Just back from the gem👎🏽

[Patrisha]

Just off the Gem have to sorry for those who plan to sail on it I wish I had better news to report..food was nothing to write home about in either of the main dining rooms whether it was lunch or dinner, the food was much better on the breakaway, we did eat in Cagneys good was better but it cost us an additional 200.00 everything is a la carte !! ... twice I asked the staff for directions they looked at me lime I was from Mars not a word of English did they speak or understa, the ladt day we did do the murder mystery lunch st the Bistro for a fee it was quite entertaining the , almost forgot the first night on tbe ship we had to take showers by flashlight because the light was out and they didn't come to fix it until the following day !!the beddings were pilly and omd mine actuslly had s stain on them had a big stain on it!! No one commanded the hot tubs kids contsantly in them, babies in pool without diapers ,no monitoring kids not using the serving spoons , they did not inforce tbe use if the antibacterial soap of your hands while everyone was entering the dining room !!! had one girl spraying hands but people walked right by her, tbete was no monotoring of chaige lounges , people through their towels on the lounge chairs and never shsin yo be seen ,We had a family balcony cabin and no where was it written or told that when they turn down the beds you had to become a contortionist to access the balcony!!! We had it all planned to celebrate my daughters bday in the Main dining room told and gave the waiter( on the down low so my daughter didn't see the voucher for the cake) so when dinner was over the asst waiter comes to our table and says this is a free cake where to you want it!!!! So much for the surprise or sing happy bday!! Needless to say very very disappointed with NCL , they dropped the ball on this cruise for sure .. Hopefully who ever is sailing on it next has a better experience!!!

Edited June 5, 2017 by Patrisha
spelling error

[easyboy]

That was a very unfortunate experience. Thanks for the feedback.

 

 

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[Tiggertastic]

Sorry it sounds like you didn't have a good time, what about the positives? Anything to share

 

 

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[swilliams1660]

So absolutely nothing good to share?

[Beh789149]

I haven't been on a ship where the hot tubs were "commanded". Kids are allowed to use hot tubs unless it's in an adults only area. I've also never been forced to used hand sanitizer. It's a personal choice, it's not a policy or a law. In a perfect world, everyone would just wash their hands! Sorry to hear about the birthday. I personally hate when people sing, but I understand a lot of people like it too.

 

 

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[dexddd]

Just off the Gem have to sorry for those who plan to sail on it I wish I had better news to report..food was nothing to write home about in either of the main dining rooms whether it was lunch or dinner, the food was much better on the breakaway, we did eat in Cagneys good was better but it cost us an additional 200.00 everything is a la carte !! ... twice I asked the staff for directions they looked at me lime I was from Mars not a word of English did they speak or understa, the ladt day we did do the murder mystery lunch st the Bistro for a fee it was quite entertaining the , almost forgot the first night on tbe ship we had to take showers by flashlight because the light was out and they didn't come to fix it until the following day !!the beddings were pilly and omd mine actuslly had s stain on them had a big stain on it!! No one commanded the hot tubs kids contsantly in them, babies in pool without diapers ,no monitoring kids not using the serving spoons , they did not inforce tbe use if the antibacterial soap of your hands while everyone was entering the dining room !!! had one girl spraying hands but people walked right by her, tbete was no monotoring of chaige lounges , people through their towels on the lounge chairs and never shsin yo be seen ,We had a family balcony cabin and no where was it written or told that when they turn down the beds you had to become a contortionist to access the balcony!!! We had it all planned to celebrate my daughters bday in the Main dining room told and gave the waiter( on the down low so my daughter didn't see the voucher for the cake) so when dinner was over the asst waiter comes to our table and says this is a free cake where to you want it!!!! So much for the surprise or sing happy bday!! Needless to say very very disappointed with NCL , they dropped the ball on this cruise for sure .. Hopefully who ever is sailing on it next has a better experience!!! ������

 

No need to be sorry as most of us who have reported here of sailing the Gem the last 6 months have not reported anything like your tale.

