Norwegian Gem Question

[joeyjeremiah]

I'm looking at a last minute deal on the gem. Would be cruising with my visa and and our 11 year old son. I've never been on NCL but have cruises both princess and HAL and enjoyed both lines. What are the differences? How is the gem?

 

 

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[moonieelf]

I've only been on NCL, so I can't say how it compares to another line. But, I was on the Gem last year for my sister's birthday cruise. We liked it, but there were a few things that could have been better. The pool area is laid out weird. If you're a pool person, I suggest getting there around breakfast time to get chairs together. Also, if you like doing the Cruise Director Staff activities, you will be left high and dry during Bingo for something to do. They use the whole staff for it.

[fshagan]

We have sailed Princess so I can compare it with NCL.

 

NCL doesn't have set dining times for the MDR; it is what Princess calls "anytime dining" I think. We prefer it because we can always get a table for two if we like. Others like meeting new table mates that you stay with the entire cruise (that is a horrible thought to me, but to each his own!) NCL does not have formal nights at all. You can choose to have a dress up night, but it is entirely voluntary. This means you are not relegated to the buffet or room service on the "formal nights" like you are on Princess if you don't dress up.

 

NCL promotes their specialty dining, but I think it's over-rated. Be careful also, as "free" promos on NCL for the beverage and specialty dining plans still mean you pay the 18% gratuity on what the price would have been. The "free" drink package will cost you about $95 for the week, and I think the dining plan is about $25 if you take it for three meals, or about $40 for four meals. I don't think it would be worth it with an 11 year old (the kid gets soda on the beverage plan).NCL has pretty reasonably priced drinks.

 

[Edit - I thought you were sailing with just you and your 11 year old, but I see you are sailing with your "visa" (?) and 11 year old, so the beverage plan might be worth it if you spend more than $95 per person per 7 day cruise for drinks on Princess]

 

Main dining room food on Princess is a little bit better, but not by much. Princess does a much better job of presenting the food on the plate, but it's the same "food for the masses" as NCL. Dinner service is faster on Princess because they really get you in and out with their set dining times. NCL can take 2 hours for dinner unless you let them know you want to catch a show or want to hurry it up, then the server will accommodate you. The crew on both lines we have always found to be really, really good at serving the cruisers.

 

NCL has a casual dining restaurant called O'Sheehans that is pretty good; it is open (mostly) 24 hours. They have pizza, hot dogs and hamburgers by the pool. The buffet has soft-serve ice cream that you serve yourself, and is almost always available (they also have hand scooped ice cream with more than just vanilla and chocolate during certain hours in the afternoon). The buffet food is better than Princess', in our opinion. On sea days they have a bar-b-que on the pool deck for lunch, and it is really good.

 

The passengers skew a bit younger on NCL, I think, but that depends on the cruise. Our GEM cruise was a New England cruise after school started and I think most passengers were our age or older (we're 60). Usually you have a much greater mix of young people and 30 - 40 something families.

 

NCL does not have laundry facilities on board.

 

If you are a wine drinker and bring bottles on board, NCL charges the corkage fee for every bottle, including the first one (IIRC, Princess let's you bring the first bottle on with no corkage fee).

 

NCL does not allow you to bring bottled water on board; you still can on Princess. If you want to buy bottled water it is about $4.50 per liter bottle if pre-purchased, but I've been told they also sell 20 ounce bottles for $2.50 on board. The water in the buffet, bars and dining rooms is very good, as they do a great job of filtering out the chlorine.

 

NCL's kids program gets good reviews; it is administered by King's Foundation, the same non-profit that does the children's programs for the US military's overseas bases.

 

The Gem is a great ship, just the size we like, with a walk-around promenade deck.

 

The entertainment on NCL is miles ahead of Princess. The shows are usually pretty good, and the smaller venues like lounges have a lot of live music on NCL. We saw a great Celtic music trio on the Gem when we were on her last year, and by the end of the cruise they were doing standing room only shows in the larger theater.

 

NCL beds are much better than Princess; we understand they are replacing all the beds on Princess but honestly, we don't sail them now unless we can confirm we're getting a new bed.

 

I think you'll like the experience on NCL like we do.

Edited December 7, 2016 by fshagan

[Adele1]

I have not been on Princess but have taken quite a few cruises on the Gem

which IMO is a GEM! The entire staff is friendly and as previously stated,

the entertainment is quite good.

 

If you enjoy daytime activities there are plenty to choose from.

 

As for specialty dining I prefer Le Bistro and Cagneys.

 

DO sign up on Roll Call here and hope there is a Meet & Greet aboard as

that is another way to meet your fellow pax.

[$hip$hape]

I'm looking at a last minute deal on the gem. Would be cruising with my visa and and our 11 year old son.

I've never been on NCL but have cruises both princess and HAL and enjoyed both lines.

What are the differences? How is the gem?

 

 

Sorry for my ignorance, but...

What does " cruising with my visa " mean?

[joeyjeremiah]

Sorry. Visa is autocorrect speak for husband (not sure how that autocorrect happened)

 

 

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[Justaddvodka68]

Just off the Gem in October. It was in for a drydock last year so everything is fresh and new in the common areas.

 

We had a wonderful cruise with nothing to complain about.

 

Enjoy your week on the Gem!

[joeyjeremiah]

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately I couldn't make the arrangements at home to be able to take advantage of the last minute cruise (takes a bit more planning when you're in northern Ontario) but sounds like we would have enjoyed it.

 

 

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[pusywillow]

I enjoyed the comparisons because I will be taking my first NCL cruise on the Gem in September. I usually do Princess or Carnival.