Norwegian Gem Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Pros:
1) 7 days is a good amount of time to be away - not too long but long enough to feel that it was a vacation
2) We live in NY, so leaving from NY is a major plus - just take a cab to the ship. Done!
Cabin Review
Balcony
As all cabins on ships, it was fairly tight, but there was plenty of room for clothing and other stuff we brought. There could have been a few more hooks - that would have been welcomed. Also a couple of outlets. There are only 2 - one near the hair dryer and one by the coffee machine. You can ask them for an extension cord, but just bring one.
It said it would accommodate 3, but it would have been really difficult unless the third was our own medium sized child. The bed sagged somewhat. Lots of good pillows - we did ask for extras the first day. Nice touch to have bathrobes in the room.
Port Reviews
Great Stirrup Cay
The main beach is too crowded, with chairs all lined up touching each other. There was room on the beach to have spread them out more. They didn't tell anyone that there were two more beaches that were nicer. Food was ok at the BBQ, appreciated large covered picnic area.
Nassau
We took one of the licensed vans at the dock who offered us a 2 hour tour of Nassau with 1/2 hour stops at the Fort and at Atlantis. We wanted to go to the zoo, and the driver dropped us there. The zoo was $!8 but $50 if you took the shore excursion. The tour we got and the zoo admission was $48. Much better. Then we walked about 2-3 blocks worth and took a public bus (they run every few minutes) for $1.25 back to town and went to the straw market. The line to get back on the ship was slow and humongous and took about 1/2 hour or more. That was really difficult. And the ship was the furthest from the entry building. They only had 1 shuttle working. This was NOT good. That's why we took off 1 star.
BTW, the zoo was worth it - feeding the parrots, seeing the flamingo parade, lovely plants and just nice vibes - but don't go to the gift shop - t-shirts are nearly $50!! The snack bar was fine - decent selection of reasonably priced snacks.