Sailed 1/22/16 thru 2/1/16. Was car serviced from central nj to the nyc port, and quickly passed through security and check-in..we arrived fairly early(11:15am) and the ship did not start accepting passengers until 12:15PM..This being the third year in a row on the gem in January, we quickly went to our balcony cabin, dropped our carry-on luggage, met our steward and hustled off for some lunch...The room was clean and well maintained, balcony functional.

We beat the storm, but it got us the first day out with 20 foot plus waves, and did not make for a fun day+ , We survived, missed a dinner and stayed in bed to read, and surfaced day 2. After that ,all was well, and were even in shorts at the pool the day before arriving.

ncl gem staterooms are too dark and could use improved lighting, the tv has a very poor selection of stations, the toilet area is too cramped for a tall person. The beds always seem to be comfy, and we have almost always had good to excellent stewards. Read more