Great Islands...So So Ship

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 50

Overall rating:

2.6 out of 5
Norwegian Gem

11 Night Southern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 24, 2020

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10556

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

NCL, is not my top cruise line after this trip. The destinations and New York made this holiday, and the ship was just the transportation to get us to each port. Food was the best in the dining room, and the garden cafe was sad. The bathroom in the state room was tiny and very uncomfortable to use.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
New York is a great place to leave from. Port staff are overall friendly.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5
The best dinner I had was in Le Bistro, and Dinning room overall. The service was overall very slow and poor. The best service was at Cagneys, but not the best food.

Le Bistro

4 out of 5

Best food on the ship...service not so good. They should get who trains the Cagneys staff to train the other people.

Teppanyaki

3 out of 5

Good food...too much soy sauce, so the rice was very salty

Orchid Garden Asian Restaurant

1 out of 5

Nothing good at all

La Cucina Italian Restaurant

3 out of 5

Food is good...service is poor.

Grand Pacific Main Dining Room

4 out of 5

Overall good food...service is poor.

Garden Café

1 out of 5

Same things each day....nothing too desirable here except the ice cream.

Cagney's Steakhouse

2 out of 5

Great Service, too bad the food was not. I had prime rib, and I make it so much better, and it was tough.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5
Not a big ship, so activities were not too exciting. The fitness Center was great.

The Collection Art Gallery

1 out of 5

No service...nobody would talk to us

Reception

4 out of 5

Had luggage problems, and they did a great to help us get our luggage that did not make it on the ship with us, and had it delivered to us at he first port

Fitness Center

4 out of 5

Great equipment.

Entertainment

2 out of 5
Saw 2 stage shows, and the country one was the best.

The Card Room

2 out of 5

Too small, as it was always busy

Stardust Theater

3 out of 5

The country musical was fantastic

Children's Programs

No kids

Service and Staff

2 out of 5
The overall service on this ship was poor. We had a good room steward, but the room does not get a really good clean...we found a new tampon behind the couch. The waiters are confused all the time, so the meals are not hot, from the dinning room.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5
Room was fine, the bed was uncomfortable and you feel the gap between the mattress. The bathroom was horrible and super small.

Ship tip

Be prepared for a small old ship, unless you want to sail from New York, and like the itinerary, find a different ship.

Ports of call

New York, New York

4 out of 5
Stayed 3 nights post cruise...great experience

San Juan, Puerto Rico

1 out of 5
Walked around

Basseterre, St. Kitts

2 out of 5
Did a dive...was good

Castries, St. Lucia

4 out of 5
Had a great tour, wife wants to come back here

Bridgetown, Barbados

5 out of 5
Love this island...soft sand, warm water, super people.

St. John's, Antigua

3 out of 5
Swam with sting rays...fun experience

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5
Did a dive

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
No problem
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3 Comments

viviennepagano    4 years ago

It’s a matter of preference we love the Gem but did not like the Dawn Personal experiences make a difference have always had good time on the Gem with no complaints

portofrome    4 years ago

Thanks for your review

clclip4xs    4 years ago

Yeah, the jewel class ships are my least favorite too. But now you know, right? For small ships, Dawn is nice. But again, the bathrooms are torture on the smaller ships.

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