Norwegian Gem Review Christmas 2007 and 2008 (LONG)

Christmas Cruise on Norwegian Gem 2007 AND 2008

Sailing Dates:
December 22, 2007 (Cabin Number 8548)
December 20, 2008 (Cabin Number 8048)

Itinerary: Florida and Bahamas--both years

Basis for Comparison:
NCL: 13 Voyages Total (including these two)
3 on the Norwegian DAWN
7 on the Norwegian SPIRIT
These 2 on the Norwegian GEM
1 for Peg on the M/S Sunward (1972)
Celebrity Cruises: 14 Voyages Total
Dolphin/Premier Cruises: 6 Voyages Total
HAL: 1 Voyage
Regal Cruises: 1 Voyage
15 Voyages on Older Ships for Peg traveling with her parents, 1958 to
1978 (including the NCL Sunward voyage).

Note: The details of this review focus primarily on our more recent
(2008) Christmas voyage on the Norwegian Gem, but (where appropriate)
also notes features of our 2007 voyage, which was taken at Christmas
time too. In 2007, only PegNDerek were aboard for the cruise, Peg's
Aunt Martha Belle (AMB) having broken her shoulder on a trip to Venice
in October of 2007 so that she was still recovering from shoulder
replacement surgery and could not sail with us at that time.

Flash-back:
On September 10, 2008, I had arthroscopic surgery on my right knee to
repair a damaged meniscus and remove a large cyst, which had been
causing me extreme pain and difficulty in walking for over a year. As
the anesthetist turned on the juice connected into my right hand for
me to sleep through the operation, he said, "think of the most
pleasant thing you have ever experienced", to which I responded with
an unnecessarily loud yell "snorkeling at Stirrup Cay!!!".

Flash forward:
For the first time in the 6 years that we have done a holiday voyage
with NCL on whatever ship they have running out of NYC, the weather
was against us. True, we had bad weather on our voyage south on the
Norwegian Dawn in 2004-40 to 45 foot seas were no fun at all, even on
that magnificent vessel. But, in that case, the winds and waves
lasted for only a part of one day. This year, the chilly air, high
winds (sometimes in excess of 50 knots) and waves (only 25-35 feet
this time) were with us right up until the last port, and were so bad
that we missed Stirrup Cay altogether!! Argh!! All in all, it was not
the most pleasant voyage we have ever had, but it was certainly the
most restful-we had more time just to enjoy the ship and the comforts
of our cabin than on any previous cruise!!

Embarkation:
Aunt Martha Belle, Derek and I boarded the Norwegian Gem at the
Passenger Ship Terminal after a delicious lunch at the Lex Café on the
early afternoon of December 20. AMB did her customary wheel chair
routine to embark quickly without having to stand in line, which is
impossible for her given her back troubles. Derek and I were not
happy (and very puzzled) about not having our cabin listed on the
express embarkation list, and had to stand in line for about 20
minutes before we got up to the counter, where the formalities were
taken care of in very short order. Once on board, we went straight to
our cabin and made ourselves at home in 8048, while AMB settled into
9106. The view from our respective balconies over the snow and ice
blanketing NYC at that time was magnificent, especially realizing that
we would all soon be far away from it!!

Life Boat Drill:
For the first time in our many years of cruising, we were instructed
to carry our life jackets to our muster station, without even undoing
the straps. At the station (the Crystal Atrium in our case-the
Majenta Dining Room for AMB) we were checked off the list by cabin
number and told to put the jackets on. The weather was too cold for a
visit underneath the life boats (a special thank you to NCL from my
runny nose!!), but we paid attention to all of the normal
announcements and demonstrations that follow the "abandon ship" signal
from the ship's whistle. But then we were firmly instructed to take
our life jackets off and secure the straps before making our way back
upstairs. Fabulous!! This is a new safety measure and one that we
loudly applaud!! For the first time, we saw no one tripping over
dangling straps or being pulled off balance with someone else stepping
on your own trailing straps! We have no idea why this new safety
measure has been started at some point in the months between our last
voyage in July 2008 and the current one, but it was most likely an
accident caused by unsecured life jacket straps. We hope that NCL will
adopt the new boat drill procedure permanently, and on all of their
ships! It is much better all around, especially from the "safety"
point of view!

Bar Service:
As is our custom, Derek and I did a brief tour of the ship to
re-acquaint ourselves with the lay out, and then headed for our
favorite bar-the Magnum Champagne Bar in the ship's "Bar City"-which
features not only a large seating area surrounding a piano, but also
the smoking room-a small, glassed-in, room within a room that has
comfortable couches and chairs arranged in small groups around coffee
tables with large ashtrays. This is the only place on board where
cigar smoking is allowed. Cigarettes can be smoked here, in your
cabin, in the casino and in designated areas on the open decks. Derek
and I spent many afternoons and evenings in the smoking room, and
quickly became fast friends with Noel from Goa, India, our wonderful
server. Similar to Dino, Richard and Ariel, who served us here on
this same voyage last year, Noel quickly learned our drink orders and
needed no further prompting on future visits. He gave us absolutely
terrific service, and we tipped him separately and filled out a
"S.T.Y.L.E." card (Service and Teamwork Lead to Excellence) on his
behalf at the end of the voyage. We hope he got the extra half day
off that he so richly deserves for the fabulous service that he
rendered to us throughout our voyage!

