cell phone. My husband has Verizon, and we paid them to send us (rent) a global blackberry to use on our trip, so that my husband and I could communicate if we got separated, and the phone NEVER worked for email or Blackberry messenger.

My husband and I arrived in Barcelona a day early, because many places are closed in Barcelona on Sundays, the day the ship returned to Barcelona. The taxi from the airport to our hotel, which was located on Las Ramblas, was about 30 Euros. We stayed at the Hotel Royal Rambla: http://www.royalramblashotel.com/en/home/ . The location was great, the price was reasonable, and the room was nice.

The next day, we boarded the cruise. Our hotel offered a late 3pm check-out for an additional 10 Euros, and we took it. We took a taxi from the hotel to the port, which cost about 20 Euros, and we arrived at the ship around 3:00pm. There was absolutely no line, and check-in took about 10 minutes. So easy!

We stayed in a minisuite on Deck 11 (room 11634), and it was great. Prior to getting on the ship, I was worried about the room, because everyone on cruisecritic talks about how great the full suites are, and I was worried that I had made a bad decision with the minisuite. However, the room size, bathroom size, closet size, and location were all perfect. As this was my first cruise (and I am a woman), I totally overpacked. We had 4 large suitcases and 2 carryons, yet we were able to completely unpack with plenty of room in the closets and drawers.

Some of the best packing advice that I received on the cruisecritic website is the following: (1) Buy an over-the-door shoe organizer to put on your bathroom door to store your toiletries. My husband originally mocked me for getting this, but he later admitted that it was a good idea. (2) If you are from the US, bring a power strip and an extension cord, because there is only 1 US plug in the room, and it is located on the desk. We were able to charge all of our electronics at night by bringing the powerstrip (and the extension cord allowed us to plug in our dvd player and watch dvds in bed at night). (3) If you are bringing a travel clock, make sure that it runs on batteries. If you plug a travel clock in, it will not keep the correct time (something to do with an electrical current or something).

After we saw our room, we went to the spa. I had read on cruisecritic about the spa pass, which on the 7 day Gem cruise is $99 per person. There are supposedly a limited number of spa passes available, and the passes give you access to a kid-free pool, sauna, steam room, private jacuzzis, and best of all, these wonderful heated tile lounge chairs. The use of the chairs alone was worth the $99. Everyday, after we returned from our day in port, I would come to the spa and fall asleep on one of these chairs for an hour. Other people loved these chairs too, so if I got to the spa too late in the evening, they were all taken. Also, if you like spa services, wait until the first day in a port, and then they offer deals every day on spa services and packages.

Once the ship set sail, I got seasick. I had packed and taken Dramamine, but it did not work. However, if you go to the Reception desk on the 7th floor of the ship, they will give you free Meclazine. It works really well, but it makes you tired.

Unfortunately, the food on the Gem was not very good. My husband and our 2 friends that were with us agreed. I do not have gourmet tastes, but the food really wasn’t that good. In fact, the pizza was downright bad (and really, how hard is it to make good pizza?). We ate in the Garden Café (free buffet dining), the Magenta (free sit-down dining), room service for breakfast on the days in port, Cagneys, and La Cuccina. I don’t mind going to the pay restaurants if the food there is good, but I was not really impressed with the food at Cagneys or La Cuccina. Others may disagree with me.

My husband took pictures of all of the menus on the Gem. I am not technologically advanced, so I don’t know how to post the pictures somewhere and then provide a link. However, if you would like the pictures of the menus, you can shoot me an email, and I will email them to you. My email address is jendeeb@yahoo.com , and type "Gem menus" in the subject line (because I do not open emails when I do not know who they are from).

A little tip if you buy bottled water on the ship: Go to the Garden Cafe at lunch or dinner, and go to the register that is in the dessert area opposite of the soups. In the evenings we were able to buy very large bottled water for the same price as the smaller bottles of water sold everywhere else (a little over $5, including the automatic gratuity). The guy at this register appeared to be the only guy that knew about the larger waters, and his nametag indicated that he was like a supervisor or senior something.

Also, a tip about the chocolate buffet: Don’t go, and if you do, don’t go the minute it begins. It was an absolute madhouse, and the desserts were not good. They don’t tell you that all of the desserts repeat a few times, and everyone is pushing and shoving trying to get more and more dessert. It really was crazy, and my husband even saw a lady take a dessert, take a bite of it while in line, and then she put the dessert back (yes, you read that correctly!).

