Good Cruise Despite Gastroenteritis Virus Outbreak & Missing St. Maarten Port

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 28

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Gem

10 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 12, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Inside

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Despite the gastroenteritis virus outbreak during this cruise and not porting at St. Maarten, we managed to have a pleasant vacation. This was our third Norwegian cruise and the food and entertainment were fabulous as usual. We were lucky to have great weather especially at the 3 out of 4 ports scheduled. Norwegian only refunded us $9.76 per person for missing the port of St. Maarten and we are trying to get our $50 shore excursion credit back that we lost. The crew did an awesome job trying to contain the virus which directly impacted this vacation. We are thankful we did not get the virus as the officers on board enforced that anyone with the virus would be confined to their cabins and had to surrender their room card keys!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
The dining at the Grand Pacific was terrific. We ate their all the time.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The comedian Tim Kaminski was exceptional. We also enjoyed the circus shows and Gem dancers.

Children's Programs

5 out of 5
Our 4 year old daughter loved Splash Academy. She was there almost all day!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
The outbreak confirmed their was a cleanliness issue.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
The cabin was cleaned twice a day. You can expect all the cabins to be small, as we expected.

Ports of call

New York, New York

5 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

3 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

1 out of 5

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

3 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 28

4 Comments

danyd    8 years ago

Because of the outbreak of the norovirus

finfan3dp    8 years ago

Why did you not port at st maarten?

LadiesCruisin30    8 years ago

Thanks for sharing,it's great you guys kept a positive attitude even though all this happening you found a way to make the best out of it!

sloopjohnb53    8 years ago

Great attitude. Thank you.

Other reviews of this sailing