Food Disappointment

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

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 34

Overall rating:

2.9 out of 5
Norwegian Gem

7 Night Canada & New England (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 16, 2018

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 8132

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

We left from NYC to a Canada and New England cruise. We made two stops in Canada: Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. John, New Brunswick. Then we made two stops in Maine: Bar Harbor and Portland. We didn't take any excursions, since we did not see any of real interest. In place of excursions, we went for more upgrades on the ship, which was a penthouse suite in the AFT. Overall, food was a letdown. We had the package for 3 specialty restaurants and went to La Cucina, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki. La Cucina was terrible! Worse Italian food ever. Le Bistro and Teppanyaki were the only 2 dinning meals we enjoyed the entire 7 day cruise. We tried the Grand Pacific twice and O ‘Sheehan’s once for dinner and twice for lunch. O ‘Sheehan’s is overall subpar. Far as you can get from being an Irish Pub as far as the taste of the food and food selections. Only good thing we had at O’ Sheehan’s was their wings. A big thing we noticed is on excursion days, lunch selections we pretty much limited to one buffet. Formal dining rooms were closed as well as the Great Outdoors buffet and the one by the pool. The one by the pool was noted on the daily cruise newsletter they handed out every day, was listed as to be open on these days, but it was never opened on excursions days. I would assume if something is listed to be open, it should be open. In all, we were very disappointed in the food we had on the cruise. The sections and taste were both lacking. Same menu every day for breakfast and lunch. We were never offered lobster, and any other seafood except maybe shrimp. You would think being in the New England area, we would have some kind of lobster dish offered daily. We did not get the great food you here about on cruises. We will never take a cruise on this ship again. Service as all eating places were average at best. Mostly below average. The only 2 places that were great at service was where we had our best meals, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki. The best service we had otherwise was at the Martini bar. The staff there were very pleasant and were always checking on you and keeping your glass full. We also had the Ultimate drinking package. This is also a joke. It is supposed to cover up to $15 per drink. Well, Bourbon and Scotch drinkers always had an up change, since these drinks were more than $15. Really, $18 for 1 shot of Knob Creek bourbon. The bottle retail is $35, so only 2 shots, the bottle is paid for. They can’t change $15 for this so, it would be included with the drink package. This is ridiculous. No Complaints on Embarkation and Disembarkation. Both went pretty smooth. We decided to self-Disembark and carried our own luggage off. This definitely saves time and highly suggest doing that if you can.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Had trouble with TV last 2 days of cruise. Otherwise would have been a 5 star.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Le Bistro

5 out of 5

Best meal we had on the cruise. Food and service was at the top on this specialty restaurant.

Maltings Beer & Whiskey Bar

2 out of 5

All bourbon and Scotch had an up charge. This is crazy! $15 limit per drink and I had to pay a $2.34 up charge for Knobb Creek. The bottle cost around $35 retail. You make you profit back on 2 shots! I think you can afford to include this items at the $15 included price for drinks.

Topsiders Bar and Grill

2 out of 5

2 days during excursion times, this place was suppose to have a buffet going on according to the daily newsletter. However the buffet was not open forcing you to the the garden buffet. Another example of nothing ever changes for lunch, since the Garden buffet was the only place to get lunch food on excursion days.

Orchid Garden Asian Restaurant

1 out of 5

Was very disappointed at the taste of the food here. It was really bad.

Shaker's Martini & Cocktail Bar

5 out of 5

Best bar on the ship. The service was excellent and the bartenders were very pleasant.

Great Outdoors Bar

2 out of 5

Same food everyday. Nothing special to note. most times, bar was not open to get drinks much later in the day.

La Cucina Italian Restaurant

1 out of 5

Worse food of the trip. Was very disappointed in the taste of the food from a specialty restaurant.

Teppanyaki

5 out of 5

2nd best meal we had on the ship. It was entertaining and very tasteful. Service was excellent.

Grand Pacific Main Dining Room

1 out of 5

Food and service was terrible. Very disappointed in formal dinning sections and quality.

Garden Café

2 out of 5

Same food everyday.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Casino

3 out of 5

Nothing special about the casino. It was very smokey.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ship tip

Use self-disembark

Ports of call

New York, New York

3 out of 5

Halifax, Nova Scotia

2 out of 5

Saint John, New Brunswick

2 out of 5
They did not tell you till you were on the ship, that you must be checked by Immigration before you can go on excursions. Since you just came back in the USA. You might miss your excursions.

Bar Harbor, Maine

1 out of 5

Portland, Maine

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
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10 Comments

MsSmiley    6 years ago

Wow...did you at least go to guest services to complain to them?I'm going on the Gem March 2019 I just hope I can get 1 lobster tail on 1 night for dinner.

abhamilton    6 years ago

So, you would have given it a 5 if the tv worked the last 2 days, yet there is a wall of text doing nothing but complaining. Something doesn't add up.

squire15    6 years ago

We went on that cruise last September and could not fault it.

gina712    6 years ago

I live in New England and we don't get to eat lobster every day, heck maybe once year I do. It's not cheap

mepcnp    6 years ago

A lot off the cruise lines have done away with the free lobster night. I think Ncl has the best food out of the 3 lines I have cruises on. Ncl is my favorite for everything so far. Is does sound like cruising is not right for you. I am on the Gem in November for back to back cruises.

viviennepagano    6 years ago

Before you go on vacation on a cruise or not do your research! Lobster has been off the menu for years! The prices for the liquor can be found on line so you should have known been on the Gem twice and the outdoor buffet and pool side has always been open except for crappy weather days Fish is on the menu daily at many of the restaurants but you have to read it or ask your server. Vacation is what you make of it you seem to have been looking for something to complain about. Shame

kbeelabs    6 years ago

You must be a barrel of laughs to be on vacation with. It seems like you take great pleasure in complaining about anything and everything. Perhaps cruising isn't for you, you don't like the food, you don't like any of the excursions offered. You don't like the UBP. If you were looking for lobster every day, maybe think about a land vacation to the New England area.

markandde    6 years ago

Perhaps cruising is not your cup of tea (or shot of Bourbon as the case may be.) We've done four cruises on NCL on four different ships and not experienced a 10th of the problems you seem to have had on one. Either we have been extremely fortunate or....

DerekMire    6 years ago

Needs to fund something else to do complains to much

RHendrix1    6 years ago

What did you do the second day. LoL

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