Gem Review: 10/10/15

[xxxyyz]

Five of us traveled together to celebrate 70th Birthdays for 3 of us (plus 2 spouses). This was our 2nd Norwegian cruise (the Pearl 2/1/2 years ago) and the first for the rest. We are not your typical cruisers since we are not there to drink, gamble, shop, or hang out at beaches during port stops. We are on limited incomes so this was a big splurge for most of us and we chose to avoid extra costs wherever possible. So, I expect we are not NCL’s target customers

While we had a nice time (the Pros come later), I became weary of EVERY activity prefaced with "are you having a good time/fun?”, the constant "sell, sell, sell" of everything from shopping to art auctions and bingo cards /lottery tix, and constantly being asked to "put your hands together" (maybe they can on occasionally come up with less hackneyed expressions).

 

Other things that got old fast: having to exit the theater through the smoke-choked casino, jokes about stateroom toilet flushing, and the VERY cheesy production numbers with the Gem singers and dancers. Unimaginative choreography. I was especially disappointed in the “World Beat” production which I understood would be a review of different kinds of percussion. That would have been interesting. Instead, we saw the most stereotypical costumes and dance numbers.

The MDR meals were so so – with some exceptions such as the crème brulees, the sacher torte, watermelon salad but really not much that was memorable. I like my meat cooked medium-rare, but learned I had to order it rare and then it still emerged barely pink. Really had problems with the chicken, which was invariably dry. The “chicken kiev” was actually inedible and had to be returned. It had zero moisture inside (not a hint of butter as it should have). I did complain and got a nice assortment of chocolate-covered fruits and a visit from the chef at a subsequent dining experience, which was nice but the chicken served afterwards was still dry.

We actually preferred the buffet since we could try various items and find what we liked. The roast meats could be good although the roast pig (which we expected more of since it came was presented with the head) lacked taste. The Indian food was good as were the crepes served at night. My friend liked the burgers cooked to her taste (not mine). My friends especially liked the quality of the lighter fare available at the Great Outdoors –served during the in-between hours (approx. 3 to 5 pm) and (9:30 to 11pm) and yes, they often had cookies then.

One other poor experience was our only meal at Sheehan’s. Four of us were seated at a small table. One person received his appetizer 15-20 minutes before the rest of us. Then they brought out the rest of the apps along with ALL the entrees at the same time. There was barely room for the apps on the table much less the entrees. When we complained, the head waiter (we think who that was) chided us for expecting the food to be served in courses and explained that everything at Sheehan’s was a la carte. But, even he had to admit there was no room so they put our entrees aside and they got cold (especially the pot pie) when there was finally room to serve them.

We had gotten a dining promo and expected it would offer us 5 specialty meals, but once the 18% gratuities were charged, we only had 4 specialty meals. La Cucina was our least favorite: gummy pasta with overcooked lobster, salty soup, etc. – although people did like the Caesar salad there and the bread was the best on the cruise.

We were also kind of miffed because we got nothing from our PCC – not even a bottle of wine (which we received on our first cruise) even though we were responsible for 2 additional staterooms booked. He did make a big deal about providing a Birthday cake for one of our friends who was celebrating her actual Birthday during the cruise. But as it turned out the so-called “Cake” (served at La Cucina) was actually only a larg–ish piece of cake –not a whole Cake at all.

One other frustration was the Birthday package I bought as a surprise for my friend:

1. I expected that her stateroom would be decorated on her actual Birthday but only after I purchased it, was I told that it would be decorated at the start of the trip which was a full week before her Birthday. Not so much of a surprise.

2. When I asked for confirmation of purchase of the Birthday package, I was shocked to learn that I could get no confirmation because the order was added to her account – even though I wanted it to be a surprise. I was told that this was the policy. So, -- no confirmation for the purchase on my amenities invoice and no surprise if she chose to view her invoice before the trip. Weird!

3. My friend is a chocoholic so I expected to be able to choose a chocolate cake but apparently that is no longer available as an option though it was at one time.

So, those were the negatives, but there was a lot of good stuff, too. The staff was mostly excellent. Loved our steward, Ryan – a real sweetheart. There was one darling young waiter who was working the buffet and Great Outdoors during breakfast who was extraordinary – falling all over himself to serve us.

The stateroom (we had a balcony) was small, but very efficiently laid out. We over packed (as usual for us) but had plenty of storage space and all the suitcases fit underneath the bed. We slept wonderfully (my husband has a bad back and usually complains) and the linens were excellent as well. The shower and temperature is beautifully regulated.

