Gem Reviews: From a 13 year old boy's Perspective

[SuiteCruiser]

Hi Everyone,

 

On our last Gem cruise, I gave the kids $50 Each for the trip with the only requirement that they write a review.

 

We are leaving Sunday for a repeat cruise, though this time its only the kids and I as hubby has to work. We have the same deal, so it should be interesting to see if they feel differently about this cruise.

 

Note that they are twins, so there are two different reviews even though they were together almost the whole time. I thought it might be helpful to those traveling with kids.

 

Here they are:

 

A Brief Review Of The Norwegian Gem

 

The Good: Food

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...Well the restaurants were very good fit for a… well I don’t know where I would classify it in a rank of nobility but they were fairly good my 3 favorite foods on the ship were

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1. My absolute favorite was the hot wings in the blue lagoon a must have for anyone (note: they’re not even spicy so my statement about it being a must have is accurate)

2. The Chicken Curry in the garden cafe, it’s surprisingly flavorful

3. The Ahi Tuna burger at Cagney’s (I was in the owners suite that’s why I had lunch at Cagney’s) it’s so flavorful and the wasabi mayo isn’t very spicy either (not that I don’t like spicy food)

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The Bad: Food

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1. My least favorite food on the ship was the fried rice at Teppanyaki it was too eggy and *not enough like normal rice**

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The Good: Activities

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Keeping continuity with the previous section here are my 3 favorite activities of the cruise.

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1. The Arcade mind you I probably spent 89.9999999999992% a normal amount of my time in here it had fairly good games with staff that made sure that machines were always running it was hard to realise how much money I was spending (note: keep a note pad and a calculator with you in the arcade)

2. Bumper Bowling in the Bliss Lounge it’s always fun bowling especially when you’re on a sea day or avoiding the private island (note: ask the staff to put up the bumpers or you might get quite a few gutter balls as the ship does rock)

3. Progressive Trivia it’s fun for the whole family (maybe it was fun because we won but whatever.)

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The Good: Excursions

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We only went on 2 excursions so here are my top 2

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1. Segway tours in Nassau it was so fun riding the segway, the tour guides are energetic and friendly, and you learn quite a bit about Nassau in the process * * * * * * * * * * * http://www.segwaynassau.com/

1. Universal’s Islands of adventure the superior universal orlando park

The Bad: Excursion

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1. Universal’s Islands Of Adventure (Specifically Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey)

The wait was already long at 90 minutes but when the ride broke down it all went to hell we ended up waiting 3 hours for a mediocre 3 minute ride

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And next:

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The Norwegian Gem

 

For the second half of Christmas break, my family went on a cruise on the Norwegian Gem. The ship departed from New York City on January 1st. Once we boarded the ship, instead of going to wait in the main lobby, we were taken straight to Cagney's, a mafia themed steakhouse located on deck 13.

 

After lunch,we decided go to our cabin. We were staying in the white diamond suite on deck 11, which had a king size bed, a fold out bed, 2 bathrooms, 2 balconies, a laptop, a single cup coffee brewer with coffee packs, a minibar, and 2 TVs.

 

For dinner, we would typically go to the grand pacific dining room, located on deck 8. After dinner, my brother and I would go to the arcade on deck 12. My favourite game at the arcade is the prize game stacker. The goal in stacker is to build a tower with blue boxes as they slide across the screen, but if you drop the boxes away from the tower, game over. I actually won a camcorder from that game.

 

Every day, my brother and I would go to the blue lagoon, located on deck 8. The restaurant has amazing service and even better food. Strangely, my brother and I would always go almost immediately after a meal. On deck 12 is the garden cafe, which has a buffet and a soft served ice cream machine.

 

On sea days, my family competed in a progressive trivia competition at the magnum champagne and wine bar, and actually won it. In the spinnaker lounge on deck 13, bingo games were hosted daily, but I only went to one of them. On deck 7 is the bliss lounge, which is where the bowling alley is located.

 

The ship itself is amazing, but it wasn't always smooth sailing for the whole cruise. On the second night of the cruise, high winds caused the ship to rock for the whole night, causing me to get seasick and 1 of our wine bottles to get smashed. By morning, the ship had stopped rocking, and we were able to get the wine replaced.

 

On day 3, we docked at Port Canaveral, and my family went on a bus ride to universal studios. However, we only had time to go on the Harry Potter ride and the spider-man ride, since the wait for the Harry Potter ride was 3 hours, but when we got off the ride the wait was only 10 minutes.

 

On day 4, we stopped at the cruise line's private island, but we decided to spend the day on the ship. On day 5, my family took a segway tour of the Bahamas, and had a quick drink at the hard rock cafe. All in all, this was the best cruise that I've ever been on, and I'm going to be going on it again during spring break, and hopefully another time in the near future. On a scale of one to 10, I would rate the Norwegian Gem a 10 out of 10.

 

Hope you enjoyed the kids' reviews :)

[logan25]

I applaud you for giving the boys a task of reviewing each cruise. My opinion is it cements their memory of the experience.

 

Don't ya love the resilience of youth. The one got seasick, but still gave the cruise 10 out of 10 rating. That's the kind of positive attitude all cruisers should have, in my opinion.

[gelo7]

Very nice.

[Demonyte]

Kudos for the great idea, very nice to read the reviews. :D

[deladypilot]

Wonderful review. Thanks for posting it.

 

Mom - I applaud you for giving the children this assignment.

[russianmom]

What a great idea!

 

I'm going to start this with my son when he is a little older:)

[Nalagh]

I had my 13 yo son read it, and he decided the Gem would be a great ship. He asked if he could have $50 to spend to write a review:p. He has only sailed Disney, but after reading your son's review, I am thinking it might be time for a Family NCL Trip.

[bean24]

We are going on the Gem in October with my 13 yo niece and12 yo nephew . I will show them this review later, thanks for writing it.

 

 

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[skittl1321]

Fantastic reviews. They make a great team, since they focused on different things.

 

I loved the details like "coffee maker with coffee packs"- I remember as a kid I would always take stock of the free stuff a hotel gave us in the room (never went on a cruise).

[che5904]

How wonderful. You must be very proud Mom.

 

I loved the good advice "it was hard to realise how much money I was spending (note: keep a note pad and a calculator with you in the arcade)" Maybe NCL should make note of this and find a way to put a counter on those machines. I wouldn't want to see them lose their whole $50 and not realize it was costing them that much.

 

Good idea and thank the kids for sharing their experiences.

[libertyschool]

Tell your boys thank you for the review! I really enjoyed the youthful perspective. They are very good writers by the way. I am going to steal your idea the next time I cruise with my whole family.

[SuiteCruiser]

Thanks everyone! I will pass your kind comments onto the kids :) and yes, I'm a very pround Mom!

 

We board again on Sunday, so are all very excited and I'm sure we'll have another set when we return.

 

I wish I'd thought of it before as they've cruised quite a bit, it would have been fun to go back and read them. Oh well, as they say, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now :)