Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Even though there was a small storm leaving from Dominican Republic back to New York, it was a safe cruise along the east coast. The crew members were very nice & polite. There are no complaints. 

We left New York City with it's freezing temps,snow and ice behind and cruised to the warm sun of the caribbean. We sailed down the Hudson past The Freedom Tower, The Statue of Liberty, under the bridge and out to sea.No airline hassles.The ship is well maintained and easy to get around due to it's moderate size. The days at sea are very relaxing. On the second morning we woke up to sunshine and spent the day sunning ourselves on the pool deck, listening to the steel band and enjoying BBQ. It was so nice I told my husband I'd be happy if we never got off the boat. We later found out from other people that is exactly what they do. The food is good and the serving staff gave my hungry hubby as much extra as he wanted.We were not happy with the service in the main dining room( the Grand Pacific). The staff there was slow and and it seemed unorganised. We found great service at the Magenta and very attentive staff(Thanks Christian and Rendel).The shows were some of the best I've seen. I've cruised on Royal Carribean and Celebrity, and the best show ever was "Come Fly With Me" from this cruise. We're talking about making this cruise a yearly event.The cruise port is easy to get to from Long Island. This time we took a car, next time we'll take the Long Island RR from Babylon to Penn Station and grab a cab to the port. Because it's freestyle you can pack light,no dressing up.Once onboard hang your winter duds in the closet of the cabin, you won't need'em.Shampoo,bodywash and hairdryer already in the cabin.Bathing suits,shorts, flip flops,sunscreen in a small suitcase and you're done.

From the kindness and availability of the staff,  to the variety and quality of food, to the availble entertainment,  I was Highly impress with the Gem.   Most striking was the quality of entertainment in the theater,  I was expecting ok shows,  they were fabulous.   Each about 45 minutes long,  they had great variety each night, and were true professionals.  The food was top notch as well with much variety.  And our room was always clean.   Great boat, great experience

The cruise was great despite the rainy weather . I do wish that the live entertainment on the pool deck was not so loud. The comedians/magicians were very creative.  I will not be using the spa services again: they are too aggressive at trying to sell you their products ( I had a massage and I was not interested in purchasing a bath product). We have never been disappointed with the meals at La Cucina and Cagney's. The chicken parm and filet mignon are the best we've ever had.  We took a "behind the scenes" tour----it was educational! and fun! And our cabin steward was fantastic!

Found a last minute deal online - $22/pp. Couldn't pass it up (they hit you with the fees though) So, we upgraded to a mini suite with balcony for $69/pp, still totally worth it. Room was spacious - great bathroom. 

I've only been on Carnival cruises to compare, so here goes. 

Staff was very friendly. Although I didn't see much of them. But it's the dead of winter in NYC, so don't think the ship was filled to capacity. I'm not a fan of tons of little kids running around, so glad to see for a 1 night cruise, that nearly everyone kept the kids at home. My husband and I used this night as a date night, so did most others I guess. A few teens celebrating birthdays, but all in all - a very tame group of passengers. 

Ship isn't nearly as over the top as Carnival in its decor. It seemed much smaller and cozier, but that didn't bother me at all. Entertainment was WAY better on the Gem - we really enjoyed the shows and the club was jumping! Greast music, great crowd - yound and old. Now, that could have also been because it was a 1 nighter, so everyone made sure they enjoyed what they could for the night. 

Drinks in the bars were way affordable - the Bliss Lounge is ultra cute, set up with beds and counches all around instead of chairs and booths. Very sexy. Had a small area to bowl which was nice. Again, I think the smaller crowds everywhere just made it enjoyable. 

Here's the kicker - the food. It was awful. Like not just cooking for big crowds awful - like really awful. It had to be some of the worst food I've ever had anywhere, cruising aside. It wasn't just bland - everything was overcooked, underseasoned, and served cold. The buffet is TINY, without many choices and none if it seemed like it was even heated. Food one of the dining rooms was inedible, we got up and left in the middle of it hoping to find something better elsewhere. Granted we didn't try any of the restaurants you pay for -- but I almost get the impression they make the food in the dining room and buffets so bad so that you're almost forced to pay to eat in one of the "fine dining" restaurants (of which there are a whopping 6 onboard.)

