Cruise was a Gem
Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
10 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 28, 2022
Ship: Norwegian Gem
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9508
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
All in all the cruise was great . We had a a bit of a rocky ride over to San Juan but that was to be expected sailing from Atlantic waters into the Caribbean ,especially during the winter. Our itinerary was changed twice ....It was supposed to be a a Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos cruise. We went to neither of those islands. We instead went to Antigua instead of T & C ( couldn't meet the Covid testing timeline ) We took a cab to Long Bay so my husband and our friends could snorkel. The beach did not disappoint ! Gorgeous, calm, clear water! We ate lunch at Mama Pasta which believe it or not ,had the best vegetable pizza ! Our cab driver, Barry, was more like a tour guide. He told us all about the island . If you go to Antigua and get the taxi driver Barry, tell him the 2 couples from NYC said Hello. We went to San Juan , PR in place of Puerto Plata, DR ( never did find out why we couldn't go to DR , someone said bad weather ). San Juan, PR was nice but unfortunately the time we docked was 4;30 pm and most vendors were closed or closing shortly after we disembarked . There were only 4 excursions to chose from because the Fort and beaches were closed, too. We took a short walk into the town and over to the Forts . We ate dinner at Raines Restaurant which had good Mofongo. We had to show our vaccination card to enter. It was a short wait to be seated but a long wait for the food but worth it. We were very happy that our sailing was able to get to 5 ports ( St. Thomas, St. Maarten , Tortola which were all on the original itinerary , Antigua and PR ) as the sailing before and after ours unfortunately could not go to all 5 ports . I prefer the smaller ships, Dawn and Gem compared to the larger ships Joy and Breakaway that we've been on in the past. The staff were attentive, friendly , remembered people's names and always happily greeted upon entering restaurants. The coffee servers in the buffet were so cute singing a coffee jingle while pouring your coffee . The one server ,Sunshine, (as I called her) was very sweet, always smiling and made sure you were happy with your service and food. We had a very good time on the Gem and will be looking forward to sailing on it again in the future.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Book rooms centrally located on ship as this is a smaller ship and you feel more movement on it . Be flexible as your itinerary can change especially during these times of the pandemic , conflict over seas and weather .
Ports of call
Tortola, British Virgin Islands