Norwegian Gem has certainly matured in the less than four years since she entered service in late 2007. Gone is the “It Girl” hype that surrounded her launch. In its place is a very solid cruise experience at a reasonable price.
The first thing that I noticed about the Gem when I sailed on her recently was how happy the crew seemed to be. Everyone was friendly and seemed to enjoy going about their work. Both Gem’s captain Roger Gustavsen and her Hotel Director Steve Jacobsen confided to me that ensuring that the crew is happy is a top priority. A happy crew makes for happy guests. They clearly seemed to be right.
Another thing that was underscored during my cruise on Gem was just how good the ship is technologically. Gem cruises out of New York in the winter. For many years, the common wisdom was that the sea conditions off the East Coast of the United States were just too difficult for a cruise ship in the winter. NCL proved the common wisdom wrong when it based Norwegian Dawn in New York year round in the early years of this century. The Gem, which was built by the same shipyard as the Dawn and which is a more advanced design had no difficulty.
Gem gave another example of her abilities while we were in the Bahamas. The itinerary called for the ship to go overnight from NCL’s private island Great Stirrup Cay to Nassau on New Providence island - - not a great distance. The plan had been for the ship to drift slowly overnight from one island to the next. However, a medical emergency arose and Captain Gustavsen put the Gem up to full speed. In the public rooms, one could not feel a thing. However, standing on the outdoor promenade, one could see the water whipping by. The ship can do more than 26 knots. Gem arrived in Nassau at 11 that night rather than her scheduled time of eight the next morning.
Several guests mentioned to me during the cruise, how impressed they were with the food on the Gem. This was not just in the specialty restaurants but also in the complimentary venues as well. More about the food on the Gem in a subsequent posting.
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NCL has two ships based in New York. However, I could detect no rivalry between them. While Gem’s officers were able to articulate why their product was better than other cruise lines ships, they said the experience was just the same on the Jewel.
Beyondships’ profile of the Gem has been updated and expanded with new daily programs, new menus and other new information about the Gem. It is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-Profile.html The photo tour of the ship has also been expanded with many new photos of the ship’s interior. http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-Tour-1.html There is also a new photo essay with new exterior photos of Gem. http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-Photos-Bahamas.html Finally, there are interviews with Captain Gustavsen http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-captain.html and Hotel Director Jacobsen. http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-interview-HD.html
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