Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Everything was great.  Always something to do.  Wonderful, attentive staff.  All

the islands are beautiful and WARM!  Like the ship's size--very large and yet manageable.

Terrific trip overall.

The Norwegian cruise line is becoming more and more a budget cruise with very limited options.

There are now 3 days at see going and two and a half days at see coming back. The stay in Tortola, a completely waste even if you had one full day is now transformed in a 4 hours stay with no beach access or any possible activities, overall there are 6 wasted days.

The service has been reduced to absolutely minimum acceptable even when you are on an island.

If you return from the beach around 2:30-3PM there is practically no decent food to be had, you have to go to the back of the ship for some prefab sandwiches or fast food in one the few drinking bars.

Goodbye lobster night, seafood buffet or chocolate one!  I do not know if it was my own steward or there were too many rooms assigned to one person , but our cabin was made up only every two days and that "on demand" /

No more cappuccino at diner or any other drinks like orange juice for kids ...

The experience you get now is a budget travel, keeping you on boat as much as possible (probably needing casino profits) with poor service and lots of costs for anything you need.

At dinner we met with a person like us with many cruises, deeply disappointed, and a new customer very impressed with the cruise. So asking different people you will get different answers.

Some aspects poor, some good so I hate to rate it overall poor. This was our 4th NCL cruise and we have been pleased with free-style dining, the smaller sized ships, excellent entertainment and good service for a decent price. However, sailing from NYC in winter is not recommended, too cold, rough Atlantic both directions and WAY too many days at sea...6 of the 10. We had 15 ft. waves on return trip and you could feel it. Bonine pills and sea-bands really work. The Gem is showing its age with tacky decor, there were less free activities than previously, the main dining rooms used to offer different menu items and the food wasn't as good this trip, the drinks were watered down in the Grand Pacific but were excellent in the Magenta so we dined there most evenings. Our room steward was very courteous but oceanview Rm.5622 was pretty dirty, lumpy pillows and a bed cover that was ripped and old. He gave us better pillows but we just flipped the cover top to bottom. My husband and I got sick 4 days into the trip and it may have been from the room. Activities Director Dan Dan was the best host we've seen on NCL and boy, can he sing!

The entertainment was top notch as usual. We had to tender at 2 of 4 ports (cheaper for the cruise line) so it diminished the enjoyment of getting off ship and wandering around town when not on an excursion. Tortola is a beautiful island to see in just a few hours. Last trip on the Gem we had a full day there. Overall, not enough ports, too much ocean.

My sister and brother-in-law were hesitant first-time cruisers but we raved about NCL and convinced them to come with us, as we had done this same trip in 2009. But this was their first and last cruise after this experience and unfortunately we are also done cruising with NCL.

We first time travel with Norwegian cruse line 

Very good service, beautiful intertayment and great food. We enjoyed the cruise and in the sea booked another cruise!

The Gem was a most comfortable ship. The crew was outstanding, and bent over backwards to make all passengers safe and at ease navigating the vessel. There was repeated hand cleanings ('washee-washee') and other events which helped maintain good health, aboard. The visited ports were all the same as one another, but the ship's activities were great for those of us in the older age group.

My only gripe was with the New York Port, where we disembarked. Three monster ships arrived simultaneously, causing bedlam at arrival. It took us nearly four hours to finally make contact with our ground transportation. This had never happened to us before, whether at Bayonne, Ft. Lauderdale or Baltimore. It gave a sour ending to an otherwise great trip.

my husband and I and another couple went on this 10-day cruise in the Gem and what a trip this was!!.  The food was great, the service amazing.  Magenta restaurant was the best! Vanessa and John treated us like kings and queens and always made us smile and wanting to return. I love how they cleaned and disinfected everything including the walls, rails, floors and cabinets at the end of each night.  The latin night was super fun and the Mambo and salsa class was awesome...We would do this cruise all over again and again if possible. The only 2 minor things that we did not like was the fact that we felt that they over advertised their casino, purchases and even alcoholic drinks. The second things is the O'Sheehans restaurant.  For God sake it is always emptied, doesn't that tell you that it's no good?  The food was bad . We went once and never again. Overall this was an amazing cruise and one of the best out of the cruises we have done.  Good job guys and continue with your great energy Dan Dan and all the workers that worked so hard to take care of the guests. Our housekeeper was the best! Go Jeffrey.  He was attentive, friendly, efficient and always left our room clean and with beautiful figures.  We are going to miss Jeffrey.

