Norwegian Cruise Line Review: Family Travel Aboard the Norwegian Gem

The Love Boat was one of my favorite childhood shows so its no surprise I’m a fan of traveling aboard the high seas. Cruises are a great fit for family travel and my recent trip aboard the Norwegian Gem was a perfect choice for a multi-generational getaway I took with my mom and daughter. Below is my Norwegian Cruise Line review from our sailing to Florida and the Bahamas aboard the Norwegian Gem. (Also check out part 2 of this story: Top 10 Cool Things for Families on Norwegian Cruise Lines)

Since our week-long cruise departed from New York City, getting onboard was a piece of cake. No long taxi rides to the airport, no overwhelming security lines and no waiting! Your luggage is magically transported to your cabin from the curb and after a quick check in, you and your family are on the ship and free to enjoy the facilities. I’ve taken cruises from Miami (with and without my daughter) and leaving from NYC was a nice stress-free way to start our vacation. The only disadvantage (which I didn’t realize until I started packing) is that the first and last couple of days will not be so warm outside during the winter months.

Norwegian Cruise Line offers Freestyle Cruising which means travelers can do as much or as little as they want.

For dining, there are no set dinner schedules so you can eat whenever, wherever.  You will never go hungry since the ship offers around-the-clock dining with a choice of buffets, a la carte dining options, specialty restaurants and room service. This is a huge plus for families since you can choose to dine together or separately and kids can eat as much or as little as they want. There are indoor and outdoor restaurants as well as a dedicated kid’s cafe in the Garden Cafe where my daughter begged to sit every day. The buffet options were varied and a great way to introduce my daughter to some new foods while the sit-down restaurants offered dedicated kids menus and waitstaff who doted on my daughter at every meal.

I’m always wary of cleanliness on cruises so I was happy to see several staff members cleaning the ship throughout the day.  In addition, every time you left or entered a restaurant, you were greeted by a “washy washy” hostess spraying hand sanitizer.  My daughter loved running up to them chanting a little “washy washy, happy happy, smiley smiley” greeting with them.  It was very cute and I felt good knowing germs were being kept at bay.

Our cabin had a nice balcony and pull out sofa bed and although the space is relatively small, I was happy to see that there was plenty of room for our clothes, toiletries and my daughter’s toys.

Some families like to just relax while others like to stay busy and the Norwegian Gem offered plenty of options.  There are several sundecks (including a fabulous quiet zone), pools and kiddie pool area, hot tubs, a water slide, Pulse Fitness Center, casino and outdoor activities like shuffleboard, ping pong, chess, a running track and a sports court. If you’re looking for a little relaxation, try the gorgeous Mandara Spa and Salon, library, game room, internet cafe and several lounge areas. The ship offers a choice of family friendly and grown-up activities all day long and shows every evening so you will never run out of things to do. Stay tuned for a post on my favorite family friendly things aboard the Norwegian Gem.

One of the highlights of our trip was the complimentary Splash Academy kids program. Programing is based on children’s ages and my daughter loved her time in the 3-5 year old Turtles group.  She enjoyed arts and crafts projects, games, story telling, face painting and special parties.  At registration, kids get a schedule of the week’s activities so they can plan their vacation activities out. Be sure to ask the staff about special character visits which are not always on the schedule. If your kids are night owls, you’ll be excited to know that Splash Academy is open as late at 1:30 am!

I was really impressed with the Splash Academy staff and how well they got to know the kids over the week. My daughter can sometimes be shy with new people but as soon as the counselor started telling me that my daughter told her all about her “hilarious kindergarten boyfriend” I knew she felt very at home. It was nice to see the counselors interact with the kids at various family friendly activities throughout the week like cupcake decorating classes and balloon twisting lessons with Bubba and poolside parties with Milo.

In addition to the Splash Academy activities, Norwegian Cruise Line has a partnership with Nickelodeon so there are several opportunities for kids to meet-and-greet their favorite cartoon characters (Spongebob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer, etc.), participate in special Nickelodeon themed arts and crafts classes and attend character dance parties. On the last day at sea, there is a Hilario Big Top at Sea circus production and you will definitely enjoy watching your children perform in it. I was so impressed how much the kiddie performers had learned in one short week.

The port days were great opportunities to get out and explore nearby beaches, shopping areas and attractions.  One of our favorite excursions was a day at Atlantis where we enjoyed visiting the resort’s famed aquarium and DIG exhibits. There are several organized excursions for families at each stop which can be planned in advance or onboard.

What I enjoyed most was the easiness of planning everything.  I’m usually the one in charge of making all the plans, figuring out the directions, and handling all the details which can be exhausting day after day. On the cruise, the ship was easy to navigate after a couple of days and all our decisions were spontaneous. This is such a plus when traveling with young children and grandparents who tire easily since going back to our cabin for a break was super easy.

Another thing that made this cruise so nice for us was the friendly staff members. Since many of the international staff go months without seeing their families, they were so happy to engage with my daughter and the other children on the ship.  From the captain who gave her a high-five at the welcome party, to the waitstaff who made her animals out of napkins and brought her extra cookies and our friendly cabin steward who crafted the cutest towel animals every night, the friendliness of the staff exceeded my expectations. Throughout the ship, each and every staff member seemed genuinely happy with their jobs and very proud of their work.  When you’re on a cruise, you don’t necessarily see all the staff members at work keeping you safe, well fed and entertained but at the farewell show when they come on stage to say goodbye, its quite impressive.

If you’re looking for a fun-filled getaway the whole family will enjoy, a cruise aboard Norwegian Cruise Line will not disappoint.

Have you taken a cruise with your family?

Special thanks to The Moms and Norwegian Cruise Line for hosting us on the cruise. As always, all opinions are my own.

If you don’t want to miss a post, subscribe to Globetrotting Mommy for daily updates!