Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

this was our 5th cruise, 3rd on Norwegian, the morale on ship did not feel great crew members were not as pleasant as on other sailings, as well it seemed since Norwegian is offering free beverage package there is less poolside help and you had to wait sometime for a drink at most bars. Norwegian also does not really change types of food up in buffet greater variety would have been nice. On a plus ship was beautiful

All in all, this cruise was nice. Food decent, service good, staff good. One disappointment was the Tortola Party Tour on Tortola. Served lunch was awful, dirty, and not fun at all!  Paid extra for Anniversary decorations in our cabin, and could have gotten them at the Dollar Store for $5.00 total. Not worth the money!!One last thing, nothing was done to help the handicapped with disembarkment. It was total confusion getting off the ship. Handicap should at least be able to leave first and luggage should have been easier to find........

had a good time. ship is very nice and not crowded at all. no issues to find a place to eat except for the buffet . shows were very good . cant beet the price.

The only complaint I have is for some reason the bed left me very sore & stiff come morning. Everything else was great. I would definitely cruise with you again

Enjoyed cruise....good food, entertainment was enjoyable, would have liked an adult comedy club, rooms very small....great deal free liquor package.

As on all cruises people start saving chairs around pool....crazy....sometimes chairs are not occupied  for hours, just not fair. Families save 5 and 6 chairs.

On our half day in tortola people sa ed chairs before they went off ship. Wish the ship could come up with a better situation.

I love the cruise ship I think u need more entertainment on the ship of then that the ship was a amazing the people was so nice the staff was beautiful and wonderful

The Gem was a total disappointment to us.

The ship is in real need of help,it's old looking with musty smell and just dated.

we where overcharged for Spa services and had to fight to get a credit after we cancelled one of our services one hour after booking it due to our land schedule.

We where lied to when we tried to but the 'Hop on OFF" in Boston and instead where directed to a "Market transfer" for 419 each,five minutes away from the ship,when told it was our only way to get transportation out of the Pier.to add insult to injury,we where dropped and never picked up at 7pm,fortunately the driver of the Hop On we had purchased in town was nice enough to drive us back,when I tried to complain to the Excursion girl,she told me it was not through NCL,BUt it was as it was charged to our room!

To make matters worse,we sailed with Hurricane Joaquin behind us so the seas where absolutely horrible,everyone was sick,this went on for the entire next day at sea.I understand they cannot control the weather,but this was horrible.

On top of this,I inadvertently left a pair of UGG boots and a pair of sandals in the cabin,they where never "found" How is this possible? 

Of everything that went wrong,this was the most upsetting issue to me.

Oh I forgot!! We had NO WATER until 10am on the 12th,as they had pump issues,front desk was not picking up the phone...

The restaurant servers where great,but once we where told to go to the Magenta Restaurant to go through immigration,i was "greeted by one of the show dancers,who rudely told me to go down one floor to the end of the ship and then go up again to the end of the gangway as I could join the line "but not in the front" OF COURSE! we didn't know where the line started as the instructions only directed us to the restaurant,it was NOT the message but the way he said it that was totally sarcastic and rude.

The "Top 10" tour in St. John was a joke,all I recall is being inside a bus with nothing to show for the $114 I paid.We where supposed to "see" the reversing rapids,(in front of a paper plant spewing smoke) and then driven to a pub for a beer, a flea market and one hour ride to the Bay Of Fundy at low tide,and a restaurant.We left with no tide in,but where instructed to pick (lucky rocks) from the bottom of the bay,lol!!!

One hour later and back to the smoky paper plant,and the rapids where slower but far from reversed,simply the timing was wrong,not that it would have been worth it anyway,but at least would have been nice to see.

Don't waste your money on this New England cruise,really nothing to talk about,nothing.(Boston and Providence are NICE) the end.

We had a great time.  The staff was wonderful, activities was fun and the food was delicious - especially the specialty restaurants.  Overall, I have no complaints.

We have cruised several times and this was the worst cruise experience we have had. The activities for days at sea were limited at best. The food was mediocre. The restaurant  and cleaning staff were very pleasant and helpful though. The other staff did not seem interested in assisting cruisers. Most of the staff did not seem to communicate with each other or know what was going on. Overall this was an overpriced and disappointing cruise experience.

This was my first Norwegian cruise, though I have cruised three times on other cruise lines. I was very pleased with the week! Dining and entertainment exceeded my expectations, but service, cleanliness, and areas of the ship to enjoy the views were wonderful too. Most of our excursions were enjoyable and informative. The staff was delightful!  Would definitely cruise with Norwegian again! A wonderful vacation value!

