Norwegian Gem Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We have been sailing with Norwegian for nearly 25 years and have had wonderful experiences on the Norway, the Jewel, the Dawn and the Gem as well as several others. When the Dawn was moved from New York to Boston, we began our cruising on the Gem and have made two vacations per year aboard one of our favorite ships ever since.
This year, with the storms this past Fall destroying many of the Caribbean islands, NCL chose Martinique, St. Lucia and St. Kitts as replacements. We never cared for Martinique and were deeply disappointed in NCL's choices. Sadly, with a storm at sea, the Gem's captain decided (for safety's sake) to skip St. Thomas and head back to New York. Overall, the ports available to us were somewhat lackluster.
The staff on the Gem were wonderful - from our cabin steward, to our waiters to the cruise staff. We always feel at home when we sail on the Gem. The food this year was better than most prior years and with the four specialty dinners that were perqs, we ate well. Cagney was greatly improved over prior years and we ate there twice! The Bistro's food and service was also good.
Cabin Review
Balcony
The handicapped cabin we have was adequate. We have been in other handicapped cabins on board the Gem which were somewhat larger and easier to navigate. This cabin had a large "pole" in the entry way which made it harder to maneuver the scooter in and out of the cabin and the cabin door did not stay open (unlike the other handicapped cabin doors) and closed by itself as we were trying to get the scooter in and out of the cabin.
The cabin steward was very helpful and accommodating and helped make our trip better.