NCL Gem Review

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 64

Overall rating:

4.6 out of 5
Norwegian Gem

7 Night Bermuda (Boston Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 30, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

We had a great time and will definately do this again. The only real complaint is that we had to come back and say goodbye to all our newfound friends!

Embarkation

5 out of 5
We arrived and went straight through with little to no wait. We were given one piece of misinformation; that all we would need to get back on the ship was our key cards. This is not entirely true; you also need government issued photo ID. We took our passport cards and had no problems at all.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Overall, the food was good, but not as outstanding as I remembered from the Dawn. Service was good, but in many instances, food was a little slow to arrive, so it was easy to fill up on bread, and not have room for much dinner when it arrived. My experience at Cagney's last year on the Dawn was appalling but decided to give it another try this time. The experience was much better but in view of all the hype, I was very underwhelmed. My fillet was the right temperature and very tender, but the sides were unimpressive. Overall, our dining experience was good. Maybe a bit too good, judging from the scale!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
We did the two wine tasting events. They were a lot of fun and we felt we learned something about wines as well as discovered a few new ones that we had never tried before.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
The band at the pool wasn't very impressive, nor was the Beatles Tribute; come on - everyone on the ship knows the words to these songs, EXCEPT the band! Otherwise, except for Blazing Boots (NOT a country music fan) the shows we saw were quite good.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Everyone went out of their way to be friendly and helpful, making our vacation a wonderful and relaxing time.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
This ship was a nice size and easy to get around. It seems pretty obvious now, but we finally figured how to quickly maneuver the ship by going to deck 7 and using the promenades and then either taking the stairs or the elevator to the correct floor. I absolutely loved sitting in the Great Outdoors and drinking coffee and reading in the mornings. What a great way to start the day!

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
The cabin was very clean and comfortable, though a little small, but we expected that. We had a sea view room, so it was nice to have natural light in the morning when we woke up. We were in the fore of the ship on deck 8, so we had a pretty smooth cruise, despite a little choppiness leaving Bermuda. We did miss the towel animals we found in our cabin when we were on the Dawn, but it wasn't a big deal. One really nice thing was we asked our steward for ice one the first day, and going forward she made sure we had a full ice bucket every evening.

Ship tip

The Spinnaker Lounge; Sherman and Gary are amazing bar tenders and made us feel like we were at our local hangout. The Spinnaker is at the front of the ship and has an amazing view. It was a great place to watch our arrival in Bermuda.

Ports of call

Royal Naval Dockyard, West End, Bermuda

5 out of 5
Lots of fun wandering around the dockyard. Everyone was very nice, and helpful. Stopped in to the Frog and Onion for a cold and refreshing craft beer made from pure rainwater. The IPA was delicious. Everywhere we went we were welcomed and made to feel right at home. Had a lot of fun at the perfume store picking out a new scent.

Boston, Massachusetts

5 out of 5
Bermuda is a wonderful island, full of friendly people and exquisite beaches. Everyone was very helpful and made us feel very welcome. I highly recommend the shore excursion to Clearwater Beach. What a great way to spend a day at the beach! Miriam was a lot of fun and took great care of us.

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
It was simple, but would have been easier had we either packed less, or had the bags taken off the ship for us. We were not in a rush to make a travel connection, so diembarkation was pretty stress free.

Traveler Photos

Cabin 8016 Spinnaker Lounge - We Arrive in Bermuda Clearwater Beach, Bermuda Clocktower Mall
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2 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     5 months ago

Thanks for sharing

dwright323    5 years ago

Glad you liked the cruise maybe you should think about going somewhere else next time?

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