Norwegian Gem Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Norwegian has declined in quality and passenger service. I would not go back on this ship ever. Common amenities to which I have become accustomed on other lines are totally missing or available for an outrageous price on the "Gem" The main onboard pass times are Bingo (at $40 per card), the Casino (25% chop on poker up to $25 chop per hand), Deal or No Deal ($50 plus per play) and other pay for use activities.
It is impossible to make reservations for dinner. Passengers cannot contact the restaurants directly. There is a central reservation number. Since we had seven people in our (combined) party, we tried to make reservations through the central reservations number only to be told that seven was not a big enough party to require reservations and just to show up at the restaurant. So we showed up at restaurants and waited (sometimes over an hour with three kids) and were informed by the restaurant personnel that we should have had reservations.
Crew was generally very friendly, but every person had different answers to the same question. We never got the same answer about anything from any two crew members. For the first three days, they couldn't even agree on the ship's time. High marks for politeness but zero points for knowledge of the ship its policies or procedures, The left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing.
Cabin Review
Balcony
SMALL
Tiny and poorly appointed. There is barely enough room to get in and out. I was told that the room would have enough room for a wheelchair (definitely NOT so) and room for three people (maybe VERY short and skinny people). Bathroom must be entered sideways. Don't drop the soap in the shower or you'll have to exit the shower to pick it up. No table, no desk, no ships directory, no writing paper, no pen, no place to put toilet items, not even a Gideons Bible.
If you decide to watch some TV, be prepared to sit right up on top of the 15" (NON HD) screen. The actual picture is even smaller that the screen. There are 15 or 20 channels dedicated to touting the onboard (EXPENSIVE) amenities, or repeating safety instructions, etc. There is ONE movie channel with five repeating movies for the entire ten day cruise (NO choice). ONE channel that shows random old TV shows (Usually old sitcoms during the day and cartoons at night....NO choice) ONE sports channel (hope you like soccer). There are also thirty or so pay per view movies at $9.99 apiece. I chose to pay for a movie but the TV set is of such poor quality and so hard to see that it was a waste of money.
The room steward was great, efficient, polite and very helpful. He did his best to make us comfortable but it was an uphill battle.