Norwegian Gem Cruise Reviews - Reviews

My husband and I just returned from our first cruise. We chose a 9 night Norwegian Caribbean cruise through . Our experience far exceeded our expectations. The whole trip was so professionally handled for us from the searching at to the very last minute of our selected cruise. We will certainly do this again! Thank you!!

This was our second cruise on Norwegian Lines. The biggest attraction was the conveniance of embarking and disembarking in NYC in addition to Norwegian's good reputation. My husband and I enjoyed relaxing for the 9 days. But I must say the organized activities cater to the lowest common denominator. Silly game shows prevail. Also, the musical entertainment was always blasting too loud and overcame the singing artists voices. I think there may have been some very talented singers in the group, but the music was way too loud to hear them sing. The same for poolside entertainment. Do most people really enjoy blasing sounds where you can barely recognize the song or make out the words? The sound mixers leave a lot to be desired. The port of Samana was awful. We were stalked non-stop from the time we left the tender by people trying to sell taxi's, tours etc. We turned around and went back to the tender after a few hundred feet of obstacles. I understand the locals are trying to make a living, but they should also be made to understand the difference between good salesmenship and stalking! I am only mentioning the negative aspects of the cruise, we did enjoy ourselves in many other ways and are considering taking the same cruise again next year.

We had a great time and enjoyed the food and entertainment. The stateroom was nice with the balcony. This is our second cruise with ncl. Our cabin steward was great and very accommodating. I enjoyed the pool which was adults only. Kids had a pool close by. The eastern carribbean was nice with great beaches..The nightly shows were good with two shows most nights.

Nice cruise, however the service really was horrible getting aboard the ship and getting off! Never ex Never experienced such a long wait.. It took 3 hours to board and three and 3 hours and a half to get off the boat! Ncl scheduled 3 ships to be boarded at the same time! Horrible planning! Also the food and filtered water had an effect on my stomach! Be sure to bring cold and flu medicine as me and my fiancé got sick on the boat retiring home from constant cold air being blasted on the ship!

Not impressed, expected so much more. The spa was a rip off. You expect to pay more because of where you are but there are so many hidden charges that it doubles the listed price. The specialty restaurants that charge you, their food is dinner quality, the buffet is actually better and included on your cruise price

Great Cruise. Would have liked the whole day in San Juan to enjoy more excursions. 3pm-8pm not enough time. Great entertainment! Le Bistro is excellent-worth the money xmas decorations were beautiful.

Third time on NCL. Customer service was lacking. Entertainment was very amateur. no variety. Had one female entertainer who only sang Tina turner songs. She was horrible! The entertainment director lacked personality and always looked like he just rolled outta bed. Very impersonal staff. In the past the staff remembered you and your drink orders , your name... In the past the ship captain was more present... Overall it felt very impersonal and the entertainment was horrible. They've lost their edge. Other family's complaining not enough for kids to do.

the Gem is a \"gem\"

Overall it was a nice cruise; accommodations were very good and very clean.

SHIP WAS OK

We have sailed on several different ships and NCL is our favorite. The intertainment is always fun to go to, restaurants are many to choose from and food is always good. The Spinnker Lounge is a great place to relax and watch the ocean and sites whenever we are near land. Also meet alot of interesting people from different countries and states.

I recommended the ship if you come with LOTS of extra money. At the bars they add auto-tips to every drink but ask for more. You can eat for free at several restaurants where the food is below average or pay extra for decent at a specialty restauranst like Le Bistro (20$ per person extra) but charge you extra if you want something on the \"special\" side of the menu! Communication is really bad, eg: they ran a staff drill on the day passengers went on shore excursions..meaning, you couldn't get down elevators or stairs to disembark! Same thing happened on the day we left. Getting food and a place to sit at the free restaurants was nightmarish.

The ship was beautiful and just the right size. You never felt overwhelmed or lost trying to located the activites on the ship. I mostly enjoyed seeing the officer's of the ship serving and greeting the guest.

The ship was pretty, show room and dining areas nice, but the balcony cabins were the smallest I have ever seen. Seems like everything had an extra charge...movies in your cabin, $5.00 for pizza, specialty restaurants that were free on the Jewel, many activities. Bingo prices were $39-$59 to play a game with a payout of under $150. Felt like we were being nickel and dimed to death. Entertainers were very good. Stop at Corner Brook was a big waste of time...nothing to do there.

Overall good, but there is room for improvement as noted below. Port stops of Halifax and Quebec City were very nice with a variety of things to do and see. Sydney and Ccornerbrook were very small towns with really nothing to do. Shopping was a joke and heard many complaints that tours were overpriced for what they included.

This was just an average cruise - not impressed at all. The last 2 stops in Nova Scotia & Newfoundland were not worth getting off the ship. When the shuttle bus has a stop at a WalMart - well there isn't much to see. Wish we had taken 7 days instead of 10.

I enjoyed the ship. The entertainment was great. The difference types of food. You can go free style or reservation to eat. There was comedy which I enjoyed. the balcony cabin was spacious.You can observe the ocean and the arising sun.

The ship just OK. Crew was very good but should have more help which 1st class ship always have. For the price it was worth it. Likes Quebec and Halifax tours.

it was a beautiful ship.

Had to wait in long lines to drop off and pick up kids from kids club. Not well organized due to number of kids related to number of staff! my Son 4 had a bad experience and hard time staying at the kids club due to lack of atention from staff and lack of organized activities. The only option given to him is to watch Spong Bob video!!!!