Dining:
Thanks to an e-mail sent in advance of our voyage to Hotel Manager
Prem and his Concierge, Irina, our DR reservations were all in place
before we even got on board the ship! It is now a family custom to
enjoy our first meal in Cagney's Steakhouse-our favorite restaurant on
board any NCL ship! Server Jefh looked after us beautifully, and gave
us great service later on in the voyage too. We had two other dinners
in Cagney's as well (one unexpected when AMB realized that she did not
want to eat dinner in the more health-conscious Majenta DR), and
enjoyed a number of breakfasts and lunches here as well, thanks to the
delights of NCL's F2 program. AMB preferred to have her early morning
meal in the Garden Café, but enjoyed her lunches in Cagney's so much
that she gave an extra tip and filled out a S.T.Y.L.E. card for
Cagney's hostess, Crina, and her other favorite servers who looked
after her so well! She especially enjoyed the delicious range of soups
offered for Cagney's special passenger lunches.

Other dinners along the way were enjoyed in Le Bistro (too many
mushrooms on the menu for AMB and myself to partake of more than one
meal here, but the scallops appetizer and the veal, pork and lamb
entres were all excellent), and La Cucina (the Italian
Restaurant-which was much too dark -please turn the lights up so we
can at least read the menu!!). Our only meal in a non extra-tariff
dining venue was in the Grand Pacific, where we were delighted to find
server Adrianna who recognized us from last year's Christmas trip, and
to enjoy a very good meal in such a large and beautifully decorated
room. AMB does not care for Asian food, so Derek and I arranged for a
special lunch in the Teppanyaki Room on our last sea day-delicious as
always and prepared right in front of us with that special
Benni-Hannah style flare!

During our cruise in 2007, we enjoyed the Teppanyaki Room twice, once
for dinner and once for lunch, the menu being the same in both
instances, and just as terrific of an experience!! We also had dinner
in Le Bistro with Captain Hilden and his senior officers (a real treat
for Christmas Eve of that year), and in the Orchid Garden restaurant
twice-delicious Asian Fusion food!

Ports and Shore Excursions:
As noted above, this is where the weather got the better of us
throughout the voyage. The seas were relatively calm as we departed
NYC on our way south, but became increasingly angry as the winds kept
building on our first sea day. The ship's scan-display on our
in-cabin TV kept repeating only 8-10 foot waves or 12-15 foot waves at
the maximum (perhaps not to alarm any passengers who might be
watching), but we knew better. Just venturing up to the Latitudes
Party on the afternoon of December 21 was an adventure itself with the
roll and rise of the vessel in at least 25-35 foot seas. Even Captain
Frank commented on the "focus" it took to keep his own footing during
the presentation of the officers when the bow made yet another
unexpected "bump" over the big waves! AMB declined to even come to
the party with us for fear of falling.

Port Canaveral was exceptionally chilly at only about 50 degrees and
still very windy. We initially got off to check on the conditions and
see the situation with the buses for our visit to Cocoa Beach; I was
worried that there would be nowhere for AMB to sit while we waited for
the shuttle bus. Both Derek and I must have looked very comical
dressed in our shorts with sweatshirts and heavy winter coats on top!
We returned to the ship to fill AMB in on what we determined to be an
impossible situation, but she would not be dissuaded!! We all got off
again, and headed for the last bus to what turned out to be the local
Holiday Inn resort, with its heated pool (still exceptionally chilly,
especially once you got out of the water) and wonderful location right
on the beach. It was just too chilly for a real swim with large
breakers slamming onto the beach, but we all enjoyed the short walk
over to at least see the ocean front. "Fun and Sun" hostess Nicole
did a terrific job of keeping the children entertained with a wide
variety of games, and even we joined in for the Trivia contest-yes,
peppermint life savers were the first kind ever-produced in a roll,
and Canada is now the world's largest country in area since the break
up of the former USSR. Who knew that an elephant is the only animal in
the world with 4 knees (no elbows)!! We were able to reach Mom from
our cell phone on our return to the ship, and she sounded in great
form, happy to hear the details of our voyage and talk to all of us
for her 92nd birthday on December 24; we knew that our cell phone
would not work from Nassau.
On our 2007 visit to Port Canaveral, Derek and I took the Wildlife
Safari by Boat, which was a total disappointment-little in the way of
wildlife at all aside from birds, and the excursion took place in
chilly and rainy weather, which made it seem all the more miserable.
In future years, the Cocoa Beach trip would be fun to do again,
especially if the weather permits a visit out to the beach and a swim
in the ocean!

As noted at the beginning of this review, Stirrup Cay was the main
stop highly anticipated by all of us, especially Peg. But, the
weather at the time of our arrival was clearly not in our favor. Huge
waves crashing on Susan's Rock sent white spray shooting high into the
air, and a single tender struggling to make passage behind the island
were clearly visible as we slowed down off the Berry Islands group of
the Bahamas. We were at breakfast in Cagney's when Captain Frank came
on the PA system to talk to all of us. He announced that it was just
too rough for the tenders, and with safety being a primary concern for
him and for all, we would not be able to make our scheduled call at
Stirrup Cay, but instead head slowly south for Nassau. Nassau had no
berth for us at that time (our expected arrival being early the next
morning), but he would keep us posted if a spot opened early for us.
Unfortunately, many or even most of the other passengers did not hear
this announcement, since many were still asleep and there is no way to
hear announcements at all in your cabin, even if you are awake. This
led to some very unhappy passengers grumbling loudly about a lack of
communication from the ship's Captain and staff later on in our
voyage. We did indeed make a slow and multiple curved s-shaped course
heading south (clearly visible on the scan-display on our cabin TV),
and as soon as a berth opened for us (at about 7 pm that evening with
the departure of RCI's Monarch of the Seas from Nassau), Captain Frank
made a very sharp turn (spilling more than one drink) and headed
straight for it with all due speed!! This delighted the crew, who were
able to enjoy a night at the Senor Frog disco for those who were off
duty, and was also a benefit for sea-sick passengers who were able to
enjoy a flat calm night tied to the pier.
On our 2007 voyage, Stirrup Cay was an absolute highlight of the
cruise (as it usually is), especially as we had the good company of
the Master's two sons, Oscar and Walter Hilden, who joined us for an
extensive snorkeling trip off the beach front. They were not too
happy at Peg's using her "teacher voice" to subject them to an aerosol
sun screen, especially on the backs of their legs, but they loved the
chance to see all of the fish, and learn a bit about them from two
highly experienced snorkelers like us!

