Fantastic trip when it came to the itinerary and cruise staff and specialty dining

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 170

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Gem

14 Night Southern Caribbean (Boston Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 25, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9028

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

Luckily I have The love of a lifetime so every cruise is awesome. Ship was nice, Norwegian needs to start rethinking the entire operating theory. Cabin steward didn’t go out of their way. Food was lacklustre in main and buffet. Entertainment is forever moving around the ship, just stop and leave the Party in each area for longer than 45 minutes... sweet Jesus! No duelling pianos was very disappointing. Entertainment of live bands was over at 11 each night

Embarkation

2 out of 5
Extremely slow and it very well organized

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Specialty dining was fantastic. Main and buffet were okay to poor. They shut down the buffet with snacks and treats at 11:30pm at least one night, which sucks. We ate at The Grand Pacific the first night and first morning and it was BAD! The seared sea scallops must be on dwarfs and afraid of the pan as we had them a couple of times and they were as small as my pinky nail and we not seared at all. So, that was my app, then had the fettuccine Alfredo as nothing was really jumping out at me, and there wasn’t any taste. Service in the Grand Pacific was supper slow. Specialty dining was very good at Le Bistro, Cagney’s and Teppanyki.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
NCL needs to change up how they do things. 45 minute sets, then shit it down and start something at the other end of he ship is crazy!

Entertainment

3 out of 5
It was ok. Blazing Boots was very good. Comedian was pretty good.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Cruise and dining and bar staff were good. We enjoyed chatting and interacting with many of the staff. Never had a single towel animal, even after leaving nightly tips and treats. Our new friends had toilet issues at least 4-5 times and they were just told it is good now each time. We had no water one night. The bar, restaurant staff and management overall were very good! Rhea Lyn, Avalon Disouza, Mily, we miss you all!

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
It was unique. O’Sheehans is on deck 8 amongst the cabins which is a lil strange and the aisles slope and it is just like a mouse mace getting there.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Ship’s Cabins are a lil nicer than many ships as the ship is done in a Tahitian motive.

Ship tip

If you do not like super ships, you will like Gem

Ports of call

Boston, Massachusetts

3 out of 5
in and out. Was not the easiest embarkation/disembarkation we’ve ever experienced

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

4 out of 5
Meagan’s Bay Beach, 4 cruise ships in port proved this beach was extremely well attended

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

4 out of 5
Orient Beach & Maho Beach. The time of year allegedly caused much beach erosion, but we enjoyed ourselves

St. John's, Antigua

4 out of 5

Bridgetown, Barbados

4 out of 5

Castries, St. Lucia

5 out of 5
We hopped off the ship and booked an excursion we did ourselves two years prior where we sailed over to the pitons, and on to the mud baths and sulfur springs. We enjoy this activity.

Basseterre, St. Kitts

3 out of 5
Went to a beach

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

5 out of 5
We rented a Jeep tour through the ship and we were the only ones to do so. The tour guide lead us in brand new jeeps that had just 174 miles and we were the only ones on the tour. The island drives on the left side of the road and has hairpin turns. We loved the beach and the sights.

Disembarkation

2 out of 5
If you are hiring a taxi... get a porter. It was a nightmare
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