Gem in Canada / New England 10/08 -10/20

[Pens fan]

We left the Gem on Saturday after a wonderful 12 night cruise from Quebec City to NYC.  I thought I'd share a few thoughts.  This was our second NCL cruise after five on Disney.  Our last cruise was on the Sun, so we enjoyed the larger size of the Gem with a few more offerings.  

 

Embarkation:  We embarked on the 8th, but the ship didn't sail until the evening of the 9th.  That meant there really wasn't any hurry to board and it showed.  We were also in a suite, so had priority boarding.  I'd say about 20-25 minutes after exiting our cab we were sitting in Cagney's ready for lunch.  Best embarkation experience ever!

 

Cabin:  We were in 10166, an aft penthouse suite.  This was just perfect for the two of us. The room was large with plenty of storage - way more than we needed, actually.  We really liked having the separate dining table and chairs, as that was missing on our Sun's aft penthouse  cabin.  The aft balcony gave us wonderful views, though it was quite cold on this trip so we didn't use it as much as we normally would.  I'd seen pictures online of this cabin prior to the renovations and let's just say the decor is much improved!  No more bright, neon colors.  

 

Crew:  We have been so impressed with the NCL crew.  After sailing on Disney for so long, they kind of make your feel they have this incredible customer service that no one else can match.  Well, for us anyway, we have found the service on NCL to be equal (and sometimes even better) than Disney's.  We had to go to guest services to pick up more Cruise Hero cards as we had so many to fill out.

 

Activities:  Everyone's different and the enjoy different things.  Honestly, the typical cruise line activities (bingo, trivia, towel folding classes, etc.) really aren't our thing.  The only activities we took part in were the wine tastings (twice - so much fun!) and the officer Q&A.  We missed the dedicated movie theater that Disney has on their ships and really wish NCL would offer more enrichment programs - lectures and such about the area.  Taking that a step further, I think that offering local entertainment and food offerings here and there would be a nice touch.  I get the impression that the food and entertainment are pretty much standard no matter where the ship is sailing.  That's not a huge negative, but I do think it's something they could improve on.

 

Entertainment:  This was a 12 night cruise with 2 sea days and we had activities planned in all but one port.  So our nights were pretty tame.  We never actually made to one of the main shows, and spent most of our evenings listening to music and having drinks in Magnum's.  They had some terrific entertainers on board.  We particularly enjoyed the guitar player, Angel, and usually just ended up wherever he was playing.  

 

Ship condition:  We thought the ship was lovely and in great condition.  One thing that particular impressed us was how clean everything was.  We also loved the Spinnaker lounge - what a beautiful space!  The only bad thing was that it seemed that was where they always held the activities.  We would have been happy to just hang out, watch the view (remember it was pretty cold to be sitting outside), and read a book.  But I understand that a lot of passengers really enjoy bingo and such, so they can't make everyone happy.

 

Food:  We really enjoy NCL's food.  After years of the bland, kid-friendly Disney food we find NCL to be a welcome change.   Overall, we were quite pleased with the food on the Gem.  We even tried the buffet a couple of times (we normally don't care for them) and found it surprisingly decent.  I mean, it was still buffet food, but it got the job done.  The MDR food ranged from good to very good.  Service was fast and friendly.  Zero complaints there.  

 

For specialty dining, we ate in Cagney's twice and both times were excellent.  The fillet was wonderful, as was the tuna steak that I had on the second night.  We also really enjoyed Le Bistro and found it everything that people said it was.  La Cucina surprised us.  I'd read a lot of bad reviews, but we actually quite enjoyed our meal there.  I'd go back again, for sure!  Teppanyaki was our least favorite specialty dining experience, but it wasn't really bad.  The food was fine (nothing spectacular but nothing bad - expect for that awful green tea cake), but it was just so chaotic.  We quite enjoyed this restaurant on the Sun, but it only has the one table.  When we visit hibachi restaurants on land, the tables are more spread out.  On the Gem, you had four tables right on top of each other and it was on cacophonous jumble of noise.  You couldn't hear the servers, the cook, or your companions.  I think we will skip this restaurant on our next cruise.

 

We also ate at O'Sheeans a couple of times.  Yes, the wings are as good as everyone says!  My one disappointment there was with a salad that I had.  The so-called Italian dressing was pretty awful.  The salad itself was fine, though.  Next time I'll know to ask for something else.  We also ate at the Orchid Cafe (I think that's what it was called).  It was just ok.  The sushi roll we got was inedible - truly awful.  The sashimi on the other hand, was delicious.  We also got some type of noodle dish and it was just OK.  

 

Wine offerings:  I thought I'd mention this as we normally just drink wine.  When we were on the Sun, we weren't overly impressed with the wine by the glass offerings.  Having the beverage package meant you were limited to those unless you wanted to buy a bottle at a 20% discount.  On this cruse, not only were the wines by the glass covered by the package somewhat improved, but in the dining rooms (both MDR and specialty) you could pay a little extra and get a truly nice glass of wine.  We loved this!  I think we paid between $2.50 and $7.50 a glass, but had some really incredible wines.  If you really appreciate nice wines, this is a great offering.  I hope they continue to offer this in the future.  People that aren't as picky as we are can still get a nice glass covered by the beverage package, but it allows folks like us more options.

 

Shore excursions - we mostly did our own thing in the ports but due to the shore excursion credit offered by NCL we did book three tours through the cruise line.  We normally aren't a fan of big tours, but quite enjoyed the ones we did on this trip.  All were a pleasant surprise.

 

Disembarkation:  Well, this really isn't a true picture as we were in a suite.  Let's just say, suite perks plus self disembarkation = 15 minutes from room to cab.  

 

All in all, this was a wonderful trip and a fantastic itinerary.  Quebec City is just delightful.  I highly recommend anyone sailing to or from there to spend a couple of days in the city.  We did, and loved every minute of it.  The fall colors were at their peak while we were in Canada, and we saw some incredible scenery.  One highlight was the Cabot Trail in Sydney - just spectacular.  Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor was also one of our favorite stops.  Everyone should see the view from Cadillac Mt. at least once in their lifetime!  

 

I don't post on here a lot, but I do read quite a bit and I learned a ton that helped make this cruise all the more special.  So hopefully, this helps someone else who will be sailing on the Gem. 

[amelia3171]

Thank you for your lovely, helpful review. 

[markf]

thanks  we  are  booked  on a 10 day  Caribbean cruise , after returning from MSC  yacht  club , I am a little  concerned  that there will be a let down. we have a suite on the Gem. But we will deal!!