In Malta, we did not do an NCL excursion. When we got off the ship, we were very lucky in that we happened to get a fantastic taxi driver that took my husband and our 2 friends to Mdina. I believe that the cost for the 4 of us roundtrip (total) was $64. Mdina is a very neat place that is enclosed by walls, and it is about 30 minutes from the port by car. There is some beautiful blown glass for sale there. We also spent a little time walking around Valletta.

In Naples, we hired a private driver to take us to Sorrento. Our friends went to Pompeii and took the train, which they said had no air conditioning and was kind of dirty. If you are looking to arrange a private driver, we used Autoservizi De Martino: http://www.autoservizidemartino.com/. Our driver was Allesandro, and the cost was 35 Euros per hour, for a minimum of 5 hours. That price covered transportation for 4 people in a late-model air-conditioned Mercedes. The driver was nice and knowledgeable, and he spoke perfect English. He stopped at several scenic places on the way to Sorrento so that we could take pictures. The drive to Sorrento took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Once in Sorrento, we took a tour of a mozzarella cheese factory, and it was great: http://www.caseificiomichelangelo.com/index.php. We got to see how the cheese was made, and we even got to braid some cheese ourselves. After the tour, we were given a delicious homemade lunch that included a tasting of 6 different cheeses that they make, some meats, olives, pasta, bread, and wine. After we left, we walked around Sorrento and then returned to Naples. Before we went back to the ship, we stopped at Brandi Pizzeria, which claims to be where pizza Margherita was invented in 1889, in honor of Queen Margherita.

In Rome and Florence, we did NCL’s Rome/Florence on Your Own excursions, since those cities are about an hour and a half from port, and you are guaranteed that the ship will not leave without you if the bus encounters traffic or has a breakdown. The bus is large and air-conditioned, and a tour guide drives there and back with you and gives you good information about the cities. Once in Florence and Rome, the tour guide leaves you, and you are on your own. One important thing to note: the time stated on the NCL website regarding when the bus leaves the port is not accurate. The NCL website said that the bus left at 7:45am for Florence and 8:00am for Rome. However, when we got on the ship, we learned that the bus left at 8:30am for one city and 8:45am for the other. Our friends had arranged a tour of the Vatican on their own (not through NCL) based on the earlier leaving time indicated on the NCL excursion website and almost did not make it there in time.

Florence was our favorite port, and the food in Rome and Florence was absolutely amazing! The last port was Cannes. We did not really enjoy that port.

The next day we returned to Barcelona. I’m so glad that I had read postings on cruisecritic, because the ship did not explain the process of leaving the ship. Basically, you go down to the 7th floor of the ship near the Reception desk and choose new luggage tags. The color of the tags indicates the time you want to leave the ship (starting, I think at 7am and ending at 9:30am). You attach the colored tags to your luggage, and you leave your luggage outside your door before a specified hour the night before. Then, the next morning, your color gets called, and you can get off of the ship without carrying any luggage, as it is waiting outside for you. We chose the 9:30 time slot, and it took about a half hour to get off of the ship (the halls were crowded) and to get our luggage. After that, I learned the following lesson the hard way: Arrange ahead of time for transportation to pick you up from the port. Trust me, that was the worst part of the whole trip. We waited outside in the heat (it was about 104 degrees F) for an hour in a line of cranky people, pushing and shoving, waiting for a taxi.

Well, I hope that this review is helpful. Feel free to ask me any questions.

We will be on the Gem in 6 days and was wondering if you noticed any specials (2 for 1) for any of the specialty restaurants?

How far in advance did can you make reservations?

Thanks!

[awdcruise2009]

I just returned from the 7 days Gem Mediterranean cruise. Here is a quick review, and I am happy to answer any questions. This was my first cruise and first trip to Europe.

Pre-cruise planning: We got Capital One credit cards to use in Europe, because they have no foreign transaction fee (which is normally 3% for most credit cards). We got Euros through Wachovia Bank, because their rate was better than Bank of America, and Wachovia had a flat $15 fee regardless of the amount of Euros you purchased. Also, Wachovia lets you specify the denominations you want. If you are a member of AAA Auto Club, they will give you a free, large book on European cities. Also, I highly recommend the "Streetwise" brand of laminated maps, available at amazon.com (we bought these maps for every port). The Streetwise maps provide an alphabetical listing of all of the streets in the city, along with a citation to where on the map the street can be found. Finally, we got Pacsafe brand travel accessories (the small sling purse for me, which held my passport, cell phone, and credit cards/Euros; and the small backpack for my husband), because we heard that there was a lot of pickpocketing in the ports we were visiting.