Christmas Eve in Nassau was not only still windy, but also rainy.
AMB's planned excursion on an America's Cup sailing vessel had been
cancelled even before she got on the ship, and there was no suitable
substitute for her from the shore excursions desk, who had no clue as
to how to arrange a golf cart or mini-bus for her to minimize the long
walk just from the ship to the terminal. The mini-buses that run
around the port facility at Nassau are under the port's direction and
have no way to be contacted by the ship-very odd! She thought to try
to get to the straw market, but the rain turned her back quickly!
Derek and I set off for our highly anticipated Atholl Island snorkel
trip. The waves en route were large for snorkeling, even in the
protected area sandwiched between New Providence and Atholl Islands,
but we were eager to at least give it a try based on many previous
visits. My underwater camera began leaking almost as soon as I got in
the water, and I summoned Derek to get back on the boat to try to fix
it. His new mask was also leaking, so we switched gear back and
forth, Derek wearing my mask (and still grumbling about leakage),
while I swam to at least see the fish, dealing with Derek's mask. Both
of us had trouble keeping our snorkels clear for breathing, with waves
constantly smacking us in the head, giving Derek a royal headache on
top of everything else. It was not a good trip, but we did see and
photograph Nassau groupers and some gorgeous Blue Chromis among other
species. Once back on the ship, we immediately headed for the ship's
pool to check our equipment and find a way to stuff enough wads of
Vaseline around Derek's moustache to prevent further leaking. Other
passengers braving the ship's pool with its wonderful curvy slide
(bright yellow in color) in the rain got a real giggle out of seeing
two snorkelers in the water dealing with equipment troubles!
We had no such problems back in 2007, although the fish population of
the area was still "down" from being raided by locals anxious to
capture exotic fish for sale to foreign aquariums. Fortunately, we
noted the recovery of the fish population both on a voyage in the
summer of 2008, and on this trip. We were also treated to a special
"show" on the pier by Nassau's band in 2007, since it was the first
call of the Norwegian Gem to this particular port.

Christmas Day in Freeport was cloudy to begin with, but the sun soon
came out-the only really sunny day that we had! AMB's Bird Walk was
cancelled, making a perfect score of four out of four planned shore
excursions ruined for her-the cancellation of Stirrup Cay, the
cancelled America's Cup Sailing vessel in Nassau (cancelled before she
even got on board), and now her Bird Walk cancelled, and even her
changed plans to come with us on the Sea Safari trip also cancelled!
We were absolutely crushed to loose the Sea Safari trip (our favorite
from last year's voyage), but the snorkeling company owner explained
that it was just to windy and rough for the snorkeling boat-the
Captain would end up pulling more distressed snorkelers out of the
water than those who might endure the trip, much less survive it!! The
shore excursions staff were at a loss to try to help us (and not very
friendly about it either), but eventually arranged to send us on the
Junkaroo Beach Party trip. The cost was about the same, but the bus
for the excursion had already departed, so another smaller bus was
arranged to transport us and one other family that had also had
excursion plans cancelled for the same reason. Once at the beach, we
enjoyed a very nice large beach house with a big deck, bar and buffet
facility, a gorgeous and very clean beach with a small pier projecting
off of it, and a small local shopping area off to one side of the
beach house. The water was freezing (Derek sensibly wore his wet suit
for our swim) and the waves were high (good fun for me once we got
past the breakers doing my "feet first over the waves" routine that
Daddy taught me in Madras), but the sunshine felt fabulous and we were
just happy to be in such a nice spot for Christmas Day. Snorkeling off
the beach might have been possible, especially around the rocks that
bracket the Junkaroo area, but it was too windy and wavy to even try!
AMB found a pretty basket for her mail in the shopping area, and I
found yet another Katengee shirt (this time on a black background) to
add to my growing collection. Once back at the ship, many passengers
were very upset that our time in Freeport had been cut short, and once
again grumbled loudly about a lack of communication from NCL. We were
all supposed to receive a letter at the pier explaining that the ship
would have to slow down as we passed through the Wright Whales
migratory channel off the Bahamas, so we would have to leave Freeport
about 2 hours early in order to make our scheduled arrival time back
in NYC-but none of us had received any such document, either at the
pier, from NCL, or from any of our travel agents.
Our visit here in 2007 was highlighted by our first time to snorkel on
Rainbow Reef on the Sea Safari excursion (absolutely incredible from
all points of view), and the attention of several fire boats all
spraying water as fast as they could pump it, once again to welcome
the Norwegian Gem to her first call at this port.

In 2008, at least our final sea day was somewhat calmer on our way
north, and the winds and waves both began to die down. Unfortunately,
the sun remained hidden behind ever-thickening clouds as we passed
along the coasts of the Carolinas and Virginia.

