Never Going with NCL again!!
Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
10 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 01, 2016
Ship: Norwegian Gem
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 10659
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 8 years ago
Review summary
I am a gold member 1 point away from platinum and let me tell you this was the worst out of more than 10 cruises with NCL, 18% gratuity for alcohol had to be paid in advance, I had to pay for room charges for 2 days that I spent in my room sea sick and I ordered soup on one of those days and was charged a separate charge for room service $7.95 over and above the daily charge of $13.50 which was $27.00 per day for both my husband and self we were both sick and never left the room but was told we had to pay regardless. I used the water that was in our cabin and was charged $6.95 but I had unlimited beverage package I guess water was not included!!!!!! Cagney's steak house used to have a set cover charge per person now it is ala cart and it cost over $60.00 per person to eat there! Ridiculous!! Gold members used to get 20% of ALL onboard purchases, not this trip it was only of pictures and item's with NCL's logo!! We used to get a decent size of chocolates, this time we got a sample w/ 4 chocolates inside. O'Sheehan's you used to be able to order food and take it back to your room, this is no longer allowed now you are made to eat it at there, even if there are 50 unattended teenagers hanging out being loud and obnoxious!! Food was not bad but the fact that you have to pay 18% gratuity over and above your daily room charges that used to include tipping in specialty dining venues is ridiculous!! I am done with NCL and the fact that my complaints went un-noticed made it that much worse, will book Royal Carribean or Carnival next trip! They have lost a valuable customer and probably for good this time!!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Expect to be overcharged for just about everything on board the ship. Gold member means nothing! As you are treated the same as a silver or bronze member! Cagney's steak house is now ala cart and over priced! If you get the free beverage package it's not free expect to pay 18% gratuity upfront!
Ports of call
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
6 Comments
OldGreyWolf 8 years ago
Wow. Sorry to hear you did not enjoy your experience. None of the things that you are complaining about are new. These are all changes that were instituted over the last 2 years and some have been in place longer than that. As for paying for the water in your room, yes if you read the conditions of the UBP you will note that the bar fridge in the cabin is exempt from the UBP. You must go to a bar to utilize the package. As for the daily fees and service charge, you will see them on the other cruise lines as well with the exception of some of the higher priced more exclusive lines where everything is included but you pay a lot more for it up front. I am sorry that you were disappointed.
Do you feel that if you knew about these things in advance that it would have enabled you to enjoy your cruise more?
jleslie48 8 years ago
"Expect to be overcharged for just about everything on board the ship." I have no idea what you are talking about. My bill on the exact same cruise was $10.76. the $10 was for extra tips I gave for great service at the french restaurant, and the 0.76 was sales tax because I ordered drinks while in NYC harbor and NY wanted its sales tax. We ate at the specialty resturants 5 nights for free, and all drinks and tip were included.
jleslie48 8 years ago
your rant is very strange. you claim to have traveled on NCL 10+ times but at the same time seem surprised at the sur-charges that have been part of the NCL cruises for years. Why exactly after 10 times is all of a sudden these things a problem for you? Also if you get seasick why are you still cruising?