Regarding cell phones: If you have a T-Mobile Blackberry, call Tmobile and add the international email plan, which costs $20 for a month, but they will prorate the cost depending on the number of days you need plan. You can email as much as you want from anywhere you want (on ship or land) under the plan at no additional charge beyond the $20 (or prorated) fee. However, texts are not included in the plan - only email is included. If you have Verizon, do not even bother bringing your cell phone. My husband has Verizon, and we paid them to send us (rent) a global blackberry to use on our trip, so that my husband and I could communicate if we got separated, and the phone NEVER worked for email or Blackberry messenger.

My husband and I arrived in Barcelona a day early, because many places are closed in Barcelona on Sundays, the day the ship returned to Barcelona. The taxi from the airport to our hotel, which was located on Las Ramblas, was about 30 Euros. We stayed at the Hotel Royal Rambla: http://www.royalramblashotel.com/en/home/ . The location was great, the price was reasonable, and the room was nice.

The next day, we boarded the cruise. Our hotel offered a late 3pm check-out for an additional 10 Euros, and we took it. We took a taxi from the hotel to the port, which cost about 20 Euros, and we arrived at the ship around 3:00pm. There was absolutely no line, and check-in took about 10 minutes. So easy!

We stayed in a minisuite on Deck 11 (room 11634), and it was great. Prior to getting on the ship, I was worried about the room, because everyone on cruisecritic talks about how great the full suites are, and I was worried that I had made a bad decision with the minisuite. However, the room size, bathroom size, closet size, and location were all perfect. As this was my first cruise (and I am a woman), I totally overpacked. We had 4 large suitcases and 2 carryons, yet we were able to completely unpack with plenty of room in the closets and drawers.

Some of the best packing advice that I received on the cruisecritic website is the following: (1) Buy an over-the-door shoe organizer to put on your bathroom door to store your toiletries. My husband originally mocked me for getting this, but he later admitted that it was a good idea. (2) If you are from the US, bring a power strip and an extension cord, because there is only 1 US plug in the room, and it is located on the desk. We were able to charge all of our electronics at night by bringing the powerstrip (and the extension cord allowed us to plug in our dvd player and watch dvds in bed at night). (3) If you are bringing a travel clock, make sure that it runs on batteries. If you plug a travel clock in, it will not keep the correct time (something to do with an electrical current or something).

After we saw our room, we went to the spa. I had read on cruisecritic about the spa pass, which on the 7 day Gem cruise is $99 per person. There are supposedly a limited number of spa passes available, and the passes give you access to a kid-free pool, sauna, steam room, private jacuzzis, and best of all, these wonderful heated tile lounge chairs. The use of the chairs alone was worth the $99. Everyday, after we returned from our day in port, I would come to the spa and fall asleep on one of these chairs for an hour. Other people loved these chairs too, so if I got to the spa too late in the evening, they were all taken. Also, if you like spa services, wait until the first day in a port, and then they offer deals every day on spa services and packages.

Once the ship set sail, I got seasick. I had packed and taken Dramamine, but it did not work. However, if you go to the Reception desk on the 7th floor of the ship, they will give you free Meclazine. It works really well, but it makes you tired.

Unfortunately, the food on the Gem was not very good. My husband and our 2 friends that were with us agreed. I do not have gourmet tastes, but the food really wasn’t that good. In fact, the pizza was downright bad (and really, how hard is it to make good pizza?). We ate in the Garden Café (free buffet dining), the Magenta (free sit-down dining), room service for breakfast on the days in port, Cagneys, and La Cuccina. I don’t mind going to the pay restaurants if the food there is good, but I was not really impressed with the food at Cagneys or La Cuccina. Others may disagree with me.

My husband took pictures of all of the menus on the Gem. I am not technologically advanced, so I don’t know how to post the pictures somewhere and then provide a link. However, if you would like the pictures of the menus, you can shoot me an email, and I will email them to you. My email address is jendeeb@yahoo.com , and type "Gem menus" in the subject line (because I do not open emails when I do not know who they are from).

