Tuesday November 25, 2008

Mid Atlantic Onboard the Norwegian Gem

Today offered markedly different weather on our third full day crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The seas were incredibly calm once the Norwegian Gem passed the Azores at 5pm on Monday. Today offered clear skies and 79 degree temperatures. The seas were smooth and it seems that the entire passenger compliment was outdoors enjoying the sun, multiple dining options and live music. All of the sporting facilities were operating with the rock climbing wall, basketball court. It was just incredible. I started the day with a gorgeous brunch served by the patrons in the exclusive three bedroom 5400 square foot Garden Villa. It was wonderful to dine al fresco in the large open dining table in this massive enclave on Deck 14. The area Butler and concierge were in attendance to ensure the 20 or so invited guests had a wonderful meal and services provided to them. Afterwards, I took a stroll to the gym which was hopping with activity for some cardio looking to take off some calories from the delicious ricotta cheesecake eaten in the alternative La Cucina venue which charges $10pp the night prior. After the gym workout, I head to the elegant Thallasotherapy pool for a nice aqua massage. NCL has a huge area dedicated to this pool along with heated tile chairs, refreshments, and a large Jacuzzi tub. This spa area is flanked with male and female thermal suites and of course, the magnificent Ying and Yang Spa. After that it was time for bowling with my CruiseCenter clients and we all fared badly as there was some motion in the bowling lanes at the back of the ship which caused the bowling balls to stray off course rather humorously. It was great fun; however, the bowling attendant was unfriendly and did not have his act together whatsoever. He was rather apathetic to say the least. We all had great fun and our lovely bar waitress, Ursula, from the adjacent Bliss Ultra Lounge kept our cocktails refreshed and brought on great natural and tasty chips. Dinner was in the Japanese Tepanyaki venue which charges $25pp making it very pricey. We took some clients there for dinner. The food was exceptional and the BEST I have had in this venue compared to any other NCL ship. It was an incredible day all the way around with unseasonably good weather! This is still one of the best values in cruising and NCL has a terrific product to offer today’s casual resort minded customer!



Sunday November 23, 2008

At sea onboard the Norwegian Gem

As the Gem is starting her first full day across the Atlantic, I thought I would reflect on the first weeks cruise experience onboard the beautiful one-year old Norwegian Gem. Today is a balmy 66 degrees and we are off the Portuguese coast sailing at 20.1 knots in fairly rough seas and 30 knots. We are rolling pretty strongly this morning but the ship handles the seas well.

The Norwegian Gem

The Gem is a solid built 93,000 ton ship. She was built in Germany and the workmanship from the German yard is solid quality. This 4-star rated ship is one of the finest on the seven seas. The Gem offers NCL’s signature “Freestyle” cruise experience and is in line the today’s American travelers providing a quality, fun, and resort style cruise with more dining options than any other cruise line-period!

The ship is decorated in bright, vibrant colors with high quality furnishings, carpets, artwork, and appointments. The vibrancy of her décor is offset by dark warm faux wood paneling throughout the ship. She is spotlessly maintained and one of the cleanest ships one will find.

The ship is easy to transverse and has excellent flow with traffic areas only taking place near the main ship lobby where NCL sets up flea market sale of budget priced items and forces all guests to walk by the crowded area. It is annoying and the same issue takes place in the evening when the area is crowded by multiple ships photographers taking portraits. My impression is that there is a constant push to create onboard revenues by nickel and dime the guests. My biggest gripe is that NCL charges $10 per game for bowling. This has insulted guests hugely and they have boycotted the venue. The game was increased from $5 to $10 without notice especially since a cal to NCL Days prior to this cruise still verified the game cost was $5-shame on NCL here… This push for onboard revenues is no different for any cruise line today except for MSC which is relatively new and hasn’t figured out how to maximize onboard revenues. The spa has been totally underused and there are 20% off specials for all treatments every day. I’ve never seen this type of offer before. The elevators in the central bank are the most used and traffic is heavy here. There are never problems using the other stairwells or lifts both forward and aft. The ship has excellent outdoor space for sunning and sports. The pool area is filled with residential style furniture and one entire side of the ship is left for outdoor dining.