Holiday Events on Board:
The Norwegian Gem has a Chapel (and a very nice one too, adjacent to
the Spinnaker Lounge), which is used every Sunday during regular
voyages. It is too small to seat larger crowds, so the show lounge
(Stardust) or the forward lounge (Spinnaker) were used on this voyage.
In 2008, Christmas overlapped with Hannukah, and the ship had both a
Protestant Chaplain on board and a Rabbi. Services were open to all
passengers and crew and held at times that were convenient for all,
including a midnight service on Christmas Eve. Most appropriately,
both Christmas and Hannukah greetings were given at the top of each
Ship's Daily. The ship was decorated with beautiful (fake) trees and
other ornamental displays, including a "gingerbread house" prominently
set just outside or just inside the entrance to each restaurant. A
Menorah was also featured in the larger public areas. On both
cruises, a special holiday caroling sing was held in the atrium for
anyone who wanted to join in, with song word sheets provided for all.
Santa hats were worn by officers, staff and crew on Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day, and passengers could get one to wear too (if they
wanted) by simply asking for one at the Guest Relations Desk. Santa
arrived by Speedboat at Stirrup Cay in 2007, and off the port side of
the ship in Freeport in 2008, bearing a special gift for each child on
board-in both cases, a small coloring book and booklet of stickers,
which delighted all of the kids!! In keeping with NCL's Freestyle
theme, either Christmas or Hannukah could be as much (or as little) of
a "religious" experience as one wanted! Terrific!!

The Ship:
Perhaps the fact that stands out to us the most is the quality of
maintenance and care that has been taken with the Norwegian Gem by her
officers, staff and crew-much the same as we have noted on multiple
sailings on other NCL vessels. She had just come over from her
christening and a few European sailings when we boarded on December
22, 2007-that cruise was her inaugural sailing out of any US port,
which just happened to be the Christmas cruise out of NYC. When we
embarked on December 20, 2008, she looked as if we had only gotten off
the day before-still beautifully new and clean in every respect, and
in every nook and cranny! NCL's maintenance program certainly gets a
standing ovation in our book!

Much has been made of two of the Gem's features that initially
attracted an enormous amount of attention when she was a new-build:
(1) The first is her Bliss Ultra Lounge and the infamous Bowling Alley
at the stern of Deck 7. Unfortunately, the people who first described
this room saw it only in day light, where (yes) it does look a bit
like a New Orleans bordello gone haywire, with its weird "bed" set ups
and bold and seemingly very odd, almost neon, color scheme. Seeing
this room at night, when it is intended for the most use as a disco
and night-club, is a whole different experience-a gorgeous room with
private areas and colors that are surprisingly comfortable and
luscious in the dark. It is rather like seeing the Las Vegas strip in
the daylight (a nightmare of seemingly ugly neon tubes and bare wires)
as contrasted to seeing it at night (with the lights on and shimmering
beautifully, giving it an almost magical quality)! The Bowling Alley
(two adjacent lanes) itself is great fun, and passengers really love
the experience of trying to hit those strikes against the movement of
the vessel on sea days!
(2) The second is her "weird" furnishings, especially those in the
Spinnaker Lounge (forward lounge on Deck 13) and those in the Atrium
(Deck 7). Once again, those who focused on the "new and different"
failed to note that these pieces take up only a small portion of each
room, so that chairs shaped like silver bowling pins, bright yellow
zig-zags, and dark green curly-cues are located only at the back of
the Spinnaker lounge (where they function primarily as conversation
pieces-we've never seen anyone ever actually sit on them!!), and those
in the Atrium, are interspersed with more comfortable lounge chairs
and banquettes. The only art work that is truly glaring, including to
us, is the crystal "tree" in the atrium, which looks very much to us
like the "Crystalline Entity" of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame!
Set in an atrium, that is largely dark blue, with a bumpy purple
ceiling (created presumably to resemble a large outcrop of
Amethyst-Minerals being the theme of the Midships section of the
vessel), and a large Wii wall on the forward side beyond the bar, this
is definitely an oddity, but one that we rather appreciate-especially
seeing it the second time around in 2008!!

Overall, the Norwegian Gem is magnificently laid out, as are her
sisters in NCL's Jewel Class. For us, it is akin to sailing on a
larger version of the Norwegian Dawn, which we adore! Decks 4, 5, 8,
9, 10 and 11 are primarily given over to cabins, with the special
Garden and Courtyard Villa cabins on Deck 14, and the Owner's Suites
(2 of them on the Gem) on Deck 15, access to these decks limited to
the midships elevator which must have the passenger's key card
inserted into a special slot on the elevator panel in order for the
elevator to understand that one wants to get up there! Only Deck 8
features the Blue Lagoon 24-hour restaurant and room service facility
located mid-ships. We did not patronize it in 2007, but enjoyed a
late lunch here in 2008, especially the small cheese-burgers, fries
and Peg's favorite tomato soup which we have enjoyed on both the Dawn
and the Spirit. One really only has to learn one's way around Decks
12 and 13 and Decks 6 and 7 in order to navigate the whole ship from a
passenger's perspective!

Deck 13 is easy to learn, since it features the Spinnaker Lounge
forward, Cagney's Steakhouse and the Star Bar midships, and the
Basketball/Tennis Courts at the stern, with the jogging track and deck
lounge chairs circling the entire area. We found it odd, but
interesting, that the forward section of Cagney's (adjacent to the
Star Bar) was used for special passengers breakfasts and lunches in
2007, while the main section of the restaurant was used for the same
purpose in 2008-must have been more of us travelling this past year!
The Sky High Bar is also located on Deck 13 midships but forward of
the swimming pools below-very popular for short order lunches, which
we enjoyed several times on our 2007 sailing.

