Wanted the New York departure to make it easy for my daughter-in-law to join me, but in the end, she cancelled out and a friend joined me on this trip. We both have family in the area so we could combine visits with our cruise. Arrived at the terminal with Uber and had no trouble checking in. We had upgraded to a suite so we were some of the first people on board. Enjoyed our lunch at Cagney's, except Cobb Salad had brown avocado. Overall, all meals were enjoyable. We ate in the main dining rooms as well as Bistro, Cagney's, Orchid, La Cucina, and Moderno (for breakfast only). La Cucina service was quite slow, but we had not told anyone that we were in a hurry. When we told other venues we were trying to make the 7 pm show, they made sure we were out promptly.

We saw most of shows and enjoyed all except Second City which we walked out on. Just not funny to us. Could have done without the St Martin shore excursion as all we saw was the shopping area in Marigot and depressed housing. Loved the vistas on Tortola and time on the water. Had a forward facing penthouse and never again. Too rough and loud with wave action in the North Atlantic. Could hardly use the balcony as furniture was tied down on sea days. Did enjoy it the 4 port days. Gem was a perfect size for us. Big enough. We did wish there were pre-port enrichment talks with some history or natural highlights. Met some nice folks through Roll Call and loved Cabin Crawl and chance to meet Captain. He sure can sing!