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Norwegian Gem

Norwegian Cruise Line®

Overview Statistics Services Staterooms Deck Plans Ship Reviews

Ship Reviews

Overall Rating

Based on 27 reviews

Submit your review Cruise reviews reflect the opinions of travel editors and cruisers/ readers and may not represent those of our company.

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NCL Gem

July

Pros: Staff very friendly and helpful

Cons: More variety in some food choices

Recommended: Yes

Overall NCL does a great job.

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All in all a pleasure to sail on!

August

Pros: Food, Cleanliness, Beds, Shower

Cons: Entertainment, room toilets

Recommended: Yes

Loved the inner cabin, best cruise beds, pillows and showers ever. While main shows were very good, rest of entertainment lacking. Toilet in inside cabin mounted inches from a wall, had to sit sideways! Effi store service rude, unusual for Effi. Ship itself nice, very clean.

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Ncl

August

Pros: Well organized. Shows were good.

Cons: Excursions are too expensive and was rushed for time.

Recommended: Yes

The ship was nice not too big and not too small. Excursion were way too expensive and had a hard time understanding some of them.

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NCL for the win

January

Pros: Courteous Staff , Great Food always available

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

NCL has always gone above & beyond to do their best to make your vacation awesome.

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NCL for the win

January

Pros: Courteous Staff , Great Food always available

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

NCL has always gone above & beyond to do their best to make your vacation awesome.

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Norwegian Gem - Canada

October

Pros: Cruised with a group of friends

Cons: Cruise started in New York City & was supposed to return in NYC but ended up we had to take a plane back home from Quebec City.

Recommended: Yes

Staff was helpful. Cruise ship was clean but bathroom in stateroom smelled.

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Norwegian Gem

October

Pros: Good shows

Cons: Dining

Recommended: Yes

Food was good but service was very slow in dining rooms. Speciality dining was very nice.

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Norwegian Gem is wonderful!

September

Pros: Great experience

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

This cruise exceeded expectations - staff was very friendly

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my favorite ship

October

Pros: love everything about this ship

Cons: not enough time on board

Recommended: Yes

the friendliest crew and staff out there,the cleanest ship i have been on.so much to do they keep you busy all day long.the best shows.you can't go wrong booking a cruise on the gem.I am sailing on the gem again on 10/31/17 & again on 10/28/18 ( 6th cruise on the gem) I'M HOOKED !!

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Norwegian Gem

October

Pros: The ship had everything it could offer

Cons: The ship was smaller then I expected

Recommended: Yes

I enjoyed my travel every year with the Aquafest Team , this year I got to experience The Norwegian Gem and so far it has exceeded my dreams , so far it has been the best experience than any other cruise line that I have been on.

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Great cruise!

October

Pros: Great food, great service, great entertainment.

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

It was overall a great experience. I definitely recommend taking this cruise.

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Great on board service and Food experience....Poor On board entertainment

October

Pros: Room Service was great.

Cons: NCL on board entertainment was subpar

Recommended: Yes

Last year we took a 10 day cruise on NCL's Sun, the ship it self was the worst cruise ship we have ever been aboard, however the entertainment was exceptional great. We watched the Whitney impersonator (Jade and Samuel) twice.

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fun time on a mostly nice ship

November

Pros: Many excellent restaurant meals, enthusiastic and mostly friendly staff

Cons: O'Sheeans restaurant - poor, unfriendly, non attentative customer service

Recommended: Yes

Had a very nice experience on the Gem, with the exception of O'Sheeans. At every other venue, restaurant, bar, lounge, buffet, stores, etc, staff was very attentive, friendly and happy to see you. Unfortunately at the 24/7 restaurant, we felt like we were not enthusiastically welcomed or appreciated. Service was slow and un-attentive. We were even told we could not have a drink because the bar was closed. I wanted to take a hamburger up to my tired spouse and was informed that I could not do that because it was not allowed. Fortunately the rest of the ship staff made up for this. The staff at this 24/7 restaurant need to take customer service lessons from the rest of the crew!

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Excellent

October

Pros: ALL the members of the tean are very willing to help and please , Lori is so nice!

Cons: NOting

Recommended: Yes

We already booked for next year,, and can't wait.. We are going on another gay group cruise in a couple of weeks. Several of our friends are meeting us there, I have brochures from Aquafest and will be sharing it with them,,, in hopes to having them become part of Aquafest family

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The Gem in the Caribbean

November

Pros: The updated areas are attractive

Cons: The photo department still struggled with keeping up with photos.

Recommended: Yes

The Garden Resturant which is Always busy because it's convenient struggled keeping the food Hot and made Desserts attractive instead of tasting Good.

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Norwegian Gem

October

Pros: Beatutifully refurbished ship. Food was excellant.

Cons: Cruise director.

Recommended: Yes

A fantastic ship. Wonderful staff. Many food options. Wide variety of flavors.

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Fantastic Time on the Gem

November

Pros: Service was outstanding, as usual

Cons: Cannot think of any.

