Buffet on the Gem

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

I read another post that said the buffet on the Gem had been "upgraded". We recently cruised on the Star and, while we loved the ship, we were less than impressed with the buffet. It was very similar in quality, variety and ambiance to a high school cafeteria. We are hoping someone who has sailed on both the Star and the Gem can let us know if the Gem (which we will be on for the TA in April) has an improved buffet.

 

Thanks,

Cathy

[leestar]

I haven't been on the Star but I felt the buffet on the Gem was much nicer than the buffet on the Dawn. On the Dawn it felt like a cafeteria, on the Gem it felt like a restaurant particularly once you were seated you almost couldn't see the buffet because of how the room is arranged and the high divider. The food in the Gem buffet was always good. The variety was extensive. Plus there is the Great Outdoors where there is more food and getting to eat with the view off the back of the boat is priceless.

[CruisinPandora]

I haven't been on the Star but I felt the buffet on the Gem was much nicer than the buffet on the Dawn. On the Dawn it felt like a cafeteria, on the Gem it felt like a restaurant particularly once you were seated you almost couldn't see the buffet because of how the room is arranged and the high divider. The food in the Gem buffet was always good. The variety was extensive. Plus there is the Great Outdoors where there is more food and getting to eat with the view off the back of the boat is priceless.

Totally agree with all you said about the Gem's buffet. We thoroughly enjoyed eating there. Always found something fresh and great to eat. Can become a bit crowded at the main dining hours but found the Gem's buffet very good and very nicely decorated.

 

We were on the Star about two years ago (Mexican Riviera) and the buffet, crew and ship were outstanding. One of my favorite cruises. We couldn't stop smiling. We're looking forward to cruising on the Star again very soon. The buffet was excellent!

 

So chose either and you won't be disappointed.

 

Happy Cruising!

[nikkin]

Totally agree with all you said about the Gem's buffet. We thoroughly enjoyed eating there. Always found something fresh and great to eat. Can become a bit crowded at the main dining hours but found the Gem's buffet very good and very nicely decorated.

 

We were on the Star about two years ago (Mexican Riviera) and the buffet, crew and ship were outstanding. One of my favorite cruises. We couldn't stop smiling. We're looking forward to cruising on the Star again very soon. The buffet was excellent!

 

So chose either and you won't be disappointed.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Why isn't all of NCL's ships the same when it comes to food? Why would one ship be better than another?

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Thanks for your responses. We really really didn't like the Star buffet, so we're hoping for an improvement with the newer Gem. Regarding the question about why they would be different within NCL - we haven't cruised much with NCL but they are certainly different within RCCL. Different setups, from single lines to separate stations. Different quality of food, from "ham loaf" (spam) to real ham. Different variety. We thought the Star was pretty much the same general food every day, the service was "intermittant at best" and the setup was just very industrial. We will be on the Gem in April and will see for ourselves. In the meantime, thanks for sharing!

[bakerintn]

Why isn't all of NCL's ships the same when it comes to food? Why would one ship be better than another?

 

The ships are designed by different designers, at different times. The Jewel class ships (Jewel, Pearl, Gem, Jade) seem to all be very similar in layout, but the older ships are different. There is only so much that they can do to change physical spaces on a ship in a renovation. For example, the Star and the Dawn were designed and built for another line and became an NCL ship because of reorganization.