Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Traveled with my husband on his birthday. We had a wonderful time on ship and the weather was great. Seas were smooth and we enjoyed the balcony. Food and service on the Gem was really good and while the portions were small, it was good quality and served hot. The only gripe about the ship was the chair hogs and luke warm hot tubs. They are supposed to be hot. The buffet layout is a bit confusing making it hard to navigate with a large crowd. We only had breakfast once. The Grand Pacific has a great breakfast so we went there most mornings. All entertainment was really good and offered something for everyone. Prism was excellent and we enjoyed their sets at Magnums with drinks. Looking forward to going back on the Gem next year!

First time I was ever given the option to upgrade to a balcony it was absolutely amazing I usually book an inside cabin this made the cruise so much better for myself and my 16-year-old son ,there was lots of room for us .The only downfall I have is somewhere in the room and envelope with $1300 went missing don’t know if it got picked up with the sheets and the towels by the room attendant .front desk never found it .depressing😢

Lorena and the entertainment staff was out of this world i never had more fun on a cruise before they were great!! Can’t wajt to go back

I felt that the variety of excursions was not as plentiful as have been on other cruises....

Enjoyed the cruise although i was left somewhat confused when I walked through the buffet towards the outdoor dining room on July 13th wearing an American flag dress and I heard a kitchen crew member say, "happy July 4th mame" while looking away and making absolutely no eye contact...not sure if she was being sarcastic but i simply replied,"I'm American all year long" and since she wouldn't even look at me i just kept walking. Also, while returning from a port my bracelets triggered the metal detector machine and while waiting for the lady to approch me with the hand held machine i raised my arms to the side and shook my hips twice towards my husband who was in line behind me and she scolded me by saying, "this is not a joke!"... Seemed to me like the crew on the Spirit had better people skills then the crew on the Gem

Excellent food, we loved the spa pass,great staff.

Cruise was not like expected too expensive Suite small not clean staff not as friendly as the dawn

The weather, which you can't change was rainy and cold, but the cruise was entertaining. It was relaxing and would highly recommend it.

Me and my wife, her brother and his wife all went together and had a great time and our cabins were right next to each other (cabins 10624 and 10622), the seafood was exceptional in Maine, seafood compared to other places that serve it is 2nd to none when your getting it from the source.

Second time on the Gem and as usual it was fantastic. We had to change rooms last minute to add another family member and it was a little tight but no problems. Nine family members in all on this cruise and everything was great. As usual service was fantastic food was fabulous.

We were celebrating my daughter's 21st birthday while on this cruise so it was extra special. The crew of the Norwegian Gem were wonderful. For 7 days they became our friends. I would recommend this ship to people who can appreciate all that a smaller ship has to offer.

We left from NYC to a Canada and New England cruise. We made two stops in Canada: Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. John, New Brunswick. Then we made two stops in Maine: Bar Harbor and Portland. We didn't take any excursions, since we did not see any of real interest. In place of excursions, we went for more upgrades on the ship, which was a penthouse suite in the AFT. Overall, food was a letdown. We had the package for 3 specialty restaurants and went to La Cucina, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki. La Cucina was terrible! Worse Italian food ever. Le Bistro and Teppanyaki were the only 2 dinning meals we enjoyed the entire 7 day cruise. We tried the Grand Pacific twice and O ‘Sheehan’s once for dinner and twice for lunch. O ‘Sheehan’s is overall subpar. Far as you can get from being an Irish Pub as far as the taste of the food and food selections. Only good thing we had at O’ Sheehan’s was their wings. A big thing we noticed is on excursion days, lunch selections we pretty much limited to one buffet. Formal dining rooms were closed as well as the Great Outdoors buffet and the one by the pool. The one by the pool was noted on the daily cruise newsletter they handed out every day, was listed as to be open on these days, but it was never opened on excursions days. I would assume if something is listed to be open, it should be open. In all, we were very disappointed in the food we had on the cruise. The sections and taste were both lacking. Same menu every day for breakfast and lunch. We were never offered lobster, and any other seafood except maybe shrimp. You would think being in the New England area, we would have some kind of lobster dish offered daily. We did not get the great food you here about on cruises. We will never take a cruise on this ship again. Service as all eating places were average at best. Mostly below average. The only 2 places that were great at service was where we had our best meals, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki. The best service we had otherwise was at the Martini bar. The staff there were very pleasant and were always checking on you and keeping your glass full. We also had the Ultimate drinking package. This is also a joke. It is supposed to cover up to $15 per drink. Well, Bourbon and Scotch drinkers always had an up change, since these drinks were more than $15. Really, $18 for 1 shot of Knob Creek bourbon. The bottle retail is $35, so only 2 shots, the bottle is paid for. They can’t change $15 for this so, it would be included with the drink package. This is ridiculous. No Complaints on Embarkation and Disembarkation. Both went pretty smooth. We decided to self-Disembark and carried our own luggage off. This definitely saves time and highly suggest doing that if you can.