Recommended: Yes

With all the Aquafest activities and parties onboard, along with the shore excursions, there is very little time to do anything else except try and get cat naps in, as the events are always so much fun! Unfortunately there were a few events that I missed as I had too much fun in the ones before and the cat nap turned into just a need for sleep. Not complaining! Between NCL and Aquafest, the cruise was outstanding and fun!

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A Fine Trip

November

Pros: Clean & Efficient

Cons: Questionable bar service

Recommended: Yes

Having a Complete beverage package which I used lightly; Maybe 3 per day, I find I had to solicit service in almost all the venues of the ship. I think I was asked approx. 3 times during the 7 days if I wished a cocktail. On most other ships, they drive you nuts with bar service.

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My anniversary cruise on the Norwegian Gem

May

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

loved the cruise only little negative thing was our room was small, and the bathroom was just way too small.next time I will look for a larger room. but everything else was fantastic. food was excellent and the ship was very clean and well kept. I would definitely go on the gem again.

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Canada & Maine

September

Pros: Cleanliness of ship, good entertainment & friendliness of staff

Cons: Quality of food in buffet & dining rooms, cabins too small

Recommended: Yes

Good food preparation in Specialty Restaurants & O'Sheehan's Pub

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Freestyle is for me !

September

Pros: Having the freedom to do what I wanted everyday.

Cons: non!!

Recommended: Yes

The ship, staff, food & entertainment was excellent! From the time we got on board- Every one of the staff went out of the way to make us feel welcome. We discovered a wine that is awesome- North & South by Norwegian Cruise line. Perfect for listening to live music.

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Gem of a trip

March

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

All in all the trip was wonderful and after staying 5 days in New York City the cost of the 9 days on the Gem was a bargain with wonderful entertainment and delicious food. We enjoyed the two days out at sea and the two days coming back at sea to relax and unwind.

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Norwgian Gem

February

Pros: Great entertainment

Cons: Too much time at sea

Recommended: Yes

Great cruise

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Totally enjoyable cruise on Norwegian Gem

December

Pros: Well-run, very clean, well-maintained ship. Pleasant, professional staff. Freestyle dining. Spa.

Cons: Nothing.

Recommended: Yes

Along with the excellent staff, the ship's spic-and-span cleanliness and general air of efficiency set the tone for a wonderful cruise. Perhaps because the purpose of our cruise was R&R, we especially appreciated the relaxed quality of the freestyle dining and casual dress code. Even at the general food venues, the food was fine. We joined the spa for the week and loved it. Very relaxing and well run. Cruise director Dan Dan was wonderful; the entertainment was good; and the ports were fine. All in all, a winner.

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December Cruirse on Norwegian Gem

December

Pros: Very polite staff, Very good food with a large variety on the menus.

Cons: N/A

Recommended: Yes

We had a very nice trip with a relaxed atmosphere on board

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US New England & Canada FAll Cruise

September

Pros: Most of the tours were good

Cons: NOt enogh time given for photographing on bus scenic tours

Recommended: Yes

Was colder than expected, but a journey in itself.

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Overall Good Experience

May

Pros: Activities for the kids was a big plus. Ship was very clean and rooms were very good

Cons: Over crowding in the pool area on at sea days. They also held a lot of activities in the pool area that made it worse.Also the food had very little variety from day to day. Out of the the 5 in this tier (RC,P,C,HA,N which we travel all of them) I rank Norweign at the bottom

Recommended: Yes

Overall a good experience especially for the kids. We had my daughter and her husband and 3 grandkids (8,6,2) and had connecting mini-suite rooms. We had the oldest in our room and the connecting rooms worked out terrific!!! The staff was very friendly but at times i found they not very informative when asked a question about thier specific function. Also our oldest grandsone has peanut & egg food allergy and had a food consultant layout his meals every day in the main dinning areas. Eating outside those areas we needed to talk to the supervisor or the chef to ensure there were no issues with what he was going to eat. This was GREAT!!!... Also enrolled the 2 older boys in Splash Acedemy and that keep them busy on sea day. Youngest was to young but was able to attend Flipper sessions..

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Norwegian Gem  |  Cruises

7-night Canada & New England Cruise: Portland & Bar Harbor — 10/17/2025 — CALL

5-night Bahamas Cruise: Great Stirrup Cay & Nassau — 12/21/2025 — from $560

5-night Bahamas Cruise: Great Stirrup Cay & Nassau — 02/28/2026 — from $570

7-night Mediterranean Cruise: Italy & France — 05/10/2026 — CALL

7-night Mediterranean Cruise: Italy, Croatia & Greece — 07/12/2026 — from $1,139

7-night Greek Isles Cruise: Italy, Greece & Croatia — 09/13/2026 — from $1,009

7-night Greek Isles Cruise: Santorini, Olympia & Croatia — 05/09/2027 — from $1,379

7-night Greek Isles Cruise: Santorini, Mykonos & Croatia — 07/11/2027 — from $1,509

7-night Greek Isles Cruise: Santorini, Olympia & Croatia — 09/12/2027 — from $1,489

View all 78 Norwegian Gem Cruise Offers...

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