Once in a lifetime

Item: Norwegian Gem
Rating: 2
Author: EricJ1

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

EricJ1

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 0

Helpful Votes: 8

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Mediterranean (Barcelona Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 06, 2008

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Suite

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 16 years ago

Review summary

The ship is very confusing and the directions are even worse. The directions tell you the floor the restaurants are located but not the part of the ship (AFT, Foward, Midship). The concept of freestyle cruising is good but NCL has missed the mark. Restaurants are always filled and close very early so when you get back from an excursion there is no real place to eat.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

We often went to the buffet court and brought it back to the speciality restaurant for dinner. If you like coffee its everywhere but if you want a soda grab your wallet and hold on its $1.75 a can

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Minimal and many times one show a night so if you get back from your tour at 6pm and eat dinner at 7 pm the shows started at 8 so you missed the shows

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

We had teenagers but the teen lounge was open to non teenagers. Anybody with teenagers no that is a no-no, so my teens rarely went to the teen lounge. Plus during shore excursion days there was NO teen activity

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

As a villa guest we a had butler that took care of everything, We think its worth the extra money

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

To get to one restaurant you have to walk through the buffet to get to it. The person who designed these ships must like jig saw puzzles. It took us two days to find all the restaurants.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

We had a courtyard villa and its awesome, no complaints here, but be warned that at the end of the cruise they are going to hit you up for $10 per person per day