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This was one of our best vacations ever. My wife and I have cruised before, but it was the first time for our daughter. She is 10 years old, and after countless and I mean countless trips to Disney we need a Mickey break. So we booked The Norwegian Gem, we got a fantastic price and my wife hates to fly. So leaving out of New York is easy because we live in South Jersey. Embarkation was so easy, before you know it, you are on the ship. I followed a reviewer's advice, and went to the Grand Pacific for a sit down meal, instead of fighting for a seat at buffet. I am only going to complain two little times during this review, so don’t take this as anything bad. We waited forever for our food, I guess they had new staff and this is where they let them try to serve. We ate dinner there to (First night surf and Turf) very small portions (but, you can order as many meals as you like as you know) and cold, we were not fans of the Grand Pacific, never ate there again. We manly ate breakfast in the Garden café. Second tiny complaint, fix the toasters!!! Okay got that off my chest. Here is a secret, a real hidden "Gem" is the outside seating in the Garden cafe. There are coffee stations and the same food without the fight of the main buffet line. Before 9:00am, it easy to a seat with a million dollar view. Did not really eat lunch, my daughter loved the hot dogs and the burgers we excellent. The poolside barbeques had phenomenal food. Magenta was good, the waiter was so funny and made our dinner entertaining. We ate at all of the specialty restaurants. La Cucina was good-very good. The Brazilian restaurant was excellent. Le bistro was excellent. Cagney’s was excellent. Tapenyaki was beyond excellent, so good and entertaining. Besides our first day at Grand Pacific, food was very good
We stayed in a mini suite on the 11th floor next to the bridge. It was very clean, quiet and comfortable. Our room Steward Gabriel was the best, made my wife feel safe during some rough seas and made my daughters day every day.
My wife and daughter loved the spa and the spa manager was very nice and helpful. My daughter played diva for the first couple of days and did not want to go to the kids club, she regretted it at the end. She met so many friends and had such a good time there. Those people have a lot of patience and do their job very well.
Entertainment was good; this is a good family boat . This is not your I am getting wasted for 9 nights boats, rarely saw anybody truly drunk, while 10 years ago that would have been me.
Ports San Juan was beautiful, take a tour and check out old San Juan. Nice shopping.
St Martin was our favorite, we booked a private tour with Capt. Bob Cass Souloja Destinations. Six hours on a power boat with snorkeling and alcohol, soft drinks, and lunch included. Highlight of our Cruise. St Thomas was beautiful, we took a tour we should have gone to magaens bay or St. John. Samana, well let’s just say go to the beach (Cave Levanto) a private island or do a private tour. We went on our own with a taxi, very nice people, but very poor country. We made a mistake, should have gone to the beach
Disembarkation was a breeze
Overall awesome time, I have read people getting mad about the $12 fee per person per day, added to their bill and they actually went to get it taken off. This is horrible; these awesome people make their money from tips. If you had to tip these people per day for dining and cleaning your room, it would be far more than the $12 bucks a day. Then I heard people complaining just to complain, listen I look at it this way, I did not pay for the Ritz Carlton so I did not expect Ritz Carlton food and Service. Actually sometimes, I received better. My daughter already wants to go next years and has not stop yelling come to the Spin-a-ca lounge! You need an English accent, to make it sound funny.
 

she was a good ship

We arrived at the Pier at 10:15am, gave our luggage to a porter and walked right through the security gates without a problem, we went through the Latitudes line in 5 minutes,checked in and were sitting in the lounge area at 10:35am waiting for the call to enter the ship..At 12 Noon we were called by numbers we had number 10 and boarded the ship. It was an easy process, no hassle, no worry quick and efficient.

We had lunch in the Grand Pacific Dining room which was not crowded and the food was very good. We then went upstairs to the pool area where there was a BBQ going on and guests were lining up to eat. It was chilly and not windy as it was about 1:30PM. We then decided to go see the Ying and Yang, Mandara Spa as we bought the couple's Spa Pass on the Pier after check in, it was $268 couples special for the 10 day cruise and let me tell you it was well worth it, as 5/10 days you couldn't use the pool area due to the cold weather. They sell only 60 couple passes so if you are interested check it out on the Pier before they sell out. The area is private no children permitted and there is a private ladies and Men's section, with lockers, sauna, and steam room Bathroom and showers plus a unisex section with lounge chairs and thermal heating therapeutic chairs, coffe, Tea, orange juice and cold water, towels, and bathrobes. My wife and I enjoyed it and showered there rather than our cabin as it was roomy and easier those cabin showers are tight,we spent hours there its open 8Am-10PM. We sailed exactly at 4PM as they wait for no one, as we found out later during the cruise, we went up the Hudson and the weather changed as now it was foggy and by the time we got to the Verrazzano Bridge it was snowing and visibility was poor.

