This was our second cruise aboard an NCL vessel, second of the "jewel' class of ships & the first post revamp. We found the boat to be in great condition, compared to the Pearl this looked much more updated and "classy", gone are the overwhelming colors & tacky patterns from large portions of the ship. I would highly recommend this boat & to an extent the full experience.
The boarding process in NYC was very simply, we checked in at the appropriate time & had no issues, the wait times were to be expected & we came prepared with headphones/reading materials. We similiarly found the disembarkation process to run very smoothly as well - you just need to pay attention & get the color you actually want. The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone in regards to starting and ending their cruise is to just relax, so many people are constantly stressed out looking.
The staff aboard the Gem did a pretty good job of getting to know us, providing solid service, & despite being short staffed a times providing us the best possible experience. I don't know if they are just in the midst of a restaffing or if they have changed the number of crew aboard the ship, but we noticed that there seemed to be less staff aboard this boat than the Pearl.
New York is always good! We stayed at the Ink48 which is walking distance to the port.
This was an area that could have been left of the trip for us, we didn't find much enjoyable in the downtown & didn't need another lighthouse tour.
Amazing! This town has so many great places to discover!