January 2016 - 10 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip) Cruise on Norwegian Gem
Great vacation with only a few downsides
MaxEllenbogen
Purser
Joined 01/2016
1
Cruise1
Review39
Helpful VotesPast cruises
Norwegian Gem
Sail date: January 02, 2016
Great vacation with only a few downsides
This was my girlfriend and my first ever cruise. We had a very good time for the 10 days but learned many things for our next cruise. While it is a good value for the money, there are many extra fees and costs that come with it. I didn't like that if you ever wanted a soda you had to pay extra and the alcoholic drinks were pretty expensive. We learned that if you book at certain times they may include the "ultimate drink package" which is definitely the way to go. By the end we had almost an extra $1000 in fees including 2 excursions and hospitality charges ($13.50 per day per person). I also made the mistake of going to the hospital on board when I felt a bit sick on the second day. The doctor seemed like he did not know what he was doing and they wanted to run expensive tests when it was nothing serious. They do not take insurance and I had to pay $200 for a whole lot of nothing.
Besides these few downsides we had an excellent time and would definitely do it again. All four ports were very fun the highlight of the trip.
Cruise tips
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Excursion: The Baths. It is amazing... once you get there. The excursion is very poorly run but worth the experience.
Don't waste your time going into town unless you are looking to buy jewelry, the shops just harass you. Take a taxi to a beach.
We did the Mirabella catamaran and it was amazing. After we walked around town and there was nothing to really see or do. Definitely recommend doing excursion here.
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This was my girlfriend and my first ever cruise. We had a very good time for the 10 days but learned many things for our next cruise. While it is a good value for the money, there are many extra fees and costs that come with it. I didn't like that if you ever wanted a soda you had to pay extra and the alcoholic drinks were pretty expensive. We learned that if you book at certain times they may include the "ultimate drink package" which is definitely the way to go. By the end we had almost an extra $1000 in fees including 2 excursions and hospitality charges ($13.50 per day per person). I also made the mistake of going to the hospital on board when I felt a bit sick on the second day. The doctor seemed like he did not know what he was doing and they wanted to run expensive tests when it was nothing serious. They do not take insurance and I had to pay $200 for a whole lot of nothing.
Besides these few downsides we had an excellent time and would definitely do it again. All four ports were very fun the highlight of the trip.