We enjoyed 3 of the 4 specialty restaurants we tried. The Brazilian was the biggest hit. Terrific and unusual salad bar items and the meat kept coming. Could have been a bit more rare for me, but everyone else enjoyed the meat – except the chicken which we didn’t care for. We liked Le Bistro. Favs were the mushroom soup, the scallop app, but the real star was the Chocolate Napoleon dessert. Outstanding! And Cagney’s was terrific. Favs there were the short rib confit, the baked potato soup (lovely – not as heavy as it sounds), the steaks and lamb chops, the gratin potatoes, the crème brulee.

Two of my friends had the spa package and loved it though they didn’t find the staff there particularly helpful. The constant upselling of products and services was tiresome.

As for entertainment… We were disappointed in the 3 evening entertainment productions by the ship’s singer and dancers – uninspired and kind of garish (we thought they had been much better on the Pearl). One of the male singers was quite good and the others were just OK, but the sound system was blaring. My husband is an audiophile and he could hardly bear it, it sounded so distorted. I agreed that the sound could have been much better calibrated.

The comedian (Jeff Harms) wasn’t bad though his wasn’t our favorite brand of humor. The juggler-comedian was entertaining. We enjoyed Second City quite a bit, but wanted more of them. The only other option was a lunch performance for a fee, which was sold out before we even knew about it and a late night adults only improv which conflicted with other entertainment options. On the Pearl, 2nd City had daytime performances which were great. The magician had 2-3 terrific tricks, but in between his patter went on and on and on -- very boring. As others have noted, the acrobat team (Rebecca and Phillipe) was phenomenal – by far, the best of all the main stage performances.

But, my favorite entertainer of all was Leo. Too bad that we only discovered him toward the end of the cruise. He is really very talented. He is one of those performers that you appreciate more and more, the more you hear him. One of my friends and I became belated Leo groupies. He was really the stand-out of the cruise for us.

We enjoyed all the ports. There was a $10 one-hour tour of Old San Juan, which was offered as we exited the ship and it was a terrific value. We spent the rest of our time exploring OSJ on foot and it was charming. And it was so convenient to walk downhill directly back to the ship.

In St. Thomas, we had planned a personal tour for 4 of us with Dean’s Taxi and Tour Service. Dean was great – customized a 2-hour informative tour of the island for 4 of us and was very accommodating. He dropped us off in Charlotte Amalie for lunch and picked us up later for a stop to buy liquor at Kmart (considered one of the cheapest sources) and then directly back to the ship.

In St. Maarten, we grabbed a cab to Marigot on the French side of the island. Unfortunately, Seraphina’s bakery was closed for repairs but there were a few other French bakeries open. Really felt like a foreign country: French spoken, Euros, other cultural differences. We took local transportation (very cheap to Grand Case) and had a wonderful grilled lunch at a lolo.

We negotiated a special deal with a taxi driver in Tortola and had a wonderful 3-hour tour of the most scenic of the islands we visited.

[jethrojam]

Thank you for the review. We are going in 2017 on the gem. Can't wait:)

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your review.

 

Keith

[Adele1]

Good balanced review. From what I have read La Cucina is not worth it

& I have better Italian restos where I live.

 

Last time I was in Tortola they were building so hope to see more on my

Feb 2016 cruise. Your tip about taking a taxi tour sounds fun...did you

get to stop anywhere that you would recommend for a visitor??

[newcruiser48]

Thanks for your review. I'll be on my third Gem sailing in a few weeks. Leo is my favorite! I've only ever eaten at LeBistro, and plan on it again, if only for the escargot.

I'm trying to remember if the theater has entry/exit on a level opposite the casino, to avoid the smoke. I hate walking through there.

 

Happy Birthday(s)!

[firstprincesscruise]

Thanks for your review. I'll be on my third Gem sailing in a few weeks. Leo is my favorite! I've only ever eaten at LeBistro, and plan on it again, if only for the escargot.

I'm trying to remember if the theater has entry/exit on a level opposite the casino, to avoid the smoke. I hate walking through there.

 

Happy Birthday(s)!

 

If I remember correctly from our Gem cruise 3 years ago you could enter the theatre on deck 7. That gives you entry to the balcony but if I remember correctly you can walk down from there to the main seating. The casino entrance is on deck 6.

[emcelh]

If I remember correctly from our Gem cruise 3 years ago you could enter the theatre on deck 7. That gives you entry to the balcony but if I remember correctly you can walk down from there to the main seating. The casino entrance is on deck 6.

