Norwegian Gem Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,594 reviews

Fun but nothing spectacular

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Gem
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macksmom330
2-5 Cruises • Age 30s

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Sail Date: Mar 2011
Cabin: Mid-Ship Inside

DH and I just got back from our 3rd cruise, 1st time on NCL, and here is what we thought...Embarkment was super easy. We got to the terminal and we were on the boat by 12ish. The only thing I thought was weird was that there was an NCL worker guiding you to the next available teller to take your info and give you your sea pass card and he told us to "check no for everything", meaning the 2 questions they ask you on the slip whether or not you have been sick in the last week or so. What's the point in asking that when you have their work workers telling you to check no for everything. Seems to defeat the purpose if you ask me!The food was kind of sub-par. The first night we ate in the Magenta dining room. DH ordered shrimp and they were so tiny it wasn't even worth it. My meal, the grilled chicken breast was good, but that was all. No even the dessert was good. One night we ate at Cagneys and that was awesome. The best fillet mignon I've ever had, so def. worth the price. Another night we dined at Tequila. It was okay, the cheese quesadilla was good. The only downfall to that was they were advertising 1/2 price margaritas but when the bill came they charged us full price. The rest of the time we ate in the Garden buffet and it was just okay. Nothing really inspiring there.Entertainment was good. We LOVED Sinan the cruise director...he's really funny and you can tell he loves his job. Second City troupe did good improve, and Jeff the comedian was not that funny. The Mr. Sexy Legs competition was really funny, but the ended awarding all the prizes to old fat guys! Bingo kind of stunk because the highest package was $69. We played on the 2nd day and didn't win. What gets me is that the next 3 days bingo was buy 1 package get one free. But of course they didn't tell you that before, so I felt a little ripped off. Staff and very nice and always had a smile on their faces. I was in room 9107. The room staff was good and greeted us by name, but never introduced himself so we didn't know his. Bar staff was a little snippy at times, meaning the guys behind the bar, not actually delivering the drinks. The casino was nice. We lost a lot of money but it was fun. Only downfall is that it was a pain to try and get a drink, there was hardly anyone around to ask, so that was a disappointment.We went to Cocoa beach on our first port, it was nice, nothing to write home about. In Great Stirrup Cay we did nothing but relax and it was nice. We brought snorkeling gear and saw a ton of fish, it was awesome. A group of people we went with were a little disappointed because they were there a few years back and the island looks different now from what they said. Finally was Nassau. We had a wedding to go to, so we didn't see much of the city. But we got off the boat and walked around a little before the wedding started and didn't like the fact that you kept getting hassled to do this and that by the locals. They would follow us suggesting that we wake their tours. That was the worst part. Then when you got 1 block away from the boats it smelled of animal urination. The weather was nice the entire time of the cruise. The boat sailed nice, but got a little bumpy on the way back and some of the people in our group got sick!Overall, the cruise was nice and enjoyable, but I was not impressed with the food AT ALL! It seemed like if you wanted a great meal you had to dine in a specialty restaurant, where on RCI you get exquisite meals in their MDR!!!

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Inside

Cabin IB

Would have liked more dresser drawers. Very spacious bathroom and a shower you could actually fit in, it was great!!!

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