This was our 2nd time on the Gem and what a difference a few years makes between cruises. For starters when we entered our cabin, there were 2 rolled up pool towels, that still had the previous passengers sun screen wrapped inside. Obviously, these were something that the room steward didn't bother to change because they were rolled up and in the proper place. We also found several discarded items, partially hidden on the floor at the head of the bed from who knows how many cruises before us, that the steward either missed or didn't bother to clean up. Once these items were addressed and taken care of, our room steward was awesome!

The evening entertainment was so-so, the Tenors of Rock was terrific, although the show only lasted about 30 minutes; the comedian Russ was less then funny; the highlight of the entertainment was Rick Novell who offered a awesome and funny action comedy. The cruise director Drew wasn't very exciting; the ships "house" band Prism was horrible; the better entertainers were the band New Generation and guitar and vocals act Pedro. We purchased the Ultimate Drink Package and found (after the fact) that if you were in a club, pool or the theater and utilized the "bar service waiters" the 18% gratuity was not included, it was an extra charge added to your cabin. If you went to the bar you were charged the same 18% but it was included in the package, and wasn't a extra charge, so I don't understand why it was a separate charge when using the server, since that 18% is suppose to cover everyone.

From the first to the very last night at a certain time each night, every bar would "run out" of certain brands or flavors of booze, only to have them reappear the next day and "run out" again that night. Apparently, they allow only a certain number of bottles per day and once they run out thats it until the next day. If you purchase the drink package this is extremely unacceptable and a large number of passengers filed complaints with customer service. There were only (2) outlets in the room and they were at the desk. If a passenger had a CPAP machine there wasn't an outlet by the bed, so I have no idea how that would work. Read more