My review of NCL Gem 7/17 to 7/24

[cherbear4000]

I cruised the Gem to Bermuda with a group of 10. We ranged in age from 6 to 71. I have sailed on 13 cruises and have been on Carnival, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Costa and NCL. I usually cruise Carnival, as they are my favorite line, but they did not have the Bermuda itinerary we were looking for so we decided to try NCL again.

 

I had a good time and would sail NCL again, but Carnival is still my favorite. I will make some comparisons between Carnival and NCL in my review.

 

 

Traveling to the Cruise:

 

Just a word of caution first. I am one of those people that fly in the day of the cruise. I also never get the insurance. I figure with all the cruises I take, its not worth it for the small chance I will need it. Well, I can officially say that I will now either fly in the night before or get the insurance.

 

I flew with DH from Louisville, KY to NYC with a layover in Wash DC. Well, when I got to DC, I saw that my flight to NYC was cancelled due to mechanical reasons. I nearly had a panic attack. I went to the ticket counter and was told the next flight that the airline had available wasn't until 2pm meaning I would have missed the cruise. I explained I had a cruise to catch and had to get there early. My whole family was waiting for me! I was near tears, but remained calm and polite. The woman at the US Air counter could not have been more helpful. She immediately booked me a flight on another airline and personally made sure my baggage got on the new flight. Crisis averted! Even though everything worked out, it was enough to scare me into flying in early or getting the insurance or both!

[cherbear4000]

Embarkation:

 

It was about a $40 taxi ride from LGA to the pier. This was my first time flying out of NYC. The Gem shared a pier with the Carnival Miracle and it was definitely crazy! We arrived around noon and there were people coming and going everywhere. After giving our luggage to the porter and triple checking it was being delivered to the Gem we made our way upstairs to check in.

 

The line was crazy long as both cruises went through the same security line, but it seems to go fast. I had some wine in my carry on, but no one said anything so I did not have to pay the $15 corkage fee. We then went through the Latitudes check in line. From the taxi dropping us off to walking on the boat it maybe took 30 to 40 minutes. Not too bad.

 

Cabins:

 

We had an inside cabin, 9053 to be exact. My parents pay for everyone so they get a balcony and buy everyone else insides. We could pay the difference to upgrade, but I have always thought an inside was just fine. The room seemed so tiny at first, especially compared to Carnival. Once we settled in the size didn't bother us at all. My mom though was very disapointed in the small size of her balcony room. She is used to those Carnival sized cabins!

 

Our cabin steward did an excellent job. We are not picky though. Just make our bed, clear our dirty dishes, and bring us fresh towels an we are happy. He thoroughly cleaned the cabin twice a day. I do enjoy the towel animals, so I was glad that we had those every night.

 

I liked the NCL bathrooms better than Carnival. I think it was because NCL has glass shower doors instead of those awful vinyl curtains Carnival has. The shower was great. I did miss the little basket of goodies Carnival has in their bathrooms though.

 

I loved the size of the safe in the room. Large enough for our full sized laptop and then some. I also liked that you programmed a 4 digit code instead of having to use a credit card.

 

Of course I do not go on a cruise to watch TV, but I do like to watch it as I lay in bed an wind down for the day. It was tiny and had 4 channels. Fox News, CNBC, E, and ESPN. Everything else was cruise related channels. You could check your charge balance and book excursions, etc from the TV.

 

Bed and pillows were very comfortable. I slept like a baby every night. I wish the cruise lines provided a clock in the cabins, especially the inside cabins. I always forget to bring one. Then I have to turn a light on to find my watch or look at the phone.

[rikatine]

Thanks for the review, looking forward to reading more!

[cherbear4000]

Food:

 

The MDR

 

The MDR was the worst part of the cruise. NCL advertises this whole freestyle concept. Do what you want when you want it. Well, the first night we went to the Grand Pacific MDR. We were asked if we had a reservation. We did not know you needed one for the MDR. We were told it would be an hour and a half wait and to go to Magenta. Another cruiser told us she just came back from the Magenta and it was a 2 hour wait. We we thought of going to the buffet, but it was lobster night! Almost 2 hours later, our pager went off and into the MDR we went. The service was so slow. It was 1 hour and 45 minutes until dessert was offered. At that point we said no to dessert and got the hell out of there. We missed the shows that evening cause dinner was a 4 hour affair. It felt like the whole night was wasted. And the lobster was awful. It was tiny, rubbery, and fishy.