Five stars all around. The Gem was our first NCL experience and we are sold. 10/10 will be back for another round - perhaps on another ship but would definitely sail on The Gem again. General notes Friendly staff, clean ship (including the restrooms and I’m PICKY!), and plenty to do. Food & Dining Awesome! Would recommend avoiding the buffet as often as possible unless you’re just in need of a quick bite. Why hit the buffet when you can sit and dine with wonderful service and food?! A few notes: Grand Pacific felt more comfortable and enjoyable than Magenta, as the space is open and the windows are bright. We (2 of us) sat by the window every meal with little to no wait. Our only specialty restaurant experience was at Le Bistro and it was lovely from service to food. Thinking the later reservation was helpful as we were almost alone in the restaurant. Entertainment If you get a chance to see the Sunset Swing Trio - do it!! Spent many evenings having a drink and enjoying their music. Magnums is great for a drink & live music. Never had trouble getting a seat or a drink (service is great both at the bar and sitting down at the tables). Comedian was just OK, magician was certainly entertaining and family friendly. Embarkation & Disembarkation Really no problems. Got on smoothly and waited for a bit to get off but nothing to really complain about. My only note would be the lack of instruction for the amount of people trying to self-disembark. We loved The Gem and felt spoiled rotten the entire trip!!

Because its not as large as some of the ships it didn't feel overcrowded especially at the pools. They do a daily barbecue on the deck which was great. Lows would be the elevators take a long time so we often took the stairs , which helped burn some of calories we were packing on from the buffet. All in all it was a great cruise that I would do again.

Great times with all the good food you would ever want.

Despite the lack of cooperation from the weather gods we had a nice vaca that unfortunately ended too quickly...The main negative from every single quiz we participated in (which was MOST of them!) is we had to translate ESL into American English for the other guests that were playing the games with us. I say "Bless them! They are biligual and that alone is an impressive feat to us, but not every guest enjoyed the translations from the game hosts.

We have cruised on Disney, Royal Caribbean and Holland America. I would have to rate NCL below them. The ship and staff are fine, but it had a feel that NCL was cutting expenses in the areas that made cruising feel special. My wife and I had a good 20th anniversary cruise, but I may have to avoid NCL in the future.

Great to be back on the Gem. First time cruising to Canada & New England. Enjoyable but cold. We were prepared though

The smaller ship makes for a more intimate experience. After only 2 days you really get a feel for the ship and know your way around. Food was excellent and the restaurants were very accommodation to my Vegan Gluten Free wife. Some areas feel dated even though the ship was rehabbed not long ago. We will definitely look to cruise on the Gem again in the future.

The ship was nice but bathrooms throughout were not kept up and my room balcony I could not enjoy had bad rust and paint chipping was not worth the 3000.00 paid should have gotten a basic room if I know I was not able to use the balcony