more in the Galleries.

I arrived in Dover from France the october, 6th with the Speed Ferries' Speed One , and I boarded on the Norwegian Gem just later !

And on one of the photos, these ships are together!

Thank you !

Excellent Mike. She's a lovely ship indeed, with lots of interesting bits 'n bobs to mull over. We had a lot of good chats and laughs amongst friends, CT'ers and others. As to service etc we did have a couple of issues, but they were more amusing than anything else, certainly no sour grapes or whinges. The staff were all friendly doing their utmost to please with a smile.

quote:

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Originally posted by PamM:
As to service etc we did have a couple of issues, but they were more amusing than anything else, certainly no sour grapes or whinges.

Pam

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For those who wonder, here's my selection of the "Int'l Cheese Selection" on the first night. Nothing wrong with the cheese, although plated and no choice <sigh, bring back QE2>, it was tasty, 2 biscuits are fine, butter I can do without anyway, but some can't; just a little awkward to attack with a fork and spoon. With no waiter nearby to ask for a knife I improvised and can now write a book for other NCL Pax - "L'étiquette de fromage et des biscuits sans couteau ou beurre" Well it was amusing to us, perhaps some would get 'upset'.

on the 2nd night it was much better, with butter and knife

So, were there lots of folk out to see you sail?
Trust it was a "gem" of a trip like the ship!

Hope you all had a good time.

She is NOT identical to the Pearl, not least in the aft restaurant. But the basic layout of the rooms is the same, as is their basic functions.

I'd make a few comments about the trip, other than it being nice to be on a new ship and meet ship nuts too - and lovely also to meet Bart of the great website - over in Amsterdam.

Firstly, the Gem and her sisters will win no prizes for external looks. It does seem for all the world as if the Garden Villas are a kind of afterthought plonked on top, and the stern is rather brutal. The Hull Art actually makes them look better IMHO.

The Freestyle service is an acquired taste and whilst the food was good and the service friendly, it takes away some of the things I like about old fashioned dining. On Freestyle you may never see some people again as everyone is doing their own thing at different times. On Freestyle you can decide what individual dish you might have for dinner every night of the week as the menus don't change (except in main dining room). I personally prefer a small element of 'surprise'.

The main dining room simply doesn't have enough staff to cope. This meant leisurely dinners - a bonus for those of us gossiping - but also reminders needed for basics (cutlery, bread, water...).

Kev and myself are on the Gem at the moment. It is the second sea day heading to Naples. We end the cruise on the 19th at Barcelona.

We booked this cruise because of price to be honest, not really encouraged to sail NCL due to some very indifferent reviews. We also fancied trying the freestyle concept after a good few Celebrity cruises we thought it time for a change.

Our first concern was the ship itself, the photos of the sister ships décor seemed a little extreme for us. We need not have worried, she is a very attractive ship indeed. As you would have seen, there is the odd area that is an assault on the senses ie Bliss night club but on the whole most of the public spaces are very nice.

We are enjoying the opportunity of eating in the many different restaurants {12 I think} also not being confined to fixed dining times, great for catching sail away.

Food has been much better than expected with friendly efficient service, we have encountered none of the delays you may have experienced on the shakedown.

SO FAR
Pros
Passenger flow
Grand Pacific dinning room
Spinnaker lounge
The Great Outdoors {rear facing al fresco eating area} an absolute must for us on any cruise ship these days.
The theatre
Full wrap-around promenade deck
All public areas have a great connection with the sea with excellent views
Plenty of deck space and sitting areas
Very quick lifts

Cons
Rather too many murals for our liking. Although I quite like the hull art, it does feel like they have let Rolf Harris loose with a paint brush to cover as much of the white as he can.

I do miss teak decking

So far weather has been great and looking forward to the second half of the cruise.

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Originally posted by CliveB:
Kev and myself are on the Gem at the moment. .

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I noticed when I toured 'Jewel' that the stairwells had a lot of what looked like giant 'photographs', but Gem's look like painted-murals rather than photographs. Am I right?

Here's a few questions: Freestyle - If you buy a bottle of wine at diner, but do not finish it, does it magically follow you around whatever dining room you choose?

Are there just two bowling lanes? The chances of getting a game must be slim. Do they take bookings?

Are the free dining rooms always more crowded than the one with a supplement?

[ 10-14-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

[ 10-14-2007: Message edited by: Matts ]

Unfinished bottles of wine will be stored and retrieved to be drunk at your next restaurant.

The supplements for the speciality restaurants range from $10 to $25, so with the very favourable exchange rate they are good value for us Brits. In answer to your question the speciality venue are just as popular as the free restaurants. At peak times there may be a wait of between 30 to 40 minutes for a specific table, but they give you a bleeper so you can go walkabout and get buzzed when the table is ready. We have had to wait no more than 10 minutes.

Pam

Spoke too soon re things going well, tonight the show in the theatre was a group of performers doing some sort of improvisation show, being polite I would call it bizarre!!! Sad to say worst show in 14 cruises so far, very embarrassing. Also the signature chocolate buffet was less than impressive, this cruise just a collection of chocolate cakes lined up in the self service buffet area with scant regard to presentation, not even as impressive as the chocolate buffet on the Dream.

The murals I was referring to were the painted outside areas, along the promenade and pool area mainly.

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Originally posted by CliveB:
..tonight the show in the theatre was a group of performers doing some sort of improvisation show, being polite I would call it bizarre!!!.

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The prom Clive was referring to is here.

The Stairwell Murals, here:-

For those reading other forums who took note of the comments by some, of unseen NCL souvenir glasses, here they are. Not all of them are plastic either. Just my pre-dinner tipples

[ 10-18-2007: Message edited by: Ernst ]

Was it as bizarre as this []

Malcolm

At least in that video clip they had costumes [albeit bed sheets from housekeeping] and I heard laughing, which is more than can be said for the show we saw.

Pam

Great photos, you must have been extremely busy on your time on board.