Having read many of the reviews on this website and others, my friend and I chose NCL gem for our first cruise, we were happy to go free style, as we really did not want to have to take extra cruise clothing in the end of a cold winter, coming from Northern Vermont we were already carrying layers of winter clothing.

Embarkation was very smooth, when we got on the ship we were told out room would be ready in an hour so we went to the Garden cafe for lunch, which was excellent. When we got to our room we found it clean and tidy, however our bathroom was not so clean, we asked our room service lady ( Yvonne) if she could re -clean which she happily did for us. Beds very comfortable, plenty of room for our suitcase under bed and hanging closets had enough hangers etc.

We made our way out to the deck to view Statue of Liberty, but it was so foggy we did not see much. Read more