The Gem’s Cabins

NCL is in the process of a major overhaul of its product with its own designed Freestyle 2.0 upgrade initiative. The success of this is apparent in every aspect of the cruise. The bedding has been replaced or upgraded in every stateroom and the beds are the most comfortable I have seen onboard ANY ship. The Elemis spa amenities are found in every stateroom, however, the standard cabins receive those amenities in push button containers which appear cheesy to the guests. All mini-suites and above receive bottled Elemis products which are more attractive. Standard cabins are smaller than the industry average but the bathrooms are well planned and compartmentalized into the sections with a large sink in the middle, and the toilet and shower both having their own private areas with sliding frosted glass panels. I have toured every deck of this ship and would not recommend placing guests on deck 4 on this ship. Those cabins have portholes only and this deck is used for embarkation/debarkation which means there are always people moving en-masse past the cabins making for a noise environment.

Some guests are griping about the lack of storage space, however, this ship spends most of the year offering 5,7, and 10-day cruises to warmer climates where one might not need an abundance of clothes. This winter 13-day Europe/Transatlantic has had cool weather and requires much more clothing than a normal cruise-so take the storage issue with a grain of salt…

The Gem’s Suites

I highly recommend the traveler take a mini-suite or penthouse on this class of ship as these cabins come with even more storage space, upgraded amenities, and concierge service. The penthouse cabins offer butler service, suite in-room expanded dining menus, elegant and ultra-modern décor, luxurious bathrooms with glass paneled walls, and high end coffee/cappuccino makers-who need Starbucks? The balconies in all cabin grades are large, very clean, and have glass panels for excellent views to the seas. The forward cabins, however, offer balconies that are enclosed in steel for safety purposes.

The Gem’s Dining Experience

This ship has it all… The dining options are exceptional and the food quality is good to excellent. The biggest passenger gripe though is the Garden Café which is always packed and cannot seem to accommodate the huge number of guests who use it. I think this is due to the casual level of passenger not wanting a served meal. The food is excellent and variety unbelievable here. The guests in my group, however, have complained about lack of trays, assistance to tables, and having to go to their own drink stations for beverages. It appears that one needs a back up food ferrying system to avoid having your table cleared by overly ambitious cleaning staff who take plates away and reset tables once a guest gets up to go for a refill or another plate of food. I don’t know how NCL can correct this though having seen the huge demand by guests for this venue…

The Grand Pacific dining room appears to be the most popular with its no-jeans policy and gorgeous Pacific theme décor. The food is quite good and service seems to be the best here of the two main FREE dining options. The much smaller Magenta located a deck below is always packed with a waitlist. I don’t understand this behavior either since there are electronic boards throughout the ship showing the availability of all dining rooms, both FREE and paid alternative options. I would give the overall food quality, variety, and presentation an 8 out of 10. The guests though are complaining that the food is too fancy and the service too slow in the dining rooms. This comes from American’s express dining and fast food mentality.

All of the alternative fee based restaurants are quite excellent. The food is varied and cooked to order. The service is very good and ambiance is very good based on the theme of the venue. The fee based restaurants have been empty on this sailing and I am shocked. Having sailed on the sister ship, the Norwegian Pearl, in September, those alternative venues were full. This is not the case on the Gem where you can get in easily to every venue with no issues. I have encouraged our passengers to try these out for a special night but nobody seems to be partaking…

There is also an outdoor buffet are aft on the ship called the Great Outdoors which mirrors the indoor Garden Café and there is a buffet, grill, and huge BBQ area near the main pool offering incredible selections. This class of ship offers the most extensive dining options I have ever seen… NCL-kudos to you here!!!

I also think many of the avid cruisers who are older and experienced with traditional dining are having a hard time with the Freestyle concept. They are also overwhelming the two main dining rooms at 5pm each night lined up to get in when those venues open for dinner.

The Gem’s Service

The Gem’s service staff is mostly friendly but seem apprehensive in their service to the guests. While the staff is very good for the most part, there seems to be a fair number that are new and unfamiliar with the ship and its services. I’ve had no service issues whatsoever, however, many guests have expressed that they feel the service overall is apathetic. This is disappointing to me but I am very outgoing and talk to everybody so I always get smiles the front office staff are not empowered to make decisions and are basically clerks. The have no knowledge of group activities other than what is in the ships printed program. They also have difficulty communicating or responding well to guest’s questions or concerns. Where there is a legitimate issue, it requires going to the next level of management or higher for customer resolution. I also think because we had such a port intensive start to this itinerary, guests have not fully enjoyed the ship or its services.

