Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The ports were good. The service on the ship was bad.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

I enjoyed the pool deck (12) and deck 13, especially when the bands were playing. Wish there was a steele band. Also, there should have been an equal variety of music being played, predominately Latin/Spanish music was played.

The speciality restaurants were amazing!

The one thing that was annoying was one of the crew would yell iinto the microphone she used, if using a mic no need to yell! I realize she was trying to pump up the guests, but the cruse director Alvin & the assistant cruise director Zack could pump up the guests and did not yell into the mic.

First I would like to start by saying that the staff on the ship (except the customer service desk) were amazing! Most people were so great to my sons when they walked past them, always greeting them and talking to them. The Brazillian restaurant Moderno was beyond amazing! We actually canceled our reservation for Cagneys to go to Moderno again 2 days later! However the negatives made my trip miserable! First- they lost our stroller which made the trip a living hell for me! My 3 year old son was born with clubfoot which requires him to wear braces on his feet 14-16 hours a day. Not having the stroller was a complete inconvenience, requiring me to carry him. When we went to the excursions we were unable to get a stroller at the Kennedy Space Center so it was very hard seeing he just turned 3 and still gets very tired and needs to sit! I was told that if I rented a stroller there that I would be reimbursed however because I didn't rent one I was given $50 on board credit for the inconvenience. When we went to Atlantis aquarium we rented a stroller (which was a VERY large jogging stroller that was not only hard to navigate and carry up all the stairs but was uncomfortable for my son) and when I returned to the ship I was told that I wouldn't be reimbursed because we were given the on board credit. The people at guest services were very unsympathetic even when I brought my son down to show them his braces and how hard it was. After returning home and speaking with someone at the headquarters I was told that I could only be reimbursed $50 seeing their maximum is only $100 (I already was given the $50 on board credit) seeing I didn't purchase the travel protection. I'm getting $100 for the over $200 Maclaren stroller that I purchased specially for this cruise seeing my son requires to sit a certain way with his braces! I am very disappointed in the lack of empathy that I received from the representatives at Norweigian and will never ever cruise with them again! This was my 2 cruise with them and I was very excited seeing my first was wonderful! I have shared this story with others and will let all mothers of children with disabilities know how unhelpful Norweigian is towards parents of children with disabilities and their customers themselves!  Second issue-- the kids academy seemed to have too many flaws which made the trip unenjoyable. When registering my sons I told them that the 3 year old wears a diaper, apparently no one gave him the appropriate sticker because as my husband and I sat down for dinner the first time he was in there, I received a call telling me that he took off his diaper (which he never does) when I went there I was told that they didn't realize that he wore a diaper and sent him to the bathroom during bathroom time. Another time I was called because my 6 year old looked tired and yawned. We  picked him up once they called at 8:30 and he was wide awake and up for 2 more hours. (This happened with my 3 year old also...and I was told from other parents they did it to them too) When I asked him if he told them he was tired he said no, he was just bored. To me it seemed like they were calling parents to get them to pick up the kids and get the kids to leave.  I love cruising and will continue to do so, just never again with Norwegian!

The food, drinks, ship & crew were all great! My first time on Norwegian & we all loved it! Thanks for the memories!  I loved Great Stirrup Cay, beautiful Island! 

My family of 4 (kids are 6 and 9) just returned from our 1st family cruise.  It was excellent.  My favorite port was Great Stir up Cay, BEAUTIFUL!!  We booked an early excursion, so we were on the 1st tender.  I heard from another family that they were on the 18th tender, and there were no seats or shade by the time they got to the island.  I recommend trying to get an early tender for an awesome beautiful experience. The staff was very friendly and the ship was clean.  The food was good.  Dining room for was good, but our favorite meals where when we upgraded to the Italian and Sushi restaurants.  The a la cart upgrade charge was reasonable, and cheaper than what we would have been charged at a restaurant.  We did not have any reservations, but never had an issue being seated.  The kids loved the buffet and would have eaten there for every meal, but I like seat down service.  There was plenty to keep all of us happy and entertained while on the ship.  The only drawback was the pool and pool deck, both very small for the number of people on the ship.  At 8:30AM there were already no seats to be had poolside.  We found that going to the pool around 3pm was better, as people started to leave more space became available.  All and all a great vacation, and we do plan on cruising again soon.

I have been on multiple cruises and never had any of the following issues. I enjoy cruising and understand that sometimes things can get crowded on the ship but never had it this bad. I am NOT hard to please, but when I spend thousands of my hard earned money I want to enjoy it. I have also been boating for years and grew up boating. 