 

The next night we wise up and make a 7:30 (only time available) dinner reservation in Grand Pacific. We get there around 7:20. People with reservations are told to stand in a line. Those without reservations are given pagers. We don't get seated until after 8. At least they were giving free champagne and cheese to those waiting. Again service is slow. We don't get out until close to 10.

 

My mom was brought the completely wrong entree. She ordered steak, got chicken. When she mentioned that is not what she ordered, she was told that it was good and to try it and she would like it. Um, no. She politely replied that if she wanted chicken she would have ordered chicken. The chicken dinner was taken away and then she was given the steak without any sides. Really? Again we chose not to eat dessert. We just couldn't sit there any longer.

 

Next night we gave up and went to the buffet. Not bad. Yeah, we finally get to see a show!

 

We tried Magenta, with a reservation of course, and the service was better. I actually ordered dessert.

 

The quality of the food was hit or miss. I was satisfied with everything I ordered. It wasn't great, but good. My 8 yr old niece had ordered mac & cheese off the kids menu and wouldnt eat it. We thought she was being picky as it looked great. I tasted it and even I spit it out.

 

Blue Lagoon was wonderful. Everything I tried was so good (except the spinach/artichoke dip). They ran out of mozzarella sticks Thursday night. Sad. They were delicious. I really enjoyed having the Blue Lagoon 24 hours instead of that awful 24 pizza Carnival has.

 

I missed the 24 hour lemonade and free espresso Carnival provides.

 

I definitely like the traditional dining with the same waiters each night better than the "freestyle." While freestyle sounds great in theory, it doesn't work. In order to be seated at a table without a long wait, you have to make a reservation in advance. Isn't that the exact opposite of the whole eat when you want? Dinner took up so much time, I was only able to see the one show the whole cruise. At least with traditional dining they time up the dinner and the shows.

 

More of my review to come tomorrow.

[Lovely_Star]

This is the first time I have heard that reservations are recommended for the MDR. Did you have to make reservations every night? Still quite nervous about the mixed food reviews I've been hearing about NCL. As long as it is better than Carnivals food I'm good.

[youngestof9]

CherBear were you trying to seat a large party at dinner? There will be 2 of us and I'm just thinking about timing.

 

Thanks for letting me know about seeing your balance and such on the TV. There was

conflicting info about that.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest!

[cherbear4000]

Random Thoughts

 

I did like the ship overall, but I noticed there didn't seem to be as many public areas as the Carnival ships I have been on. Then I realized it was because there were so many pay restaurants taking up space. Having started cruising before pay aka specialty restaurants were the norm, I just can't bring myself to pay for food on a ship.

 

We only made it to one show, the Second City improv group and I thought is was hilarious. I was looking forward to seeing the Man from Mars show since I read so many great things about it on CC, but it wasn't offered that I saw.

 

I wanted to do the pub crawl, but didn't make it either time it was offered. I did do the martini tasting and thought it was worth the $15.

 

Children in diapers are not allowed in the pool/ hot tubs. Seems like a good idea for sanitary reasons, right? Well, I saw someone put their baby with a diaper in the pool and someone say something to an employee about it. The employee told the parents to remove the diaper. So they did, and then put the baby back in the pool. Umm, gross. So I am in the pool and I then say something to the employee along the lines of 'that baby is back in the pool'. The employee says 'its okay, the baby is not in a diaper'. To which I respond, 'it's a baby. It's not potty trained. That is disgusting'. The employee says the rule is no diapers are allowed. Babies are allowed as long as they are not wearing a diaper. I don't know about anyone else, but I would rather have the baby wearing the diaper than not. To me, if you are not potty trained you shouldn't be in the main pools.

