Newly Renovated GEM Review?

[dongordon]

Has anyone recently returned from the newly Renovated GEM and can give us a review of your cruise?

 

Thank you

Don

[mizLORInj]

I second this!

 

I am hoping someone starts a new thread with pics of the newly (mostly?) re-done Gem.

[psupa]

I just bumped up my post and just did a short review of my thoughts of the Gem

[dongordon]

I just bumped up my post and just did a short review of my thoughts of the Gem

 

How were the renovations?

Did the ship appear "new?"

 

How were the Specialty Restaurants?

 

How was the entertainment....anything a "not to be missed?"

 

Did you hear anything about the children's programs?

 

How did the M&G go?

 

Thanks for any information you could provide. :)

Don

[psupa]

How were the renovations?

Did the ship appear "new?"

 

How were the Specialty Restaurants?

 

How was the entertainment....anything a "not to be missed?"

 

Did you hear anything about the children's programs?

 

How did the M&G go?

 

Thanks for any information you could provide. :)

Don

 

Here's a short review and I can't comment on the Children's program or specialty restaurants since we don't use them. I hope this helps you.

 

We just returned from the Gem yesterday and had an absolutely wonderful time on a great ship with a great group of cruise critic folk, and the slots pulls where a hoot. It was so nice meeting many of you and hope our paths cross again.

 

The ship is really nice since it's dry dock with many areas that were renovated; the Crystal Atrium with it's new chandelier, new carpeting and furniture, the Bliss Lounge all redone with new furniture and carpet (the bowling lanes are gone). The Spinnaker Lounge looks great with the new furniture and blue carpet that looks like it's moving when you walk. Of course O'Sheehan's on Deck 8 open 24/7 is absolutely wonderful with it's menu for breakfast, lunch and late night snacks.

 

We had cabin 8594 with an obstructed view and the location was perfect for us since my DH uses a walker. The carpeting in our room was new.

 

The Gem is a great ship with a wonderful crew and you can tell many were new to the ship. No complaints from us for the service we received in the dining room, lounges, our stateroom attendant and anywhere else on the ship. We thought the food was very good and we only ate in the MDRs or at O'Sheehan's. Did not try the buffet (I try to avoid them) and when I walked through it was just too crowded and we don't do any specialty restaurant.

 

There was some very nice entertainment throughout the ship. the Production shows were very good and Carlos on piano and Pedro on guitar were very good and a fun time. They also had NFL football on the big screen in the Atrium. Can't help with the pool area since we really aren't pool people.

 

Now for some observations:

The smoke in the casino is horrible. You can't even walk through without smelling like a cigarette. Apparently there is no non-smoking area, but I was told there are slot machine in the Bliss Lounge, but they were not on. Lucky for me I didn't spend much time there because of this so I saved money.

 

The theater: The seating in the theater for handicapped and disabled passengers is terrible; there just isn't enough seating without having to climb down steps and the seats are very low and many seem to be broken or you feel like you are sitting downhill.

 

Now for the negative: We had an absolutely awful disembarkation from the Gem. We need to use the wheel chair assistance and this is where NCL fails miserably. It was in my opinion the worst debark we have ever experienced. They just did not have enough personnel to assist passengers and we waited over 2 hours and we were a few of the last people off the ship. When we finally got into the terminal there were no porters, so we had to wait for them to get porters from outside. This is totally unacceptable.

 

They had made 2 announcement on the ship that all passengers needed to disembark. I want to know how they think we were going to do that without assistance. There were 4 wheelchairs folded up along the rail and we were given some lame excuse that they are only allowed to have so many of their personnel off the ship at one time. This is total BS because on other cruise lines we have had no problems.

[dongordon]

Thanks so much.

Sorry to hear about some of your issues, but glad you were still able to enjoy your cruise.

 

Greatly appreciated....hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. :)

 

Don

[Liven42day]

I know there's a page on fb. Norwegian Gem Renovation November 13, 2015. I don't know how to share them here, but the ship looks gorgeous, we are so excited, cruising soon on her

[jleslie48]

I just got notification that my full review was posted on this site. A duplicate with more pictures is available at cruiseline dot com

 

I am a very big fan of the Gem, and was worried that the Gem would be ruined with the refit (based on what I've seen has been done on their newer mega-ships.) In short the Germ is the same old Gem, and if anything the changes are for the better.

 

The thing that makes the gem so glorious is the way it can disperse the crowd of guests. Very rarely on the ship are you aware that there are 2600 guests.

 

My cruise was the first after the re-fit, in fact, you could still smell the not-finished cured carpet glue in some areas, and the embarkation was a bit muddled if you got there late. We got to the gate at 11:00 and were on the ship by 11:30 and seated for lunch at 12:15. the loading and leaving NY was delayed almost 3 hours: From what I was told this had more to do with the fact that the ship was bone dry of supplies as it was just coming out of dry-dock and they need to re-stock a lot more supplies that normal. this should not be an issue now.

Edited December 3, 2015 by jleslie48