Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The shows and activities on the ship were just terrible. Makes for a long few days at sea. People are allowed to "save" seats for each other on deck by placing a towel down, so its virtually impossible to find a seat in the sun unless you are brave enough to steal a spot. Food was good but the seating was minimal in the buffet area, also because people were reserving whole sections of the room for family members who weren't seated yet. Also, don't get me wrong... I love kids but the kids were always in the adult only hot tubs and parental supervision was minimal for sure. Drinks were perfectly made and absolutely delicious, if you didn't mind waiting 20 minutes for a drink.

Ports were fun but it was hard to navigate islands if you didn't book an excursion from the ship.

Everything went well, food selection was excellent no need to pay extra for food the buffet was over the top. Staff was friendly, the GEM has a good cruise director a lot of activities to make you enjoy your 10 days. definitely recommended

We love the evening entertainment at the Stardust theater, especially the magic shows, acrobatics shows, and the standup comedy!

But we don't have particularly nice thing to say about the food in the main dining rooms and the service there.  

The ship was beautiful very clean, staff very attentive . The only complaint I would mention is the number of children on this cruise. They were running around unsupervised and loud. The television in rooms was very small and no channels that gave us happenings in the states other than election news all day.

             The shows were great and every night we had a different show , the restaurant food had a good selection each evening as well.

              The auto gratuity I feel is something that should be added to the price of the cruise  up front and not after you had scheduled the cruise. I myself pay those attendants that service me such as room stewards and host and waitstaff.

Beautiful ship, loved the ports...although wish they would stay longer in Tortola...left at 12:30.  Nice activities, pool area festive/fun. Cruise directors fun. Could use an upgrade with the food...mostly with dinners.

The Gem is a nice clean ship and not too large like the Breakaway or Epic.  You do get to see some familiar faces during the cruise.   The singers and dancers in all the shows were excellent.  We found the food to be very good.  No complaints about quality at the buffet but it was often a bit of a pain to find seating for the four of us.  If you want to sit down easily the Grand Pacific dining room is the way to go as service was significantly slower in the Magenta.  Only comment on main dining rooms was there was not enough change in the menus from day to day.  Buffet breakfast is also better than dining rooms - buffet has omlette stations. Hit rough seas going and returning to NY but that's expected this time of year.  We enjoyed the Art auctions, trivia games and some of the movies they showed.  Why they show most of them in the atrium is questionable as there is not enough seating there for all who want to watch.   Kids only minimally participated in youth and teen clubs as most of the program did not interest them.  We've hit all the same islands before but it there was still something new to do or see at each.  We did the Segway riding in St. Maarten and had a great time.  Don't be afraid of trying it as they are very easy to ride.  With the unlimited beverage packages its sometimes difficult to get served at the bars as it seems a lot of folks like that offer!  All in  all I'd recommend the Gem to anyone. 

This was my first cruise and everything about it was amazing! The staff, food, guests and all the entertainments. The guy that was servecing my room was always available and willing to assit with anything i needed

food good, room good, too many kids and prefer more structured dining and dress-up for dinner.  I dont need 6 kids sitting on steps so you cant walk up them without saying something.  I also dont need to dine with people in shorts and t shirt.

We took this cruise primarily because of two things.  It left from NY so we didn't have to fly to Florida, and it was going to four places we hadn't been before.  If we knew ahead of time that this cruise would have had SO many kids, we might have delayed it.  We didn't realize that NY and parts of Connecticut school districts had the whole week off that included Presidents' weekend.  We managed but it was noisy at times and the kids running, especially around the buffet area, was dangerous.  Teenagers congregating around stairways and blocking walking areas could have been helped by security personnel.(They were not proactive.)  The entertainment was superb.  The food was good, not great, in all venues.  Things like mouthwash and lip balm were way overpriced in the ship's store. (We waited to get them at a Walgreen's in PR.)  Staff was friendly and helpful.  Our balcony cabin was good but slightly on the small side.  There should be more variety on the TV, not just one movie channel and one regular program channel besides news and sports.  How many channels does the ship business need?  Overall we had a lovely time and met lovely people.

All in all It was a fabulous cruise with a fabulous staff, accommodations, activities and dining.

Pros: From embarkation to debarkation I enjoyed my cruise on the Gem. My Mini Suite balcony room 11038 was clean, comfortable and included a refrigerator, safe and full bath tub. My steward Rolando was outstanding. Always welcoming and friendly each time I saw him.

I planned my day by highlighting my Freestyle daily. There were more than enough activities to choose from. The nightly shows were all very good and I enjoyed playing Deal or No Deal and Bingo. The music in the Spinnaker and Magnums lounges was relaxing. The Casino was good size and Ralph and Predrag were also outstanding staff members. Welcoming , friendly and very helpful each time I went.

The dining options were all very good whether I ate in the Main Dining rooms, Buffet or Orchid restaurants. The staff was friendly and attentive. Lobster is now Al La Ca-rte but I did enjoy it as a treat.

Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Tortola were all terrific ports. I enjoyed shopping in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas and taxied to the beach in St. Maarten and Tortola my two favorite ports. Don't miss the ride up the mountain and down to the beach on the other side of Tortola. The view is breathtaking!

Cons:

The only negatives were the teenagers blocking the handrails on the staircases especially when it was rocky and I needed to hold on and the children running up and down the walkways. One other negative was the Verizon Global plan at sea I purchased. I pretty much had no service. Other than that I enjoyed every minute of my cruise on the Gem.

