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wicked cool
Cruiser
| Joined: | Sat Aug 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | Bourne, MA |
| Posts: | 58 |
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Posted: Tue Jan 1st, 2008 11:58 pm | 1st Post |
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Three of the four of us have cruised NCL in the past. Dad 78, sister 52, husband 56 and myself 51.
The ships decor is very tastefully done. Bright, but very rich looking. We noticed the casino to be smokey at times and others not. My husband won about $350 at the dollar slots so he was happy. The rest of us lost about $100 at the slots. The Garden Cafe' is nice and open with plenty of great food to pick from. Having no trays didn't bother me as there were plenty of staff waiting to help you if needed. The seating area is small in my opinion and the tables are very close together making it hard to get around. I thought the shopping area was on the small side too with less to offer than on other cruise lines. We really enjoyed the bridge viewing area on deck 11 portside all the way forward. Since it was a cruise to nowhere from Boston in the freezing weather with snow we were unable to enjoy what the outdoors had to offer. The Bliss Lounge is not to be missed! The Star Bar has fantastic views as well as the Spinnaker Lounge. The Gem definitely has something for everyone.
For the most part we thought the service was good. Black Falcon Terminal can be hot or cold as far as checking in. This time I wasn't impressed, especially since we had VIP check in. The "next in line" were literally behind you looking over your shoulder. I think there needs to be a line on the floor for the next person to stand behind until one is finished checking in. We drove to Black Falcon and parked across the street in the parking garage.
Service was slow as far as getting a drink but I have to say since this was only a weekend cruise (booze cruise) that was probably half the problem. We did sit at the champagne bar one evening when no one else was there and we were literally ignored for AT LEAST 5-8 minutes and there were 3 people working there. None of them even looked as us. They were doing other things but they could have at least acknowledged us.
We were called for an upsell from a AF to an A3 for what we thought was a good price. We originally only had 3 of us going but since we had more room we added one more. The Courtyard Villa is the way to go if you can afford it, but for us we will have to stick with a balcony as we would never spend that kind of money on a cabin. It was quite the treat! I also want to add that the balcony door blew open twice. Once while we were out of the cabin and when we got back it was FREEZING! Closed it and turned the handle down to lock it only to have it vibrate open again. We then used the child proof lock as a back up and that worked.
Since we were in a Villa we had the butler make reservations to Cagney's for us. This was shortly after boarding. He came back to tell us that Cagney's was fully booked for both nights. We settled for Le Bistro and enjoyed it although you had to pay an extra $10pp if you wanted the lamb or chateau briand (not sure of the spelling) and we didn't think that was right. That was our first time doing a specialty restaurant and I honestly can say I would probably never do it again as we enjoyed the dining room food just as much. Maybe it's the atmosphere people really enjoy.
We saw two shows and while I'm sure they were liked by many, it was not our style. Don't get me wrong, what they did was good, just not our style.
Disembarkation was easy for us but we did see some angry people when they had to go from deck 6 VIP area up to deck 7 then down the hall to go back down to 6 to get in line with the others. There are always people complaining about something like they are the only ones getting off.
All in all we very much enjoyed The Gem and would love to experience her or a sister ship in the Caribbean so we can enjoy all she has to offer.
SharonLast edited on Tue Jan 1st, 2008 11:59 pm by wicked cool
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10/08 Mariner of the Seas
1/08 Carnival Valor, 12/07 NCL Gem, 3/07 Majesty OTS, 10/06 Explorer, 10/06, NCL Majesty, 11/04 Radiance OTS, 11/03 Radiance OTS, 9/03 NCL Majesty, 1/03 Pride, 10/02 Enchantment, 2/01 Victory, 2/98 Destiny
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hstrybuf
Founders
| Joined: | Sat Jun 17th, 2006 |
| Location: | Kansas |
| Posts: | 21180 |
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Posted: Wed Jan 2nd, 2008 12:25 am | 2nd Post |
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| The upsell to the Garden Villa must have been a real plus! Too bad the weather didn't allow you to do more outside. Nice to see you again! Thanks for the review!
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Deb
"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My pics: http://community.webshots.com/user/hstrycrsr
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