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About Your Ship: Norwegian Gem

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Departs New York aboard Norwegian Cruise Line – Norwegian Gem - Featuring The Haven By Norwegian!

Sailing Date(s): Jan 2014, Feb 2014, Mar 2014, Apr 2014, May 2014


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	Average Norwegian Gem Rating



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	Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 50 - 65 Cruise Experience: 2 - 3 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Suite Disappointed with Norwegian by rob from Smithville, NJ Sailing date: Oct 2011 Pros: Convenient Port; Overall friendly staff; Cons: Everything else This is my third cruise; first was with Carnival; second with Royal Caribbean; now this. I would call it "ok" nothing to be excited about. There are some pluses about freestyle dining and some downside. Ship quality was ok, layout ok... not great and some major shortcomings Ship Details: Ship Quality My first impression walking on the ship was "cheap"...there was nothing classy about this ship, unlike RC. The "gem" decor, the layout of the public areas (can say I didn't frequent the bars.. so I'm addressing the other areas), even our room. The doors in the main atrium swayed when the ship rocked; There were essentially no "really comfortable" chairs I found in any of the public areas that we frequented. Some were better than others, but the types of furnishings and the layout just didn't suit us (and we are not heavy, just average American size weight ) . The layout of main entertainment areas was poor. The stardust theater has some wierdly arranged balconies and due to my wife's inability to navigate stairs we sat up high and there are very poor sightlines (read that as having vision blocked by the balconies).... the seating is crunched; poor accessibility for handicapped / wheelchair bound folks. They had movies/entertainers in the attrium with poor seating and sightlines Dining/Food The food was average to good. I can say there are parts of the overall food service that were just plain awful. Worst coffee I can remember anywhere (except for the java express latte's), poor desert selection, outdoor buffets looked awful (wouldn't even touch any of that food) There were 3 dining areas we frequented: the garden cafe (buffet style), and the 2 main dining rooms: the grand palace and magenta, which both had the same menus. Of those, the buffet was poor to excellent depending on what your tastes are; the meal of the day (breakfast was better than lunch I'd say). The main dining rooms usually had something we enjoyed, though the quality between meals was inconsistent (for example steamed red snapper was dry and horrible, but a couple of their other red snapper dishes were about as good as I've had anywhere->excellent). The sherberts and sorbets were consistently good, the other deserts varied (my wife and I ordered differently for each meal and shared) fair to good. Stateroom Quality Our room was, to be frank, noisy. You hear other rooms toilets flush, staff working in the hallways, we had a balcony room, and the sliding glass doors made noise at nights on our way down knocked when the ship swayed for some reason We had a mini suite, with a couch and tub. The tub was very narrow to stand in, and very difficult to enter/exit. The couch was rock hard and the worst piece of furniture I've ever seen. I mean, this is inner city, garage sale quality stuff and frankly I'm doing a disservice to inner city garage sales by saying that. I was an ugly burnt orange velor and very uncomfortable even stacked with pillows. Ship Staff Quality While overall the staff is friendly, they were not as attentive as we've had on other ships. Perhaps the nature of the way tips are automatically built into everything you buy on board removes the incentive to go the extra distance. I recall the other ships explicitly asking us to consider giving extra for the non room specific support staff... anyway just a guess. Our room attendant was ok and friendly enough. The front desk folks seemed stressed. Entertainment & Activities Leo, the guitarist, was good (not awesome IMO :) ) but very good. The stardust entertainers were ok, standard ship type entertainment. They had a hypnotist who was excellent, and a couple advertized as "cirque de sole" type entertainment who were not that quality, but who were excellent in their own way. Read this user's port of call reviews: King's Wharf, Bermuda Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: King's Wharf, Bermuda Don't Miss: The south beaches starting at Horseshoe Bay. 17 out of 20 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 2 - 3 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Balcony Really nice ship by Darrylh35 from Bronx, NY Sailing date: Sep 2011 Pros: Decor is nice and the Bliss lounge is the place to be. Stardust Theater is nice and the shows were great. Cons: Food could be better. Staff could be a little more friendly Ship is very nice. Nice decor, rock climbing wall, basketball court and the Bliss lounge were the best spots. Pools and deck are nice also. Ship Details: Ship Quality Dining/Food Food is not that great at the buffet or the dining rooms. Stateroom Quality Ship Staff Quality Most of the staff were not very friendly. There we're not rude or anything they just went about doing their job and didn't really speak to the guests on board. Entertainment & Activities Read this user's port of call reviews: King's Wharf, Bermuda Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: King's Wharf, Bermuda The port itself has a lot to offer. There's shops, restaurants, boat sightseeing tours, jet skiing and you can get the local buses and ferry service right form the port. Do get a breathtaking views of the whole island go to the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. A must is the Horseshoe Bay Beach. Don't Miss: Glass Bottom boat tour 0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: First cruise Traveler Type: Family w/young children