Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

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!

I was on the gem 4 times last 3 where great, but this time was bad there was so much wrong they ran out of certain foods, there food was cold in both dinner room and Buffett. The adult hot tubs where over run by little kids swimming and diving .there was food all over the deck glasses broken on the deck.i can go on 

I wouldn't recommend an inside cabin.  It was much too small.  The food menu in the dining rooms was pretty repetitive and not very inspiring.  The buffets were fine and we didn't try any specialty restaurants.  The ship was very nice and the service was very good.  The entertainment and activities were excellent.  One of the three excursions I booked through the ship was excellent but the other two both had transportation problems due to poorly maintained buses.  This is my fourth cruise, each with a different cruise line, and this wasn't the best.

I have cruised many times before on several different cruise lines. This is my 3-4 norweigen cruise. This experience was definantely not like in the past. The service was mediocre at best. Many of the staff had negative attitude. For example it felt as though they were not happy that so many kosher customers were aboard. One morning I asked for fruit loops at the breakfast buffet and I was told to "wait to tomorrow ". We ordered kosher chickens wrapped in foil not only did they come raw but the the kitchen was unable to supply the kosher empire label which left us wondering if the chicken wa actual really kosher. So many nasty negative experiences. 

The Nickelodeon was taken off the ship I was notified prior but I was told it was going to be replaced with something compatible. It was not. The bowling was removed. The water slide was closed for the first couple of days. There really wasn't must to do for kids. I spent over 10,000 on this cruise and I definitely did not get my money's worth. 

The casino is 100% corrupt. Every person I spoke to felt the same. There are no regulations. Cheaters everywhere absolutely unacceptable. 

For now I am probably done with norweigen. I am a single working mom I can take my hard earned money and my business to other cruise lines that will appreciate my children my children and my business. 

Shame on most of the staff and on all the new management of Norweigen it is obvious that your workers aren't happy. 

Bring back the old because your new is horrific. 

Yes, we did go through a major storm and most of the crew had no experience with sea storms.  Yes, there was some seasickness. But that would not have made a big impact on the review.  It's really closer to 2 1/2 stars, but not close enough to 3 to make it.

Pros:  Good itinerary.  Some of the entertainment was fabulous, especially LEO (you hear each word, great audience contact, lots of fun!!) and then New Generation.  Their music was great, their range was great, and a very good time was had by all.  Most of the food was tasty, with a fairly large variety.  Juices and/or lemonade offered throughout the day. Themed nights in buffet and BBQs lots of fun. Room clean, lots of storage space, more hangars than before, towels replaced more frequently.

Cons:  TENDERING to and from St. Thomas.  We've tendered before MUCH faster. This took hours!!  Not enough tenders, poorly handled in both directions.  Showed major disrespect for passengers.

Volume of noise in pool area - music does not have to be ear-splitting!  Saving of lounges was not allowed previously.  Complained to staff - told "go upstairs!"  Mandatory tips higher. ($13.50 per day per person!)  Glad we had it in our package on this trip - not offered for future trips.

Buffet hours reduced, ending at 9:30, so can't get out of show & go there.  Long walk through buffet and seating for very limited snacks. Food mostly tasty, but cheaper cuts offered - last trip had salmon frequently,  This trip it was not on menu in main restaurants. Corvina (some sort of less expensive white fish) overcooked.

Fewer staff - slower to clean up tables, slower to ask if you want a drink.

Used to have good piano players. This one, Dana, slurs words, sings too fast, poor rapport with audience.

Overall, a decent trip, enjoyed the islands and the sun in the winter, but the cons outweighed lots of the good stuff.

In the beginning the ship was moving to much and my wife got very sick.

After that it was good.

It was to many days and I was getting tired of been in the ship.

