Disappointing

Item: Norwegian Gem
Rating: 2.8
Author: mandkbean

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review

mandkbean

Contributor Level: Purser

125 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 14

Overall rating:

2.8 out of 5

11 Night Mediterranean: Italy Greece & Egypt (Rome To Istanbul)

Sail date: October 01, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10662

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 7 months ago

Review summary

In summary…. Don’t waste your money. This was our first , and last NCL cruise. After cruising 6 other cruise lines that were less expensive we were expecting at least the same or better experience from NCL. That simply was not the case. Great ports… lame ship.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Embarkation was quick and efficient.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Teppanyaki

5 out of 5

Great experience. Chef was very personable and friendly.

Cagney's Steakhouse

4 out of 5

Great steak! The only reason it lost a star from me is that specialty drinks are only available at specific bars around the ship. So I could not get my preferred drink with dinner.

Garden Café

2 out of 5

The food was good for the first few days. Aside from the daily additions (Mediterranean, Mexican, etc) the buffet quickly became monotonous.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

There were very few shipboard activities that were not a ruse to present a sales pitch for art or spa treatments and numerous other things the ship was trying to sell.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Very disappointing. There was a 4 person singing group that was ok, and a magician that was great, but for an 11 day cruise not having nightly shows of good quality is unsatisfactory

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

Most all the staff we encountered were great. However the staff appeared to be woefully undermanned, with some staff running between roles or just being late to open or begin an activity.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Cleanliness was good, but the rooms and ship were far too small for an 11 day sailing in comparison to other cruises we have been on.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Ship tip

Don’t waste your money on the internet. We paid hundreds of dollars for “premium” internet and instead of streaming speeds they advertised we had difficulty simply loading a basic webpage.

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