Norwegian Gem Review

Gem is truly a Gem!

Review for Canada & New England Cruise on Norwegian Gem
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ic32teeth
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Oct 2016
Cabin: Balcony

I have sailed with two other cruise ship companies and this by far was the best. Next best was Princess. Stayed in Balcony stateroom that was always clean. Room was smaller than other cruise ships we have been on but had a good size shower which was nice. Very small toilet area so if you are a large or fat individual you may have a big issue with this. I am slightly athletically large individual and barely fit in the toilet area of the bathroom. My wife who is petite and 5'4" her knees hit the wall that gives you idea how small it is.

Embark: Well you mind find this funny but we nearly missed the ship due to NY city traffic. We arrived at 3:15pm and we were the last to board the ship. Manhattan port authority helped us fill-out the boarding paperwork which was nice of them. We brought our own bags to our stateroom which was even better! To say the least embark was a breeze. Service: Service was 5 stars! This is what made the cruise for us. All Gem staff were sincere and truly went out of their way to make us happy. They appeared to like their jobs themselves which on other cruises you could tell it was a fake happiness. Dining: We ate all dinners at Pacific Dining Room which we thought was very good. We did not do any of the paid dining so I can't comment on those areas. The service was actually fast for breakfast and dinner which was a surprise from other reviews about this ship. We ate at O'sheenans twice for lunch which was really good. They have good burgers and wings. We ate at the Garden Café or known as the buffet twice and was above average over the other cruise ships we had been on. I thought their soft serve ice cream topped all other cruise ships so be sure to get some of that. Their pizza was not good though. Bars: We went to all bars over and over and enjoyed topsider bar the best by the pool. They have TV's to watch sports and you can buy the best bushwackers their. They also sell beer by the buckets. Buy 5 get one free. Entertainment: This is where I didn't give the cruise 5 stars. The shows were bad all except the 5 Chicago city group which did improv comedy. They were somewhat funny and worked well as a team we saw them twice. Marissa the guitar soloist girl was good but got old after the 3rd night. She played the same songs and went to different bars each night to try to get people to go to those bars to drink. The bliss lounge which was suppose to have a DJ and club music didn't have one until late into the night otherwise no one was no action in there. A great disappointment since my wife and I enjoy clubbing. There were no magicians or single comedy artist on this cruise. a total big disappointment in lack of entertainment which mad for long sea days.

Ports: Halifax: We did our own excursion to Peggy's Cove. It was nice but not great. This is the main excursion for the cruise ship and there are way to many people their for such a small place Nearly impossible to get a picture without other people in it.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BX

Cabin smaller than most other cruise companies. Very clean well maintained. Everything worked well. Large shower space with small toilet area. Sink was adequate.

Port Reviews

New York (Manhattan)

We came a day early and left a day later. We saw all the traditional locations. Way to busy of city for me. I like small town America. We nearly missed the cruise departure due to heavy traffic at 14th street.

Portland (Maine)

Booked a tour right outside of the port. Very nice small historic city glad we stopped their.

Newport

nice historic shopping area right outside the cruise port. Tourist Trap!

Saint John (New Brunswick)

By far our favorite port. Very nice people and cute small town with lots to do. We pub crawled at this location on our own. Everything is walkable from the ship.

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