gem 3/29 review

[brovol]

just off the gem. this was the 14th cruise for my wife and i, and 8th for our two kids (9 and 11 yrs old). we have cruised previously with ncl (several years ago), royal caribbean, holland, carnival, and (mostly with) princess. we were in a courtyard suite (14010), which was better than what we could have hoped. i was concerned about the quality of ncl, because it had been compared over the last several years with carnival (which we put at the bottom of the cruise line pack). admittedly, the courtyard suite, and its perks, kept us in perpetual smile mode throughout the week; however, the gem would have rated extremely high with us, even if we were not in the suite. the food was excellent, and comparable, in my mind, to any cruise i have been on. the dining service, and service in general, was fantastic. i was overwhelmed by the positive disposition of the wait staff in all dinning venues; with the sole exception being the mexican restaurant on day two. the grand pacific was excellent in every respect, all four nights we ate there. we ate lunch and breakfast at cagneys several times (a suite perk), and left each time saying how wonderful the food and service was. the ship itself is far from flashy, but it is clean, comfortable, and makes great use of all space. with respect to the courtyard villa suite, i can say it was the best accommodation we have had. in fact, our friends had an owners suite on deck ten, which was lavish and huge; but i would not have traded it for our suite, because we had direct proximity to the courtyard. the courtyard, and sundeck are great. the entertainment on the ship was quite good. guitarist/singer kenny stringer is fantastic. we met many nice people on board (jennifer and tom from chicago--we forgot to get your e-mail, so if you read this post a response). overall, i would rate the gem very high.

[BeachBumMama]

Sounds like you had a great time! Welcome back.:)

[Cosmopolitan]

Enjoyed your review.

 

We, also, found the staff, crew and food on the Gem to be exceptional.

 

Prem is a wonder HD and we saw him all over the ship at all times:)

[brovol]

i remembered a few other things. embarkation and disembarkation process was quick and easy; but we had the benefit of vip service. our concierge, lisa, took us off the ship at 9:30am, with the vip express disembarkation. we thought the buffet was very good. i liked the set-up, with the food stations. the buffet dining room is too small, and the staff cant keep up with cleaning tables at peek times. after second day it gets better, as people eat outdoors on pool deck or on the aft great outdoors area (which is a delightful spot, and not ever crowded). the buffet itself had good food quality for a buffet, and rarely seemed crowded. the butler and concierge service is very nice to have. we used the concierge every day for dinner reservations. we never called our butler (cris) for anything, but he did things on his own, like bring snacks daily. there are so many nice suite perks available that we felt as if we didnt take full advantage. the breakfast and lunch at cagneys option is one of the most underrated perks. the food is different than the main dinning rooms, and the food and service is nothing short of fantastic. if i think of anything more i will post again.

[nyflush]

Hi Brovol, Thanks for posting! Glad to hear you had a great time on the Gem:) We also stayed in a CV our last cruise, you are so right about the cagneys perk it was really great. I dont think we took full advantage of the perks. I need to book another cruise on the Gem in a CV next time I wont even get off the ship LOL.

[elron]

We enjoyed the Gem also.

 

Our disembarkation wasn't as smooth though.