Good Value but...
Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
9 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 26, 2014
Ship: Norwegian Gem
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 10103
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 10 years ago
Review summary
Our first Norweigian cruise. Maybe we are becoming cruise snobs after 15 cruises....not a fan of freestyle dining. Like commraderie with table mates and wait staff that you get at scheduled dining times. Also the service is faster on other cruise lines. Food was below average. Specialty dining was disappointing, we ate at Cagney's and Italian restaurant. Have done specialty dining on other lines and the food and service was amazing. Not so with these two restaurants. That being said itinery and price were great for the last minute cruise we booked to just get away from the snow and cold. We booked a very tiny inside cabin...first one in a long time and it was smaller than other cruise lines. Great quiet lounges at back of ship for at sea days if you can get one. Lots of "saving" of lounges that seemed abused. If you weren't up at crack of dawn forget getting a chair even though no one sat there all day. Other lines police this a bit and open chairs up. Broken light in our cabin was repaired immediately. Room service was used twice for breakfast, first time great second time never came...that was breakfast on departure day. Walked from pier to bus terminal and saved a lot of money. No cab in New York and we took the bus from Philadelphia and saved on tolls, gas and the 40 dollar a day parking rate. A highlight was the "washy, washy, happy, happy" lady who greeted us at the cafeteria all day long. She was so friendly while making everyone wash their hands and be healthy. She was even there as we left the ship saying goodbye...like the Walmart greeter!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
The grill on the back of the ship had great breakfast, small lines, different meals and better coffee .