debnad50

WE HAVE BEEN ON THE GEM BEFORE TWICE, SO WE KNEW THE SHIP, THERE WAS A VIRUS ON THE PREVIOUS SAILING SO OUR DEPARTURE WAS DELAYED WHILE THEY DISINFECTED THE SHIP. THEY ALSO HAD STAFF SERVE FOOD, CUSTOMERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH FOOD OR UTENSILS OR EVEN CONDIMENTS.  I FOUND THIS COMFORTING, AND I THINK THEY SHOULD TAKE ROUTINE PRECAUTIONS LIKE THIS AT ALL TIMES.  PERHAPS THE STAFF WERE MORE TIED UP IN THIS PROCESS BECAUSE WE FOUND SERVICE NOT UP TO PAR, LONG LINES, VERY LONG WAIT TIME TO GET OUR MEALS MOSTLY EVERY NIGHT.  THERE SEEMED TO BE FEWER WAITERS AVAILABLE ON DECK AS WELL TO SERVE DRINKS AND WE HAD TO WAIT ON LONG LINES AT THE BAR.

  MY OPINION IS THAT THEY NEED MORE STAFF ON THIS CRUISE, BECAUSE EVERY STAFF MEMBER I SAW WAS WORKING HARD, HOWEVER THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH OF THEM AROUND TO SERVICE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ONBOARD.

The cruise was very enjoyable to us, it did seem to be overcrowded at times, and the meal times were disorganized at times, but the staff did the best they could and everyone was very nice and eager to please!  We were disappointed in the meal selection choices in the main dining rooms, especially on NYE, the choices were extremely limited.  It seems more attention is given to pay specialty menus, and less to main dining venues which is not how it used to be.