The seas days were quiet there were many things to do and a number of shows and lounges with entertainment. We checked out bingo but its very expensive like $140 for daily games I'm not sure how many games you played but too expensive for us. There are Art Auctions, Trivia games, Library, card room etc..but we stayed in the lounges at the Spa and relaxed. One night we made reservations for La Cucina Italian Restaurant we ate too much and the food was very good well worth the $10 charge PP.

Finally we arrived Puerto Rico after 2-1/2 days at sea which were very calm at around 2:30Pm and we got off ship by 3 and just walked around front street in Old San Juan, you there only 6 hours and we felt it was a waste to go on any tour. Plus the fact we have been to PR about 12 times, so how many times can you see El Morro..We were back on ship by 7 and we sailed at 9PM for St. Thomas.

St. Thomas was quiet we arrived at 8AM on Sunday and we were the only ship in Port the stores opened in the Havensight Pier area. My cell phone charger broke and I found out that Verizon is not in the islands so I was out of luck, and phone was dead. I found an Asian restaurant right down at the end of the Pier with an internet cafe upstairs for $2 for an 1hr. and in the restaurant they rented cell phones and sold phone cards $2 ea. for 2 hours use to call home..So for $6 I called home had 2 hours calling time and used the internet for an hour. We asked a taxi guy where's the closest beach and for $6 he took us to a resort on Morningstar beach, chase lounge $10ea they had bar and changing bathrooms its 10 minutes from Pier and was a beautiful beach. We went last year to Meagen's bay which was long ride and cost add'l $4 ea for use of beach. We again sailed at 5PM..

Next up was St.Maarten we have been there many times this time we took the water taxi $6 ea round trip to Philipsburg to see front street and the beaches the area was crowded with tourists the beaches were jammed and all the pushy sellers along front street selling everything and anything were bothersome. They also had an internet cafe for $5 for an hour well worth it compared to the ship ripping people off for there slow minute eating internet on board. Don't waste your money every port we visited has an internet cafe just ask. Next time we visit St. Maarten we are going back to Orient beach a beautiful beach not to mention all the topless girls...We sailed at 5PM.

Next stop Antiqua, last year we just walked around the straw huts which are all the same. This year we took NCL's Antiqua Beach Escape $48 ea, it was well worth the money, the took us by small buses to a resort on Runaway Beach they had beach chairs ready and for $7 you could rent an umbrella we did, it was hot and sunny, we also were served lunch chicken and ribs and rice it was tasty and very good. we stayed until around 2:45Pm buses were waiting and we were back on ship by 3:30PM, again we sailed at 5PM but a couple with children missed the time and were left to find there way to Tortola. So be back on time they will sail without you..Be aware of the time...

Next stop Tortola we arrived 7AM and left at 1PM, not much you can do here that is worth while we did Virgin Gorda and that was wonderful last year only drawback you have to be off ship by 7:15AM and you are back on ship by 12:50PM and then they sail immediately...Its an NCL tour so they won't sail until you are back so not to worry. Its a beautiful Gorda water is magnificent its just took short and expensive. BTW we heard couple met up with ship in Tortola with there children.  

The staff was very good a few problems here and there with service in the restaurants especially when its crunch time and many people are in the dining room, its forgiveable as we found out these workers work every day 10 hours , and some have as many as three jobs. We only had to wait one evening about 10 minutes for a table in either Magenta or Grand Pacific Dining rooms. We enjoyed the food we had lobster 2 nights and prime rib, and shrimp and ribs 4/10 nights in the main dining rooms. We don't do the charge restaurants except this time we did do La Cucina,which was worth the $20 the others are expensive and we heard from a number of guests not worth the money, but each to there own taste's but we enjoyed the food and service. The NCL staff and Officers are very pleasant and courteous we encountered no problems with the staff.

we had an Aft Balcony Cabin 110168 which was really nice to look out the back of the ship and was great with us backing into 3/5 ports. The main drawback was you are in the back of the ship and almost everything we did Stardust theater, Magenta Restaurant, Pool, Spa, casino and lounges are all up in the front of the ship, and its a looong walk to the front and if you forgot something a loong way back. We decided to try it one time as this was our third cruise out of NYC in the last 3 years but from now on we will book mid ship cabins and save the wear and tear, we sure did get a lot of walking.

