Disappointing cruise with Gem
Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
10 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 12, 2016
Ship: Norwegian Gem
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 5068
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 8 years ago
Review summary
I really have the outlook that there is no such thing as a bad cruise but this cruise came close to changing my mind.
There have been many changes on NCL. There seemed to be less crew and the restaurant staff was less friendly. The restaurants and buffet were generally dirty and for most of the cruise there was no enforcement of hand washing. There were exceptions we had some great waiters - Shaik M. Harris, Samir Shaik, and Gina Batacandolo.
There was an outbreak of Noro that the captain blamed on drinking water in San Juan. Many people were sick on the ship and we were turned away from St. Maarten. The staff would never say how many people were sick but it was a very large number.
The entertainment on the ship was excellent. Great shows especially Tim Kaminski. However, this though great didn't overcome the issues with cleanliness.
Given this, we will think seriously about cruising with NCL again.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Just wish there were some Halal meat choices as our large group of family only eats halal food
Ports of call
Tortola, British Virgin Islands