Norwegian Gem Review
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We booked this cruise because it stopped only in Canada and did not have any New England ports. Living in New England, that was not a draw for us. It also had 4 sea days which we love.
Embarkation was nothing special despite being in the "Latitudes Members Only" line. It turns out that over half the ship was also in that line which took about 40 minutes to actually check in then duck past the ever present photographers and head for the gangway.
We opted for an aft mini suite specifically for the sail away from NY. My husband's alma mater,Stevens Tech, is on the Jersey side, I am from Long Island and love the NYC side - we got to see both at once plus a great view of the statue of Liberty and the new WTC. After a torrential rain in the morning, it was overcast but dry when we departed, so we had a wonderful view.
Cabin Review
Aft-Facing Mini-Suite with Balcony
Great view, but much noisier than side balconies.
The balcony door also had a tendency to slide back and forth and slam while the ship was moving.
Good location for dining.
The extremely uncomfortable couch/extra bed tried to slide itself out everytime you sat on it. The orange velour cover was worn bare in several spots. It was hard as a rock to sit on.
This cabin is right below the Great Outdoors which they set up at about 5:30 every morning. The scraping and dragging of chairs? tables? equipment? each morning woke us up. Fortunately it was relatively quiet after that.
The bathroom had a musty smell that came and went.
As an FYI to those with knee issues - the height of the bathtub is about 24" compared to a standard home tub of 15". Since it is a tub/shower combo, you need to be able to raise your knee above that to get in. There is a grab bar handy. This is the standard bath on the balcony / mini suite cabins.
The WiFI was spotty - possibly due to aft location?