Preface - although I use CC extensively for cruise research & post occasionally, this will be my first review partially due to my OCD nature of being too detailed and thus time constraints have not allow me to do so in the past ... and may not possibly again in the future - however, the excellent service and the overall enjoyment we experienced on the GEM has propelled me to write this REALLY long review * and due to the length of this review ... many of you will be tired of reading midway thru ... but probably not as tired as I was in writing it ... so just ignore all my typos and the parts that don't make sense ;)

Background - many cruises on 7 different cruise lines - previous stays in various cabin types incl. honeymoon suite all the way down to inside - Latitudes GOLD members ... whose perks seemed even better on the Gem ... including wine w/ the welcome aboard fruit basket (had to get wine glasses from a lounge tho) and "tasty treats" every night instead of just a few nights (but we may have HD Prem to thank for this) ... and although I am not normally a flower/plant person, we also received a beautiful flower arrangement (from Prem and/or Latitudes) that stayed fresh and made our cabin so fragrant for the entire cruise ... I now see why people like to have flowers in their rooms - this trip w/ DH, 2 DS (5 & 9), and my DP (Casino at Sea guests) * ensure your Latitude #s are attached to your reservation to get benefits (loved having the Priority Tender tickets delivered to our cabin ... even though we couldn't use them) and that you receive your Latitudes letter in your stateroom for confirmation (or see Matt Rubin in the Cruise Consultant office during his hours)

Embarkation - drove 2 hrs from S. Jersey arriving ~noon w/o traffic - DH let us off to find a porter for luggage drop w/ no problems - DH drove upstairs to park w/ no wait & came down within 10 min. - no wait for Latitudes security line, where regular line had a minimal wait - waited in Latitudes check-in line next, which was a longer wait than the regular line - once thru check-in, our boarding #s were already called so we walked immediately onto the ship - FS 2.0's FREE glass of Champagne upon boarding ship is a nice new touch * arrive at pier between 11:00-noon and there shouldn't be long lines as boarding began ~12:30-1pm * cabins not ready until 2pm, but lots to do: kids play Wii for FREE in the atrium, lunch in Blue Lagoon/Garden Cafe/Grand Pacific/Great Outdoor, make dinner reservations, book shore excursion, register kids in Kids Crew, signup for Casino Player's Card, try bowling or rock-climbing, make spa appts, sign up for fitness classes, go on ship tour (w/ guide @ 2pm), hit some golf balls, basketball, hockey, deck chess/checkers .... or just sit anywhere to enjoy your Champagne ;) Read more