So - go to have a great time with a significant other or group of friends. DON'T go if you're looking for a fine dining experience 

Our trip on the Norwegian Gem (NCL) out of NYC on Jan. 1 was a warm and enjoyable one.  We headed for the Caribean.

Our stops in San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten's and Samana (Dominican Republic) were enjoyable.  The eveing entertainment

in the Stardust Theater was exceptional--every night.

Food was of a high quality and varied.  We never ate in any of the "special restaurants" on board and still had a great gastronomic

experience.

I fell they didn't have any signs saying floor was wet. The food was not so good. The menu was basically the same. The ship rocked through the whole trip. Some staff were rude or barely understand English. There were lots of nice crew members don't get me wrong but there were a few rude ones.

I have been cruising since 1959, and this had to be the worst experience of my life! The balcony room was very small as was the stall shower. the food was subpar, even in the pay restaurants. After talking to fellow passemgers I feel I also overpaid. I will never again use Norwegian or , maybe the name should have been a tip!

I enjoyed the food the activities that catered to all ages and the friendly staff. I especially enjoyed when returning from excursions how easy it was to reboard. My room was accomadating for my family size. My children loved all the many activites as well as the variety of food choices.

Since there is no rating between "Poor experience - 2 stars" and "Fine experiernce - 3 stars", I would have to round down to the 2 star level.  In my mind, the overall rating of the cruise is "Fair".  I also want to provide some background of myself before going into my review of this cruise.

Occassion:  Honeymoon.  This is the first cruise for both my husband and I.  Both of us in early 30s.  No children.  Stayed in Balcony room midship port side.  We reside in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.

ROOM:  We like our Balcony room as it provides more space for us to move around and enjoy the sea breeze when I was seasick.  However, we were not happy with the upkeep / cleanliness of our room.  I noticed that the carpet are not vacuumed and even though we put the sign of "turn down cabin".  The food scraps that we dropped stayed in the cabin after 2 days, before I had to go pick them up and started wearing flipflops in our room for the rest of the trip.  Sometimes our steward would miss replenishing towels and glasses for us and we had to ask him.

EMBARKATION AND DISEMBARAKATION:  The process is not rocket science and it was not super enjoyable either, but I think there isn't anything you can do with it.  Just have to be patient and be prepared.  Information flow was good as the procedure was announced over the PA system for a few times.

FOOD:  We tried all the dining rooms, buffets, outdoor grill, and all specialty restaurants except Teppenyaki.  Not sure whether we are spoilied by good food in the SF Bay Area or the food quality really sucks, we only enjoyed 1-2 meals that we had from two specialty restaurants.  The rest of food quality either sucks real time or portion size is ridiculous.  We feel that some of the restaurants are mislabled as "fine dining" when you could not see the attention to detail or the quality fo the food doesn't match up the cover charge.  We received very poor service at restaurants except at La Cucina and at the Brazillian steakhouse, where our servers were fantastic (and we tipped them extra too afterwards).  They don't have enough servers or cooks so food wait time can be from 30 minutes (at Cagney's) or 40 minutes (at Sushi Bar) or 60 minutes (Orchid Garden).  They have to really work better at the food quality and portion and serve time, because this is a real problem that we feel we have better food at the Grille (just grilled hotdogs and hamburgers) than at the dining room or at specialty restaurants.

SERVICE:  I am just going to say "service" in general, but leaning toward more about restaurant service and room service.  Bar services were good, as they charge extra gratuity.  Other services are poor and the biggest problem is communication.  We noticed the people who served us, 85% are Phillipinos (we noticed their name tags of where they come from) and we had a very hard time having them understand what we need (in terms of food, drinks, service, etc.)  Please note that we have no problems communicating with Europeans or any other Americans who are Caucasians, or even Indonesians or Southern Americans.  The language issue is extremely bothersome when we are ordering in a restaurant because sometimes you have to repeat what you want for 2-3 times before the server takes note down of what you want.  Norweigian, please, please, please!  Could you screen your service staffs to ensure they have great communication skills before you hire them please?

Our first cruising experience in our lives didn't end up very pleasant, but we did enjoy the ports of call that the ship took us to.  The cruise director Matt is super funny, also his assistant director Dan Dan is hilarious!  We enjoyed the entertainment and shows that was offered on the ship, and most of all we enjoyed the avaialbility of Christmas Eve Midnight Mass.