[Coastalbreezes]

If you had done some research prior to your cruise, you would have known Cagney's is an a la carte restaurant. It was your own choice to spend the $200 (I don't understand your !!!!!)

 

If you had done some research prior to your cruise, you could have seen the floor plan for your balcony cabin. Sounds like it was a given that your daughter would be sleeping on the pull-out sofa which does make it difficult, although not impossible to access the balcony.

 

I find it implausible that crew members did not speak English.

 

A broken light, especially in the bathroom poses a safety hazard. Either wait to take showers until it was fixed or keep calling until the light was replaced.

 

Tracy

Edited June 5, 2017 by TracyE

[mjkacmom]

Sounds like we were on a different cruise! We were on the sailing in connecting balcony cabins. There was a light out in one of the showers, told our steward at turn down, it was replaced within 20 minutes. Dd16 and her new found friends were in the kids hot tub a lot, I never saw kids in adult ones. We ate dinner every night in the Grand Pacific, family of 7, no reservations, never waited for a table. We really enjoyed the food, had no trouble getting exactly what we wanted (getting entrees as apps, or spacing out two apps instead of getting entrees, multiple desserts - 5 older teens). Every server was great!

 

I hope there weren't swim diapers in the pools, diapered children aren't allowed in the pools. I got sprayed almost every time I entered the buffet, although sometimes I walked by, because I was just passing through and not getting anything. They can't force you to washy washy. The pull out couch does block the balcony door when extended, we've been in the Jewel with the same set up. We could all still manage, and out steward made it back into a couch the next morning (it was tougher in our cabin that slept 4, since the Pullman was also down).

 

This was our 5th cruise, and I found so little to complain about. We just had so much fun! Family karaoke, the shows, breakfast every morning in la cucina (wish I discovered this on previous cruises, so nice and peaceful), all of the fun delicious cocktails at all of the different bars (didn't discover the martinis until the last day, so good), poolside BBQ's (loved the paella).

 

One day one of the kids was sick (fever, headache, cough), and we missed the private island (the 2 of us). Unfortunately, it was the day scheduled balcony maintenance was done right above our cabins. I called guest services, someone came up, and pretty much said nothing could be done (4 hours of non-stop banging). I was tempted to call an officer from the meet and greet, but by that point, what could be done? My other complaint was not being told that we were docking at a different dock than where we parked. It was kind of comical watching others (along with ourselves) wander around not finding our cars. Fortunately we are all agile, and were able to lug our luggage to the next pier. We lined up outside of Bliss at 7:30, even with the mix-up were on our way by 8.

 

The sea was flat, the weather was perfect. I think this was our favorite cruise so far, I'm sad the Gem is leaving NYC.

[Yorkvillain]

twice I asked the staff for directions they looked at me lime I was from Mars not a word of English did they speak or understa,

 

 

Ummmmmm

[wdsted]

You can't please everybody. Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise but we've sailed on Gem 3 times, twice out of NYC. All have been great with no more than the typical small things which didn't amount to a hill of beans.

 

 

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[biker@sea]

Just off the Gem have to sorry for those who plan to sail on it I wish I had better news to report..food was nothing to write home about in either of the main dining rooms whether it was lunch or dinner, the food was much better on the breakaway, we did eat in Cagneys good was better but it cost us an additional 200.00 everything is a la carte !! ... twice I asked the staff for directions they looked at me lime I was from Mars not a word of English did they speak or understa, the ladt day we did do the murder mystery lunch st the Bistro for a fee it was quite entertaining the , almost forgot the first night on tbe ship we had to take showers by flashlight because the light was out and they didn't come to fix it until the following day !!the beddings were pilly and omd mine actuslly had s stain on them had a big stain on it!! No one commanded the hot tubs kids contsantly in them, babies in pool without diapers ,no monitoring kids not using the serving spoons , they did not inforce tbe use if the antibacterial soap of your hands while everyone was entering the dining room !!! had one girl spraying hands but people walked right by her, tbete was no monotoring of chaige lounges , people through their towels on the lounge chairs and never shsin yo be seen ,We had a family balcony cabin and no where was it written or told that when they turn down the beds you had to become a contortionist to access the balcony!!! We had it all planned to celebrate my daughters bday in the Main dining room told and gave the waiter( on the down low so my daughter didn't see the voucher for the cake) so when dinner was over the asst waiter comes to our table and says this is a free cake where to you want it!!!! So much for the surprise or sing happy bday!! Needless to say very very disappointed with NCL , they dropped the ball on this cruise for sure .. Hopefully who ever is sailing on it next has a better experience!!! ������

 

Well , Better luck next time.

