Norwegian Gem Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Having just gotten off a 10 day Regal Princess Caribbean cruise on Nov. 6th, my wife & I had no intention of taking another, only a month later! That is, until we saw the almost unbelievably low price offered for this 8 day NCL "Gem" repositioning cruise, leaving San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Dec.11th, going back to New York City!
NCL must have not properly advertised this one because they were forced to offer inside cabins for only $25. per person. per day or $199. for the entire cruise, just to fill the ship.
It seems that this would be an abbreviated version of the 10 day, NY to NY, for $699. per person, except it would require passengers to fly to San Juan, P.R. to get the ship.
Cabin Review
Inside
Cabin was small, approx. 166 sq. ft. with no sofa & about 8-10 inches of room on either side of the bed. The third, unused bunk protruded over that area & caused one to hit their head or shoulder, getting in or out. The availability of television stations was among some of the worst of all my 55 cruises! It had only one 'movie' channel that didn't tell you what was coming on or when. The only other television channel showed 5-8 year sit-coms, also not telling you what or when & they were repeated often. The rest of the channels showed news, weather or tried to sell you something!
Why can't cruise companies come into the 21st Century & have full service satellite television, showing 50 to 100 channels? Come on NCL, it's 2016 already!
Port Reviews
St. Kitts (Port Zante)
My wife & I took a much less expensive tour from a local vendor! It's simply too costly to take the ship's tours.
St. Maarten
Since we have been there many times, we simply walked in to town & went to the local beach. But for first timers, I would definitely recommend taking an Island tour, from a local vendor & see the French side of the Island or go to Orient Beach for a nice day!
St. Thomas
Charlotte Amalie is only about a 1 mile walk from the ship, so you can stroll in there & see the sights for nothing! I would recommend taking an Island Tour, if you have never been there or going to Magens Bay for a day at the beach!
Tortola
As usual, we took a tour from a local vendor, for less than half the price! We went around the Island, which is cleaner than most, since they have a Dutch background! The churches there are beautifully adorned and worth a look!
San Juan
NCL ships now are docked at the Pan American pier, which is $10 dollar cab ride from the older, in 'old town' dock, which let passengers simply walk into the tourist area. The cruise line should provide a free shuttle bus to the old dock, instead of requiring passengers to have to pay for cabs!