Deck 12 is equally simple to navigate with the enormous spa area
taking up virtually all of the space at the front half of the vessel,
the Swimming pools midships, and the Garden Café (Lido) at the stern.
We did not patronize the spa, but did take note of the Latitudes
Members lounge on the starboard side of Deck 12 forward, which was
indeed supplied with coffee, tea and snacks at virtually all times of
the day or night. Flanking it on either side are a card/game room and
a well-stocked library. Special features of the pool area include a
huge bright yellow curly slide (very popular with children and adults
alike on both voyages-despite the weather!), 4 heated whirlpools, of
which two were for adults only off to the side of the (forward) adults
only side of the pool complex, and not only lounge chairs but larger
"bed" style couches, which were incredibly popular with passengers who
wanted to stretch out and snooze next to the pool! Very comfy indeed!!
The Garden Café (Lido) is exceptionally well laid out with numerous
"islands" for each item offered at dining times (one for soup, one for
salad, one for pasta, one for sandwiches, one for hot entres, one for
desserts, etc… at lunch time, for example). NCL has very wisely
changed the "style" of acquiring one's meal in the Lido area/Garden
Café-there are no trays, and one finds one's cutlery neatly wrapped in
a linen napkin in a special basket on each table, that also features
salt, pepper and standard condiments (bottles of both Ketchup and
Mustard) in a neat little basket. Nice touch!! There is also a large
area for dining out doors behind the Garden Café, with a large bar
located here too.

Deck 7 is slightly more complicated. The balcony of the Stardust
Theatre occupies the forward space, with the large and exceptionally
well laid out shopping area behind it. The shopping area includes a
central logo shop on the starboard side, surrounded by the duty free
and specialty clothing, jewelry and watches areas-all easily flowing
into each other. The Orchid Garden restaurant is located midships
with the Teppanyaki Room behind it. NCL has obviously benefitted from
including a Teppanyaki Room on its other vessels-in comparison to the
ones on both the Dawn and the Spirit (which have only one cooking
station surrounded by 9 chairs), the Gem has 4 cooking stations with
seating for over 35 people!! Teppanyaki also has the highest per
person extra tariff--$25 per person, but it is worth every penny in
our estimation!! The Atrium is aft of the midships elevators
(described briefly above), with the Photo Gallery on the Starboard
side and the Art Gallery on the Port side behind the Atrium, with its
Guest Relations, Restaurant Reservations, Shore Excursions and Future
Cruise Booking Desks area. The Bliss Ultra-Lounge/Night-Club and
Bowling Alley is at the stern-also described briefly above.

Deck 6 is the last public deck that one has to be familiar with in
order to get around the Norwegian Gem. Fortunately, NCL has made it
easier to learn than on their other ships, mostly due to the way they
have positioned and partitioned the central bar/lounge area of the
vessel! Forward on this deck is the main level of the Stardust
Theatre. As per our custom, we did not even enter the Theater beyond
our appointed time for disembarkation, but we heard very good things
about all of the shows from other passengers. Two new "all-ship
events", the Monte Carlo Night and the "White Hot Party", which we
first encountered on the Norwegian Spirit on back-to-back cruises this
past summer, were heavily advertised (including all of the crew
dressed in T-Shirts themed to each event) and were incredibly popular
with everyone on board! Behind the lower level of the theatre is the
large (but not overly obtrusive) casino. Midships features the Le
Bistro Restaurant, the Smoking Room (described far above), and a
series of Bars that are adjacent to each other reaching back to the
last one-third of the ship (where the Majenta DR and main Grand
Pacific DRs are located with a large Galley in between the two). "Bar
Central" on the Norwegian Gem includes the piano bar-Champagne and
Wine Bar outside Le Bistro, a Martini Bar, and a Sports Bar, the
latter complete with three large screen TVs for watching various
events. What surprised us is that the sound from one bar does not
carry into those that are adjacent to it!! On our 2007 voyage, we
were most surprised to see a guitar player in the Sports Bar, whose
sounds did not interfere with the pianist in the Champagne and Wine
Bar!! Not sure how NCL did this, but it is amazing!!

It should be noted that finding one's way around any deck on the
Norwegian Gem is exceptionally easy overall. The forward staircase
and elevator area is decorated with numerous "fish" pictures ("F" for
fish and "F" for forward); midships has Minerals as a theme ("M" for
midships and "M" for minerals); the stern elevators and staircases
show off "Ships" ("S" for…..you get the idea!!) including wonderful
artistic paintings of the Queen Mary and (of course) the United
States!

Ship's Officers and Staff:
Captain Frank Juliussen and Hotel Manager Prem Kainikarra were most
gracious hosts throughout our voyage. This was our fourth time to
sail with Captain Frank, and he was glad to see us, welcoming us
warmly, posing with us for our ritual photograph, and thanking us
gratefully for the Norwegian Coffee and herring that we brought for a
Christmas treat for him and his fellow Scandanavian officers. For the
first time in these four sailings, we did not have the pleasure of a
dinner with him, but we certainly understand that he was an
exceptionally busy man on this particular sailing, especially because
of the weather. Last year, it was almost comical that we kept running
into Captain Michael Hilden at every dining venue, and had dinner with
him twice, enjoying an additional opportunity to host his sons for a
terrific snorkeling adventure at Stirrup Cay. At one point, Captain
Michael and I even purposefully hid our eyes from each other as we
entered the Orchid Garden for yet another dinner where the
Caldwell-Ott and Hilden families unintentionally crossed paths!! Hotel
Manager Prem was the Assistant Hotel Manager to the amazing Klaus
Lugamier last year, and we loudly applaud his promotion to Hotel
Manager in his own right this year. Once again, a dining opportunity
with him was not forthcoming, but he was also exceptionally busy with
fussy and sea-sick passengers. He very kindly allowed a special visit
to the Gem for Derek's birthday in late January last year, and we will
always be most grateful to him for permission to come on board for
just this one special visit, complete with a special lunch and
birthday cake in Cagney's to boot! Chief Engineer Anders appeared to
be happy to meet us, and acknowledged our greetings from his good
friend Jeff Macklin, who hosted us so generously on our Christmas 2007
sailing, but we saw him only once. Staff Captain Matko from Croatia
seemed mystified by the appearance of the Norwegian coffee, and our
apologies to him that we knew nothing of Croatian holiday treats to
please him, and paid no further attention to us at all. Concierge
Irina was extremely pleasant to chat with, but still seemed to be very
new at her job, entirely missing the point that she should use the
daily breakfasts and lunches in Cagney's with special passengers to
double check on arrangements and see to the needs of her charges. She
did not make use of the Concierge desk just outside Cagney's at all.
This was most glaring evident when our priority disembarkation packets
were delivered a day late, and all of the more experienced special
passengers like us were confused as to what to do. We went to the
Guest Relations desk to enquire about special disembarkation, only to
be told to pick out the luggage tags colored for whatever time we
wanted to get off the ship. A very nice gesture that is now part of
the F2 program for all passengers, but we were annoyed when we had
completely filled out Lavender colored tags and even affixed them to
our luggage when suddenly yellow (not gold) tags suddenly appeared in
our cabin, and Irina came to disturb us during our last dinner in La
Cucina to make sure that we understood how to use them! She is a very
nice and appealing young lady, but needs to spend at least a day with
Concierges Lisa Baker, Claudio Schultze or Humberto Abarca to more
thoroughly understand what her role should be. There is no doubt that
she has the potential to be as spectacular as her counterparts on
other vessels.