If we are to cruise the Eastern Caribbean again, we will be trying a different cruise line next time.  Afterall, food is very important especially you have to eat from the ship's restaurants for 9 days.

we enjoyed the trip overall it seems as if the workers  were overworked and it also seems like the ship had not been cleaned thoroughly our room was very dirty the bathroom unclean and when I asked one of the workers about a  dirty film that was on the handrails as well as on the room number plates the workers told me that it was sanitizer it looked unsightly  and if it was  sanitizer  something needs to change because it looked  very nasty and left a dirty film.It seems as if  the cruise line is more concerned about making money, even though they have staff standing at doors to make sure people wash their hands (thats great)  but to prevent potential larger issues in the future the concern should also be about the overall cleanliness. I think the workers are wonderful but overworked stressed, they need time off and more time in between cruises to clean your ships

It was a beautiful ship. The decor was outstanding. The food was excellent. Buffet was well maintained.

we like the cruise director Matt. He kept us all informed. Loved to Cayo Levantado which was an excursion.

Wished the ship had self laundry service. Wished they had kept som chocolates on the bed.

This is my 6th cruise trip and I love this one. Although the ship is not the most modern or the largest one, the service and the staff are really good. The entertainment programs on the ship are outstanding and creative. The food is good. The four ports of call (San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Samana) are decent. I really feel the staff of Norwegian Gem are doing their best to please its guests and I have no complaint. Overall, I am satisfied and recommend the trip.

Wonderful cruise with excellent service and professional staff assisting you at every step !

From the cabin staff to the dining room service to the Guest Services - execellent service !

Other than soups and veggie burgers they specially prepared for me, I would say that over 95% of all prepared foods contained some meat, dairy or fish.  If you wanted some dish specially prepared they had no sauces that did not contain meat, dairy or fish.  Yes, I could eat salads all week, or steamed vegetables all week, or ask the pizza chef to prepare me a pizza without cheese.  The casino on Level 6 allowed cigarette smoking and the smell was terrible outside the casino.  They need some type of filtration system to keep that smell  inside the casino.  Also, they allowed outside cigarette smoking on the same level as the walking path (I believe it was Level 7).  You could not walk around the path without encountering the cigarette smoke.  At the very least the cigarette smoking should be confined to an outside area at the rear of the ship where the smoke will blow backwards and not into the face of non-smokers.

We have a wonderful time, the only one thing that was wrong was it was just one night, the food was great, the shows amazing and the staff was very friendly and helpfull.

Norwegan Gem is such a great ship and most of all what make it a great ship is the staff ,each and everyone of them is so friendly they make me feel like i am with my own loving family .if I could afford it again Norwegan is the only ship I will be on and I mean it.My experience  after cruiseing with other cruise ships I feel bless that I found Norwegan cruise line . 

The boat was very clean and lovely, lots of great food and restaurants, especially enjoyed Moderno and Tapenyaki.  Not so much to do for a couple in their 30's unless you want to stay up through the middle of the night.  Would have liked to have seen more activites during the day for adults, not over 55.  But I guesee that's what you get for this time of year.  Otherwise, a great time.  Excursions made the trip!  The staff were friendly but not all of them.  None of them seemed to go above and beyond, which is okay but I usually find someone who is worth mentioning, not this time.

when norewegian chose to make my vacation I thought I would spend a vacation 100% since my last cruise with another company was fantastic but this was a disappointment due to several aspects. Most employees were not friendly or many could speak English, did not have much variety of food not great quality and it seemed we had to beg to put more on the plate at the buffet that I had to ask 3 times to put gel douche in the room. I'll never buy a cruise this company.

We were off to a bad start when the ship docked late and embarcation turned into a zoo!

The food was below expectation and when we said so to a senior member of the crew, we were asked if this was our first cruise and when told that it was out fourth, the reply was that we needed to "adjust our expectations".

Free style cruising is not for us: since the $12 a day per person was automatically added to the bill, our cabin staff did the minimum (one set of towels a day). The restaurant staff were barely adequate, there was no reason to "serve" since the incentive of end of cruise tip was not there.

The 2 1/2 days getting to warm weather and 2/1/2 days getting back are a waste of time... Better to take a flight to FL or PR and start there. Nothing to see in Samana DR unless you like seeing what abject poverty looks like.

This is the last time I go on NCL.