[mking8288]

We sailed the Gem for the 2nd. time just recently, several weeks ago - our experience was different and positive. Thanks for sharing.

 

I can appreciate some of your personal observations and concerns, but as others said, I try not to be troubled by what others do and don't do - as long as we are having a fine time onboard.

 

Opinions about food are personal and subjective, sorry about your disappointment. Yes, I can appreciate some of your observations ... and, we don't cruise for beef meatballs or lasagna either. We have a great neighborhood steakhouse, 5 minutes from us and Peter Lugar, well known in NYC is 20 minutes away - so we don't spend extra money onboard for specialty. In fact, we skipped over 2 complimentary specialty for two on 2 nights & choose to eat elsewhere.

 

It sounded that there're service matters with your stateroom, but if you didn't call down/up to Guest Services and/or bring it up to the supervisory level to your satisfactory & prompt resolution - it's a bit unfair to just "write" about it post-cruise, and not give them a chance to address it. We had a service "matter" once in GP (MDR) as a group of 7; and actually quite pissed off, got the attention of the F&B Director subsequently ... as they said, "stuff" happened & they extended their apologies.

 

OP, you have been around CC for a long time but don't post or "hangout" here like some of us do ... and, I am - by no means, cheerleading for NCL. The size of the balcony and its interior layout isn't new, it's the same basic configuration since the Dawn days. The *Away class ship's balcony staterooms are better on interior space & bathroom size but the size of those "micro" balconies on the BA ... and you knew that, right ?

 

The grass is sometimes greener on the other corner, perhaps just a little different in shades ... and prices to match or compete against. From what I know, your sailing made it to GSC and weather was nice, etc. and there was no hurricane or stormy seas ... we "lost" a full day as everyone was "denied" access to the outdoors due to weather (the weather was at fault but I "blamed" the captain for sailing almost on-time & filed a complaint with mother nature ... got "ignored" and still waiting for a reply.) Plus, we left Canaveral 75 minutes late and ship security & uniformed crew dumped some poor pax's luggage on the piers to some official-looking, uniformed pier worker. Well, I don't missed ship's lobster and happy that they still served smoked salmon in the MDR at breakfast ... buffet isn't for us either - too crazy to fight for food.

 

Hope you will find a better fit, NCL isn't perfect, nor other mass cruiselines - good luck in finding perfection. Have a great day.

[EnterCruise]

If you had done some research prior to your cruise, you would have known Cagney's is an a la carte restaurant. It was your own choice to spend the $200 (I don't understand your !!!!!)

 

If you had done some research prior to your cruise, you could have seen the floor plan for your balcony cabin. Sounds like it was a given that your daughter would be sleeping on the pull-out sofa which does make it difficult, although not impossible to access the balcony.

 

I find it implausible that crew members did not speak English.

 

A broken light, especially in the bathroom poses a safety hazard. Either wait to take showers until it was fixed or keep calling until the light was replaced.

 

Tracy

 

Actually, she was traveling with 3 daughters. It makes me wonder if there were 4 women in one cabin?

[SGK]

We also just got home from the Gem, and I'm certain we were on different cruises.

 

There are certainly language differences, but I didn't encounter a single person we were unable to communicate with.

 

I can't comment on the dining rooms (we only went once), but Cagney's is incredibly reasonably priced for a la carte. The meal we had (two appetizers, surf and turf, two sides, and dessert) easily would have broached $150+ for our top-end Steakhouse at home, yet on the ship the receipt totaled $90 (we had the dining package). And it did specify that it was a la carte in each and every one of the Freestyle dailies.

