Norwegian Gem Review
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About the author - My wife and I became cruise enthusiasts in 1994 when we took our honeymoon cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) Starward.
Introduction - Our recent 10-day cruise to the Southern Caribbean on the brand new Norwegian Gem was an incredible experience highlighted by exceptionally calm seas in the Atlantic Ocean on our trip to the Caribbean, warm days and excellent ports to explore, and the fabulous new Norwegian Gem to call home for 10-days. We hosted a group of 86 passengers on this cruise who all enjoyed a fun-filled week of activities both on and off the ship in St. Thomas, Antigua, Barbados, St. Maarten and Tortola. Travel Days - Traveling from Salisbury, Maryland to and from our port of embarkation in New York City was an easy 5-hour chartered bus ride. My group really enjoyed the convenience of curb-to-curb service and avoiding the hassle of air travel for this cruise. It's so nice that many cruise lines are now offering itineraries in close proximity to those of us who live in the Mid-Atlantic area.
Embarkation/Debarkation - I would give NCL exceptional marks for their embarkation and debarkation process, although I can't say the same for the Port of New York City. As for NCL, upon arrival at the pier and entering the check-in area, we were separated into groups of past passengers (Latitude members) and first-time NCL cruisers. Check-in went relatively smoothly considering the number of passengers NCL had to process in such a short period of time from 12:00 noon when check-in began to 4:00 pm when the ship was scheduled to sail. As Latitude members, we only had to wait in line for about 10-15 minutes. The new NCL passengers in our group had to wait about 30 minutes. It would have been nice if we could have kept our group together, but it was a nice way for NCL to thank past passengers by giving them expedited check-in. My only recommendation for NCL and the Port Authority in the check-in area would be to invest in shades for the windows behind the agents as they had an awfully difficult time taking the passenger photos for the Embarkation Cards with the sun shining in the windows behind them.