This was a last minute decision. It was a good price for a New England/Canada cruise, balcony room. The itinerary included places I wanted to visit. Overall entertainment was good. Production numbers and the Ineffable Two were great. Lounge musicians are good. Do not really care for the hypnotist Nadeen and Second City comedy shows.
The food average. No more lobster night, unless you want to pay extra for it. No more whole escargot, but chopped up sautéed with mushroom on a pastry shell. Barely saw any escargot pieces, mostly mushrooms. Shore excursions - Halifax 10 best and NYC tour with airport drop off were great. Our tour guides Muriel in Halifax and Linda in NYC were both excellent! The Gem has an excellent captain, Captain Roger. He took the time to meet with us and answer our questions. Likewise, appreciate all the senior officers for meeting with us during our Meet and Greet.
We were late getting into St. John, but that could not be helped due to the tide. We were late getting off the ship in Bar Harbor due to immigration and the tendering process. That could have been done more efficiently. Tendering did not start till over an hour after immigration procedure. We did not get to the port till 11AM and the last tender back to ship was at 4PM. Overall, we had a good time!
Cabin was clean, but the bed was not comfortable and the small table was broken. Sink in the bathroom had cracks on it.
Booked shore excursion with the Gem - Halifax top 10. Would have rated the tour 5 stars except for the rain. Great tour of the city's top 10. Our guide Muriel was excellent.
Beautiful city. Self guided tour of the Mansions and cliff walk via local public transportation.
Great city tour with a brief stop at the 911 Memorial! Had an excellent guide - Linda.