I have not posted in a long time. I've moved to Nashville during that
time from NJ.

Cruise Review of NCL Gem-5/18/08-
Mediterranean Cruise

Background

There were 3 of us traveling, my husband and I in our 50s and my 18
year old daughter, who is a college student. This was our first NCL
cruise but we have previously cruised on Celebrity, Carnival,
Princess, Royal Caribbean and Holland America. We really enjoyed
cruising on NCL and hope to do it again very soon.

Precruise Stay: My husband, college age daughter and I stayed at the
Hilton Diagonal with Hilton Points. We were given a corner room ,
which was large . The hotel was lovely and modern. There was a Mall
across the street with many restaurants. It was also close to the bus
stop for the Hop on and off Tour Bus. The subway was also located by
the mall. I found the location excellent.

Embarkation- We were at the cruise Terminal at about 11:30. There is a
separate line for lattitudes members, Owner's suites, Courtyard
Villas, Penthouse Suites, and the Garden Villa.. We were introduced to
our concierge Claudio and were told it was to early to go to the
suite, but to enjoy lunch until cabins were called. Champagne was
given to all upon boarding. We went to the buffet, as soon as we
finished eating an announcement came on that our cabins were ready.

Cabin- A few days before departure I received an upsell from a Cat
AF Mini Suite to A Cat AB Penthouse Suite. Our suite was much more
than I expected. It had 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room , Dining
Area, It also had a cappuccino machine. It had a large shower. It was
heaven! We had a bottle of chilled Champagne waiting for us in the
suite.
We were greeted by our butler Maxi and he told us he can get anything
that was needed. One morning he served us the room service breakfast
we requested, and a white tablecloth was put on the table in the
suite. Food was hot and good.

Ship The ship was very easy to get around. The Spinnaker Lounge had
couches that were like beds. There were many different shaped chairs
throughout the ship The ship was bursting with color.

Food
We ate in Cagney’s for most breakfasts and Lunch which was a suite
perk and the food was excellent. At breakfast they had a cold buffet,
and a hot meal was served off the menu. We went to the buffet only
twice, one at Lunch and once at breakfast and there were many action
stations with all kinds of food. We ate in the Grand Pacific Dining
room, the designated dress up restaurant, 3 times for dinner. The food
and service was excellent. Their only weakness is they need a better
recipe for Southern Biscuits.
We had diners at La Cucina, Orchard Garden, Le Bistro, and Tequila,
Food at all was excellent.
I had no problem getting into any of the restaurants.

Sea Day
On the day at sea it was a bit cold so most of the activities I did
were inside. We had a cruise critic meet and greet that day. I had
tried to arrange one thru NCL, but never received a response to my
emails. When I met the Captain at a private cocktail party I told him
this, and he said he likes to meet the groups on the ship that post on
Cruise Critic because he is interested on knowing both the pluses and
the minuses about the ship. Our CC group met in Bliss lounge and
conversation was enjoyed by all.

Ports

Valletta, Malta- We decided not to do a tour at the first port so
took a local bus into the town which was 1 euro round trip. We
shopped , visited St. John’s Co-Cathedral ,and had lunch at an open
air café. The town was charming and pretty.

Naples, Italy- We took NCL’S tour Amalfi Drive and Pompeii. This
tour was very interesting and the Amalfi coastline was pictures. We
stopped in the town of Amalfi which was unique. I bought a small
guitar shaped bottle of lemonello.
Pompeii was exciting and it was wonderful to see my history book come
alive. We had an excellent Italian meal included with this tour,
complete with wine.

Rome, Italy (Civitavecchia)- We took the Baroque Rome tour, thru
NCL.. The Vatican tour was not available because parts of the Vatican
were closed due to a catholic holiday. We were able to tour St Peters
Basilica though. The tour was very fast paced and there was a lot of
walking . Lunch with wine was also included with this tour.

Florence/Pisa (Livorno) – We took Florence on your own thru NCL. We
walked thru town, had cappuccino . Saw some works of Art, shopped ,
and had lunch at a an excellent restaurant. We first went into another
one and noticed that the prices on the English menu was considerably
higher than on the Italian menu, seeing this we decided to leave.
We also saw some local police action in Florence. Some men had stolen
artwork from some vendors. We saw this in two different areas there.

Nice, France (Villafrance) - In Nice we decided not to do a tour
after 3 long days of touring. We took the tender into town and started
to walk around. We met some people that were on our cruise and they
said there was a local bus nearby that would take 15 minutes to get
into Nice. We decided to do that and the French Riveria was beautiful.
I bought some French perfume there. There is also a train that goes
there in 7 minutes, but the train station is a longer walk.

Debarkation- We left the ship after our last breakfast at Cagney’s. We
said goodbye to our butler Maxi the night before. We went to the pier
and Claudio our concierge was there with our luggage. It took less
than 10 min to get from the ship to the cab .

Flights

What can I say a nightmare both departing and returning. We flew
Continental Express from Nashville to Newark. That flight was on time
and the easy part both coming and going.. Because of the construction
at Newark we arrived at Terminal A and had to get to C for our
departure. On the trip over the luggage was sent thru but we had to
get on this bus ,which entailed going up and down steps with our carry-
on luggage. Steps also at arrival point. What a way to start out a
long flight. We then sat on the runway for an hour and a half because
the airport was so crowded, typical Newark!
On our Returning flight we had to go thru customs. At other airports
there is a place for continuing flights to check luggage, Not Newark!
We had to rent a cart to get our luggage to another part of the
airport. We waited on line along with others who had no continuing
flights. It’s lucky we had a 2 ½ hour connect time, because I doubt we
would have made it with less. In other airports you usually go to the
next gate without going thru security, but at Newark we had to take
the sky train from terminal c to Terminal A and go thru security once
again.
I think Newark has to do something about passengers on continuing
flights. The seats on Continental were like sardines in a can, the
worst! Our seats on Continental express had leg room, and it was a
quiet enjoyable flight, both departing and returning.

We are home now with many good memories, and pictures of our dream
cruise. No more towel Animals, no more treats sent to the room, no
butler catering to our needs. Our suite was a dream come true. My
daughter loved that she had her own room and bathroom on the ship.
Will I cruise NCL again, Most definitely Yes.

Diane in Music City
Diane Giambalvo
Galaxsea Cruises and Tours
www.galaxseaeb,com

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