This was the second cruise we have taken on NCL being seasoned cruisers mainly with Princess and Royal Caribbean. Our first NCL was December of 2012 on the Jewel which we were very disappointed. So we decided to give it another try on the sister ship Gem.

Embarkation went smoothly until it came to boarding time. We had #4 yet boarding was delayed reportedly a problem clearing the ship from the previous night’s one night “cruise to nowhere”. Later during the week we heard there were two “stow aways” that they finally found. We did see security and the CBP escorting four people off the ship. Once boarding commenced we went directly to the buffet for a quick lunch. Rooms were actually ready ahead of schedule at around 1:00 PM.

Had a balcony on deck 10 aft room 10154. Nice covered balcony even extended beyond the balcony. Truly do like to roominess of the bathroom specifically the shower. We had a party of 11 total and had three adjacent rooms ours connecting with our sons. We were able to open our balcony doors which made for a really nice big open balcony. Departure was on time and after the muster drill we proceeded to dinner in the Grand Pacific at 6:30 PM. Read more