This is our 2nd cruise with NCL this one was very dissappointing .  First the food was always cold in the buffets. The entertainment was just so so only three nights out of ten were good .  Some of the waiters in the restaurants were not very friendly and never asked if you wanted more coffee just kept ignoring us. The areas for handicapped people to eat in were always full of non handicapped people so it was difficult to eat in the buffet they need better signs to say it was reserved for handicap people not lazy, rude people who only cared about there comfort it was hard enough trying to get the food but even harder to find somewhere to seat with a handicapped person.

At the end of the trip they treated you like cattle we had a wheelchair and they took us to the bottom of the ramp and left us there with two suitcases and a very long walk to the exit.  There where some people getting help but we got none they just kept passing us by .  It was a terrible experience .

First time with NCL Customer service great all staff were polite and helpful Loved the food So much choice BBQs Buffets and resturants Presentation excellent loved the Buffet specials The ships décor was really nice loved the waterfall effects in Bliss and the rolling wave carpet in Spinnaker Grand Pacific looked and felt 1920s I had done my homework and read many reviews before booking I know everyone has different tastes Definitly would not book in school holidays as too many kids I prefer relax We left New York had 3 days at sea which I loved I love being on the water the activities didn't really interest us but there was plenty to do if you wanted The pool area was really nice but such loud music from the bands we dipped in and out then went elsewhere ie outside garden café my favourite place with bar buffet and beautiful views and relaxing any time of day At night lit up with soft blue lights

Shame about the loud music by pool I like music and I like going for a dip but I don't want to be deafened by doing it Should have a quiet time in afternoon Many people like loud music but many don't also softer music would have been nice sometimes instead of waiting for the band to have a break Would definitely advise Beverage package even if you are tee total like me 2 drinks a day and you have your money back I loved the ice cream float drinks Kerwin made at Garden Café Dining package was included in our price as well two were disappointing but so much choice couldn't visit all Excursions expensive prefer book ourselves from the tourist info areas much cheaper I would have given 5 stars if I didn't have those small but important negative points Would we go again You bet

The ship is beautiful. Very well maintained.  All staff were wonderful.  I think the "washy washy" is a bit demeaning to the ladies at the entrance to the  Garden Cafe.

The Spa was the best, very relaxing.  The people there were great.

I think everything else is covered below.

Nice ship, not as spectacular as some but still nice. Service was the best I have had up to now, they pay attention to their guests' needs and the cruise director Alvin made it his mission to exchange with the guests and was attentive to their feedback. Great representative for the Gem. All workers were extremely polite and wlling to please. Supervisors of each service were highly visible. 

My only complaint is the food quality-I did not look forward to dining as I have on other cruise liners. Food was plain and bland. 

There is much to praise; we appreciated the length of the trip, and it's departure from NY. The Spa was FABULOUS !  Our cabin, while small, was perfectly adequate. So why not a higher rating?  There was way too much smoking on the ship; we were not able to use our balcony because those to the left and right of us used theirs to smoke. We had to leave the Casino after 10 minutes because of smoke. Even at the Champagne bar you were accosted by smoke emanating from other areas. It was also unfortunate that 50% of the time we were compelled to get our own drinks because table service was the worst we have ever experienced on a cruise. 

We had a fabulous time aboard the Gem. Since our last trip it was completely renovated, and was just sparkling, shiny clean with plush new carpeting. Everything looked new and sharp. The food was wonderful - themed buffets were delicious with specialties we didn't expect. We loved the cheese cubes always available since we like to have wine and cheese before dinner. The Grand Pacific dining room was very nice. We had a hard time dining anywhere else because we loved the spaciousness and the great service. We chose really nice excursions - St John's Champagne catamaran, St Martin afternoon beach bash on Orient Beach, and Tortola beach excursion. They were perfect for us and so well orchestrated. Especially in St Martin, the guides were so helpful! A great vacation!

This cruise is NOTHING like what NCL 

Entertainment was mediocre at best

2 hour dinners because it takes over 1 hour for each course to arrive, and we were rushed out of the dining room because they were rushing to get breakfast ready. we were never even offered coffee until we complained.

cafes closed all the time..in the PM you need to go hunting for food.

the kids were bored to death!

never again

Great cruise except, bar staff and wait staff didn't seem to have it all together as on passed NCL cruises. They appeared to be in training mode! Also internet terminals moved to library, 3 terminals, always one down, also have to be quiet as not to disturb readers. Very inconvenient! Specialty Restaurants (A la carte) pricing is a real money grabbing affair, try to sell an ultimate dining package, need reservations for every meal, (free style is slowly dying). They did finally change the entertainment, as this was our 4th time on the Gem. Very good.   

The thing we did not like is to do anything extra you had to pay pay pay. They should have more fun things to do on the cruise without paying more money.

I spoke to many repeat cruisers who took this same cruise every year and everyone agreed that things had gone downhill on this cruise!  I was a first-timer so I was glad to hear that many people agreed with me that the food was okay but nothing special; too many unbehaved child on board (staff should have spoken to parents about their unruly children and put a stop to it right away).  Lounge singers were very good, especially Dana and the Prism group.  Most shows were quite good.  I will never do this line again as everything on the Princess ships are so much better even if it's a little more money!