NCL has placed comment cards on the beds of each guest every few days asking for feedback on improvements. The guests who have turned them in have been contacted by officers and improvements have already been made.

The Gem’s Entertainment

There is a wide variety of entertainment options; however, the quality of shows, comedians, and singers has not been the same quality as experienced on other NCL ships and cruises I have been on. The ships cast for the large revue shows is no longer the high quality Jean Ann Ryan singers and dancers which were New York-Broadway quality. This staff is weak and the new productions were flat. The Second City Troupe is also not funny. The comics are also a little weak. The live music seems lackluster too. Nonetheless, I will report back during this 5-day crossing to see how NCL handles the entertainment during these long (25-hour days) at sea…

The Gem’s Itinerary

Europe is best visited in the spring and fall when the lines of summer are not there and the weather is very mild. This is the best time to be here taking advantage of pre holiday sales. The Vatican and major tourist sites were not crowded and few to no lines. Florence was a dream with no lines at the Academia to see David and easy entrance into the Uffizi Gallery. The temperatures ranged in the high 50’s to 70”s every day. It does get cold at night but I absolutely advocate traveling to Europe this time of year.

The Gem’s Clientele

The crowd is mainly American and a middle class traveler. There is a large number of Spanish, German, Dutch, and British onboard too. It is not a sophisticated crowd and a very casually dressed crowd. Perfect for Freestyle Cruising! I am seeing a new trend of guests not purchasing onboard. All the onboard revenues seem to be down quite a bit over recent cruises I have been on just a few months ago. This is a first time cruise for many too which is shocking to me. A transatlantic Cruise is historically a coveted cruise of well traveled people. I think the VERY low prices offered on this sailing may have attracted a traveler who might not have gone to Europe but price pulled them into this itinerary and sailing.

Overall

NCL has a very good product and this “Jewel Class” of ship is among the best in today’s varied cruise industry. It is incumbent on the travel professional to explain the Freestyle concept in advance to ensure guests are not surprised by its unique cruise experience. This is a solid 4-star experience and offers an incredible value for the dollar. The Penthouses and higher offer a 5-star experience with amenities, services, and additional private dining options offered exclusively for those guests. The Courtyard area and its 12 VIP suites offer a totally luxurious oasis for the most privileged guests. NCL definitely has the best suites of ANY mass market company. Hooray to NCL here for creating a highly unique product and striving to improve its guest experience with constant attention and adjustments to its product on a daily basis.


Top 10 Likes Aboard the Norwegian Gem
· Freestyle Dining and variety of optional restaurants with top quality food
· Casual “Freestyle” Dress Code
· New Bliss Beds in the cabin are amazingly comfortable
· Overall Décor of the ship is fun and exciting
· Bliss Ultra Lounge with Bowling Alley
· Ship is incredibly clean with superb housekeeping
· Best Penthouses, villas, and suites of any contemporary ship
· Gym is open 24-hours a day
· Sony Wii games in the main lobby played on a massive wall screen
· Coffee makers in all cabins, high end coffee/espresso makers in suites, and availability of coffee throughout the ship using the Lavazza brand

Top 10 Dislikes Aboard the Norwegian Gem
· Nickel and Dime guests for bowling fees ($10 a game), Movies on TV as non are free other than TMC, Charging for Juice ($2 a glass) after meal times
· Cheap mall like atmosphere with flea market set up congesting the main ship lobby flow
· No trays for food in Garden Café. Guests who go to refill beverages or get additional food come back to find table cleaned and new guests sitting
· Entertainment has eroded and not the same quality as before. Bring back the Jean Ann Ryan singers and dancers!
· Penthouse furniture is highly uncomfortable and unusable although attractive
· Some staff are surly and unfriendly-the ship staff seem tired, worn out, or under trained
· Bar drinks are the most expensive of any contemporary line
· Front Office staff are ineffective and give wrong information
· Onboard gifts are not delivered with any consistency
· New towels are too large, stiff, and difficult to use