Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I think the food was great and had lot of fun.  I think little bit more time at at San Juan could be useful to us.  I will recommend NCL to others.  I general we had a great time. 

Where to start? 

First, the parking for the Cruise was $400, for a ten day cruise with Carnival I only paid $175 out of Baltimore. 

Second, for as much as we paid for the cruise the food was horrible.  The bread was always hard and cold, the meats were either over cooked or under cooked.  I had several desserts that were still frozen. The barbeque food was either over charred or just had a bunch of salt on it.  The service staff always seemed like the didn't have time to answer questions or request.  Only the food we paid for was any good. I know everybody doesn't speak English but a cruise out of New York I would expect the crew to understand my question or concerns about the quality of the food.  The drinks were overpriced, small and weak...very little alcohol for the prices.

Third, the entertainment was subpar for what I have experienced on Carnival  the acts weren't that great.  It was a lot of "filler" activities in between main activities that weren't really entertaining.  Compared to other cruises I have been on the pay activities were a lot more expensive especially bingo and the casino.  At the casino the minimum amount to pay on certain tables was more but the pay out on my winnings was a lot less than what I have experienced.  People who I spoke to about excursions that they paid for on the ship found that they were a lot cheaper when they got to our locations.

And finally, the 18% on all drinks, bought food, and activities was basic robbery.  Like I said previously the drinks were not that great, the activities were overpriced and the food that we paid for was good but not 18% good.  This might have been stated in the contract or itinerary and I missed it but I felt I was been robbed every time I paid for something. 

The only real bright spots were the destinations, the bartenders at the Maltings Beer & Whiskey Bar and I cabin cleaner Yasmin. 

Safe to say this was our first and last trip with Norwegian.

Room, was smaller than we were told. Ship was "over capacity because 2 days prior to sailing they had a sale and people paid 1/2 of what we did for better rooms. Our room issues couldn't be addressed or resolved due to no rooms available. 

Customer service was rude and unhelpful. As I said we paid basically for 2 cabins what other people paid for 4 and theirs was not interior but ocean view and balconies. After 4 Cruises with Norwegian it left a really sour taste in my mouth. 

Now onto the ship, after cruising on the Breakaway, Escape and Epic before, we were completely let down. Everything closed way too early, playing big chess on the deck and was being told by 4:30 that it had to be shut down, move to rock climbing also shut down etc..

The food was also a let down from other trips, not much variety. Also the dining room was way too small.

The one saving grace was the stops on the islands which were great. I tried to contact Norwegian Customer Service to no avail. Never got answers to my emails and they are always closed when I get out of work so I have no chance to talk to them by phone.

El crucero Gem es pequeño. Las cabinas son nítidas, las camas super cómodas. El servicio del personal supero mis espectativas. Todas las comidas ricas y solo utilice los restaurantes complementarios. Los shows y entretenimientos del barco muy buenos también. Mi hijo (12 años) quedo encantado con el cuido de niños, la mayoria del tiempo q pasábamos dentro del barco el iba al cuido.

Favorite part was the food, service, and port of entry locations. I was disappointed that the spa package that both my hubby and I signed up and paid for, ran out of supplies on the end of the 4th day of an 8 day cruise. The sugar scrub was not replenished after that day. Also, when you sell an expensive package, you should make sure you have enough of the amenities people are looking forward to. The heated lounge chairs (under10), were always occipied no matter what time of the day you visited...Totally unacceptable

Well the best thing about our cruise is that we were in "The Haven", Thank goodness!!  ALL The FREE packages are ruining their great customer service image because the customer service has been cut back so drastically!  getting drinks, etc on the ship and in the buffet dining room!  We had to go find someone to get us drinks when eating!  Then the food was the same every night except for one meat station where it changed!  Good think we had four nights in a restaurant! 

All in all it was a good cruise!!

The gathering of Friends of Bill W. was the focal point of all my cruises. However the Norwegian Gem is by far the nicest ship with excellent variety of food in the buffet and the main dining room. Far surpasses the Adventure of the Seas I took previous to this. Will make Norwegian the number one cruise line in follow up vacations.

Really enjoyed St. Thomas/St. John - plan to go back for a week!  The Gem was

a great ship and very well maintained - easy to navigate from one end to the

other.   Particularly enjoyed singing with Great Waves in Bandaoke one night - that was a Hoot!   

Enjoyable cruise almost perfect

food and service were great

just one minor problem with malfunctioning room safe

which took several calls to get maintenance to replace

great entertainment options

Gem is a great ship not too big it never felt too crowded at the pool or at entertainment venues

Not much of a wait either at restaurants either

The best part was food, need to improve the room service. I find a dirty clothes inside and the floor was dirty. The route was not the best specially Grenada island.

Staff was wonderful. Rained all week. See below for issues with excursions. Ncl selected hotel was old, dirty, falling apart, and loud. The production shows were the best we have seen on the sea.

We all had a great time due to the wonderful NCL staff. Ports of call were nice and the locations were well maintained.  Excursions were good and on time 

I would recommend this cruise.  Crew was very friendly.  Food variety was good.  Would have enjoyed more activities slanted toward education, art, crafts, etc.

The Gem is a lovely ship, lots of entertainment in many areas. The Stardust Showroom was top notch, Norwegian always has good shows and excellent house bands. The dining room food was good, especially enjoyed carpaccio, flounder Milanese, & lump crab cake. Bread & pastries excellent every day. Norwegian has a new policy--you are not allowed to bring any bottled water onboard. They want to stiff you for $3.25 a bottle. That is too much. I can see charging even $2.00 but $3.25 is airport prices and is a ripoff. The staff on the ship is very friendly and efficient. Nice cruise overall; this will be our last time in the Caribbean, Probably time to graduate from Norwegian to Celebrity or Oceana.

Excellent entertainment. Lots of good food and beverages! Everyone cordial and helpful. Balcony room a bit tight. Only cruise line that would not open up the doors between balconies.

Nice relaxing cruise, relaxing on the balcony was great, would recommend it to all.

Nice relaxing cruise, relaxing on the balcony was great, would recommend it to all.

First time on Norwegian line,  thought it was the right destination for us. Norwegian Gem left out of Puerto Rico with every family on board. Nice ship and good staff, but really overcrowded...2740 passengers. Smaller balcony room than we are used to. Needed public bathroom cleaners and clean up around the pool from all the lazy people.

This is my first time on Norwegian Gem I loved it. I never did any new Norwegian  Cruise Lines  before the only reason why I would not go back is  the bathroom was absolutely too small I do love the unlimited beverage package that should be included on every package. Besides  NCL   charging my credit card four additional times outside of my cabin cost I love the ship. 

Ports of Call were great. Especially enjoyed Antigua and Tortola. Pusser's Pub and Quitos are a must when you are there. (Quitos was voted the number 9 best bar in the world for good reason) I offered to buy in on a partnership with Mr. Quitos but he said he would call.  Bad choice on the 11th floor room (mini-suite) as we were directly under the kids Romper Room and the little tykes were up very late.  Also an excursion we had booked through CruiseOnly was cancelled at the last minute and we had to scramble to find another in Saint Lucia. But these things happen. Over-all a great cruise and our second out of San Juan. You want to go a couple of days early and enjoy the island.

Entertainment so-so. The live music in the lounges and poolside were truly awful. Band in the theater very good. Grand Pacific and Magenta just average. La Cuchina food very good, atmosphere left much to be desired. Le Bistro excellent. casino truly awful. Ship clean/bright, nice stateroom. Service very good.