[cherbear4000]

To answer the earlier questions about the MDR. We were told that reservations were recommended for the MDR for all size parties. We saw a lot of people complaining about the long wait for the MDR. I thing Carnival's food is better personally.

[Lovely_Star]

I thing Carnival's food is better personally.

 

Interesting...food really is subjective!!! Thanks for sharing your review.

[cookmg40]

Thanks for the review. Can you tell me if the ship was docked port side or starboard side to the pier? Thanks!

[dasmonkey]

CherBear were you trying to seat a large party at dinner?

 

I cruised the Gem to Bermuda with

a group of 10.

 

I have done 6 cruises on NCL, never on the Gem however, and have NEVER made a reservation. Never waited on a table for dinner except for about 10 minutes on a couple of occasions.

I have never attempted to eat with a group of any more than 4 but a couple of times and that was with 6. Those coincidentally were the only times I ever waited for a table.

 

The only time I have ever read anything about making reservations was with large groups.

[coaster]

Great comparison. NCL seems to take the most negative hits in regards to the MDR since freestyle was introduced. We were looking at the Star from Tampa later this year, but the deck plans I have seen include a disproportionate amount of space dedicated to pay restaurants like you mentioned. I agree with you that it is tough to pay for food on a cruise when you compare NCL to other lines where the pay for food concept is not the main emphasis.

 

It was not always this way on NCL. I am sorry you never got to experience NCL before freestyle. NCL's recent niche seems to be to offer a lower price than the other major lines and to make up the difference with increased spending onboard in their surcharge restaurants. If that business model works, than it is a good thing. I personally feel it will only hurt them in the long run with seasoned cruisers such as yourself.

[cherbear4000]

Thanks for the review. Can you tell me if the ship was docked port side or starboard side to the pier? Thanks!

 

 

In Bermuda, we were docked port side to the pier. I will write about my experiences in Bermuda soon as well.

 

Now, off to work. :(

[family cruisers]

We're book on the GEM in October. We've sailed twice on the NCL Crown which we loved. Then tried the Dawn. Reading your Moms experience with the chicken dinner reminded me of us on the Dawn. I ordered Steak and was given Lamb. When I said I didn't order this I ordered Steak the waiter told me basically that I'd like the lamb and to eat it.

I then said " I don't like lamb" and he said try it.

I got upset and said " I ordered the steak" and I wanted the steak. He brought me back a STEAK and nothing else. Steak was so tough you couldn't even bite it.

A family next to us had steak, we were hysterical watching their teenage boy trying to eat his steak. He gave up trying to cut it he used his fork and pulled apart w/ his teeth (almost like a dog does) thats how tough his meat was.

 

While we are going on the gem with good thoughts we do have another cruise booked on that ship for Nov. 2012 , 9 day to the caribbean. If this gem to bermuda is not great we're going to cancel and move back to Carnival or HAL.

 

We have enough in OBC's to use for this bermuda run but we do want to try the MDR 2x to see how it is. We don't have as much for the 9 night and quite frankly. Dining is a big part of our cruise experience. We both work multiple jobs and the whole experience of not making beds, no cooking, no cleaning up etc... means alot. To have bad food does make an impact.

 

We still say Carnival MDR"s are the best. AT least the few times we sailed on the Carnival pride.

 

I'm not a cheerleader for any cruise line but I know what I like / We like.

 

Food:

 

The MDR

 

The MDR was the worst part of the cruise. NCL advertises this whole freestyle concept. Do what you want when you want it. Well, the first night we went to the Grand Pacific MDR. We were asked if we had a reservation. We did not know you needed one for the MDR. We were told it would be an hour and a half wait and to go to Magenta. Another cruiser told us she just came back from the Magenta and it was a 2 hour wait. We we thought of going to the buffet, but it was lobster night! Almost 2 hours later, our pager went off and into the MDR we went. The service was so slow. It was 1 hour and 45 minutes until dessert was offered. At that point we said no to dessert and got the hell out of there. We missed the shows that evening cause dinner was a 4 hour affair. It felt like the whole night was wasted. And the lobster was awful. It was tiny, rubbery, and fishy.

