We live near New York and naturally would prefer to sail from there. Even in winter it is so much better than having to fly to a port; so, in spite of previous somewhat disappointing NCL experiences, we chose Gem. The itinerary and weather were close to ideal. The rest was enough to confirm our previous low opinion of NCL.

Checking in was fairly easy, but a bit of a farce: we were given a boarding card numbered 35, and were told that groups would board in numerical order. So I asked the person for a lower card, and she happily pulled another at random and gave us a 15. When we checked in, I asked the clerk if a lower number was available, and she handed me a 6 - which got us on board among the earliest.

Our cabin (balcony) was roomy enough for two, but would have been awful for the four who could have been accommodated with the convertible love seat and drop-down bunk. There were just four drawers and minimal shelf space. The bathroom was good - especially the shower, but there was a silly sliding door setting the toilet area apart - presumably so more than one could use the facilities at the same time (ugh!) - but the compartment, while sufficiently large for us, would have been too tight for many of the borderline-obese on board to be able to fit in. Read more