The Norwegian cruise line is not a line I will ever join again - unless it were free and even then it's questionable. 

WAY too many people for the areas. Hundreds of people had to stand for most comedy/performances. If you didn't get up really early to get chairs by the pool forget about it. The spa was nice, but if you get a massage you should get access to the relaxation rooms (not have to pay an additonal $150), and they shouldn't spend 30 minutes after your massage trying to sell you more crap. You're there to relax! The tendering process was horrible - as soon as we got on the island they stopped lunch. We didn't eat at all that day until dinner because of it! The process for this was very misleading. It says to get your ticket only when you're ready - so we did that, but had to wait 2 more hours. 

Not only that, but they tried to make bogus charges! We paid $117 for something, they tried to put it through as $1,017! They did this for multiple things. 

The photo packages were misleading. I wanted to buy photos of my parents since I bought a 50 photo package. They said I couldn't because it wasn't my room number and he also claimed the package was complimentary. Ok, if it's complimentary then my parents should be able to get their own since "complimentary" means it comes with the cruise. 

No room in the pools, the weight room in the gym is TINY.  We could barely fit 5 people in there. My boyfriend and I could barely keep our workout routine because of the tiny space.

The staterooms are the smallest of any cruise I have been on. For just my bf and I it was fine (we had a balcony) but I would not recommend it for a family of 4. 

No poolside service for drinks. And if you do want a drink cancel your plans for the day because you'll be waiting there a LONG time. They will service other people who got to the bar after you- they need to learn how to bartend. Waiters and staff didn't get friendly until you tip them. 

The food I didn't think was too bad until I came home and ate something and realized how absolutely crappy the food was. The desserts were absolutely disgusting; and I like my sweets. The only thing that was good was the lava cake.

I really could go on but hopefully I've made my point that you should not waste your money.

Do not recommend this cruise at all. We spent thousands only to be disappointed. 

Our first time on the cruise was beyond describable! Despite us being vegetarions and we thought we could have a little more veggie options, we came back with absolutely no complains! The views are the best part, you are in middle of the ocean and there is nothing surrounding you except beautiful sunsets/sunrises or the moon! NCL definitely took every measure for us to feel comfortable and that we are on a luxurious vacation. We took an inside stateroom and felt it was sufficient, since this was our first time, we spent majority of our times outside our rooms. That being said, we definitely want to try the balcony in the future! The staff was very friendly and you feel like you become family by the end of 7-8 days. If the budget agrees, I can't wait to go on my next cruise as soon as I can ;) 

everything you do cots money ..edible food nothing to speak of. Rooms clean and well taken care off.watch out for the bathtubs and the balconies. You can locked out.pre tipping policy make the service in the dinning rooms very unmotivated.  Service slow and poor.  Great pillows.  That not a good enough reason to go on NCL cash cow vacation 

Aside from some very friendly barmen, most of the service people were not friendly. The service people were indifferent and pretty much thought it irrelevant whether they served you or not. The food in all the restaurants was terrible. All the food at the buffet was bland and without taste. The specialty restaurants were no different, it felt as if when you ordered, they just went up to the buffet and served you from there. We had the ultimate drink package, there's nothing ultimate about it,in most cruises you get the chance to serve youself, here you have to first find a bar and then wait 5 to 10 minutes to get served. We also had the Internet 250 minute package. It took me 60 minutes to send one email. The connection throughout the entire cruise was non existent. After having used more than half the Internet package to send 2 emails, we went to see the Internet Manage. He was the most disrespectful and nasty person on the ship. Pretty much, what he told us was that the Internet service was not guaranteed and that we should just keep trying. I'm sure if I told them that my payment to them was not garanteed, they would sure find a way to resolve my issue. The service costs between $150 to $300, so if you really don't need it, don't take it. To summarize, the Internet manager's there just to look at you, smile in your face and tell you that the Internet package entitles you to no Internet. Finally, just to say that where we did have a pleasant experience was with the room cleaning people. They were very friendly and always treated you right. So, if you're really happy with staying in your room the entire cruise, then take it, otherwise look somewhere else.

The favorite part was the washy washy happy happy lady making sure everyone hands are clean. The cruise needs more than one pool and the worst part of all is the 1200 dollar pending charge that is withheld from my bank for days. I was told funds will be released in 5 business days, however that is not the case. We are still waiting to spend our money and it's been day 9. If I do not have my money back Monday morning, I will have to call guest relations and hold for 45 minutes to speak to a representative, and then hold an additional 30 minutes for a three way call to the bank. This waiting period is ridiculous and futile. We will never cruise again with Norwegian, hopefully they can rectify this situation tomorrow.

