Gem Review August 2-9 in 2 Bedroom Suite

[raitch]

We are not frequent cruisers (this was only our third NCL trip and our first with the kids) so I spent months and months preparing for our Boston-Bermuda trip.  Sometimes I think I checked this board more often than the moderators did!  In general it seems like Gem doesn’t get a lot of coverage on CC, so here’s my quick rundown of the ship and our trip in general.

 

First things first: we had a GREAT time and would go back, on the same ship and the same itinerary, in a heartbeat.  We’d do the same exact room class— but we would NOT do the same room location!

 

Embarkation was easy since we got to the port at noon and had concierge service.  We didn’t even have time to grab a snack in the embarkation lounge as we were escorted directly to Cagney’s for lunch.  

 

Room thoughts- we were in 11030, the Garnet penthouse.  It was an amazing room.  Lots of space for the 5 of us, big balcony.  We spent lots and lots of time in the room!  Butler service (Josephine) was such a treat.  She took good care of us, and because my parents had the adjoining minisuite, she also answered their questions and was polite and kind even though technically she didn’t work for them.  Our steward Arnel was fast and efficient, and we appreciated him sticking closely to NCL rules about not being alone in the room without a female staff member if there was only a teen in the room.  Our concierge, Anoop, was also wonderful though we only used his services for embarkation and disembarkation.  He checked in on us throughout the ship and again allowed my parents to disembark with the priority folks even though they weren’t in a suite or Haven.

 

What I did NOT like about the room was the noise.  I’d scoured every online review I could find because I was concerned about being under the pool deck.  I guess we were the odd ones out because the noise above was very loud particularly the running on the pool deck late into the night, the chairs being set up in the AM, and the band playing on the pool deck.  We had been told that since we were in the back side corner of the deck near a staircase the noise would be minimum... nope.  I’d stay in a 2 bedroom suite again in a heartbeat but not in THIS particular suite.  

 

Entertainment on board was okay.  We did the welcome aboard show and weren’t wowed by any of it, so we just heard drips & drabs we made our way through the ship. The kids weren’t blown away by Splash Academy/Entourage so I don’t have much feedback there either- the circus show they put on in Stardust was super cute though!

 

Overall we were happy with the food.  Teppanyaki was the best meal of the trip followed by Haven/suite breakfast in Moderno.   Food was always hot and plentiful, though it always took forever for the kids’ meals to arrive to the table.  The great Outdoors is as great as everyone says.  Just a beautiful place to have a meal or snack or sit and chat.

 

Bermuda was gorgeous, though the construction on the wharf was a little loud and the cranes got in the way of the view.   We did the Clearwater Beach triangle excursion (I definitely recommend, gorgeous EMPTY beaches) and also Hartley’s Helmet Diving.  That Greg Hartley is a trip!  Totally an amazing experience though, we all loved it (including kids ranging age 6-15).  Not offered through NCL but you should absolutely do it, even if you’re claustrophobic.

 

Overall I found the layout of Gem a little weird (only one bar in the atrium and then a bunch of bars jammed together at Bar City?) but it’s a nice size and we never felt like it was overcrowded.  I do think that having access to the Haven level restaurants helped with this, particularly during the rainy weather.  We had two rainy sea days (one with waves big enough for the puke bags to make an appearance in the stairwells) but it still seemed like there was room for everyone to find a place to hang out.

 

We pre-purchased the thermal spa, which we’ve used and loved on previous ships, but it was a waste of our money this time.  Somehow it didn’t occur to us that having the 3 kids along would mean there was much, much less time to lay around in an adults only area all day... 

 

One thing I need to highlight, though, is the staff.  I kept seeing posts on FB groups that the Gem staff is rude.  We never encountered even one staff member that was the least bit rude!  Every single staff member would look you in the eye, smile, and speak to you.  I seriously don’t know what people were doing to this amazing staff to cause them to be rude in any way.  We had zero concerns or issues with staff and anything that we did notice was dealt with swiftly and completely.

 

Disembarkation was so fast I almost missed it.  We were priority so met at Stardust at 8:30 and were on the curb with our bags by 8:45.  It would have been even faster if they hadn’t pulled my husband aside to hand him cash for his refundable onboard credit he didn’t completely use.

 

Overall, gem has not been my favorite of the NCL ships I’ve sailed on but I would go back on in a heartbeat if given the chance!  Please feel free to ask any questions you might have.  I’ll add photos further downthread.

 

 

[Jess46]

Great review! I'm doing this trip next Friday.  Do you happen to know who the cruise director was and if they were entertaining at all?  I find that they can usually make or break the game shows and whatnot.  It's much more fun with an engaging and enthusiastic cruise director. 

