MissPapagena

It takes one day to navigate the ship and signage by the elevators is clear.

Ships are long and thin, dining rooms too, not hard to find table, just walk a few feet or wait a minute during busy times it's normal.

Service slow? People are dining on vacation, relax. Maybe they had one bad day!

I also had trouble getting around the Gem and found the Gem's design (or re-design) awkward in places, particularly if going from one end to the other which seemed to always involve going through busy and crowded areas like the Atrium, Pool Deck, or Casino, or using the halls with cabins which can also be congested and I felt like I was getting in the way of the polite and hard-working staff cleaning cabins plus there are their carts and coolers. And in the Garden Cafe seating for the buffet gets very narrow and is so long and it gets challenging finding an open table particularly in the morning.

Also please consider that not all cruisers move around easily - I use a cane and at times really appreciate the help of a solid wall or railing for balance or someplace to take a break. And if at a buffet my cane also meant an additional trip for a glass of water.

As for the signage by the elevator banks, it is inconsistent. Sometimes there is a map of the ship easily found, but there are many elevators banks that have no map of the ship at all and others where it is around a corner and has to be found. And those maps don't always help in finding the entrance to places - finding the entrance to Le Bistro proved quite the challenge for me - it would have been comical if it hadn't taken so long and left me in such pain. And in the Atrium they don't have a sign for the Guest Services Desk, which may seem obvious but when the Atrium gets crowded like on the first day of the cruise it is a mad house and can be overwhelming.

We also had slow service in the Grand Pacifica, and on multiple occasions. And the Magenta too. And it can be an issue if you need to be someplace else on the ship at a specific time. Even eating at the Magenta right next to the Splash Academy, dropping off kids as soon as they opened for the evening at 7 pm, we found ourselves rushing and still late for the 9 pm show at the Stardust (even very able-bodied members of our party sent on ahead). And we had a lunch for two adults and two kids take just over two hours on Sunday in the Grand Pacifica. The service in Le Bistro was the best in my opinion, while my favorite meal food-wise was in La Cucina.

Just returned from a cruise on the Gem. We had only sailed on RC before and DH and I were both disappointed by the complimentary (non-premium) dining options on the ship. Perhaps the issue was that we were part of a larger group (8 total) but had to wait as long as 45 minutes to get a table in the Magenta and the service was slow at most sit down restaurants. Personally I thought food was a weak point along with the ship's confusing layout. On the other hand I thought the ship's entertainment was great! Also the cabin was fine and and our steward excellent. Highly recommend the Premium Drink Plan - they always let us order two drinks at a time and thus we could share with our friends w/o a plan. Overall we had a great time aboard the Gem!!!

(Oh, and I highly recommend the spa!!)

We ate breakfast in la cucina every morning, it’s an overflow area of the buffet, always plenty of tables. Plus, right by the Great Outdoors, where there is always food, even in between meals, and a great place to sit and relax.

Thanks - no clue that La Cucina was open for overflow seating in the morning. Did discover the Great Outdoors but always went later in the day. Didn't realize they had food after 10 am. Early in the cruise I was confused and thought it was referring to the buffet on the pool deck which wasn't always open b/c of weather.

I am not sure if it was just our party - most of all me - that were completely confused for at least the first 3 days of the cruise. I am disabled and it impacts my mobility and memory/clarity of thought at times and limits how much I can do in a day. I found it very difficult to get information on food and figure out where certain things were located. Really think NCL could have better signage. On some floors they had the ship map near the elevators but on some they did not. Plus signage for certain places were overly discrete or nonexistent. It took me 30 minutes to find Le Bistro. And the Atrium is a crazy mess with so many things going on and I really think Guest Services could use a sign.

Just returned from a week on the Gem. My advice is to research and plan!!!

Not sure if you have sailed on NCL before or not. I had not and the Freestyle Dining really threw me for a loop! Really meals/food on the Gem were a major source of frustration and I wish I had done more research before the cruise.

First, the ship's layout is a bit convoluted - and even worse in my mind was inadequate signage and difficulty getting information. The ship has A LOT of restaurant options but I often struggled to get an adequate meal.

First, breakfast - I love breakfast and think it's a meal cruise ships do well. But I am not an early riser and so missed out on too many. There really weren't a lot of options (Garden Cafe Buffet, Pacific dining room and some limited choices available for free room service. All close at 10 am, even on sea day and if you miss it, good luck as you're not eating until lunch. As for the meals themselves I give high marks to the Garden Buffet, plenty of yummy options from good melons & other fruit to great sausage to multiple omelet stations (which keeps things moving) to a wide selection of breakfast carbs, large cereal selection (more limited from other sources), lots of bread products and sweets. But finding a table can be a challenge and the seating is area ia long and narrow and you can end up quite a ways from the buffet itself. The mornings I could make it I was very happy with what I got to eat. The free room service options are limited but I liked the fresh fruit bowl and mini-crossaints were great. The coffee not so much. Had breakfast one in the Pacific dining room - very disappointing!! Service was so slow and much of the food exactly the same is the buffet.