My husband, two daughters (7 and 4) and I decided to try the Gem again since we had such a great time last Spring Break. All in all, it was a good cruise. There were some things that could have been improved on, and I will mention these later on.
Embarkation: We drove into Manhattan from Montreal and parked at the port. 210$ gave us parking for the whole week of the cruise. I find that reasonable for parking in Manhattan. Embarkation was a breeze, and 30 minutes later we were on the ship.
Ship: Since we had already been on the Gem, we were familiar with the layout. It is very simply laid out, and things are easy to find. All public rooms are beautiful and extremely clean. This ship is very well maintained and is kept spotless. Kudos to the cleaning staff!