Nancy and I will be attending the christening of the brand new Norwegian Gem today in New York and then going out on a 2-night cruise so we can experience the ship.
We'll be sure and tell you all about it when we get back as this looks to be a wonderful ship.
It took us about 4 hours to drive from Northern Virginia to the Manhattan Cruise Pier. It's relatively easy to drive to the pier, but parking can sometimes be a trick. Luckily for us, this was the only ship in port and parking was free for invited guests, so it wasn't a hassle and directions were pretty easy. I highly recommend getting an EZ Pass if you don’t already have one, as this will make your commute a whole lot easier.
We got there about 2:45. Since check-in started at 1:00, there were no lines, which made for a very quick and orderly check-in for us.
The ship is very nice! We always love that 'new ship' smell. The decor is all geared towards different gem colors, so it was classic and pretty.
I will admit that I'm not a big fan of NCL corporate structure. However, this ship is definitely not one to be missed.
The Chairman and CEO of NCL, Colin Veitch, announced during the cruise that
Apollo Management has just invested $1 billion in NCL and they will be changing a lot of things on their ships, especially the food and cabin amenities. We’ll see how this is going to change their ships, but some of these changes were prevalent on this ship.
We attended the christening ceremony, which in our opinion, was lackluster and not professionally done. The entertainment was amateur and the blessing left everyone thinking, “What was that?” Even Mr. Veitch remarked afterwards, “Well, that was certainly different.” It was not what I would call an appropriate christening and left a lot to be desired compared to other christenings. There were no fireworks and nothing to get you excited about the whole thing. All in all, it was very boring, causing people to leave the theater during the entire event.
We had a balcony cabin on Deck 10 amidships. It was wonderful – but too cold to enjoy the balcony! We took the tour of all the cabins to see how they differed and the Gem has some amazing suites. The inside cabins are the smallest, the oceanview are slightly bigger, and the balcony cabins bigger yet. The junior suites are the same width as the balcony cabins but a couple of feet longer. All cabins offer flat-screen TV’s two things we thoroughly enjoyed; a coffee maker and shower doors instead of curtains. These were all really nice additions. The bigger the suites, the better they are – that’s very obvious on this ship. So naturally we really loved the Garden Villas, the Owner’s Suite, etc. These are the most amazing suites you’ll ever find on any ship. The amenities they offer with these are incredible, but well outside our price range. If we could afford it, our favorite was the Romance Suite.
There are 12 restaurants on board, so there is something to satisfy everyone’s likes. However, 4 of these are specialty restaurants for which there are service fees. Obviously, they also serve the best food. We tried the main dining room called Grand Pacific for one dinner and a breakfast. We found the food comparable to Royal Caribbean – good, but nothing outstanding. We also ate at Teppanyaki, which is similar to Benihana’s where they prepare the food right at your table. This was very nice and very good. And we enjoyed a wonderful steak at Cagney’s. Both of these restaurants offer excellent food – it just seems unfair to have to pay to get an upgrade on food.
We enjoy the freestyle dining as we can choose where we want to eat and when. But you do have to make reservations for the specialty restaurants.
Speaking of food, when we got there, the Garden Café was the only place available for us to eat. The food is the usual buffet affair – nothing great, but eatable. Their pizza was pretty good. Perhaps during a normal cruise, this area would not be as crowded, but the tables are too close together and it’s difficult to get around. There is another seating area between the Garden Café and the Outdoors buffet that’s not as crowded, but the tables are still close together. During sailing times in warm weather, the Outdoors buffet would be very nice, but due to very cold weather, no one was using it during our cruise.
The nightclub, Bliss Ultra Lounge & Nightclub, is awesome! There are two sets of two bowling alleys, one set on each side of the nightclub. The chairs in the club are very comfortable and there are also a couple of king-size beds for people to relax on.
There are several bars around the ship, with some of them in one area, making it a great place to mingle.
The topside pool area was very nice with two pools; one for adults. However, because of the Garden Villa area, these are the only two pools, so I can see where they would be very crowded when in use.