Stateroom Type: Suite Norweigan Gem by George V from New York, NY Sailing date: Jun 2011 Pros: The cabin staff were really good Cons: Food was horrible. Service was worse I do not have a lot of cruising experience but overall I thought that this was a poorly run ship. We waited (while seated) almost three hours for dinner one night in the main dining rom. Even the service on the "supplemental" restaurants (where you pay for a spot) was horrible, I waited half an hour for a glass of wine. Their "freestyle" dining is just nonsense. You are free to eat whenever you want, as long as you can get a table. In the end you need reservations anyway so what is the point? Plus it is basically the same menu everywhere that is not a "supplement" restaurant. The children's programs were good however. The cabin staff was great.Never in our way and always helpful. Ship Details: Ship Quality Overall plenty to do on the ship. Dining/Food Horrible. Not at all what I expected. Drinks were really weak and expensive. Stateroom Quality Very good room. Could use a few more channels on the TV Ship Staff Quality Goos ship staff (aside from the restaurants) Entertainment & Activities Very Good. Plenty to do. Children's Programs This was great. Plenty for the children to do, Read this user's port of call reviews: King's Wharf, Bermuda Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: King's Wharf, Bermuda Really nice. easy to get around and plenty of transportation 5 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 18 - 29 Cruise Experience: 2 - 3 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Inside Crew and staff are so friendly! by A Traveler from boston Sailing date: May 2011 Pros: Freestyle, Great shows, great food. Cons: None!!!! The Norweigan Gem is the best... they have the best crew and staff.. they are top notch.. the food and shows are excellent aswell. this was our second cruis with norwegian and now i wouldn't cruise with anyone else!!! The entire ship was sooo clean and spotless we were soo impresed! Ship Details: Ship Quality Dining/Food Stateroom Quality our stateroom steward was excellent! he took the time everymorning to say hello and ask us how our day was!! i cant say enough!!! Ship Staff Quality Entertainment & Activities the Gem dancers are great! Read this user's port of call reviews: King's Wharf, Bermuda Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: King's Wharf, Bermuda Tobacco bay had awesome snorkeling my wife and i saw soo many colorfull fish.. Blue orange, and all types... 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 2 - 3 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Inside Clean Ship, Nice staff, good trip. by HD from Queens, NY Sailing date: Apr 2011 Pros: Clean, friendly, good facilities, well maintained ship Cons: choice of food in off hours they have about 5 restaurants that you have to pay extra to eat at, they call it freestyle cruising but we found it very hard and tiring to keep up with the scheduled hours of available food buffets,.. Ship Details: Ship Quality Dining/Food Stateroom Quality Ship Staff Quality Entertainment & Activities Read this user's port of call reviews: Nassau, Bahamas; Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamas; Port Canaveral, Florida Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: Nassau, Bahamas don't go on the city tours.. we thought it was a wast of time! Don't Miss: people think there are a lot of "great" deals at the markets but not so great... and you get more tired than anyting... Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamas great BBQ done by NCL... Don't Miss: BBQ! Port Canaveral, Florida unless it's the off season and a known light day for the park, going to the Universal studios parks is a little crazy because time is very limited.. we were lucky it was a very light Monday and we got to see almost all of the park, it was nice 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 7+ cruises Traveler Type: Family w/young children Stateroom Type: Suite Waste of Money by Kathy G from Newtown, CT Sailing date: Apr 2011 Pros: The ship's decor was brightly colored Cons: The food was awful! The pool area on the ship were very small and the pools were salt water. The slide was small and not pitched enough to get any speed at all. My 8-year old thought it was 'cheap'. An adult was not able to even slide down the slide....it took alot of effort. I felt like I was always paying for extras. Ship Details: Ship Quality The ship was smaller than others that I have been on, but it was clean. You often had to walk through one lounge or food area to get to another part of the ship. Dining/Food Awful. To get variety, we tried many of the restaurants where you had to pay a premium, however, premium service was not part of the package. $25 premium on a Disney cruise gets you food options and service that is unparallelled and never forgotten. $25 at the Steakhouse gets you a nice steak with no extras. I paid an addtional $10 premium to get surf and turf, which was a nice small steak and an overcooked lobster tail. When I paid $15 for the Chinese restaurant I also paid the $10 extra premium for lobster. The waitress covered me with sauce trying to get the lobster out of the shell, and it took me 1 hour and 15 minuts to get my entree. The vegetables were inedible. Stateroom Quality Nice room. Mini-suite was not worth the price paid because it came with no extras even though they were promised. Total rip off. Ship Staff Quality The room steward was great as were the folks on the bar staff. The waiters and waitresses were AWFUL. We were never offered a drink prior to ordering our dinner. If my son ordered off the kids menu, he was served his dinner before we even saw our appetizers. Entertainment & Activities Mostly boring. There was one guitar guy in the lounges that was awesome, and the shows by Second City were Wonderful. The rest was garbage. Children's Programs My son didn't care for them very much. No beepers were given if the kids wanted to leave, so they had no way to reach you. Area was small and looked like a preschool even though it was for children up to 12 years old. Read this user's port of call reviews: Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamas; Port Canaveral, Florida Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamas Very similar to any other private island on a cruise ship. Don't Miss: My son enjoyed the Hippo Slide -- Extra $20 bucks for an all day ride. Port Canaveral, Florida NASA Up Close -- We had a great time. Needed a little more time to see some of the IMAX movies available. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 18 - 29 Cruise Experience: 2 - 3 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Oceanview Great time on the Gem! by Rox K from Pa Sailing date: Apr 2011 Pros: Great food, great service Cons: No complaints! Our oceanview room was nice. The bathroom was smaller than what we got on the Dawn, but none the less, it was adequate. The staff was great and the director, Jill, was wonderful! We enjoyed the entertainment. We also loved the food at Cagneys, Le Bistro and Tequilas! Those were the specialty restaurants we ate at. The ports were nice and we enjoyed the scenery and relaxation. The plus with going out of NY was saving the money because we didn't have to fly. Ship Details: Ship Quality Dining/Food My only complaint was the buffet didn't stay open late. Stateroom Quality Ship Staff Quality Entertainment & Activities Children's Programs Read this user's port of call reviews: Nassau, Bahamas; Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamas Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: Nassau, Bahamas Blue lagoon was awesome! Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamas Will be much better when construction is complete 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 4 - 6 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Balcony Freestyle is the way to go! by Roy L. from Philadelphia PA Sailing date: Apr 2011 Pros: The crew was awesome. Cons: At some point over the past couple years - NCL switched from Coke to Pepsi :( It sounds petty perhaps but for someone who doesn't drink booze, but really enjoys his soda, being stuck for 7 days on a ship who has switched to Pepsi was a bit of a shock. I suppose if that's the worst thing I have to complain about, it was a great cruise. From the captain down' the crew were awesome. Food and facilities were great as well. The entertainment was wonderful. Ship Details: Ship Quality Dining/Food Stateroom Quality Ship Staff Quality Entertainment & Activities 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 30 - 49 Cruise Experience: 4 - 6 cruises Traveler Type: Family w/young children Stateroom Type: Inside Awesome Trip! by Pam D from Minnesota Sailing date: Mar 2011 Pros: Food Cons: weather This was a very big ship. Our first time on NCL. I would love to try their other ships. Ship Details: Ship Quality The last day many of the activities were in the spinnekaer lounge. With so many people using the facilities on that level they got pretty gross. Dining/Food This was our first time "freestyle" cruising. It was nice to have the different restaurants there, but it can get expensive. The two we tried were the Tepenayaki and Caseys steakhouse. Both were excellent! Much needed change from the buffet line. Overall food and service was awesome. Stateroom Quality Nice but pretty small. Ship Staff Quality Very friendly Entertainment & Activities So many activities to choose from Read this user's port of call reviews: Nassau, Bahamas; Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamas; Port Canaveral, Florida Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: Nassau, Bahamas The city is a bit run down but fun shopping. Bring cash and change so you can barter the price. Don't Miss: The Atlantis resort. Expensive but nice. Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamas First real full day of SUN!! Loved it. Don't Miss: Ocean Port Canaveral, Florida This was miserable because it was pouring rain cold We had purchased the island of adventure excursion. This was a good value for the money. We did many of the rides with out lines because of the rain. There were some attractions that were closed due to weather. Don't Miss: Harry Potter!!!! 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful? Overall Rating: About the Reviewer: Age: 18 - 29 Cruise Experience: 2 - 3 cruises Traveler Type: Couple Stateroom Type: Balcony Very good time by Chris L from Brighton, MI Sailing date: Sep 2010 Pros: Destinations Cons: One day of bad weather We really had a good time on the Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir, Nafplion trip. Good amount of time in port, nice crew. Ship Details: Ship Quality Dining/Food Stateroom Quality Ship Staff Quality Entertainment & Activities Read this user's port of call reviews: Dubrovnik, Croatia; Izmir, Turkey; Piraeus (Athens), Greece; Nafplion (Nauplion), Greece Collapse List of Ports Ports of Call: Dubrovnik, Croatia Head to the maritime museum to get up on the city walls for free. We went on the croatia rivera tour and it was great. Izmir, Turkey If you want to get to Ephesus, which was very interesting, we took a guided excursion for this one. It's about an hour away from Izmir, so it'd be tough to get to on your own. We were taken to a Turkish rug making school. But be warned to salesman were VERY pushy. Piraeus (Athens), Greece We didn't need an paid excursion for this. We just walked to the train station (1 euro per person) and took it in to the city then used the simple map that we got from the ship to circle around and see the acropolis and all the little sites along the way. Long day of walking but a ton of fun. There were a ton of cab drivers trying to get us to spend the whole day with them when we got off the boat. Nafplion (Nauplion), Greece If you head southeast from the marina, there is a path that will either take you up to a structure at the top of a cliff or you can go to a nice pebble beach. 6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Did you find this review helpful?
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