 |
What a cruise!!!!!!!! by
Susan P from Providence Rhode Island Sailing date: Jan 2010Pros: the specialty resturants, the pools, the hot tubs , the food selection Cons: the disorginization of walk off debarkation. Great ship, many resturants, helpfull staff, fantastic jewelry buys.
Extremly clean.
The specialty resturants are great offering a variety on the menu.
Spacious hot tubs 4 of them. The pool side lounges are wonderful to strech out and sun or just read a book.
Can't wait to go again. The Gem is truly a Gem. 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?
   Norweigan Gem by
George V from New York, NY Sailing date: Jun 2011Pros: 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 QualityOverall plenty to do on the ship. Dining/FoodHorrible. Not at all what I expected. Drinks were really weak and expensive. Stateroom QualityVery good room. Could use a few more channels on the TV Ship Staff QualityGoos ship staff (aside from the restaurants) Entertainment & ActivitiesVery Good. Plenty to do. Children's ProgramsThis was great. Plenty for the children to do, 5 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
it was alot of fun by
nathan f from asheville nc Sailing date: Dec 2012Pros: the friendly staff on the ship Cons: not alot of time to spend in port very nice ship. i like to sail freestyle. you can eat when you want and you can sit any place on the ship that you want. the food was very good also. Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Qualityvery frendly and nice staff. they help anyway they can 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
Overall a great vacation experience by
Karen C. from Neptune City, NJ Sailing date: Mar 2010Pros: The abundance of activites for all age groups and types, the amenities Cons: Stirrup Cay, NCL double charged us on our credit cards for our on board expenses The Gem is beautiful. Loved our stateroom- pretty, immaculate, thermostat, balcony
Ship QualityCleanliness is paramount here- easy access to everything, decor is upscale. Dining/FoodSpecialty restaurants for a nominal fee, the most $25. offer better quality of food, more experienced service- the best option for the included restaurants would in our opinion, the garden cafe and the buffets as the food is always being cooked up continuously and there is a broad varienty, but very casual. Love the free style option. Stateroom QualityWe loved our room. Period! Ship Staff QualityOur butler was great, our room was always cleaned and stocked, we had to ask for nothing! Entertainment & ActivitiesEveryday, there is a packet full of the next days activities, we could barely keep up.
Entertainment was great, plentiful, we discovered that we love art auctions, something that we had never done before, and we took great day trips. Athol Island and Ron Jons surf school. 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
Good second cruise on Norwegian by
A Traveler from New York Sailing date: Mar 2012Pros: Friendly staff, attention to detail, Nickelodeon activities and staff Cons: Cost of Pictures taken by crew for sale, reservation process for restuarants Norwegian continues to be a great cruise line. This was obvious when we were in port in Nassau right next to carnival ship. Norwegian crew in white uniforms welcoming everyone back to ship with hand towels, music, and Nick characters for kids the entire ime. Carnival ship - nothing - not even a single carnival crew member outside. I'd say that carries throughout. Food was good all around. People have to remember, these are no 5 star restuarants and we heard he typical New Yorker (I'm one too) complaints about food here and there. Room for mprovement for sure, but overall could not complain. NIck character activities and Nick dedicated staff all great. They were as good as any Disney character interaction we have had from handlers (people dedicated to work with characters) to characters themselves.
Primary complaints r we had 7 in party and cannot make reservations for 7 people in some of the cover charge restuarants. So one night we almost did not get seated togethr since we had to book two sets of reservations for everything. Also, staff photographers take some great pictures but they are expensive - $13 a pop. I know this i average and less expensive than places like Disney, but it's just too much. Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
Children's Programs
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
Sailed from NYC on the Gem by
A Traveler from Lancaster PA Sailing date: Mar 2012Pros: Cleaniness of the ship, friendly staff This was our first cruise and it did not disappoint. We booked a balcony room which was good because the cabin was not large (couldn't imagine the size of an inside cabin!) but at least we had a deck to get some fresh air without walking all through the ship. the Gem was VERY concerned about germs. They were cleaning all the time. Before entering any restaurant they had a crew member posted with hand sanitizer and they required you "washy-washy". We were happy not to be locked into a dining time. One disappointment was we did not stop at their private island but that was due to weather conditions; obviously something they couldn't control. The captain did a great job and we were happy there weren't announcements all the time and the drink prices weren't as bad as we expected. We would recommend this NYC to Bahamas trip Dining/FoodLoved free style dining. Eat whenever and wherever you want Stateroom QualityOur balcony was small but comfortable and clean Ship Staff QualityVery friendly and helpful. Always smiling and always greeted you when they passed in the hallways or decks Entertainment & Activities
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
Clean Ship, Nice staff, good trip. by
HD from Queens, NY Sailing date: Apr 2011Pros: 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 Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
Collapse List of Ports
Nassau, Bahamasdon'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), Bahamasgreat BBQ done by NCL...
Don't Miss: BBQ! Port Canaveral, Floridaunless 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?
good cruise by
EILEEN R from POMPTON LAKES NJ Sailing date: Feb 2009Pros: bahamas Cons: free styling free styling was not good,overall cruise was good Ship Qualitykept very clean Dining/Foodfood in main dining was excellent so was the service,bot would not take reservations for 2 people,a wait of 25-45 mins was usual Stateroom Qualityour room was very small,and not designed good. Ship Staff Qualityvery plesent and helpfull Entertainment & Activitiesmusic too loud at times
Collapse List of Ports
Freeport, Grand Bahama Islandvery friendly people at the shopping areas,toured the town was good.
Nassau, Bahamasgreat went on tour of Atantis
Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), Bahamasit might have been better if it wasnt so windy,wanted to Parisail.
Port Canaveral, Floridavery bad nothing too do in the small shopping area,would be good to cut that out.
4 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
Waste of Money by
Kathy G from Newtown, CT Sailing date: Apr 2011Pros: 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 QualityThe 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/FoodAwful. 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 QualityNice 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 QualityThe 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 & ActivitiesMostly 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 ProgramsMy 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.
Collapse List of Ports
Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), BahamasVery 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, FloridaNASA 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?
Great time on the Gem! by
Rox K from Pa Sailing date: Apr 2011Pros: 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 Quality
Dining/FoodMy only complaint was the buffet didn't stay open late. Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
Children's Programs
Collapse List of Ports
Nassau, BahamasBlue lagoon was awesome!
Great Stirrup Cay (Cruiseline Private Island), BahamasWill be much better when construction is complete
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
|
|
