Quantum vs. NCL Gem

[beachbabexoxo]

As a high school graduation gift, my grandpa is taking me on a cruise the first week of January of my choice. Since he cannot fly, that limits my options very heavily. I think I have narrowed it down between the 8-day on the Quantum with an overnight in San Juan and a day in Labadee and the 10-day on NCL Gem with port days in Tortola, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and San Juan. I will be just shy of 19 yo at the time of cruising. The Quantum is an incredible ship, but the ports aren't the best and there are very few port days. The Gem is smaller and older with much less to offer than the Quantum ship wise, yet the ports are great. I'm really struggling with which cruise to choose! If anyone could offer any insight, that would be awesome!!! Thanks!

[karmacats]

As a high school graduation gift, my grandpa is taking me on a cruise the first week of January of my choice. Since he cannot fly, that limits my options very heavily. I think I have narrowed it down between the 8-day on the Quantum with an overnight in San Juan and a day in Labadee and the 10-day on NCL Gem with port days in Tortola, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and San Juan. I will be just shy of 19 yo at the time of cruising. The Quantum is an incredible ship, but the ports aren't the best and there are very few port days. The Gem is smaller and older with much less to offer than the Quantum ship wise, yet the ports are great. I'm really struggling with which cruise to choose! If anyone could offer any insight, that would be awesome!!! Thanks!

 

First, congrats on graduation!

 

Second, I hope you also post this question on the Norwegian boards, to get some opinions from both sides of the fence.

 

As to which to choose, my recommendation would be Quantum. I sailed on the Gem a few years ago and, to be honest, found myself bored quite a lot. I was doing a girls' cruise with a friend and we always have a blast together so we had a good time, but the cruise itself was not that great.

 

I think a large part of the issue was that we are not big drinkers, and a lot of the nighttime activities were geared towards drinking (tequila tastings, wine tastings, etc). Royal has those, too, but they have plenty of other activities; Norwegian, not so much. I mention that because I am not sure if the drinking age onboard is 18 or 21; if it's 21, or if you're not a big drinker, you may not have much to do at night. The nighttime production shows were so bad they were laughable; the only reason we didn't leave was because I felt bad for the performers. We did go to the casino a couple of nights, but there's only so much money one can lose. :rolleyes: Even during the day, although they had the normal trivia and similar activities like most cruise lines, there didn't seem to be as much as on Royal.

 

In addition the food on the Gem was so bad in the main dining room that after three nights of it we gave up and ate at specialty restaurants for the next four nights. I am not very picky, and I've been very happy with the MDR food on my other Royal, Disney, and Celebrity cruises; the Norwegian MDR food was simply unpalatable.

 

I do think the ports on the Gem are better, but with six sea days, I'd be worried about being bored on the Gem when not in port. The Gem was fun, but mostly because my friend and I made it fun, and because I was ok to spend most of my day on my balcony reading a book. I would probably try Norwegian again, but only on one of the bigger ships, like Getaway or Breakaway.

 

Obviously no one's been on Quantum yet, but I've continued to cruise Royal because I prefer their food and entertainment to the other lines I've been on. (To be fair, food is subjective and many people complain about it, but I've always been satisfied.) I don't mind the reduced ports (I'm on the Jan 3 quantum, which i think may be the one you're looking at), because the ship itself seems like it will be a destination, with a ton of stuff to do.

 

I hope this helps! If you have specific questions, let me know!

[1beachbum1]

What a nice grandpa, you should feel special & congrats. I have of course not been on Qos but my DW & I are Emerald on Royal with 7 different RCI ships. We've done 3 NCL ships with another planned. Both lines will treat you well & try to make your cruise special, just have realistic expectations and most likely they will exceed them. Food an entertainment are subjective. If you usually dine in 5 star restaurants or attend shows on Broadway and high end clubs, you could be disappointed. That being said, we've almost always been satisfied with activities...food up & down, generally preferred on NCL. The Gem is a great ship, fun crew, easy to navigate. Larger ones like Oasis, Quantum, etc involve a lot of walking back and forth, probably fine for a young person like yourself but how about gramp? We travel equally for the ship & itinary and as for ports the Gem wins hands down. Hope this helps, no matter your choice you will have a great experience as long as just roll with the flow & enjoy what the ship & ports have to offer. Best wishes.

[loubetti]

As a high school graduation gift, my grandpa is taking me on a cruise the first week of January of my choice. Since he cannot fly, that limits my options very heavily. I think I have narrowed it down between the 8-day on the Quantum with an overnight in San Juan and a day in Labadee and the 10-day on NCL Gem with port days in Tortola, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and San Juan. I will be just shy of 19 yo at the time of cruising. The Quantum is an incredible ship, but the ports aren't the best and there are very few port days. The Gem is smaller and older with much less to offer than the Quantum ship wise, yet the ports are great. I'm really struggling with which cruise to choose! If anyone could offer any insight, that would be awesome!!! Thanks!

 

I would be struggling too! You are faced with a very difficult decision at your age, even at my age! (55)

 

Well, be happy you have a grandpa to take you. Both of mine had died some years before my HS graduation, but one did leave me money for a new Alfa Romeo sports car (or whatever I chose to buy)!

 

Anyway, and after 44 cruises, many around the Caribbean, I think the NCL ports are fine. San Juan is certainly worth a visit, especially old San Juan. You know that San Juan is a USA territory, right? St. Thomas is ok, and St. Maarten very nice. I've never been to Tortola.

 

NCL wins on the port stops and nights on the ship, but not the ship itself as it is not the latest and greatest. However, are you going for the ship or the cruise?

 

Now, you have to look at 8 days on RCl vs 10 days on NCL, and the latest and greatest vs an older ship. 7 years does not make an old ship!

 

Let me tell you something, young man, If you allow signatures to be shown with posts here, you will see that one of my favorite ships was a little 20,000 ton ocean liner called the Regal Empress. That little ship sailed for more years than almost any other in history, and I loved her and the crew.

 

Norwegian Gem may not be "new" but she is 93,530 tons- that's HUGE!! More than twice the size of Titanic. My first cruise was on a ship of about 1/3 the size (Costa Riviera), and I loved it.

 

Forget the new, bigger ship "hype", I would go for the ports and the days. At your age the ship alone should NOT be the destination.

 

I would go for NCL if the money is about the same. Ya' gotta look after grandpa, right? I think you will like NCL, and this comes from someone who has NEVER sailed on either RCl or NCL!

 

However, I know what I'm talking about.:cool:

[beachbabexoxo]

Thank you so much everyone for the advice! I'm thinking that the Quantum would have more things for me to do as a young adult so I'm leaning toward that one. Have to talk to my grandpa and see what he can swing though!