Just back from its re-fit, and the Gem is as spectacular as ever.
Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
10 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)
Sail date: November 13, 2015
Ship: Norwegian Gem
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 8568
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
Well fans of the Gem here is what you care about most: The Gem has come out of the re-fit looking and feeling great. I was worried that the re-fit would have turned the gem into a plastic shopping mall that Norwegian seems to think is appropriate for their mega-ships, but I'm happy to report that the Gem has retained all of its splendor and style and in fact, has updated itself rather nicely. All of its woodwork and great views of the ocean are still there in all public areas of the ship and all of the venues are still there. The only significant change is the removal of the bowling alleys in Bliss.
In so far as what has changed, basically the ship have what I like to refer to as "de-trumped". If you have ever gone into a donald trump building you know what I'm talking about. Gone are the purple and bright flashy carpeting and loud decorations and replaced with more conservative and complimentary coloring and style that compliments the style of the ship. What I was most pleased with was the removal of the annoying gaming machines in the spinnaker. The whole spinnaker has been re-carpeted and new furniture to give is added seating and is in color tones much more relaxing as subtle rather than loud. It feels much more than like a luxury ship.
The main atrium has also been updated similarly. The sweeping staircase is still there with a wonderful parquet tile flooring in a rich mahogany stain. The main "gem" ceiling has been replaced with a nice led lighting system chandelier, Its OK, although I really did like the old one better.
With the removal of the bowling alley Bliss has been greatly expanded and totally updated with less trumpish-bordello look and is now a more modern looking setting although the side rooms are still there albeit with new couches and seating.
The Grand Pacific is unchanged.
All in all I was very happy with the updates on the ship. This is my third cruise on the Gem and it won't be the last. The gem just seems to be able to absorb the guests perfectly. None of the venues or public areas feel crowded and yet none empty. This cruise has 2600 passengers on it and even on he last day of the cruise, it poured so no-one was on deck, you could still move about and do things without feeling like you were in a cattle car.
This pictures are thumbnails. If your right click on them and open them in a new tab you can see them better:
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Different bars are stocked differently. For example the atrium bar does not have Beefeater gin but the spinnaker does. If you have preferred labels, check the different bars.
Ports of call
San Juan, Puerto Rico Did not visit port
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Traveler Photos
8 Comments
jleslie48 9 years ago
the staterooms are unchanged. the carpet in the hallways by the staterooms stills has the fish swimming towards the bow of the ship. I understand that all the TV's were upgraded because I heard a lot of them were not working and the crew was running around trying to determine what was working and what wasn't. Ironically, this was the first cruise I have ever even turned on the television and that was only because they removed the "you are here" screen from the photo booth and put it on the TV instead.
jleslie48 9 years ago
.Do you prefer the bowling alley ? We actually enjoyed the bowling alley. We are sorry to see it go. We asked about it. they said the sat empty 99% of the time that is why they were removed. IMO, it was the price that was the problem. Our hangout was not the BLiSS bar so expanding it was nothing we cared about.
We're the shows entertaining? They are good, the dancers are beautiful and very good. Its just that the shows haven't changed in 3 years, The entertainers were excellent too. Surprisingly captivating jugglers and magicians.
How was the food ? We ate mostly at the Grand Pacific dining room and we were never disappointed. We are not buffet people, and stayed away from it except for an occasional fruit plate or cup of coffee and late nite dessert. One thing to remember if you don't ask for fresh scrambled eggs you will get powdered eggs, but asking for fresh scrambled eggs is not an issue.
Do you recommend any specialty restaurants? We ate at none of them as the Grand Pacific is truly grand and it never had a wait for a table. On the Breakaway it was always a wait at their main dining room so we ate at a lot of the specialty dining, and they were quite good but that is all I know.
We're there any upgrades to the pools ? the pools and deck area are pretty much the same, the slide has been replaced with a double slide I see, but quite frankly as an adult Its something you do once or twice and is hardly a must do. The removed some of the seating with tables at the pool area which I didn't understand and did miss, but I think they said they were missing a bunch of furniture and it would be coming in the next few weeks.