A little tip if you buy bottled water on the ship: Go to the Garden Cafe at lunch or dinner, and go to the register that is in the dessert area opposite of the soups. In the evenings we were able to buy very large bottled water for the same price as the smaller bottles of water sold everywhere else (a little over $5, including the automatic gratuity). The guy at this register appeared to be the only guy that knew about the larger waters, and his nametag indicated that he was like a supervisor or senior something.

Also, a tip about the chocolate buffet: Don’t go, and if you do, don’t go the minute it begins. It was an absolute madhouse, and the desserts were not good. They don’t tell you that all of the desserts repeat a few times, and everyone is pushing and shoving trying to get more and more dessert. It really was crazy, and my husband even saw a lady take a dessert, take a bite of it while in line, and then she put the dessert back (yes, you read that correctly!).

In Malta, we did not do an NCL excursion. When we got off the ship, we were very lucky in that we happened to get a fantastic taxi driver that took my husband and our 2 friends to Mdina. I believe that the cost for the 4 of us roundtrip (total) was $64. Mdina is a very neat place that is enclosed by walls, and it is about 30 minutes from the port by car. There is some beautiful blown glass for sale there. We also spent a little time walking around Valletta.

In Naples, we hired a private driver to take us to Sorrento. Our friends went to Pompeii and took the train, which they said had no air conditioning and was kind of dirty. If you are looking to arrange a private driver, we used Autoservizi De Martino: http://www.autoservizidemartino.com/. Our driver was Allesandro, and the cost was 35 Euros per hour, for a minimum of 5 hours. That price covered transportation for 4 people in a late-model air-conditioned Mercedes. The driver was nice and knowledgeable, and he spoke perfect English. He stopped at several scenic places on the way to Sorrento so that we could take pictures. The drive to Sorrento took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Once in Sorrento, we took a tour of a mozzarella cheese factory, and it was great: http://www.caseificiomichelangelo.com/index.php. We got to see how the cheese was made, and we even got to braid some cheese ourselves. After the tour, we were given a delicious homemade lunch that included a tasting of 6 different cheeses that they make, some meats, olives, pasta, bread, and wine. After we left, we walked around Sorrento and then returned to Naples. Before we went back to the ship, we stopped at Brandi Pizzeria, which claims to be where pizza Margherita was invented in 1889, in honor of Queen Margherita.

In Rome and Florence, we did NCL’s Rome/Florence on Your Own excursions, since those cities are about an hour and a half from port, and you are guaranteed that the ship will not leave without you if the bus encounters traffic or has a breakdown. The bus is large and air-conditioned, and a tour guide drives there and back with you and gives you good information about the cities. Once in Florence and Rome, the tour guide leaves you, and you are on your own. One important thing to note: the time stated on the NCL website regarding when the bus leaves the port is not accurate. The NCL website said that the bus left at 7:45am for Florence and 8:00am for Rome. However, when we got on the ship, we learned that the bus left at 8:30am for one city and 8:45am for the other. Our friends had arranged a tour of the Vatican on their own (not through NCL) based on the earlier leaving time indicated on the NCL excursion website and almost did not make it there in time.

Florence was our favorite port, and the food in Rome and Florence was absolutely amazing! The last port was Cannes. We did not really enjoy that port.

The next day we returned to Barcelona. I’m so glad that I had read postings on cruisecritic, because the ship did not explain the process of leaving the ship. Basically, you go down to the 7th floor of the ship near the Reception desk and choose new luggage tags. The color of the tags indicates the time you want to leave the ship (starting, I think at 7am and ending at 9:30am). You attach the colored tags to your luggage, and you leave your luggage outside your door before a specified hour the night before. Then, the next morning, your color gets called, and you can get off of the ship without carrying any luggage, as it is waiting outside for you. We chose the 9:30 time slot, and it took about a half hour to get off of the ship (the halls were crowded) and to get our luggage. After that, I learned the following lesson the hard way: Arrange ahead of time for transportation to pick you up from the port. Trust me, that was the worst part of the whole trip. We waited outside in the heat (it was about 104 degrees F) for an hour in a line of cranky people, pushing and shoving, waiting for a taxi.

Well, I hope that this review is helpful. Feel free to ask me any questions.

can you tell me about the cheese factory in sorrento. Did you need reservations? what was the cost? I saw your post last week and sent them an email but did not get a response. How far was it from town? Walking distance? It sounds REALLY great and we are very interested in going if we can!!!

[gramwii]

Thank you for taking the time to give so much detail. Our first to Western Med. Very useful info!