[raitch]

Just now, Jess46 said:

Great review! I'm doing this trip next Friday.  Do you happen to know who the cruise director was and if they were entertaining at all?  I find that they can usually make or break the game shows and whatnot.  It's much more fun with an engaging and enthusiastic cruise director. 

 

Yep, Cruise Director is Luz!  She does a killer Tina Turner impression.  Her staff were young but lots of fun.  Then again I did win at bingo so I may be biased a bit 😉

[raitch]

Photos of our 2 bedroom suite- I didn’t take a picture of the balcony but we fit 3 chairs and a small table out there very comfortably.  

[raitch]

Photos from around the ship, including the wind gusts during our most... challenging sea day.  Last photo was the sunrise from The Great Outdoors this morning.  

[raitch]

Pool deck after rain- check out the soggy towels from chair hogs who weren’t around to remove them when the rain hit!

Edited August 9, 2019 by raitch

[raitch]

And then two photos from Bermuda- the construction at the dock (with bonus rainbow) and yes, Clearwater Beach really was this empty!  

[fiftyguy]

We’ve stayed in the 2 BR suites on both the Dawn and Gem. We go for the 2BR suite most forward on either side. We had no issues with noise from above and foot traffic in the hallways is minimal. 

Happy you enjoyed your cruise.

[TPgal]

1 hour ago, raitch said:

What I did NOT like about the room was the noise.  I’d scoured every online review I could find because I was concerned about being under the pool deck.  I guess we were the odd ones out because the noise above was very loud particularly the running on the pool deck late into the night, the chairs being set up in the AM, and the band playing on the pool deck.  We had been told that since we were in the back side corner of the deck near a staircase the noise would be minimum... nope.  I’d stay in a 2 bedroom suite again in a heartbeat but not in THIS particular suite.

 

We had this exact suite on the Jade and I would echo your comments.  The daily/nightly noise wasn't so awful, our Panama Canal shipmates weren't up so early to move deck chairs but the last night our ship was being changed over to accomodate the Jon Bon Jovi cruise and it was a nightmare.   They drained both pools and filled them in with some sort of staging that expanded the floor space for the crowds and they built a bar RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS.  It started at 7pm and went on until well after 3 am.  Phone calls and eventual visits in pj's to customer service resulted in shrugs.

 

I was prepared for some sounds but not major construction.  

Edited August 9, 2019 by TPgal
typo "adn" to "and"

[raitch]

10 minutes ago, TPgal said:

 

We had this exact suite on the Jade and I would echo your comments.  The daily/nightly noise wasn't so awful, our Panama Canal shipmates weren't up so early to move deck chairs but the last night our ship was being changed over to accomodate the Jon Bon Jovi cruise and it was a nightmare.   They drained both pools and filled them in with some sort of staging that expanded the floor space for the crowds and they built a bar RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS.  It started at 7pm and went on until well after 3 am.  Phone calls and eventual visits in pj's to customer service resulted in shrugs.

 

I was prepared for some sounds but not major construction.  

Sounds like a total nightmare, you poor thing!

[TPgal]

Just now, raitch said:

Sounds like a total nightmare, you poor thing!

 

Well, it certainly didn't ruin our 11 night cruise - especially after all the suite level pampering.  Other than that one issue we had a great time and loved our suite.

We did find out when docked next to the Breakaway that the windows in the shower/bath were not privacy windows and we were careful from then on to keep the shade down when docked next to anything.  (Peek-a-boo, you see me!)

 

Our daughter slept like the dead in that dark windowless room.   She LOVED it.

[Seaside122]

We just got off this cruise as well and I think we were just below you (aft balcony deck 10). We were cruising with a toddler so I hope any of her noises didn’t bother you! LOL! 

 

We are usually RCCL cruisers, and this was our first time on Norwegian. Although we had a great week (any week cruising is better than a week at work!), I don’t think we’d sail NCL again. Gem was a nice ship and much more to my taste size-wise than the megaships, but there were a lot of little things we noticed about NCL that ended up making a big difference to our whole group. I mentioned to my husband at one point that it felt like the entire crew was either on their first week of a new contract and still learning the ropes, or on their last week of an old one and ready to leave. I didn’t encounter any rude staff, just a lot of miscommunications between staff members and language difficulties and lack of correct information and such. 

 

My daughter had a blast though! I think she charmed most of the ship, and hopefully didn’t annoy too many people. 😂

[raitch]

1 minute ago, Seaside122 said:

We just got off this cruise as well and I think we were just below you (aft balcony deck 10). We were cruising with a toddler so I hope any of her noises didn’t bother you! LOL! 