 

If the folks that didn't use the "washy washy" bother you, don't EVER go on Carnival -- they don't even have a "washy washy" station (just antibacterial dispensers throughout). Our experience with NCL in this regard was above and beyond what we were used to.

 

Each time I was on the pool deck I saw kids in the kids area and adults in the adults area. Not sure when you saw otherwise...

 

Honestly the weather was sublime, the seas were calm, and the entire experience wonderful. Some slight improvements here and there, sure, but overall it was excellent. Hopefully your next cruise is better.

 

 

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[js]

Thanks for your review. A daughter's birthday cruise and nothing good about it? I cannot imagine being on a cruise for a week and coming off feeling so negative. Sometimes I read negative reviews that have had issues that I may have had in the past but I must have not cared or let it bother me and moved on at the time. Did the kids have fun?

 

 

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[EnterCruise]

Thanks for your review. A daughter's birthday cruise and nothing good about it? I cannot imagine being on a cruise for a week and coming off feeling so negative. Sometimes I read negative reviews that have had issues that I may have had in the past but I must have not cared or let it bother me and moved on at the time. Did the kids have fun?

 

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Her "kids" are 24, 21 and 19.

[js]

Her "kids" are 24, 21 and 19.

 

 

Yes, they are her kids. Im wondering if they had fun and enjoyed the cruise or if they were all didnt enjoy themselves.

 

 

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[mskaufman]

We also got off the Gem on Sat 6/3. I have almost all positives to report. This was something like our 12th cruise, 1st on NCL. I have to say that this was the smallest cabin we ever had, but then again we paid less for this cruise than for any previous cruise. We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants. The food was not gourmet but generally good. We never had to return anything as inedible. Service was always good and the crew was friendly. Never had a problem communicating. The buffet was well run and we never had a long line, including for omelets, which on previous cruises there was sometimes a line. Lots of burgers consumed (not by me) on this cruise. The cooks kept them coming and there was a fixing bar. Last year on another line you had to special order burgers and they gave you a "beeper" to call you when they were ready. MDR had a good mix of items.

 

Entertainment was also good, although I would be happy to have a comic instead of what I assume were more expensive comedy productions (like a hypnotist and Second City). Production shows were well produced.

 

One complaint had to do with excursions in Port Canaveral. We bought a transfer to Cocoa Beach and Cocoa Village. Shops in Cocoa Village were closed due to Memorial Day. Felt that the Excursion Team should have known this and let us know rather than telling us that shops would be open til 5pm.

 

Happy to answer questions.

[Shayhooper]

Ummmmmm

 

You took the sarcasm right out of my mouth. Perhaps the most amusing part of this thread is the reason OP gave for an edit she did.

[Gershep]

Also on this cruise and we all had a great time. We always meet nice people on our cruises but this cruise had the most friendly passengers. We spent a lot of time at Bali Hai overlooking both pools and hot tubs and commented to my DH how the children stayed in the kids pool. I agree with people saving pool chairs but this happens on most ships. I saw someone save 12 lounges on a port day at 6:30am and didn't use them till after 3. If I wanted to use those chairs I would have. Disappointed that lobster and tomahawk steak no longer available at Cagney's but food was excellent and menu and pricing is available before hand. We spoke to many, many crew members and only came across one person who didn't understand English. Even though we heard banging noise outside every night and the air conditioning in one cabin did not work well (maintenance couldn't fix it) we had a perfect cruise.

[triptolemus]

You took the sarcasm right out of my mouth. Perhaps the most amusing part of this thread is the reason OP gave for an edit she did.

 

Indeed. OP has no business commenting on anyone's command of the English language.

 

Post was unreadable. More exclamation points may help.

[Yorkvillain]

Am I the only one that thought that the OP might have misspelled their screen name too?

[Até]

Thank you for those comments ... I spent ten minutes trying to be sure I figured out each typo before just closing the window.