Our sail back to NYC was uneventful and we docked at 8AM, the Pearl also docked a little before us and it took almost 2 hours before we started off the ship it was a slow process and we didn't get our luggage until around 10:45AM and get through Customs and meet my son who picked us up. It was the only downer of the cruise NCL should S..t CAN that policy of caring off your own luggage its not really a time saver, it only saves them time from carrying all the luggage off, and it jams everyone else up waiting for there color to be called..I would rather see them go back to everyone checked there luggage, especially latitudes members like myself we had white tags and when it was time for the colors to be called they called both white and orange and there was a mad crush to the doors, and it was very noticeable that officers and staff with the exception of one poor soul trying to keep everyone from crushing one another trying to get off were missing in action or were they hiding..Hmm. There was no benefit to having the white tags for latitudes members. NCL gets a "F" for there service in Disembarkation. Really a lousy lousy job. They should review this stupid policy..
  
Except for the last few hours waiting to get off the ship, All in all it was a very good cruise great weather, the seas were calm staff excellent. However we have had it with the Eastern Caribbean so next year we decided to drive to Miami and take NCL Sun on an 11 day cruise to the Western Caribbean, Mid Ship Cabin PLEASE !!

10 Day  NCL GEM  Eastern Caribbean  Cruise

Just arrived back from 10 day trip on Gem out of NY to southern Caribbean (5 ports). NCL does this cruise 4 times a year. Right up front I will say our last cruise was on Princess and received last minute free upgrade to mini-suite, so hard to compare with inside cabin on this trip. This trip was educational conference so wanted to try and stay within budget with inside cabin, now regret decision.
Unfortunately we got off to rocky start, any one occurrence was fairly minor and probably not worth mentioning, but as these minor occurrences starting piling up so quickly, we were becoming irritated. We are both fairly easy-going and undemanding as we understand the difficulties of catering to 2300 people in close quarters. I initially chalked this up to REALLY needing a vacation but the wondered if the fates were conspiring!  Things improved second half.

My issues:
1) embarkation seemed unnecessarily long. Arrived at noon, took close to one hour. Never had to stand in lines that long.
2) Walked around ship to acquaint ourselves, happened to walk past spa. Greeted by two staff, asked if we would like tour. Politely declined, one spa worker demanded in not so polite voice, "why not!!". I'm sorry, I do not owe you an explanation. Spa workers are not NCL employees, but this was not courteous and set the tone for us. Later had spa treatment which was very nice.
3) Looking for conference rooms and restaurant, misdirected 3 times by staff. 
4) Sometimes had long wait times for main dining rooms. I realize that there are peak times and difficulty gauging who will go where on any given day; had to wait 45 minutes one time and 30 minutes another. Usual wait 10-15 min.
5) Hostesses at main dining rooms. A little too engaged with their headset microphones to determine available seats. Often made big production with person at other end in dining room as to what table was open. On two occasions led to table in Magenta dining room that apparently wasn't open, leading to more microphone discussion. Left circling around dining room until table could be found. Once told we had to wait because only tables for 4 available and only 2 in party; hostess then changed mind.
6) Had 15 minute break from conference and wanted speciality coffee, visited Java cafe around 3 pm day 2 and could not get waited on. Only one bartender on duty, had to give up.
7)TV in room listed 2 for 1 martini special at specific bar from 5:30-10 pm, apparently 8-10:30 in daily "Freestyle" newsletter.  Since we had to wait 45 minutes for dinner, we thought we would go to bar for this special (6 pm). Told by bartender the TV was wrong, did not start until 8. When I asked what the "special" included, bartender said he would bring back menu. Walked back to bar and forgot about us. Only 3 others in bar. Generally when an error like this is made, they should honor it anyway. Not real happy at this point.
8)One night in the Grand Pacific restaurant, our waiter came to the table, said, "may I take your order?", we both momentarily glanced down at our menu and in just that split second, he walked away. We both sat with our mouths open in disbelief. He had quickly walked over to another table without saying excuse me for a moment, returned in about 30 seconds to one minute.9) Did not see much of room steward, finally ran into him in hallway on day 3. Room usually not made up until after lunch, had to ask every single day for replacement beach towels. One day hubs came to room after lunch for nap, so room never made up until bedtime, despite the fact we only occupied room that day for 3 hours in afternoon. Asked on day 3 if twin beds could be separated so there was more room, told steward he could do it next day as he had already made up room. Didn't happen for 3 more days. Bathroom always had peculiar smell (didn't matter if not used all day!)
10) St. Thomas stop was on Sunday, would have appreciated note in daily Freestyle newsletter that downtown stores close at 3. We snorkeled in morning, came back to ship to clean up. Hired taxi and in downtown by 2:15 with plans to shop until 4 or 4:30. Shops all closed up between 2:30-3. Very disappointed, wasted taxi money; would have rearranged day had we known.
11) we enjoy sitting on covered deck to get out of sun (deck 7 in this case), there were about 6 chairs total available and a few very low wicker recliners semi-caved in in the middle. 

