Just got back from a wonderful trip on the Norwegian Gem March 8-15 (Ontario's March Break). We have 3 children ages 5, 8, and 10 and have been on 10 cruises including Norwegian Spirit, Celebrity Millennium/Mercury/Infinity, Grand Princess, Costa Victoria, HAL and Disney Magic. Due to the cost of cruising with a family of five we usually book an inside cabin. We decided to splurge and booked an AB Penthouse suite and to be honest this probably greatly enhanced our view of this cruise.

Embarkation-We drove from our home in Ontario and stayed in the Courtyard Marriott in New Jersey the night before. A big bonus for us is being able to drive to the pier as this saved us a lot of money on airfare for our family of five. Getting to the NYC pier was quite congested and it took awhile to get into the pier parking area. Once parked it was very easy to enter the terminal and we were through security in about 10 minutes. As it was around noon there was already a large lineup at check-in but because we had VIP check-in we bypassed this line, checked-in very quickly and were escorted to a VIP room where we met the concierge and within minutes we were escorted onto the ship. We had not told our kids that we booked the Penthouse for this trip so they were somewhat baffled why we got to check-in ahead of the crowd.

Cabin: We went immediately to our room opened the door and ......whooaa! Funky colors (fuschia/green/yellow) that made us feel we were in a tropical paradise. The layout of the Penthouse and was perfect for our family of 5. The children had their own room complete with bathroom and TV. Chris, our Butler, greeted us and went through all the bonuses we would be getting, starting with himself, priority restaurant reservation, breakfast and lunch in Cagney's (served in the Star Bar), free bottle of welcome champagne, daily fruit basket and fresh flowers, free 2 movies at a time ($12 normally), small CD collection, fancy soap and shampoo. We especially liked the Espresso/Cappuccino maker. One drawback, is the Suite was sooo nice, we did not feel like exploring the ship and just wanted to stay in the Suite and relax. Although our Suite was by the Elevator, the way it was laid out, it was extremely quiet. Our bedroom was far away from the hallway and had three door to separate us from the hallway. Each section of the Suite can be closed off by doors. You can watch TV in the living room and have the doors closed to the sleeping areas. The furniture in the Suite, although very nice to look at, are not the most comfortable to lounge in. The balcony became our favorite place to relax. The beds were extremely comfortable as were the feather pillows and duvet. The bathrobes and toiletries were lovely but be warned do not weigh yourself with the bathrobe on as it easily adds 3 lbs. to your weight! The cabin was kept impeccably clean by our cabin stewards. Read more