Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We just returned from our honeymoon cruise on the Norwegian Gem, which was a little like the State of Ohio, all the highs were in the middle, and the sea was round and rolling on both ends. The ship is beautiful, and the staff were amazing in their knowledge, helpful attitudes, and attention. The food in the main dining rooms was just average, and bordered on unsatisfactory. Not in quantity, but everything was a little bland in taste. The specialty restaurants, in comparison, were paragons of flavor and service! We LOVED all three we had dinner with, those being La Cucina, where the chef was accomodating to my Italian tastes, and prepared off-the-menu items per my request. Le Bistro was simply divine, the food was outstanding and the service magnifique! Cagneys was equal in every way as well.

The problems were with the weather, the waves and wind, and the fact that the onboard ship announcements were overall too short, too long on navigational info (who needs latitude and longitude numbers?) and short on useful and timely notifications as to the roughness we could expect, especially on our return leg to NYC.

Having said that, we enjoyed our port days, and the first sea day of the return was fun as well. The barbecues each day at the pool were great, the entertainment, both by marimba band outdoors, and the truly amazing talents of the stage shows in the Stardust Theatre, made the long days nights eventful, and going to bed was never easy, since we were enjoying ourselves so much.

By all means, sail the Gem and experience this cruise... just be aware that the sea days might be tough to take for those who get motion sickness!

Lots of activities to do. Except for Second City Comedy Show, all shows great. Good food and services. Ports warm, sunny and good to visit. Spent New Years Eve and day on ship really wonderful, fun party. Music of all kinds in different areas of ship. Something for everyone. Would do it again

ROOM WAS GREAT, BARTENDERS WERE GREAT. STAFF WAS EXCELLENT EXCEPT IN THE RESTAURANTS THE WAITERS COULD NOT SPEAK OR UNDERSTAND ENGLISH. THIS WAS A BIG PROBLEM WAITING FOR THE FOOD THAT THEY DID NOT WRITE DOWN ON ORDER.  THE MENUS WERE ONLY AVAILABLE IF YOU WENT TO THE RESTAURANT AND TOOK A PICTURE OR LOOKED AT THE MENU.  THIS IS NO GOOD TO WALK AROUND BEFORE DECIDING WHERE TO EAT FOR DINNER.  OTHER CRUISE LINES HAVE THE MENU ON THE TV IN THE ROOMS SO THE CRUISERS COULD DECIDE WITHOUT WALKING AROUND THE SHIP WHERE TO EAT.  THE 18 PERCENT GRATUITIES ON THE SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS SHOULD NOT BE ON THE BILL.  WE ALREADY PAID THE GRATUITIES FOR DINNER.  WILL STICK TO ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINES.

Service was great. The entertainment and food choices could be improved upon. I would like to see more diverse activities- not just western styles dances and comedy shows. When you can get staff from all over the world, why not, the entertainment? 

It was a great experience. 

Just one suggestion: Try to have more of family activities.

Also please try to improve the quality of "Roti" in Indian food.

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.