Overall good, but few things to work on

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Canada, New England, New York

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 0
Helpful Votes: 42

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Gem

10 Night Eastern Canada & Quebec (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 30, 2012

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 12 years ago

Review summary

Overall good, but there is room for improvement as noted below. Port stops of Halifax and Quebec City were very nice with a variety of things to do and see. Sydney and Ccornerbrook were very small towns with really nothing to do. Shopping was a joke and heard many complaints that tours were overpriced for what they included.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Always something to pick from. Nice variety of specialty restaurants if you want to upgrade to a higher quality. Only shortfall was that they seemed to run out of a lot of food towards end of cruise...yogurt\, ice cream variety\, juices\, etc.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Gem Production cast and shows were fantastic. Greg London\, Second City\, hypnotist\, and Jeff Harns were also top notch. Magician wasn't that funny and really made a number of inappropriate comments for a family show. Closing show monologue by cruise director\, Sinon\, was hilarious. I can't imagine how funny he would be in his native language if he was this good in English! The final closing act\, Fountains\, was also fabulous and not to be missed.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Varied. Room steward was great and called us by first names starting on day one whenever he saw us. Cruise director\, Sinon and his staff were fantastic and very visible throughout the ship. Restaurant staff had very little interaction with with us. I miss the days when you really got to know your waiter and they took the time to chat with the tables. This is definitely a loss with Freestyle dining and the set tip policy. In Garden Cafe\, wait staff looked very bored and seemed to work in slow gear. Tables were not cleared of excess plates and there always seemed to be a shortage of silverware.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Always clean. Nice variety of lounges and nooks and crannies.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Mattress was shot and needed too be replaced. Early on in cruise told steward about three different room issues. Phone cord had short in it and needed to be replaced\, sleep button on TV didn't work\, and hair dryer bracket was loose on wall and needed to be rescrewed on. Only the hair dryer bracket was fixed and no one ever got back to me as to why other items were not fixed.

Pros: Variety and quality of state shows was great. Cruise director and staff were very involved and visual everywhere on the cruise.

Cons: Tipping policy - flat tips charged to your accounts has hurt level of service.

Recommends Norwegian Gem? Yes!

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