We decided to celebrate my DH's 40th birthday on the Gem one nighter. This was our fifth cruise amongst various cruise lines. I have slowly become a RCCL fan due to the beauty of their ships. But I wanted to give NCL a try. Before we even left, I was already frustrated with NCL. They price dropped my cabin $100. I am used to all the other lines I've sailed honoring price drops. NCL wouldn't honor it or upgrade me cabins. I was disappointed in them. The New York port was nice enough. The lines to board were crazy and a bit disorganized at first. We boarded the ship around 11:30 a.m. We decided not to book a specialty restaurant which was a huge mistake. We tried the bowling right when they opened at 1:00. We knew there would be a huge wait after this, and we were right. The Bliss Lounge where the bowling alley was located was also closed for quite a while due to a private party. So we were glad we bowled early. It was a fun experience. We had never been on a ship that had this opportunity. Then we went to the buffet. What a disaster! No one could find tables. Everyone was complaining. People even just stopped and put their plates on the half walls separating the buffet from the dining room and started eating. On other lines I have sailed, if the buffet gets that busy, they open the specialty restaurant areas for seating only. There was no offer of this on the Gem. The buffet area was the worst experience I've ever had on any sailing. Then we went to our room. 11156 Balcony aft. It was great. We enjoyed the room and was glad we got an aft cabin due to the winter wind. No wind on our balcony which was great. The room had signs of wear. There were scorch marks on the couch from an iron. When you tried to sit on the couch to watch TV, the couch wouldn't lock into place. So it always wanted to roll down into a bed. There was no muster drill since it was a one nighter. They had a barbecue sailaway party on the top deck with a live band. It was great. There were lots of younger people in the pools and hot tubs. We were surprised at this because it was quite cold outside. For the sailaway, we stayed on our balcony aft. Beautiful views of Manhattan, New Jersey, and the Statue of Liberty. After sailaway, we immediately went to dinner to avoid the crowds. We ate at the no cover charge Grand Pacific. The dining room was beautiful. But the wait staff did not impress us. My DH ordered the steak. It was super thin and not worth his time. I ordered the pasta dish which wasn't great either. We wished we had booked a specialty restaurant. We didn't finish our meals and just left. We went to the restaurant that NCL calls "comfort food" that overlooks the crystal atrium. We ordered desert, cheesecake and pound cake. They were excellent. We watched playoff football games on the big screen in the crystal atrium. This was a nice touch. We later went to the one show they offered at 9:15 called Colorz. We did not enjoy it. It was a musical about different colors. I'm sure others enjoyed it. It just wasn't our taste. At 11:00 p.m. they offered one comedy show. It was an improv comedy group from Chicago. This was the highlight. We really enjoyed them. After the show, we went to see the White Hot Party. There weren't many people dancing yet but it had just started. We went to bed around 2:00 a.m., and the ship was still partying. There were two weddings onboard, several kids enjoying themselves, lots of couples, lots of families, etc. Most everyone was quite dressy and enjoying themselves. Getting off the ship was simple. Since it was a one nighter there were no customs, no carousels to get luggage, etc. We walked right off, walked right outside the no wait for taxis. Perfect. If you place cash on your account, NCL won't give you back your credit until the morning of the cruise. This was frustrating. I tried to get my credit back at midnight the night before we disembarked because I knew the lines would be shorter. They wouldn't return my money until 6 a.m. the next morning. Of course, that is when the lines are the longest. I think they need to change their policy on this one. We enjoyed NCL cruise to nowhere for what it was. I will probably return to RCCL new ships only because their ships are nicer and easier to navigate. I felt like RCCL has better customer service and better food that is already included. RCCL's newer ships also cater better to families. I did enjoy the New York port better than others I have been to. New York is an amazing city and beautiful when sailing away!