12 of us including my grandchildren went on this cruise and had a great time. In this review I plan to give you both the positives and the negatives and hopefully will be a benefit to someone else.  EMBARKATION: Arrived at Manhattan cruise terminal and the only difficulty was the time it took to get through security. But being in New York City that is understandable. I do have a recommendation for parking. Parking at the Manhattan cruise terminal is expensive and costs $400 for ten days. I would suggest parking at PARK RIGHT which is a well secured covered lot just four blocks away on 43rd street and is a ten minute walk. They will also valet you on the day of embarking. The normal cost for a sedan at PARK RIGHT is $280 online. But often they have specials online. For TWO cars we only paid $460 or $230 a car. The lot is close, secure and convenient to the port.  The trip out of NYC is something special. There is something cool about sailing out of Manhattan and going by  Miss Liberty.  THREE SEA DAYS: The three days at sea was quite long but a big reason for this was that we sailed during one of the biggest nor'easter storms in recent years. Later in the night and especially the next day we hit heavy snow, heavy rain, and 62 mph winds and very rough seas. Many were seasick on the trip. My advice: if you sail in winter, be prepared. Also be sure to take your seasickness pills.  PORTS OF CALL:  SAN JUAN: Beautiful historic port and the two forts and the old city are fascinating. You can also get on a free shuttle trolley that will stop at most of these places. If you are looking for a beach, there aren't many of them near or in the city. However there is one small 'secret' beach just below the Puerto Rico Capitol building. It isn't very big but is a nice respite if you are looking for a beach that is close by. One of the cool things about San Juan is entering and leaving the harbor. It is a beautiful port.  ST. THOMAS: St Thomas is nice but very crowded. We took a nice shore excursion over to St John which is much less crowded. The beauty of the national park in St John and Trunk Bay is breath taking.  ST MAARTAN/ ST MARTIN: We spent the morning at Orient beach on the French side and went in the afternoon to Maho beach on the Dutch side-a beach that sits on the end of an airport runway. Orient Beach is on the French side that has a family section and a Topless section. However, even on the family side of the beach, there were a few who did not pay attention to the two distinct sections of the beach and did not hesitate to go topless even in the family session. Maho beach is fascinating with the airplanes practically at your head while landing. However I would not spend a day there. The beach is small, crowded and traffic is contested. The beach is great for the novelty of airplanes, but is no place for the serious beach goer.  TORTOLA,BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS: Of all the islands, I loved this one the most. We were the only ship in port and the island wasn't crowded. The one bummer is that we only have until 12:30 to get back to ship. Tortola is still a work in progress and the port is under construction. However if you go to the tourism info center, they will set you up with some nice tours. I would highly recommend the island tour for $25 which includes a one hour beach stop at a most beautiful beach. My grandkids went to swimming with the Dolphins and had a great time.  DISEMBARKING: We carried our own luggage and we were ready to leave by 8:30.  THE SHIP:  THE POSITIVES: Entertainment was excellent with talented musicians, acrobats, comedians, and singers. Comedian Tim was very funny and did some funny audience participation stuff. We also liked eating at O' Sheehans. The chicken wings were decent and on the last night had prime rib. The best thing about O' Sheehan's was their brownie cheese cake. Some of the meals in the main dining rooms such as the turkey sausage lasagna was good too.it was also good to see the water slide get fixed. I also liked the outdoor barbecues at the pool deck. Overall the ship was well kept and a nice vessel. We also had a very good room steward, Jeffrey who served on the ninth deck. We were in cabin 9577.  THE NEGATIVES: We had major issues with children who were unsupervised especially in the pool and jacuzzi area. Young children would be cannon balling into the jacuzzi and it seemed like the Norwegian staff did nothing to stop it. Unless Norwegian starts enforcing the rules, they are one drowning away from a law suit. However I do not want to pin this all on Norwegian. My question is where are the parents who seemed to disappear at times. We even had a six year old kid follow us around with no parent in sight. There was also an incident in which teenagers came into the restaurant without shoes and was asked to put shoes on. They rudely pushed the staff person away and kept going.  Food wise things were ok. There were some good selections and some so so. One problem was the soft ice cream machine in the buffet never seemed to work very well and came out like soup. In the dining halls, there were some good selection but some so so. The main issue in the dining halls was that service was slow and seemed disjointed at times. One night it took over two hours to get through dinner.  My one daughter was not so fortunate with her room steward. She and her kids received very few towel animals and it took time to have her room requests answered.  OVERALL ASSESSMENT: This was a very good cruise. Not the best I've been in but not the worst. It was especially fun to be with my whole family and we had a great time. I have tried to give an honest appraisal of our cruise. Hope this helps

it all started with the tv not working the water slide wasn't working then I had issues with my luggae

wouldn't travel with them again the staff was nice but some were no so nice

A group ( 3 couples) decided to go to the Caribbean for a vacation and let Cheacruises do our reservations.  We couldn't have been happier with the service they provided us.  Everything went smoothly and the cruise was a great getaway.  Thank you Laurie for your help.  We will definitely be back.