 

The next night we wise up and make a 7:30 (only time available) dinner reservation in Grand Pacific. We get there around 7:20. People with reservations are told to stand in a line. Those without reservations are given pagers. We don't get seated until after 8. At least they were giving free champagne and cheese to those waiting. Again service is slow. We don't get out until close to 10.

 

My mom was brought the completely wrong entree. She ordered steak, got chicken. When she mentioned that is not what she ordered, she was told that it was good and to try it and she would like it. Um, no. She politely replied that if she wanted chicken she would have ordered chicken. The chicken dinner was taken away and then she was given the steak without any sides. Really? Again we chose not to eat dessert. We just couldn't sit there any longer.

 

Next night we gave up and went to the buffet. Not bad. Yeah, we finally get to see a show!

 

We tried Magenta, with a reservation of course, and the service was better. I actually ordered dessert.

 

The quality of the food was hit or miss. I was satisfied with everything I ordered. It wasn't great, but good. My 8 yr old niece had ordered mac & cheese off the kids menu and wouldnt eat it. We thought she was being picky as it looked great. I tasted it and even I spit it out.

 

Blue Lagoon was wonderful. Everything I tried was so good (except the spinach/artichoke dip). They ran out of mozzarella sticks Thursday night. Sad. They were delicious. I really enjoyed having the Blue Lagoon 24 hours instead of that awful 24 pizza Carnival has.

 

I missed the 24 hour lemonade and free espresso Carnival provides.

 

I definitely like the traditional dining with the same waiters each night better than the "freestyle." While freestyle sounds great in theory, it doesn't work. In order to be seated at a table without a long wait, you have to make a reservation in advance. Isn't that the exact opposite of the whole eat when you want? Dinner took up so much time, I was only able to see the one show the whole cruise. At least with traditional dining they time up the dinner and the shows.

 

More of my review to come tomorrow.

[cv322]

I find this very interesting & thank you for taking the time to write and post your review. I'll be on the Gem for the 1st time in about 5 1/2 weeks....This cruise I'm doing solo, which makes me a little nervous.

 

I also love Carnival, Celebrity & HAL...like you I'm an equal-opportunity cruiser :D & so far I agree with your assessment.

 

I look forward to more of your review!

[ClarkBHM]

Children in diapers are not allowed in the pool/ hot tubs. Seems like a good idea for sanitary reasons, right? Well, I saw someone put their baby with a diaper in the pool and someone say something to an employee about it. The employee told the parents to remove the diaper. So they did, and then put the baby back in the pool. Umm, gross. So I am in the pool and I then say something to the employee along the lines of 'that baby is back in the pool'. The employee says 'its okay, the baby is not in a diaper'. To which I respond, 'it's a baby. It's not potty trained. That is disgusting'. The employee says the rule is no diapers are allowed. Babies are allowed as long as they are not wearing a diaper. I don't know about anyone else, but I would rather have the baby wearing the diaper than not. To me, if you are not potty trained you shouldn't be in the main pools.

 

Sounds like that employee was missing the point. I would have probably escalated it as it's a serious health issue... (Although, I will concede the point that you shouldn't have to escalate something like that while you're on a cruise, the employee should have taken care of it immediately.)

[KingQua]

We're book on the GEM in October. We've sailed twice on the NCL Crown which we loved. Then tried the Dawn. Reading your Moms experience with the chicken dinner reminded me of us on the Dawn. I ordered Steak and was given Lamb. When I said I didn't order this I ordered Steak the waiter told me basically that I'd like the lamb and to eat it.

I then said " I don't like lamb" and he said try it.

I got upset and said " I ordered the steak" and I wanted the steak. He brought me back a STEAK and nothing else. Steak was so tough you couldn't even bite it.

A family next to us had steak, we were hysterical watching their teenage boy trying to eat his steak. He gave up trying to cut it he used his fork and pulled apart w/ his teeth (almost like a dog does) thats how tough his meat was.

 

 

I understand what you are saying here, but many times waiters will bring out a different entree, dessert, etc. because they know about the quality of the different items being served. If you don't eat lamb, I can understand your insistence on having steak, but it sounds to me like the waiter knew the steak was a bad choice.