Captain Frank, Hotel Manager Prem, Staff Captain Matko and Chief
Engineer Anders all hosted a Q&A in the Spinnaker Lounge on our last
sea day. It was very brave of all of them to show up for this
activity, given the stresses of this particular voyage. Most of the
comments and questions were surprisingly complimentary, but (as
anticipated) several of them were not, especially from one passenger
who grumbled loudly about what she perceived as the lack of
communication, especially for our missed call at Stirrup Cay and the
shortened morning in Freeport. She clearly represented the views of
any number of fellow passengers, although not us-we are far too
experienced with these sorts of "problems" and far too big fans of NCL
and freestyle cruising in general to have any real grumbles at all.
Her question was answered very sensibly by Captain Frank and Hotel
Manager Prem, who should be thoroughly commended for the way that they
responded. She was also advised to write to NCL Corporate with her
complaints, and I made sure she understood that she need not address
her grumbles to any specific person-NCL seems to magically route the
letters and reviews (such as this one) to the right person who
invariably responds to all such communications.

Disembarkation:
Despite the opportunity to get off the ship later than we had planned,
we took advantage of the priority disembarkation offered to us, and
made our way to the Starbust Theatre at 9:30 on the morning of
December 27. Amazing, but we were home and hugging our cats by 10
am!! This was (without any doubt what so ever) the easiest
disembarkation we have ever experienced----in all the years of our
many cruises since 1993! Our experience in 2007 was similar, but not
quite as zippy!!

We joined AMB for a delightful dinner at the Cornell Club that
evening, and had another great lunch with her at Lex Café the next day
before her flight back to Harrisonburg on Monday morning. Bravely,
she drove to Alexandria on New Years' morning, and we all had a chance
to chat with Mom, who (unfortunately) was not feeling up to par. But,
telephone chats on Friday were much better, and Mom was totally
thrilled to hear all of the comments about our voyage and the restful
delights that we experienced!

Given Derek's job situation (working only 2 days a week at present,
although interviews for a new job are slowly materializing), we did
not book a trip for next Christmas while on board the Gem this year.
But, there is no doubt that AMB, Derek and I would adore to spend yet
another Christmas cruise at sea, especially on the Norwegian Gem. She
is just that-an absolute gem!!

PegNDerek Caldwell-Ott

www.pegndereksnorkeling.com

"Scientists' say intelligent life
sprang from the sea.
Really intelligent life return to
the sea every now and then"

Thanks for the great review as always Peg. Sorry the weather wasn't any
better... sadly we had the same lousy weather in the Western Caribbean a few
weeks earlier for our Viking sailing. We never even made it into the water
in Cozumel, it was so cold and windy. And while we tender into Cayman, the
ships were advised that the port would be closed the following day due to
rough seas... so it seems like it was a bad season at times down in the
Caribbean.

--Tom



"Peg Caldwell-Ott" wrote in message
...
Christmas Cruise on Norwegian Gem 2007 AND 2008

Sailing Dates:
December 22, 2007 (Cabin Number 8548)
December 20, 2008 (Cabin Number 8048)

Itinerary: Florida and Bahamas--both years

Basis for Comparison:
NCL: 13 Voyages Total (including these two)
3 on the Norwegian DAWN
7 on the Norwegian SPIRIT
These 2 on the Norwegian GEM
1 for Peg on the M/S Sunward (1972)
Celebrity Cruises: 14 Voyages Total
Dolphin/Premier Cruises: 6 Voyages Total
HAL: 1 Voyage
Regal Cruises: 1 Voyage
15 Voyages on Older Ships for Peg traveling with her parents, 1958 to
1978 (including the NCL Sunward voyage). snip

On Jan 23, 8:49*pm, Peg Caldwell-Ott wrote:
"snorkeling at Stirrup Cay!!!".


Just a minor correction. The name of NCL's private island is Great
Stirrup Cay not Stirrup Cay. Right next door is Little Stirrup Cay,
also known as RCI's CocoCay.

Weather the following week off the coast of Florida and the Bahamas
was the same as yours until Maasdam approached Grand Turk. Then it
turned crummy again when back north and anchored off of Half Moon Cay
on the final day a week later. I was surprised that the Captain didn't
cancel the port call.

