> 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
>
> http://hometown.aol.com/iv18/myhomepage/business.html
>
>