 

It's happened to me countless times around the world, and I have never been disappointed by a server's suggestion.

[andychris]

thanks for your review-can't wait to hear more!!!

[family cruisers]

If that were the case I'd have appreciated it , trust me.

Our waiter didn't seem to be "on the ball" with much of anything. Things he forgot to bring, took forever to bring our order then to get it wrong etc.

 

The Dawn in particular for that cruise didn't leave me writing a raving review like I've done in the past BUT I didn't bash the entire trip. Just wasn't one of the memorable ones.

 

We are hoping our experience on the Gem will be a good one. When you read reviews like this it just brought back what happened to us.

 

We LOVE crusing period... Don't care what line it's on . WE book more for the destination and price.

 

 

 

I understand what you are saying here, but many times waiters will bring out a different entree, dessert, etc. because they know about the quality of the different items being served. If you don't eat lamb, I can understand your insistence on having steak, but it sounds to me like the waiter knew the steak was a bad choice.

 

It's happened to me countless times around the world, and I have never been disappointed by a server's suggestion.

[whenisthemidnightbuffet?]

In Bermuda, we were docked port side to the pier. I will write about my experiences in Bermuda soon as well.

 

Now, off to work. :(

 

Love to read reviews, and will always submit them since I know how important they are to those whose cruise is coming up, but have a huge problem with this reviewer, seems like they want to string us along until Sept, why can't reviews simply be posted in the review section, love when someone just gets back and jumps on board with some tantilzing info and says review to follow and then we are spoon fed info. This must be my only aggressive negative comments on these boards, but enough is enough! You want to jump on and talk about your week, then disappear for days (pls disregard this if you died, had a near death experience, or someone very close to you has found themselves in this very scary and precarious situation). If not, just write your review and post in the appropriate place, since I know only too well how catching up on laundry, unpacking, mail, all all of those neglected chores seem to pile up, if you are not up to a daily dialogue why post in this manner, the give and take venue, just submit your review when you have the time!

 

I apologize for my tone but really my frustration has set in and want to get it off my chest will try not to do it again

[cherbear4000]

Love to read reviews, and will always submit them since I know how important they are to those whose cruise is coming up, but have a huge problem with this reviewer, seems like they want to string us along until Sept, why can't reviews simply be posted in the review section, love when someone just gets back and jumps on board with some tantilzing info and says review to follow and then we are spoon fed info. This must be my only aggressive negative comments on these boards, but enough is enough! You want to jump on and talk about your week, then disappear for days (pls disregard this if you died, had a near death experience, or someone very close to you has found themselves in this very scary and precarious situation). If not, just write your review and post in the appropriate place, since I know only too well how catching up on laundry, unpacking, mail, all all of those neglected chores seem to pile up, if you are not up to a daily dialogue why post in this manner, the give and take venue, just submit your review when you have the time!

 

I apologize for my tone but really my frustration has set in and want to get it off my chest will try not to do it again

 

I got home Sunday evening. I started the review Monday night. Its now Wednesday. I would hardly agree that I have been stringing the review along for days. I had to work Monday morning and I have been working 12 + hour days to catch up on all the work I missed, not to mention chores. I am now exhausted after having to come home this evening to find a sick dog that I had to rush to the vet. I personally like to read reviews on the boards instead of the review section so that people can ask questions of the reviewer. I am glad that you have all the free time in the world to read CC, but I only get a few minutes a day of free time to log into the computer. Hence me writing my review in sections.

[family cruisers]

When I was active with the carnival boards (cruising the Pride) there was a LONG review by " Falkcor" who's review went on and on for months. Pictures in every post. It was like tuning in to a daily soap opera and all of us couldn't wait for his next entry.

We loved it.

 

He started with his trip to the port of baltimore and left out nothing.

 

While one of the stops on the cruise was freeport , Bahamas everyone couldn't wait to hear what he did there. Of course this seemed to take forever..