 

Correct

[boopsahoy]

If I remember correctly from our Gem cruise 3 years ago you could enter the theatre on deck 7. That gives you entry to the balcony but if I remember correctly you can walk down from there to the main seating. The casino entrance is on deck 6.

 

That is correct!

 

We love Leo! He has a lovely voice and he is a really great guitar player. He has been on the Gem for years! And yes he has groupies!:D

[dshefter]

Excellent review. Balanced.

 

We sail on the Gem in 2 1/2 months and looking forward to the renovations from the dry dock.

[hypercafe]

We were on the same trip and also had a good trip, glad you did too.

[xxxyyz]

Good balanced review. From what I have read La Cucina is not worth it

& I have better Italian restos where I live.

 

Last time I was in Tortola they were building so hope to see more on my

Feb 2016 cruise. Your tip about taking a taxi tour sounds fun...did you

get to stop anywhere that you would recommend for a visitor??

 

We enjoyed our stop at the very old Callwood rum distillery in Cane Garden Bay. Our trip back to the port ran along a ridge that offered a lovely scenic view of both coasts of the island. Spectacular.

[travelady65]

Five of us traveled together to celebrate 70th Birthdays for 3 of us (plus 2 spouses). This was our 2nd Norwegian cruise (the Pearl 2/1/2 years ago) and the first for the rest. We are not your typical cruisers since we are not there to drink, gamble, shop, or hang out at beaches during port stops. We are on limited incomes so this was a big splurge for most of us and we chose to avoid extra costs wherever possible. So, I expect we are not NCL’s target customers

While we had a nice time (the Pros come later), I became weary of EVERY activity prefaced with "are you having a good time/fun?”, the constant "sell, sell, sell" of everything from shopping to art auctions and bingo cards /lottery tix, and constantly being asked to "put your hands together" (maybe they can on occasionally come up with less hackneyed expressions).

 

Other things that got old fast: having to exit the theater through the smoke-choked casino, jokes about stateroom toilet flushing, and the VERY cheesy production numbers with the Gem singers and dancers. Unimaginative choreography. I was especially disappointed in the “World Beat” production which I understood would be a review of different kinds of percussion. That would have been interesting. Instead, we saw the most stereotypical costumes and dance numbers.

The MDR meals were so so – with some exceptions such as the crème brulees, the sacher torte, watermelon salad but really not much that was memorable. I like my meat cooked medium-rare, but learned I had to order it rare and then it still emerged barely pink. Really had problems with the chicken, which was invariably dry. The “chicken kiev” was actually inedible and had to be returned. It had zero moisture inside (not a hint of butter as it should have). I did complain and got a nice assortment of chocolate-covered fruits and a visit from the chef at a subsequent dining experience, which was nice but the chicken served afterwards was still dry.

We actually preferred the buffet since we could try various items and find what we liked. The roast meats could be good although the roast pig (which we expected more of since it came was presented with the head) lacked taste. The Indian food was good as were the crepes served at night. My friend liked the burgers cooked to her taste (not mine). My friends especially liked the quality of the lighter fare available at the Great Outdoors –served during the in-between hours (approx. 3 to 5 pm) and (9:30 to 11pm) and yes, they often had cookies then.

One other poor experience was our only meal at Sheehan’s. Four of us were seated at a small table. One person received his appetizer 15-20 minutes before the rest of us. Then they brought out the rest of the apps along with ALL the entrees at the same time. There was barely room for the apps on the table much less the entrees. When we complained, the head waiter (we think who that was) chided us for expecting the food to be served in courses and explained that everything at Sheehan’s was a la carte. But, even he had to admit there was no room so they put our entrees aside and they got cold (especially the pot pie) when there was finally room to serve them.

We had gotten a dining promo and expected it would offer us 5 specialty meals, but once the 18% gratuities were charged, we only had 4 specialty meals. La Cucina was our least favorite: gummy pasta with overcooked lobster, salty soup, etc. – although people did like the Caesar salad there and the bread was the best on the cruise.

We were also kind of miffed because we got nothing from our PCC – not even a bottle of wine (which we received on our first cruise) even though we were responsible for 2 additional staterooms booked. He did make a big deal about providing a Birthday cake for one of our friends who was celebrating her actual Birthday during the cruise. But as it turned out the so-called “Cake” (served at La Cucina) was actually only a larg–ish piece of cake –not a whole Cake at all.

One other frustration was the Birthday package I bought as a surprise for my friend:

1. I expected that her stateroom would be decorated on her actual Birthday but only after I purchased it, was I told that it would be decorated at the start of the trip which was a full week before her Birthday. Not so much of a surprise.

