Carribbean cruise with Norweigian Gem

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 7
Helpful Votes: 230

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Gem

10 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 20, 2015

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 5600

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

I have been on the Gem six times and lately the food is going downhill. Now in order to get dishes that were previously included like lobster tails and escargot yoy have to go to a speciality restaurant and pay $20 to $30 extra per person and even then the food is not great plus even in the specialty restaurant some dishes have an extra charge. In addition it's bad enough that Norwegian raised the tips (service charge) twice in one year and you still have to pay an addional gratuity of 18 percent in the speciality restaurants. This is like double tipping because when you are eating in a speciality restaurant you are also tipping in the dining room where you are not eating.  The excursions are very overpriced. They even discontinued a simple dish at the pasta station like spaghetti and meat sauce. Why?  They should also have trays in the buffet like some other cruise lines have 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
I always ask the cabin steward to turn the bed sideways so it could be much easier to look out the window. I always wondered why when you are paying a lot extra for an ocean view the window is behind your head so you cannot see out. Having the bed facing sideways also makes the cabin seem larger. A toiletry kit such as toothpaste, mouthwash etc should be included

Ship tip

The soups in the Buffet were terrible. Please improve on them. Please include spaghetti and meat sauce at the pasta station like you used to have on all my other cruises on the Gem. Please include Chinese dishes in the Buffet

Ports of call

New York, New York

3 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

3 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

1 out of 5
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2 Comments

ManhattanMom    8 years ago

Was the iConcierge phone app available (hoping this happened during dry dock)?

glomarrone    9 years ago

Sorry to read that the quality of the food onboard is going downhill.  I understand that some ships are eliminating complimentary lobster dinners in the MDR.  How sad...  To charge extra for Spaghetti and meat sauce is going too far.  I have a feeling that you maybe bookiNg on a different ship for your next cruise.  Why were you unhappy with Tortola?

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