I would have rather had bigger dinning rooms and a bigger buffets. It was hard to find a table for breakfast or lunch in the buffet ended up sitting out in cold on the back deck. Also why no tray,s? After having to find a table you then have to go get coffee or water letting your food get cold. At lest if your food and beverage were on a tray you had a better chance of having a hot meal.

From the minute we arrived at the Manhattan cruise port until our return to NYC everything was better than expected.  Honestly, the entire crew onboard could not have done more to please us. An enjoyable stress-free week meeting a great array of shipmates from all over the US and abroad. The entertainment was unbelievable!

This was our 12th NCL cruise and the second on the Gem.  I had forgotten how much smaller the balcony rooms are on the Gem.  It made up for it with a larger bathroom and my favorite good-sized glass stall shower instead of those tiny tray showers with a curtain that pours water out into the rest of the bathroom.   The closet and drawer space were also compromised a bit, but for a 1 week cruise it was sufficient for the things we brought.  Otherwise we enjoyed good food and good service on a well-maintained ship plus 3 great production shows by the Gem's outstanding dance troupe.  As NCL ships go my new favorite if the Spirit.

This was a great cruise.  Service was very good as was the food in the main dinning rooms. The nightly entertainment was exceptional and as good as or better than any cruise we have taken in the past.  The ports of call were good especially Bar harbor Maine where the fresh seafood was extraordinary. 

The early stages ran smoothly as we signed up for the cruise and land tours.  The board g was quite smooth co side ring the number of passengers.  The staff aboard ship were friendly, efficient and professional.  However, there were some problems with internal communications.  Ship -purchased shore tours used ship time for local time.  Others did not.  The tv channel that provided passenger information list local time as the same as ship time, while local time was actually an hour later.  I checked at the desk for the correct time.  They gave it, but provided a lame excuse for the confusion on tv.  Our tour bus was delayed a hour because of the confusion. And the tour was shortened as a result.  On Saturday I met some passengers who were planning to attend the Sunday morning worship.  I checked for the time and it was not listed.  The desk informed me that they only held Sunday worship if a preacher requested it.  I had no desire to preach, but offered to do do in order to provide a worship time for those who desired it.  I was told they could not advertise it, therefore it would have been useless to prepare for it.  They advertised bingo and every other commercial activity.  Why they could not advertise worship was not clarified.  I even offered to hold a Sunday evening vesper service t give them time, but this did not help.  Although it was bad ally. Pleasant cruise I do not tend to sail on Norweigen again.

WE ARE LONG TIME CRUISES ON NCL.   WE REALLY LOVED EVERYTHING ON PAST CRUISES.  NOW THEY CHARGE FOR ROOM SERVICE......THEY ARE NICKLE AND DIMEING THE CUSTOMER.   I DID NOT THINK THE YOUNG WOMAN WHO WAS MAKING DINNER RESERVATIONS WAS HELPFUL.   THE CRUISE WAS STILL VERY GOOD, BUT I SEE THINGS ARE CHANGING AND NOT FOR THE BETTER.

We loved our cruise & the Norwegian Gem.  Unfortunately the weather did not allow some of the excursions we had planned in Maine.  The ship was great in cancelling & refunding the excursion charges.  The Cruise Director, Dan Dan was the best!  His talented crew and his terrific personality & humor were the highlight of our entertainment.  We would recommend this cruise to anyone!  Mentally, I am still on the cruise!

This cruise, our second on Norwegian Line was just as great as the first.  There were only a few exceptions. One being our 50th Wedding Anniversary.  We celebrated it on Sunday a Day at Sea. We went to the Magenta Restaurant for a celebration. Upon entering I presented the Hostess a card stating our anniversary. We were then shown to our table. Dinner was very fine. Dinner finished we were waiting for something to happen. Unfortunately nothing came about. Upon leaving I mentioned this to the hostess. She immediately disappeared.  Waiting a couple minutes, another hostess handed me another Anniversary Card. Unfortunately we never got to use this card, being nothing on the previous days menus appealed to us. 

The second and last problem we observed was the use of tenders.  This experience was terrible. There was no semblance of order.  The Gem Crew made announcements, but these were across the hallway and people chose to ignore them.  I felt the crew should be standing at the elevator doors directing people, not standing across the hallway. This was in Bad Harbor, Me. In Newport, RI the situation was a little better.  

All in all we loved the cruise.

 This was a fun cruise except for two experiences.  TENDER NIGHTMARE !!!

They were not prepared to transport over 2000 people in a short period of time. Passengers were arguing and frustrated trying to get ashore with so FEW tenders.  

I wish you would have a vegetarian menu at the full service dinning rooms. Only having one option is not a good thing. I paid for the service but did not have options. Norwegian is the only cruise line that does this. I have been on 23 cruises. I prefer to have a sit down meal not the buffet line I can do that at home.I guess you get what you pay for.