Second half of cruise went much more smoothly but first half did not make us fans of NCL. The devil is in the details.

10 day NCL Gem review out of NY to S. Carribean

- Check-in very good after we figured out there was a separate area for 'suite' check-in. Wouldn't have enjoyed the long lines we began with. 
- Cabin...kind-of new bordello in appearance, but cute too..spacious and good bathroom. 
- 'Butler'...a joke. Had to run to restaurant most of the time to get milk for coffee and usually had to keep asking for the coffee for the coffee maker. I think the idea of a butler service (which we have had on other liners) is wonderful, but these employees need to be trained. The function of our butler, as best as we could tell, was to deliver the goodies at the end of the afternoon. 
- Concierge service was very good...especially after we found that NCL wasn't about to be at all accommodating when we found there was a very good chance our daughter would miss the cruise (joining us in Venice) because of the volcano eruption. Daughter did make it (whew) and concierge graciously extended the 'Cagney's Restaurant' invitation to her also. 
- Activities...marginal. We enjoy bridge very much and expected some organized bridge. Not only was there nothing offered, but the area allotted for the social bridge was in a restaurant that was surrounded by the atrium with the music blasting or whatever else was slated for the area. It became hopeless and we found that playing in our stateroom, with another couple we met on board (thank goodness for a table and chairs there)was the only way to have some peace and quiet. The NCL staff was totally not interested in trying to accommodate anyone to have a quiet place to enjoy bridge. There was nothing 'exceptional' about any other activities offered. Same ol', same ol'....mostly not run by anyone who understood the particular activity. 
- Food...marginal. We did not use the 'pay per dinner' restaurants. We can eat at Macaroni Grill, PF Chang etc and enjoy the menu more. Cagney's for breakfast/ lunch was our saviour. 
- Entertainment...OK. 
- Laundry I am now going through the clothes we brought and will have to replace most 'whites' after sending them with our 'promo bag' of laundry. I would never have believed the laundry would throw everything (new black crew socks with white undies) in a machine together. And I'm sure these clothes were washed maybe five minutes. They came back totally disgusting. Everything is being re-washed as I write this. 
- NOISE LEVEL UNBELIEVABLE. THERE WAS NO PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM THE CONSTANT BLASTING OF MUSIC. I found people sitting in the passageways (window seats) trying to find a place to retreat. The library to hold those who would like some peace and quiet is entirely too small for the passenger numbers. And even there, everyone was 'visiting'...not a whisper to be heard. So much for that. We spent lots of time in our cabin to escape. How about that early cup of coffee in the peace of the morning...HA...the music was on all the time...everywhere. 
- Excursions...we don't take them for the most part. Too expensive and we have traveled enough to know that we can see what we want to see on our own. 
- Costs...totally outrageous to be charged every time we turned around. We had our wine and beer (for the most part) when we stopped in the various ports and had our fun meals. And to be charged around $2.50 for a Coke? It broke my 'habit' in a hurry. 
- Disembarkation We were escorted out of the terminal and then hit reality of disorganization. The shuttle bus to take us to the water transport was full of people who had obviously had a rough time leaving and were less than happy. People were pushing and shoving with luggage being put onto the bus and then thrown off. It took a long while to finally just get going for the five minute trip. There was no organizing staff to help at all. Fortunately we were not heading to the airport and once off that terrible bus experience were able to get off on our own. 
- Another NCL cruise? Most likely never. 