Warren

Peg Caldwell-Ott wrote:

The Ship:
(2) The second is her "weird" furnishings, especially those in the
Spinnaker Lounge (forward lounge on Deck 13) and those in the Atrium
(Deck 7). Once again, those who focused on the "new and different"
failed to note that these pieces take up only a small portion of each
room, so that chairs shaped like silver bowling pins, bright yellow
zig-zags, and dark green curly-cues are located only at the back of
the Spinnaker lounge (where they function primarily as conversation
pieces-we've never seen anyone ever actually sit on them!!), and those
in the Atrium, are interspersed with more comfortable lounge chairs
and banquettes. The only art work that is truly glaring, including to
us, is the crystal "tree" in the atrium, which looks very much to us
like the "Crystalline Entity" of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame!
Set in an atrium, that is largely dark blue, with a bumpy purple
ceiling (created presumably to resemble a large outcrop of
Amethyst-Minerals being the theme of the Midships section of the
vessel), and a large Wii wall on the forward side beyond the bar, this
is definitely an oddity, but one that we rather appreciate-especially
seeing it the second time around in 2008!!

On the Pearl there was a glass sculpture by Chihuly in the atrium. Was
this what it was?

Hi, Peg,

Your reviews are always a good read, this time doubly so because of
the inclusion of tidbits about last year's cruise! I tend to speed
read them to get to the snorkeling report--and after I post this, I'm
off to look at your website to see if those new photos are up!

What a bummer about the weather. We were in the Western Caribbean the
same week--it was a chilly and rough start, but when we woke up Day 2
in Cozumel, everything was "back to normal," and the weather remained
sunny and warm through our stops in Georgetown and MoBay. It was a
little breezier than usual, but no excursions were cancelled, so
snorkeling conditions couldn't have been impacted too much. (Sadly, we
didn't snorkel this trip--there was no room in the car for the gear
bag after we loaded our party of 5 and luggage!)

I was happy to read about the special things NCL did to celebrate the
holidays. We were on Carnival, and they did not do as much as NCL did
on your cruise (or as NCL, RCI and Princess had done on our past
holiday cruises with those lines).

Thanks, Peg.

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

We would not be surprised if the Norwegian Pearl also featured a weird
sculpture in her atrium too--and perhaps by the same artist. Many
cruise lines like to patronize a single artist to feature in a
particular area, especially on sister ships, which the Pearl and the
Gem are--both Jewel Class. Unfortunately, we did not make note of the
artist's name for the Gem's "crystalline entity" style tree! However,
we were surprsied that the piece really "grew" on us (literally!!)
from one sailing to the next, separated by a year!!

PegNDerek



On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:49:29 -0500, Rosalie B.
wrote:

Peg Caldwell-Ott wrote:

The Ship:
(2) The second is her "weird" furnishings, especially those in the
Spinnaker Lounge (forward lounge on Deck 13) and those in the Atrium
(Deck 7). Once again, those who focused on the "new and different"
failed to note that these pieces take up only a small portion of each
room, so that chairs shaped like silver bowling pins, bright yellow
zig-zags, and dark green curly-cues are located only at the back of
the Spinnaker lounge (where they function primarily as conversation
pieces-we've never seen anyone ever actually sit on them!!), and those
in the Atrium, are interspersed with more comfortable lounge chairs
and banquettes. The only art work that is truly glaring, including to
us, is the crystal "tree" in the atrium, which looks very much to us
like the "Crystalline Entity" of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame!
Set in an atrium, that is largely dark blue, with a bumpy purple
ceiling (created presumably to resemble a large outcrop of
Amethyst-Minerals being the theme of the Midships section of the
vessel), and a large Wii wall on the forward side beyond the bar, this
is definitely an oddity, but one that we rather appreciate-especially
seeing it the second time around in 2008!!

On the Pearl there was a glass sculpture by Chihuly in the atrium. Was
this what it was?

Thanks for the compliments, Diana! I actually drafted most of a
review in 2007, but was so busy with school activites (especially our
yearbook, which is one of my jobs) that I never got a chance to finish
and post it. I just took the salient parts of the 2007 review and
merged them together with the more detailed report I wrote for family
and friends in 2008. The paragraphs about the ship itself were mostly
written in 2007. Aunt Martha Belle's shoulder problems in 2007 and my
(now) 92 year old mother's on-going health issues have been of major
concern to all of our family and friends, so I did a more through and
detailed review of this year's experiences. I am happy to report that
dear AMB's shoulder is much better, but she has slowed down a bit (as
we noticed on this year's voyage) and is more cautious about what she
does and does not participate in. She is now 77 yoa.

Our snorkeling reports for the 2007 trip are indeed on our website
www.pegndereksnorkeling.com --don't miss the report on Rainbow Reef
off Freeport, which was an amazing trip! We highly recommend it to
anyone who enjoys snorkeling, and the addition of a slide on the
snorkeling boat was a fantastic treat for the children. We did not
post a review of our back-to-back sailings on the Norwegian Spirit
this summer (in July), but the snorkeling reports are on the
website--especially for Cayo Levantado off the Dominican Republic.
Snorkeling was not terrific given the limited area of the reef, but we
did get some great Cushion Starfish shots and really enjoyed the
beach!! On our 2008 voyage, the only snorkeling we did was at Atholl
Reef and we had equipment troubles as described in the review. But we
got some wonderful Blue Chromis shots that we will add to the website
at some point soon. We also shot a number of Nassau Grouper pictures
and our first images of a Cow Fish which I took at the same Atholl
Island site this past summer--they also have yet to be added to the
website. We are re-organizing our fish pictures into the REEF groups,
now that we are both members and fish survey reporters for REEF. That
task will be done within the next few weeks.

