Very Disappointing

Item: Norwegian Gem
Rating: 3
Author: gailbarbara

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Canada, New England, New York

gailbarbara

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 21

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

13 Night Canada/New England & Bahamas (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 12, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9022

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Most caotic registration ever. They make you book a check-in time and then push premium members ahead of you. Took one hour in line to check in, people were screaming at the personnel who had no real response. Food was mediocre at best. Nothing to do on board. All activities either child centric or sale events. No real TV service except news channels. Since we were just off-shore some entertainment channels didn't seem like a lot to expect. Tours were ridiculous since there was nothing much to see in the towns we docked in. Saw every high school in St Johns Bay, all four of them. Pretty places but not much to offer. Chaos continued when we docked in Maine. Customs scheduled announcements were not properly made, leading to arguments as people on tours had to push ahead of the line, and we had to run the length of the ship three times to get through customs. It was ludicrous and exhausting and mirrored the disorganization of the cruise director during the entire cruise. All in all I would not recommend this ship or this destination. Big disappointment.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Smallest balcony cabin I ever had. Beds were hard and so small I feared falling out. No where to put anything down, especially in bath. Very tiny TV and only one TV and one movie channel with horrible programming and inability to make sound louder so missed most of the movie dialogue.

Ship tip

Don't go.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Halifax, Nova Scotia

3 out of 5

Saint John, New Brunswick

1 out of 5

Portland, Maine

5 out of 5

11 Comments

aprilt27 8 years ago

Seriously. Now, I did complain a bit on our last cruise on the Carnival Glory. They just didn't offer many shows and other entertainment. Except for the comedy club. We've also noticed that Carnivals food quality has declined over the years. But we still found something to do to pass the time. I didn't write a complaint review like this.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

chillman141 8 years ago

This gailbarbara person, doesn't have the nerve to reply Typical of someone who goes through life complaining about everything. Must be a miserable existence.

Thumbs Up 2

Flag

aprilt27 8 years ago

"People were screaming and Personnel who had no real response" . If you were in that line of work and someone screamed at you, would you feel like responding to them?

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

jleslie48 8 years ago

Ive cruised the gem 4x. each time we get to the dock at 11:30, and each time we are sitting in the dining room for lunch, drinks in hand by 12:30.

Never turned on a TV once in the 4 trips. The fact that you want TWO in your room is very telling. As a matter of fact, we stopped getting balcony rooms after the first cruise because we found that we only used the room for sleeping and showering.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

aprilt27 8 years ago

Lmbo @ chillman!

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

chillman141 8 years ago

Gailbarbara, yes suites, Latitudes members go first, and they should. If you paid $600 each for a room and they paid $1,500 each they deserve it. Every cruise line, airline etc. has a loyalty program, and they get preferential treatment, you need to wake up to reality. Nothing to do on board? You were more concerned what was on TV, maybe you needed to leave your room to find all the action, every day, every evening. Maybe if you spent some time researching the excursions and spent some money to go on them you would see something. Did you see the reversing rapids, did you get down to walk on the ocean floor when the tide went out? Do you even know what the Bay of Fundy is? You obviously didn't go on a tour in Maine, as you we're concerned they disembarked first, and they should, they need to make the best of their time on land. Did you go to Peggy's cove, point pleasant park? Can you tell us the significance of the Titanic relative to Halifax? What was your favorite restaurant off the ship in Halifax?

Thumbs Up 5

Flag

JanetAndLarry 8 years ago

We've never been on NCL this is our first time. Carnival 4 times and Royal Caribbean twice. This is the first cruise ever for my sister and her hubby. Looking forward to our August 6th cruise out of NYC.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

Mary3189 8 years ago

You sound like you would be MISERABLE on any type of vacation. I have cruised with Norwegian 3x and getting ready for my 4th in October, never had a bad experience because once my vacation started while waiting in line to board the the ship it became MY VACATION . It becomes what you want it to be. Sounds to me like you had your mind made up before you even stepped on the ship. To bad for you !

Thumbs Up 5

Flag

JanetAndLarry 8 years ago

We are usually at the dock early so what difference does it make how long you are in the line you can't board the ship anyways. It always makes me laugh when people go on cruises looking for all the bad things. We go with the flow and make our own fun time. Being on a cruise is better than sitting at my desk at work!

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

jchrist 8 years ago

Seems like you just complain about everything.. premium members deserve to be ahead of you, they are premium members for a reason. Nothing to do?? Sounds like you need your own boat with your own island and your own personal consultant.. or maybe just stay home next time.

Thumbs Up 5

Flag

jallaway 8 years ago

I've not been on a Norwegian cruise, but your comments seem about par for persons that really don't like the experience. One hour check in seems to be average for most.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Good Trip