2. When I asked for confirmation of purchase of the Birthday package, I was shocked to learn that I could get no confirmation because the order was added to her account – even though I wanted it to be a surprise. I was told that this was the policy. So, -- no confirmation for the purchase on my amenities invoice and no surprise if she chose to view her invoice before the trip. Weird!

3. My friend is a chocoholic so I expected to be able to choose a chocolate cake but apparently that is no longer available as an option though it was at one time.

So, those were the negatives, but there was a lot of good stuff, too. The staff was mostly excellent. Loved our steward, Ryan – a real sweetheart. There was one darling young waiter who was working the buffet and Great Outdoors during breakfast who was extraordinary – falling all over himself to serve us.

The stateroom (we had a balcony) was small, but very efficiently laid out. We over packed (as usual for us) but had plenty of storage space and all the suitcases fit underneath the bed. We slept wonderfully (my husband has a bad back and usually complains) and the linens were excellent as well. The shower and temperature is beautifully regulated.

We enjoyed 3 of the 4 specialty restaurants we tried. The Brazilian was the biggest hit. Terrific and unusual salad bar items and the meat kept coming. Could have been a bit more rare for me, but everyone else enjoyed the meat – except the chicken which we didn’t care for. We liked Le Bistro. Favs were the mushroom soup, the scallop app, but the real star was the Chocolate Napoleon dessert. Outstanding! And Cagney’s was terrific. Favs there were the short rib confit, the baked potato soup (lovely – not as heavy as it sounds), the steaks and lamb chops, the gratin potatoes, the crème brulee.

Two of my friends had the spa package and loved it though they didn’t find the staff there particularly helpful. The constant upselling of products and services was tiresome.

As for entertainment… We were disappointed in the 3 evening entertainment productions by the ship’s singer and dancers – uninspired and kind of garish (we thought they had been much better on the Pearl). One of the male singers was quite good and the others were just OK, but the sound system was blaring. My husband is an audiophile and he could hardly bear it, it sounded so distorted. I agreed that the sound could have been much better calibrated.

The comedian (Jeff Harms) wasn’t bad though his wasn’t our favorite brand of humor. The juggler-comedian was entertaining. We enjoyed Second City quite a bit, but wanted more of them. The only other option was a lunch performance for a fee, which was sold out before we even knew about it and a late night adults only improv which conflicted with other entertainment options. On the Pearl, 2nd City had daytime performances which were great. The magician had 2-3 terrific tricks, but in between his patter went on and on and on -- very boring. As others have noted, the acrobat team (Rebecca and Phillipe) was phenomenal – by far, the best of all the main stage performances.

But, my favorite entertainer of all was Leo. Too bad that we only discovered him toward the end of the cruise. He is really very talented. He is one of those performers that you appreciate more and more, the more you hear him. One of my friends and I became belated Leo groupies. He was really the stand-out of the cruise for us.

We enjoyed all the ports. There was a $10 one-hour tour of Old San Juan, which was offered as we exited the ship and it was a terrific value. We spent the rest of our time exploring OSJ on foot and it was charming. And it was so convenient to walk downhill directly back to the ship.

In St. Thomas, we had planned a personal tour for 4 of us with Dean’s Taxi and Tour Service. Dean was great – customized a 2-hour informative tour of the island for 4 of us and was very accommodating. He dropped us off in Charlotte Amalie for lunch and picked us up later for a stop to buy liquor at Kmart (considered one of the cheapest sources) and then directly back to the ship.

In St. Maarten, we grabbed a cab to Marigot on the French side of the island. Unfortunately, Seraphina’s bakery was closed for repairs but there were a few other French bakeries open. Really felt like a foreign country: French spoken, Euros, other cultural differences. We took local transportation (very cheap to Grand Case) and had a wonderful grilled lunch at a lolo.

We negotiated a special deal with a taxi driver in Tortola and had a wonderful 3-hour tour of the most scenic of the islands we visited.

 

Hi i am going on the Gem this month November 23, 2015 sailing...my question is when you docked in St. Thomas, at what pier did the Gem dock at? Reason is i want to do a Day Beach Pass to a Hotel....but i dont want to spend alot in taxi fare geting there and back to the port....I have been to St. Thomas numerous amounts of times and we always docked at Havensight Pier.... would apreciate hearing back from you....

[hypercafe]

That's where we tied up

 

Sent from my SM-T320 using Forums mobile app

[xxxyyz]

Yes. Haversight in St. Thomas.