My first experience with Norwegian Cruise Line was negative and I approached the Gem with low expectations. Happily, this cruise was miles better than the last and I'm looking at NCL in a new way. The Gem had some misses but overall we had a great cruise. The main reason was the crew - a friendly, hard-working group who seemed happy to help in any way.
The Gem itself is a very comfortable ship. ...
I chose this cruise because it was a different itinerary from the usual cruises from NYC.
It visited Bermuda, my favorite island, in the spring which was a new experience for me. I usually have been on cruises to Bermuda in the summer. It also visited the Bahamas before returning to NYC.
A major drawback on this cruise was stopping in Port Canaveral after visiting Bermuda and having to ...
Very nice 10-day cruise to the Bahamas and Bermuda. It was done over Spring Break and so there were lots of young kids running around and screaming. The seas were angry the first two sea days and also the final sea day. Pretty rough with some people getting sick. I have seen a lot worse. The weather at the ports and beaches was great. Not too hot. Horseshoe Bay Beach in Bermuda would be a nice ...
We left out of NY which was great since we are from upstate NY. This made our trip very easy. My only comment about leaving out of NY is that the seas are rough on the Nothern Atlantic first half of the year. First and last day were rough at sea even for those that are not prone to seasickness and have cruised before.
Getting on and off the boat was very easy. We exprieanced a small delay ...
This was our first NCL cruise. We loved many things about it: The food, the entertainment, the bars and the kids club staff were all outstanding. The major problem was related to the fact that the ship was ill-prepared for the onslaught of children. Many times us and other families were not able to put our kids in the club because they were at capacity. Check-in and checkout at the club took a ...
I never departed from NYC and won't do it again. The water was very rough. The cabin was great. Just large enough for the two of us. Wouldn't want more than 2 in the room though. We had a balcony. Lovely view. The food was wonderful. We liked the main dinning room most. We especially liked Omar our waiter a couple of times. The afternoon movies in the Crystal Atrium were very noisy. ...
We decided to take this cruise at the last minute. Fortunately, the only cabin available was a concierge class balcony cabin, 1065 Deck 10, and we loved it. It was close to the elevators and our room was quiet at night. We never sailed concierge before on Celebrity because I really didn't need the extra services. Depending on the cabin price, I am not sure I would pay much extra, plus the daily ...
Embarkation - Entering the terminal by car was a mess. There was no signage or guides to help you through. I have been on enough cruises to know that it is customary to drive in, unload bags with the porter and proceed to the car parking lot. So here, you pass the entrance to the parking first and the bag drop was at the end of the line. Then we had to exit, loop around the block in heavy traffic ...
I chose Norwegian just to try something different, as i have been a Royal Caribbean cruiser. I was told from a friend of mine that she loves Norwegian, so my husband & i decided to try a different cruise line. We usually travel in September, However we traveled this year for our anniversary in April & was very overwhelmed with the amount of children on board. We did not realize that it was spring ...
We wanted to see Bermuda, and spend more than one day in port - this cruise fit the bill. Overall, a very good cruise, but there is room for improvement.
First, the big positives:
1 - Balcony room was very nice - good bed, largest shower (by comparison to other ships) we've seen, and a super room steward (friendly and helpful).
2 - Great cruise director and staff - personable and a lot ...