The Gem is a wonderful ship. We been on the Jewel in February and really liked the ship, so it was an easy decision to make. Everything was very well-done, beautiful surroundings, very clean. We really enjoyed being on the Courtyard level and utilized that facility frequently. It was nice to have breakfast or lunch served in the courtyard, without having to even go downstairs. Cagney's is great, although after the first few days my husband would have liked to have a little more variety in the menu. The crew and service people were fabulous, very friendly, very professional, very helpful. Our butler, Roy Perez, was very competent and we appreciated the efforts of the concierge, Ruth Haggar, in seeing that we were taken care of and making reservations for us. We felt very pampered on this ship.
When everyone else went ashore, we just stayed aboard and enjoyed the ship, it was that good, very relaxing. The entertainment seemed to be an improvement from most of the other cruise lines and the options available at multiple locations was really nice. Listening to the piano at the martini bar, or the strings in the star bar, was particularly delightful in comparison to other ships. We liked the shows that we attended, mostly the single performers.
Even with the rough weather that we encountered, we found that the crew was most helpful and accommodating.
We loved this cabin. It is the best that we have ever had on any ship. We liked the lay-out, the view from the bed through the bathroom to the large window over the tub. It was very comfortable for us and quite roomy. If there was any complaint, it would be that in the location at the end of the row, we could hear the outside door in the corridor slamming just about nap time. Also, because we had high waves which caused our mini-bar to come out of the cabinet along with everything in the cupboards as well as the refrigerator, we wondered why these did not have some kind of securing mechanism to prevent this.