Embarkation: Fortunately we left our home early to avoid an 11AM shutdown of Manhattan crosstown streets for a scheduled parade. We had a prompt Latitudes check in and were greeted by our Concierge Ryan who ushered us aboard. We noted that NCL has improved the cabin readiness time, formerly not until 2PM. After an delicious lunch, we were in our cabin before 1PM. the cabin was in excellent condition when we arrived and maintain so throughout the cruise by our cabin steward Thoha from the Philippines. He was also an artist at creating towel animals nightly. I quickly donned my bathing suit for a refreshing lap swim in the cool, empty Tahitian pool. Boat drill was held in the Grand Pacific dining room and we no longer had to bring our life jackets. As our suitcases had not yet arrived in our cabin, we had a casual dinner in the Garden Buffet. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety of the food available there and we had dinner there several times during the cruise.First Sea Day: Although the pool was not scheduled to open before 8AM, we were delighted to see the nets were removed and the pool was available at 6:30AM. I like to take a 40 minute lap swim before breakfast when the adult pool is empty and I was able to do so every morning. My wife likes to go to fitness classes every morning before breakfast and she really enjoyed the daily no-fee classes at 7:30 & 8:00AM. She really appreciated an excellent instructor Silvia from Portugal who turned out to be one of the best fitness instructors she ever had on a cruise ship. Assisted by her able partner Richard from the UK, my wife managed three classes every day, the third at 5:00PM.I had arranged a cruisecritic meet and greet with the Gem's senior staff at 11AM in Cagney's. I was assisted by the Gem's Group Service Coordinator Elwynn who was kind enough to make name tags for our roll call members. The entire senior staff of the Gem including the Captain showed up but I was disappointed that only about half of the people from our roll call who said they would attend actually showed up. Those who did attend were given easy access to the Gem staff and we were able to exchange lots of information. We were very grateful for the warm welcome given us by the busy Gem staff. The cruise director Sinan from Turkey, a comic delight throughout the cruise, promised to arrange a Big Band Night in the Spinnaker Lounge with the Gem show band. We were happy with the sunny weather and smooth seas we experienced the first sea day and this great weather was to continue throughout the cruise. 2nd Sea Day: While enjoying my pre-breakfast swim, I observed a wonderful example of poetic justice. By 7AM the chair hogs had placed their towels and personal effects on all the lounge chairs surrounding the pool. The majority of their occupants were nowhere in sight. At around 7:30AM, a brief heavy shower soaked the pool area and all those unoccupied lounge chairs and their contents. We had sunny skies and lots of activitires throughout the day including trivia, popular dance lessons in the Spinnaker Lounge and numerous events throughout the ship.Dining: Our hats off to Executibe Chef Hans-Peter Heine from Germany who made this cruise a culinary delight. We especially enjoyed Cagney's Oysters Rockefeller, lamb chops and swordfish expertly served by Elena and shiela from the Philippines. We spent two evenings in LeBistro where the escargot, bouillabasse soup, duck and tenderloin of beef were superb presented with caring service by Arnel and Irish from the Philippines. Chef Heine and Food and Beverage Manager Victor from Portugal were much inevidence during the week speaking to diners. The quality of the food was evident in my weight gain at the end of the week.Entertainment: The productions shows Get Down Tonight, World Beat and Man from Mars were very good with an energetic and talented cast. the high acrobatics of Janna and Dizzy were dazzling and not to be missed. The show band was first rate and held a danceable Big Band Night in the Spinnaker Lounge. My only complaint was with the pianists on the Atrium and Magnum's. On NCL we have always been treated to great musicians in the lounges. Super talented pianist/vocalists like Pamala Stanley, Ariel Jacobbe, Fabrizio Caligaris, Vladimir Krevian and Bernie Martini. They all had great rapport with their auidience and performed endless requests. They all had either a huge binder or a laptop with which to bring up requests they were unfamiliar with. The two pianists on the Gem lacked these tools and had a very limited repertoire. Only one attempted vocals with very limited results. The pianist in the Atrium was an excellent jazz pianist who would have done well in a jazz club. He made no effort to connect with the passengers and encourage requests. He just played his pre-arranged set in his own unique melody hardly recognizable style totally oblivious to his audience. In contrast, Leo the guitarist/vocalist in Magnum's was excellent and played nightly to SRO crowds, playing numerous requests of great variety enjoyed by all. We plan to return to the Gem in January and CD Sinan will try to get one of the pianists I mentioned as his very familiar with them. Port: Bermuda is our favorite island port. We docked at the same time as Celebrity Summit so thousands of passengers came off Wednesday morning. We were wise to take the Hidden Beach excursion that morning, enjoying the trolley ride, a secluded beach with chairs and umbrellas, smooth sand and tranquill waters. We were able to avoid the initial crowded buses and ferries. We had been to Horseshoe Bay so we spent our beach time at less crowded Shelly Bay and secluded Clarence Cove. We also enjoyed Snorkel Park but try to go at high tide and bring thongs or tevas to avoid the small rocks in the water. The weather was superb all three days.Summary: A wonderful cruise. It is obvious that Hotel Directors Sean and Joseph from Austria run a happy ship. The staff was outstanding expecially Tresita from the Philippines and funny Sydney fro St. Lucia. We have booked the Gem again next January and look forward to seeing many familiar faces again.