[mskaufman]

We also got off the Gem on Sat 6/3. I have almost all positives to report. This was something like our 12th cruise, 1st on NCL. I have to say that this was the smallest cabin we ever had, but then again we paid less for this cruise than for any previous cruise. We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants. The food was not gourmet but generally good. We never had to return anything as inedible. Service was always good and the crew was friendly. Never had a problem communicating. The buffet was well run and we never had a long line, including for omelets, which on previous cruises there was sometimes a line. Lots of burgers consumed (not by me) on this cruise. The cooks kept them coming and there was a fixing bar. Last year on another line you had to special order burgers and they gave you a "beeper" to call you when they were ready. MDR had a good mix of items.

 

Entertainment was also good, although I would be happy to have a comic instead of what I assume were more expensive comedy productions (like a hypnotist and Second City). Production shows were well produced.

 

One complaint had to do with excursions in Port Canaveral. We bought a transfer to Cocoa Beach and Cocoa Village. Shops in Cocoa Village were closed due to Memorial Day. Felt that the Excursion Team should have known this and let us know rather than telling us that shops would be open til 5pm.

 

Happy to answer questions.

 

Just to be clear. We had a great and relaxing time on this cruise and would recommend it to anyone who wants to get away for a week.

[peg013]

We were also on the same cruise as the OP and wonder how she managed to have such a bad cruise. (Is there such a thing????) A little research would have solved most of their problems. We enjoyed the food, entertainment and most of our fellow passengers and all staff and crew members. We had a super friendly roll call and a great Meet and Greet where people actually stayed and talked after the officers left. We also hung out after the slot pull which we actually made a little money on thanks to Gershep spinning for $160 on the Wheel of Fortune.

 

I'm wondering if the language barrier was on the OP's end? We had no problem communicating with any of the crew members. Yes, you have to sometimes listen carefully due to different accents but we found no one we couldn't communicate with. The fact that the same hard to read review is both here and on FB tells me the OP is not concerned about grammar or spelling but is complaining about the crew not being able to communicate????? I'm just glad the majority of us had a fantastic cruise as usual. I especially loved my Cabana at Great Stirrup Cay. Bar service was so much better than the last time we rented a cabana. It was a most enjoyable day with two other couples and 2 kids. It's the only way to do GSC in MHO.

 

My other complaint was not being told that we were docking at a different dock than where we parked. It was kind of comical watching others (along with ourselves) wander around not finding our cars. Fortunately we are all agile, and were able to lug our luggage to the next pier. We lined up outside of Bliss at 7:30, even with the mix-up were on our way by 8.

 

The sea was flat, the weather was perfect. I think this was our favorite cruise so far, I'm sad the Gem is leaving NYC.

 

They announced that we would be docking at Pier 88 and we left from Pier 90. I guess you missed the announcement. We always get a porter to take our luggage off to be able to use the shorter porter line at Customs and laughed that we would surely use the porter once they announced we were docked at the other pier from our car. It's well worth the $2 per bag to use the porter and we only had two large bags and 2 carryons.

 

One complaint had to do with excursions in Port Canaveral. We bought a transfer to Cocoa Beach and Cocoa Village. Shops in Cocoa Village were closed due to Memorial Day. Felt that the Excursion Team should have known this and let us know rather than telling us that shops would be open til 5pm.

 

Happy to answer questions.

 

Wow! I am so glad we didn't take the bus to Cocoa Village. We also "purchased" the transfer to Cocoa Beach and Cocoa Village knowing full well that they are about 30 minutes apart but thought it was a loop - ship to cocoa beach to cocoa village and back to the ship. Once we discovered on the bus that we would have to go back to cocoa beach after the village in Memorial day traffic, we decided to just look around at Ron Jon's and the Cocoa Beach Surf store and return to the ship. I would have been livid if we got to Cocoa Village and the shops were all closed. I was hoping to find the shop I bought a bunch of Precious Moments at the last time we were there in 2011. Cocoa Village is the only place we wanted to go but were willing to go via Cocoa Beach since our transfers were free with the $50 shore excursion credit. I am so glad we decided not go to Cocoa Village now