Not my favorite cruise

Item: Norwegian Gem
Rating: 3.5
Author: tlmullen

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

tlmullen

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 26

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

Verified Review

11 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 10, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 5551

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Cruise was mostly enjoyable other than what I have mentioned. We had a problem with every excursion we booked or tried to book, so we were disappointed with most ports, but other than breathing too much smoke, the shipboard experience was good.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

I usually buy a thermal suite pass but it has increased 100% over an 11 day NCL cruise just last year. Very disappointing...I can no longer afford! We usually spend time in the casino but it is all smoking now and difficult for non smokers to spend much time.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

staff overall did a good job, but many of them seemed tired and overworked. Maybe it was just because there were so many rude and demanding passengers on this cruise...more than I've ever seen! I felt sorry for the staff!

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

TINY....we had to rearrange furniture so we could get out of bed without getting hurt.

Ship tip

The ship caters to smokers. We were always inhaling someone's smoke!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

New York, New York

5 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

3 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

4 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

3 out of 5

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

3 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

10 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe 1 month ago

Thanks for sharing

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jleslie48 1 year ago

I was on the same cruise. The entire carribean was hit with big surf while we on that cruise. We really hate the smoking too. We never go through the casino and deck 13 forward is also to be avoided.

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Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

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spiritmovesme 1 year ago

All main stream cruises "cater to smokers".

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Ship2Shora 1 year ago

I was on board with you & agree about the smoke🚭😤🚬

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javawoody 1 year ago

Thanks for the review

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lsbs 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing,

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AuntPinkie 1 year ago

Appreciate your detailed feedback. Sorry you were disappointed.

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CruzeFan 1 year ago

Cruising during spring break is rarely a good experience. Independent excursions are generally better and more consistent than working through the ship, at least that’s been my experience since the restart after Covid.

Thumbs Up 2

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michelleb1127 1 year ago

Sorry to hear that there was so much smoke and rude passengers. You also mentioned problems with excursions. What was the problem? I am curious which excursions you did and what you thought of them. Sailing the same itinerary on a different ship next year.

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Other reviews of this sailing

A Gem of a good time!

The Gem is still a wonderful ship. Very relaxing cruise.

J.J. Davis makes it easy!