What can I say? Wow! We were impressed. Please understand the bias here. This was our eighth cruise, but our previous seven have consisted of six on the Majesty and one on the Spirit—none of them disappointing, but they were no match for the Baby Gem!

Embarkation: Our drive to the Manhattan port was, for once, uneventful, save for some rush hour traffic. The ship was twenty minutes late coming in (as DH noted from the port-cam before we left), and this was obvious as boarding was delayed until 1pm. We must note that the improvements to Pier 88 are well done. No longer do you stand in-line waiting for the ship to begin boarding so you can check-in. Now check-in is done upon arrival and you can wait in a seating area (with refreshments and restrooms) until the ship is ready to board. Additionally, upon check-in, you are given a "number" based upon your arrival time and "status" and groups board in the order that the numbers are called. Efficiency, for once; go figure? Upon boarding and grabbing our complimentary glass of champagne (thank you Freestyle 2.0), we went directly to the Grand Pacific main dining room for lunch, despite the fact that every crew member we encountered on the way tried to direct us to the Garden Cafe buffet (we can understand that it would be impossible for all 2400 boarding passengers to eat lunch in the main restaurant).

We finished up eating a little after two and headed to our room. Read more