The spa area is also very nice, but there is a $20 per person daily fee. You can get a 7-night cruise package where the price is around $95, if my memory is right. I hate when cruise lines charge for use of steam baths or saunas. I did find a small steam bath in the gym area that was complimentary.
Speaking of the gym, as with most modern ships, this area is very well equipped and has everything for those wanting a good workout.
The young childrens’ area is colorful and well equipped. The teen area is equally adequate.
The casino is large compared to the size of the ship and other facilities onboard.
They do have a full-court basketball area that can be used for roller hockey, tennis, soccer, etc. There’s a large rock-climbing wall. And there’s a golf driving range inside a netted area.
Overall, this is a very nice ship that we would really enjoy a 7 – 9 night cruise. We would not do it in an inside cabin, but found the balcony cabin to be very comfortable. We liked the junior suite, but did not see the extra price is worth the small difference.
We sailed on the Gem for the Oct. Dover to Barcelona Med cruise (11 nights). Just a couple of comments.
For breakfast and lunch the Garden Cafe is ALWAYS crowded. Getting a seat is tough at peak times, twice we ended up sitting in the 'kiddie" area on little stools with low tables. Near the end of the cruise they started letting people bring their food into La Cuchina (the Italian Restaurant) in order to sit. Breakfast in the Grand Pacific was very good.
One nice touch is the restaurant status displays scattered around the ship. These are LCD panels show how crowded each restaurant is at that time.
We ate at Cagney's, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki and the Mexican restaurant (can't recall the name, but there's no surcharge there). Teppanyaki was just so-so, the others were great. The other nights we ate in the Grand Pacific, the food was good but nothing special.
We had a mini-suite on deck 11. Besides the location and slightly larger cabin, the only advantage over the balcony is the roll out couch is bigger, and there's a curtain that can separate the living area from the sleeping area. Nice if you travel with kids, or one traveler (like me) is an early riser and the other likes to sleep late. I could get up, make coffee and sit on the deck watching the sunrise and port arrival without waking my wife.
I'm not surprised the christening ceremony left a bit to be desired. From the tacky contest for a godmother, to the delayed christening, to the lackluster ceremony, it appears the whole process was controlled by the marketing department. I heard the ship's officers weren't all that happy about it either.
Well, actually there are two 'dining rooms' and we never had to wait at either one. Since it's 'anytime' dining, people come and go like in a restaurant. The Grand Pacific dining room holds 558 people and the Magenta dining room holds 304. Since the ship holds 2380 guests (double occupancy), that's really not a bad ratio when you figure not everyone wants to eat at the same time. The dining rooms are open for dinner from 5:00pm to 10:00pm, so it's not like trying to cram half the passengers in each of two dinning times. Plus, since it's like eating in a restaurant, the actual time spent eating dinner is considerably less than if you did traditional dining with two seatings. And then when you add all the other dining venues onboard, you really don't have to worry about it.
Well, actually there are two 'dining rooms' and we never had to wait at either one. Since it's 'anytime' dining, people come and go like in a restaurant. The Grand Pacific dining room holds 558 people and the Magenta dining room holds 304. Since the ship holds 2380 guests (double occupancy), that's really not a bad ratio when you figure not everyone wants to eat at the same time. The dining rooms are open for dinner from 5:00pm to 10:00pm, so it's not like trying to cram half the passengers in each of two dinning times. Plus, since it's like eating in a restaurant, the actual time spent eating dinner is considerably less than if you did traditional dining with two seatings. And then when you add all the other dining venues onboard, you really don't have to worry about it.
Pete
Pete, I was referring to the Garden cafe that davejohn mentioned. I guess thats for breakfast and lunch?
Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers
-
Sun Deck
-
Norwegian Cruise Line
-
Norwegian Ships
-
Norwegian Gem
-
Norwegian Gem - Christening 12/18
#
I have never sailed NCL so this gave me an insight into the type of cruise experience the Gem offers. Thanks!
Linear Mode