The food was good. The entertainment was good. The crew was very friendly and professional. Edward Soto was my stewart and he was great. The wait staff learned our names and always had a smile. The Caribbean was awesome! (Tortola's port is under construction, so the only way to enjoy is to go on an excursion) Magens Bay is the most beautiful place ever! St Maarten was fun! My son enjoyed Splash Academy-the kid's program on board. The winter water was rough for the first and last day of the trip but it wasn't too scary. This was my first cruise and I will definitely go on another.

I bought this cruise as a gift for my husband for Christmas.  Being first time NCL cruisers, I was very pleased with the cruise line, the staff, the food, the ship, the ports of call.  It was wonderful.  We are already planning to go back in Jan 2016!!

This was our third cruise on the Gem for the last 3 years.  We loved the staff and comfort of the size.  Though I have been on several other Cruise lines the comfort of the freestyle cruising it what we need.

We are free spirits and go with the wind.

This being our 3rd. NCL cruise, we were expecting the same quality of service as previously experienced. Cabin steward was very forgetful about laundry, coffee and leaving necessary paperwork to leave ship. My wife fell getting off the tender in Tortola scraping her knee pretty good, the deck hand ask our room number, but we never heard another word from anybody from ship. Upon arrival in NYC getting off was a great big fiasco. 

Loved, loved this time on the GEM. My stateroom with the balcony was better than I hoped.  This is the only way to travel.  The make your own perfume was a wonderful and one of the high lights of my trip.  The spa was so refreshing.  Won $1,200 in the casino. I came home to the cold New England winter storms rested, refreshed, and lost 9lbs in nine days.  Looking forward to spring time and planting topical plants in my garden this year...

As I stated before the show room is lacking rails and it is difficult to navigate the aisles.

Not enough activities on board when at sea.

More consideration should be given to guests who can't walk easily when departing for shore excursions.

Left New York with half power, it was very rocky n swaying due to not having full power ! Ended up leaving late which made us two hours late to first port and missed out on out excursion! Food was ok had potential to be good 

This was a wonderful cruise. Relaxing and enjoyable. I don't have time to elaborate. Trying to catch up on my work. All I can say it was a wonderful trip, great weather, smooth except for the day before we entered NY on our return. Great entertainment.

The food was great,the personal was first class,the entertainment was great fun.the only problem was that when you came back inside the ship it was super  cold.

Because  we got to late in Porto Rico,wasn't able to see anything. Will be great to get there at list not later  then 2pm.

We got to  Porto Rico by 5,get to the shore  same time after the 5:30,it was almost dark time. Where people could go,if they ever been there.

So,we depart. at mid night.So no any fun on this port.

I am totally going to sail with NCL every time we cruise from now on.  This was the best cruise we have been on to date.  Going out of NYC was a breeze.  Food, drinks and the staff all surpassed our expectations.  All the ports were great except Tortola.  I would suggest NCL dumps it as a port stop.  The town is super tiny and you only get 6 hours there, 1 hour alone to tender in and back again.  Other than that, BOOK THIS CRUISE!!!!!!! 

I was on the Norwegian Gem, and we went to the Caribbean. This was my first cruise ever and it was an amazing experience. The staff was extremely friendly and always willing to help you if you have any questions. The food was excellent and you could tell that it was made from scratch and didn't come in a bag, frozen and just reheated. they clean your room twice a day and they always leave towel origami animals. they really make you feel special. on our way to our first island we were a couple of hours late because of a generator problem so what they did to make up for that was not only did quickly put together a new itinerary for events to make up the extra time at sea but they extended our leave time by 3 hours. they really made up for it to me because they didn't have to do all that, but they did. i will definitely be back again.

I enjoy cruises but this ship is boring. There was much to do for adults half the top deck was closed off. from my balcony there was so much pollution it freaked me out 

What can I say. .. my family and I really enjoyed ourselves. Splash academy knows how to give the kids what they want. The cruise activities were plentiful, but Bingo is pricey and deal or no deal could be more reasonably priced. As for food, I wish the sit down restaurants had more variety on their menu and the buffet food could be better seasoned. The hamburger buns were stale the whole cruise. Ugh! Lastly, everyone on the staff was overall nice but, .75 a minute for Internet, even for the cruise staff. Give me a break, that was completely unacceptable! If there is no TV at least give Internet free for 2 hours per floor a day, I would've kissed someone for this kind of access. The cruise staff should have free Internet from 11p-5am when most of the vacationers are sleeping. I mean they travel for 9 months out of the year. That's not too much to ask!!!