Excellent trip, nice shore and great boat.

Food onboard is excellent and the life is great. Not to quiet, not too loud.

However, the smell of smoking into the casino is very disgusting.

The absolute best thing about the trip was the amazing cruise director's staff.  Super, Sassy, Tahani, Bea and Lovely treated my kids like old friends and they made the cruise so much fun for them.

The food was good - not the best I've ever had but definitely delicious - but the service was s l o w!

The ultimate beverage package was a great decision.

Overall, my family spent the week eating, drinking and laughing. We can't wait to do it again! 

The entertainment was probably my favorite thing in the cruise, but the food was also great. We travel with our daughter, her husband, and their son, our grandson. All had a wonderful time. Like always disembarkation in New York was a bit slow but don't know is it is NCL fault or US Customs.

The shows in stardust and spinnaker were favorites. Another credit card she be allowed besides the one that the cruise was booked on especially when adults are travelling together. The least favorite is the cost of medical care on the ship although the care was excellent. Another credit card for the expense should be allowed.

Great Stirrup Cay was our favorite part...always love the private island in the Bahamas!  Besides that, I like that they have an adult only pool and jacuzzi & more importantly the staff made sure when the little ones ventured into our pool they had them leave.  Poolside was a fun time!!!  

My husband and I celebrated our 10 month anniversary and this was an experience that we will never forget. The staff the food and just the friendly atmosphere itself was incredible. The rooms are beautiful and well kept, constantly kept clean and organized. I recommend this to anyone who wants to have a wonderful time but as well get some well deserved rest. Because that's exactly what we experienced. thank you to all the Norwegian Gem Staff for this amazing experience!!

Food was great, my daughter loved going to the camp program on board, bed was comfortable, room was clean, staff was very attentive and accommodating!!! Alcoholic drinks for the most part were tasty! Wasn't happy we didn't get to their own island because of the weather.

Cruise was great! We were a family group of 11 with ages between 6 and 72 celebrating a 50 year anniversary. There was something for everyone to do, children especially loved the programs for them. We did it all, from rock climbing to learning how to cut fruit. We liked the drink package and excursion packages that were included. We were sorry to miss the private island due to weather. The ship was very clean and everyone was very friendly. Food was great. 

I enjoyed the cruise and the cruising experience.  My family enjoyed the pool and the ongoing amounts of food available to them.  What I thought could use improvement was:

- excursion prices - The pricing was very expensive for a family of 4 to leave the boat, esp for the time that we would be off the boat.  For example, some of the Disney options were so expensive x 4, and you would only be at the parks for approx. 4 hours as travel time was so long.  Perhaps in the future docking at this area may be better to give families more time to enjoy the excursion, in addition to lowering the fees for such excursions esp as all food cost etc would be additional to the families no longer eating on the boat. 

-Specialty restaurants - once you pay for the cruise, all restaurants should be included.  Seems unfair after you pay for all inclusive that many things are not included such as specialty restaurants, soda etc.  All should be included once you pay, families should not be left out of any opportunities to enjoy all aspects of the boat.

-TV and movie options - they should have more channel options available in the room.  Children like their routine and shows, and here there were only 2 channels to really watch, TV and movie, which ran the same things over and over for the 7 days. Also offering more movies to watch in the theatre area at appropriate times would be better. For example they had children's movies (Nemo) at 9:30 pm when many children would be sleeping.

-more activities needed -   I think the activities can be increased to be more engaging.  For example, offering "how to" swimming classes, offering real cooking classes, etc.  This way you learn something as well as remaining entertained.  They offered cupcake and pizza decorating, which consisted of a few ingredient choices to apply to an item. We were done in 10 min but waited in line for much longer.  So I think more worthwhile activities where the education would stay with you well after the cruise would be super.

-food - food could be a little more flavorful.  They should also look to adding chicken fingers/nuggets as a main option as they do with hot dogs and hamburgers as kids really love this.

The whole ship was great.  The dining room had folks with sprayers to clean your hands and a machine outside the area to clean hands.  I never saw that on a Carnival ship.  There were plenty of things to do for folks who never left the ship. The shows were great also.  Overall my daughter in law and I had a very nice time and plan on cruising again on the Norwegian Cruise Line.