My husband, ten year old daughter and I just got back from the 9 night Gem cruise leaving a few blocks from our home in Manhattan. We traveled with another family of three, including their ten year old son. Our previous cruise experience was with Disney (excellent) and Royal Carib (fair).
My daughter and her friend absolutely loved the Kids Club and the team there could not have been kinder and more enthusiastic. The children went in enthusiastically every single day- they loved it and performed a fantastic show in the theatre on the last day of the cruise. This was one of the highlights of the trip. There were 200 children on board, but they said there would be 800 next week- I could not imagine that being enjoyable in the least.
We left on Wednesday afternoon, the port of NY was excellent- very smooth off and on the ship- our rooms were ready by 2:00 and our luggage arrived shortly after. We had some nice sun by Friday at about 2:00- the pool decks were mobbed- this was a negative for us- wall to wall people. You have to comfortable in crowds with lots of noise- music, contests, etc.. happening around you. People seemed friendly enough but.....
This cabin seemed small to me. The attendant was wonderful and serviced the room 2-3 times a day. We were mid ship and had great access to the spa and gym if that is what you are looking for. The balcony was fabulous and I really recommend splurging for this extra. Plenty of room for luggage under the bed. Plenty of hangers and room for clothes. The cabin was quiet and the bed was really really comfortable- we got great sleep. A little further to the buffet and kids club.