 

The day they reached Freeport he awoke to a note on his door (from family) that they left without him. He partied too much the night before and slept through the wake up call and everything! Hysterical .

 

So........... the majority of us never mind a review in bits and pieces.

Sometimes you remember things you forgot to include in original review and add on.

No biggie.

 

I enjoyed your review and keep it coming .... at your pace !!

[cherbear4000]

Anyways back to my thoughts on the cruise.

 

 

I was hoping that the negative reviews regarding the MDRs were exaggerated, but they were not. Now, it wasn't so bad that I would never cruise with NCL again, but it needs improved upon. The food wasn't horrible, it was just the service and difficulty getting a table that bothered me. The waiters seemed too overwhelmed to give each table the attention that I have had on previous cruises. We were given water, but never asked if we would like anything from the bar. We had to ask for soda or drinks. I felt bad for the hostesses because people were constantly yelling at them about not getting a table with out an hour plus wait.

 

Everyone on the ship seemed to get a kick of the washy washy. We heard guests singing the song all day, even at port.

 

We spent a lot of time on the pool deck during the sea days. My niece even convinced me to go down the water slide. It was very crowded, as to be expected. Of course the chair hogs were in full force. I missed Carnival's serenity area. NCL did have what they called a quiet zone which was nice, but it did not have the hot tubs the serenity has. There were only 4 hot tubs, all in the main pool area, all very crowed from open to close. On Carnival, we enjoyed going into the serenity hot tubs after dinner. It felt very secluded. We hardly saw anyone else there. There were always a group of kids in the hot tubs on the Gem, even at night.

 

Bermuda

 

I really liked Bermuda. I feel like 3 days wasn't enough. It stormed a little the first day. Our snorkel excursion was cancelled last minute. We just walked around the dockyard since we didn;t have much planned. The other 2 days were nice.

 

We went to the Zoo & Aquarium. We bought a bus pass and went there ourselves. Much, much cheaper than a ship excursion. $10 adult admission, $5 kids and seniors. We took the ferry to Hamilton, walked around a little, then took the bus to the Aquarium. It was cute, but small. Two of the main exhibits in the zoo, the Australia and Madagascar, are under construction, so there wasn;t much to see. Had we have known that ahead of time, we probably wouldn't have gone. What we did see was nice. We wanted to go to the caves, but we got a later start to the day than originally planned so after the zoo/aquarium, we headed to Horseshoe bay. It really is as nice as people say. It was kind of crowded, but nothing too bad.

 

The third day, we didn't want to venture too far from port, so we stayed in the Dockyard. We finished up some shopping then headed to Snorkel Park. It is $5 to get in under 12 is free. It is ok. Some fish and coral, but kind of dirty. We saw a lot of trash and broken glass. For charging people, I thought it would be cleaner. Also the beach is not very big. We heard good things about the Bermuda Museum and headed there after snorkel park. I wish we would have had more time there. It was nicer than I thought. $10 admission, I think under 12 is free. You get to see the Dolphins from Dolphin Quest in the admission. You can get very close to them, but not close enough to touch.

 

My parents spent the third day on a taxi tour of St. Georges. They are not very mobile. It was $120 for a private 3 hour tour for the 2 of them and they thought it was worth every penny. They just hired a random driver at the port. They said he was very knowledgeable. He kept offering them the chance to get out and walk around, but they didn't since they have trouble walking. They loved what they saw of St. George

 

There was so much more I wanted to see/do. There was just too many people in my group. I was always waiting for someone, causing us to get behind schedule. I want to go back with just DH so we can see more of Bermuda.

[luvwater]

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to write your review. I was floored when I read the comment about you “stringing us along until September”. You just got back on Sunday. I too have a very busy schedule and would never have the time to write such an extensive review. It’s those CC members is to why I barely find myself on these boards anymore. What I do not understand is if they have a problem with the postings why the individual bothers to open the thread? Great and informative review.

[rikatine]

I appreciate you taking the time to write a review, even in pieces. Having written a few, I know how much time and thought can go into it. Thank you.

 

I do enjoy seeing reviews on the boards and being able to get more details from the reviewer. Thats what makes this a great forum.