 

We are usually RCCL cruisers, and this was our first time on Norwegian. Although we had a great week (any week cruising is better than a week at work!), I don’t think we’d sail NCL again. Gem was a nice ship and much more to my taste size-wise than the megaships, but there were a lot of little things we noticed about NCL that ended up making a big difference to our whole group. I mentioned to my husband at one point that it felt like the entire crew was either on their first week of a new contract and still learning the ropes, or on their last week of an old one and ready to leave. I didn’t encounter any rude staff, just a lot of miscommunications between staff members and language difficulties and lack of correct information and such. 

 

My daughter had a blast though! I think she charmed most of the ship, and hopefully didn’t annoy too many people. 😂

 Well if you were under us we didn’t hear a peep from you!  😂

[biker@sea]

Thanks for the review raitch .

 

Edited August 9, 2019 by biker@sea

[Sand and Seas]

Thanks for sharing your review with us, plus love those pictures🌞

[bonvoyagie]

We had one of those suites on the Dawn a few years ago - loved it - also had Anoop on the Pearl in AK - always said Hi. 

 

Too bad you found out about the pool deck noise after the fact. Our TA first put us in the same room as you - as he thought it would be further from the elevators - but I reminded him of the pool deck and he moved us forward.

[saretaj]

Thank you for this review!  I have sailed the Dawn before out of Boston but it will be our first time on the Gem.  We have 2 suites booked -9002 & 9502.

 

Any further tips for kids?  I'll be with my 6 year old daughter who will NOT do the splash academy (too shy).   Her dad can't come this trip due to work so I'll be with her solo most of the time (my 21 year old is traveling with us but I don't expect her to be my babysitter).  How did you find the kids menus?  Was the food ok?

 

This will be our first time in a suite with butler / concierge service.  I'm glad to see you were happy with them!

 

Sorry about your noise issue!

[saretaj]

Sorry one more question - having priority status - do you HAVE to disembark that early?  Or did you have the choice of going a bit later?

[raitch]

1 minute ago, saretaj said:

Thank you for this review!  I have sailed the Dawn before out of Boston but it will be our first time on the Gem.  We have 2 suites booked -9002 & 9502.

 

Any further tips for kids?  I'll be with my 6 year old daughter who will NOT do the splash academy (too shy).   Her dad can't come this trip due to work so I'll be with her solo most of the time (my 21 year old is traveling with us but I don't expect her to be my babysitter).  How did you find the kids menus?  Was the food ok?

 

This will be our first time in a suite with butler / concierge service.  I'm glad to see you were happy with them!

 

Sorry about your noise issue!

The kids menus were pretty standard... burger, Mac & cheese, chicken tenders, pizza, chicken soup, pbj.  My kids liked it!  Honestly they mostly liked going to the buffet and getting whatever they wanted.  We bought them soda & arcade packages but the only one who really got his money’s worth from those was my middle kid who made a friend onboard and used the perks 

when they were together.

 

My biggest tip for the butler is to ask for what you want as afternoon snacks instead of just taking the normal daily plate of stuff.  Oh and in the AM ask the butler to bring you a pitcher of ice water and use that to fill your water bottles from home!

[raitch]

2 minutes ago, saretaj said:

Sorry one more question - having priority status - do you HAVE to disembark that early?  Or did you have the choice of going a bit later?

 

The priority disembarkation is 8:30.  You can go in a later group but it doesn’t get too much later honestly.  You have to be out of your room by 9 and they need to turn the ship around in only a couple hours so they really don’t want anyone lingering.

[saretaj]

Thanks!  Great info!

[PortFees45]

Was the forward-facing Deck 14 sundeck (above Spinnakers, where you can look down on the little crew pool at the bow) closed off to the public? There have been some recent additions of a "Haven sundeck" in the forward area on the Jewel-class deck plans that has been confusing. 

[CBRad929]

Thanks for the info @raitch!

 

I couldnt find anything regarding 11030 either with our cruise next month to Quebec.  Im actually on the phone right now with our TA to change our rooms farther forward.  Im very glad I saw your post about your experience!  🙂

[raitch]

9 hours ago, PortFees45 said:

Was the forward-facing Deck 14 sundeck (above Spinnakers, where you can look down on the little crew pool at the bow) closed off to the public? There have been some recent additions of a "Haven sundeck" in the forward area on the Jewel-class deck plans that has been confusing. 

Good question.  It’s definitely still open- we were out there Thursday night in the fog and getting blasted by the fog horn once a minute! 

[raitch]

9 hours ago, CBRad929 said:

Thanks for the info @raitch!

 

I couldnt find anything regarding 11030 either with our cruise next month to Quebec.  Im actually on the phone right now with our TA to change our rooms farther forward.  Im very glad I saw your post about your experience!  🙂

 I’m making it my mission to post about the room noise anywhere I can to warn others!  Glad I helped you 😊