ALTHOUGH THE CRUISE WAS ONE OF OUR ROCKIEST, THE SHIP WAS

MANUEVERABLE, THANKS TO THE CREW.

OUR CABIN STEWARD, GOWIND, AND DOMINIC AND CHRYSTAL O

F THE GRAND PACIFIC HELPED MAKE OUR VACATION ENJOYABLE.

TRAVELLING IN THE WINTER IS A GAMBLE BUT WE'LL DO IT AGAIN.

I am 82 years old and my daughter gave me this cruise as  a present. I went with my friend for 10 days.

I was surprised to find out that room (even though it was balcony) was very small, the beds were literally attached one to another.

Everything is was for an additional "purchase" - all restaurants (unless you want to use the buffet), drink and even the entertainment. Activities were very poor and they were all concentrated toward get as much as possible money from people (i.e. bingo, comedies, etc). Food was OK

I think that Director of the NCL should really take a close look on what is going on. $1000 per person that my daughter paid was a lot of money and I would expect to have much better service and treatment.

We had a ball.  There is a lot of down time but as long as you take advantage of the activities that NCL offers you will be fine.  I have sailed with NCL 4 times and Carnival 2 times.  I do not plan on going back to Carnival.  NCL has so much more to offer and the Freestyle cruising is PERFECT!

Wonderful food (adequate service) and terrific specialty restaurants with excellent service.. Cagney's was our favorite.

The shows were wonderful and varied.   Seating in the Garden Café was a problem as well as a quiet place to read .... the Spinnaker Lounge with it's wonderful views always seemed to have a game or BINGO during the daytimehours.  We suggested that they have a bulletin board by Customer Service so we could post an activity for others to join if they so desired but that never happened.    The music offered was very good..   would like more quiet piano music played at cocktail time. .. not the loud clapping music offered.   The Atrium usually had an extremely large TV type screen on most of the time not lending itself to a more subdued atmosphere.  I do think NCL offers a great value for your money and would travel with them again..  

Have traveled NCL many times and we were very happy with the Haven and staff there.  Have to say that the staff elsewhere was very slow. The main dining room was crowded, disorganized and slow and the menus were always the same.   Staff there seemed to need more help.  The specialty dining was great.    So you get what you pay for in the end.

My family and I really enjoyed this cruise. It was our first time and I think it was fantastic. Food was great, activities on the ship was also very entertaining, and the shows is recommended to watch every night. My mom did get motion sickness on the 2nd, 8th, and 9th day because the weather was not too great when leaving and arriving near NYC. I do recommend bringing motion sickness medication, although the reception desk did have them available. The medication makes you really sleepy, so you need to calculate the time when you want to take them. You don't want to fall asleep when you're in the middle of an activity or watching a show. 

I would have given this trip a full 5 stars, BUT I did not like the excursions. Because my parents are old, they only took tours around each islands, but they are not worth the money! I tell you, DO NOT do any shore excursions that Norwegian is providing you with. Just do your research and find the things you want to do on your own!!! The excursions are VERY EXPENSIVE!!! not worth your time and money. 

Other than that, like I said, everything was perfect!! Hope this helps!

I enjoyed the warm weather in Eastern Caribbean.  I enjoyed the shows the ship provided, particularly duo husband-and-wife acrobats, the magicians, and the comedian, Tim K. The food in the dining room was terrific. I just discovered the Chinese food in Orchard Cafe was free (some dishes have charges). Ship, dining rooms, cabin were clean. I also enjoyed the walk in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. Tortola was kind of shabby looking, good thing we only had 3 hours stay.