Good friends of ours from school were on the Eurodam for the Christmas
week, and had much the same experience with the weather as you
did--and Tom too a couple weeks before. Guess that we cannot always
be as lucky with the weather as we have been in the past--it does
catch up with you! Hopefully we will be able to do a holiday voyage
again in 2009, and may the weather gods be more on all of our sides!!
VBG

Bestest,

Peg


On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:01:39 -0800 (PST), D Ball
wrote:

Hi, Peg,

Your reviews are always a good read, this time doubly so because of
the inclusion of tidbits about last year's cruise! I tend to speed
read them to get to the snorkeling report--and after I post this, I'm
off to look at your website to see if those new photos are up!

What a bummer about the weather. We were in the Western Caribbean the
same week--it was a chilly and rough start, but when we woke up Day 2
in Cozumel, everything was "back to normal," and the weather remained
sunny and warm through our stops in Georgetown and MoBay. It was a
little breezier than usual, but no excursions were cancelled, so
snorkeling conditions couldn't have been impacted too much. (Sadly, we
didn't snorkel this trip--there was no room in the car for the gear
bag after we loaded our party of 5 and luggage!)

I was happy to read about the special things NCL did to celebrate the
holidays. We were on Carnival, and they did not do as much as NCL did
on your cruise (or as NCL, RCI and Princess had done on our past
holiday cruises with those lines).

Thanks, Peg.

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

Peg Caldwell-Ott wrote:


We would not be surprised if the Norwegian Pearl also featured a weird
sculpture in her atrium too--and perhaps by the same artist. Many
cruise lines like to patronize a single artist to feature in a
particular area, especially on sister ships, which the Pearl and the
Gem are--both Jewel Class. Unfortunately, we did not make note of the
artist's name for the Gem's "crystalline entity" style tree! However,
we were surprsied that the piece really "grew" on us (literally!!)
from one sailing to the next, separated by a year!!

PegNDerek


I think Jade had one too although I didn't take a picture of it and
the Jade used to be one of those Hawaiian ships and maybe he did their
atrium ceiling there. This was the sculpture in the Pearl atrium
..
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3829...-Road_Town.jpg

I have also been to a Chihuly exhibition in Fairchild Gardens in Miami
and found it quite interesting. These are some of his towers

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3277...ral_Gables.jpg
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3277...of_America.jpg
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3277...of_America.jpg
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3375...-Pinecrest.jpg

- he's quite a famous artist in glass. This is an exhibition schedule

http://www.chihuly.com/schedule.html

This is a more whimsical one

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3277...ral_Gables.jpg

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:49:29 -0500, Rosalie B.
wrote:

Peg Caldwell-Ott wrote:

The Ship:
(2) The second is her "weird" furnishings, especially those in the
Spinnaker Lounge (forward lounge on Deck 13) and those in the Atrium
(Deck 7). Once again, those who focused on the "new and different"
failed to note that these pieces take up only a small portion of each
room, so that chairs shaped like silver bowling pins, bright yellow
zig-zags, and dark green curly-cues are located only at the back of
the Spinnaker lounge (where they function primarily as conversation
pieces-we've never seen anyone ever actually sit on them!!), and those
in the Atrium, are interspersed with more comfortable lounge chairs
and banquettes. The only art work that is truly glaring, including to
us, is the crystal "tree" in the atrium, which looks very much to us
like the "Crystalline Entity" of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame!
Set in an atrium, that is largely dark blue, with a bumpy purple
ceiling (created presumably to resemble a large outcrop of
Amethyst-Minerals being the theme of the Midships section of the
vessel), and a large Wii wall on the forward side beyond the bar, this
is definitely an oddity, but one that we rather appreciate-especially
seeing it the second time around in 2008!!

On the Pearl there was a glass sculpture by Chihuly in the atrium. Was
this what it was?

Thanks for a very extensive review. I have decided to print it out and
read it at leisure whilst soaking in the hot tub at my friends house.
Reading long but interesting reports on even a new flat screen monitor
can get rough on these 58 yo eyes. (I'm waiting for the day of my eye
doctor appointment. I need new glasses).

Peg,
Love that reference to STNG (Star Trek Next Generation)
the Gem's "crystalline entity" style tree!

Brian

On 1/24/2009 11:41 AM Peg Caldwell-Ott scrawled with a big red tube of
lipstick:
We would not be surprised if the Norwegian Pearl also featured a weird
sculpture in her atrium too--and perhaps by the same artist. Many
cruise lines like to patronize a single artist to feature in a
particular area, especially on sister ships, which the Pearl and the
Gem are--both Jewel Class. Unfortunately, we did not make note of the
artist's name for the Gem's "crystalline entity" style tree! However,
we were surprsied that the piece really "grew" on us (literally!!)
from one sailing to the next, separated by a year!!

PegNDerek



On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:49:29 -0500, Rosalie B.
wrote:


Peg Caldwell-Ott wrote:


The Ship:
(2) The second is her "weird" furnishings, especially those in the
Spinnaker Lounge (forward lounge on Deck 13) and those in the Atrium
(Deck 7). Once again, those who focused on the "new and different"
failed to note that these pieces take up only a small portion of each
room, so that chairs shaped like silver bowling pins, bright yellow
zig-zags, and dark green curly-cues are located only at the back of
the Spinnaker lounge (where they function primarily as conversation
pieces-we've never seen anyone ever actually sit on them!!), and those
in the Atrium, are interspersed with more comfortable lounge chairs
and banquettes. The only art work that is truly glaring, including to
us, is the crystal "tree" in the atrium, which looks very much to us
like the "Crystalline Entity" of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame!
Set in an atrium, that is largely dark blue, with a bumpy purple
ceiling (created presumably to resemble a large outcrop of
Amethyst-Minerals being the theme of the Midships section of the
vessel), and a large Wii wall on the forward side beyond the bar, this
is definitely an oddity, but one that we rather appreciate-especially
seeing it the second time around in 2008!!

On the Pearl there was a glass sculpture by Chihuly in the atrium. Was
this what it was?