The Good, Bad and Ugly

My husband frequently says that happiness is who you're with.  If he's right, and I think he is, then the NCL Gem is a place that should make most people happy. My reference point for gauging any vacation is that I have never been anywhere that's perfect.  I'm holding out that rating for Heaven.  Every trip I've ever taken has a few bumps along the way.  The real test of whether it's a good vacation is whether the destination works to avoid the  bumps and corrects for them when they happen. If the flaw doesn't work to ruin the whole package for you, then it's probably a good vacation.    
But enough about my philosophy.  The NCL Gem is the newest ship in the fleet and in some ways, both good and not quite so good, it shows.  The ship itself is beautifully maintained. The public spaces are clean and someone is working on them all the time. I could question the decorating choices as a little gaudy (Yeah, I'm talking about you, "inside a purple geode-looking atrium ceiling."), but then everything ain't for everybody. It's not so garish as to put you off, but some understated quality would have been enough.  The staterooms are slightly upgraded with new and improved mattresses, magnifying makeup mirrors, and improved coffee and coffeemakers. A small vase of flowers in the room is nice touch.  Our stateroom was a minisuite with a balcony and it's well worth the extra expense if you like to enjoy a private, quiet time with the ocean.  The barriers between the balconies are also a bit larger than on other NCL ships, offering slightly more privacy.    
The food....  I've eaten in five star restaurants and had food that made me want to slap my mama.  It was that good.  The Gem had one or two moments like that, but because it is catering to thousands of people at one time, I sensed a holding back on the part of the chefs, so as not to offend the majority with more inspired risk taking. I have no complaints. I had one wildly superior meal in Cagney's and one "Meh" meal in Tequila. Not a bad meal in the lot.  All of the specialty restaurants are worth the extra cost, with the aforementioned Tequila and the Teppanyaki restaurants being the weakest of the group.  The main dining rooms, The Grand Pacific and the Magenta, were consistently good and the service was excellent.    
The music....There are, I believe, two standard bands that are issued to NCL ships - the reggae band and the pop band.  I think Amce must manufacture them in Taiwan and ship them out to NCL.  The other music choices vary from the house jazz band to standards playing piano man.  This trip, the ship added a string quartet and a blues guitarist.  I thought both additions were interesting choices and at least attempted to speak to the different tastes among the passengers.  My only possible quibble is the placement of some of the performers.  Acts were placed in the common areas, such as the atrium, where there is a significant amount of foot traffic and commerce occurring.  I think this is disrespectful to the artists and to the audience.  It's distracting to both and not conducive to the full enjoyment of the performances.    
The activities.... There were less than I've come to expect from NCL.  There were fewer classes, trivia competitions and demonstrations than on my previous sailings.  There's a sense that more staff was necessary.  Staffers were clearly called on at the last minute to take on some activity that they had previously been prepared. They were definitely on for the game, but their surprise at having to do it was evident.    
The Main Stage shows.....Didn't see 'em.  I work in community theater.  I don't watch it. Just my personal bias. The Second City Company was good.  The magician had a great rapport with the audience.  And the Chocolate Goddess, (and I freely admit that I have a mental block on her name and an absolute refusal to look at my notes,) was way too old school for me.  The audience, on the other hand, ate it up and asked for seconds.    
Now, to get back to my caption.  It's not where you are.  It's who you are with.  The staff on this ship is amazing.  I've never seen a group of people so committed to customer service.  The  crew radiates positivity and concern for guest welfare.  I can't count the number of times I was asked if there was anything wrong, simply because I didn't finish an entree.  It didn't strike me as a forced concern, which I have seen on other ships.  It never hit me as "Gee, I'm saying "Good morning" to you cause my boss might be around the corner and I'll get canned if I don't."  It truly seemed genuine. (Trust me.  My BS detector is fairly well defined.) One of the standouts was the maitre de in Cagney's, Adina.  Her concern for our well being was beyond anything I've come to expect in a restaurant.  Kudos to her and her staff and the genius that hired her.  (Now, genius, promote her.  You'll be doing the ship, the line and her a favor.)    
That's it.  The best thing on this ship is her crew and that ain't no small thing.  This crew is a credit to the NCL line and they need to recognize it.  For them alone, I would definitely recommend the Gem.  

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