My family and I are avid cruisers (26) total so excuse me if review is lengthy. I am 51, wife in 40's and 2 sons 20 and 17. Let me immediately tell you that this ship was overwhelmed with 20-30 year olds and they could party. So for all the critics that have negative comments about Carnival partying, this ship tops it. Not that I am upset because we joined in the best we could lol. The Ultimate beverage package is "all that" The only negative is that Club Bliss was packed at nights and I don't know how many time you have to tell these college grads not to bring glass/drinks on dance floor. The ship needs better security who can enforce rules. Overall I rated the whole cruise experience four stars and I will elaborate. This was our 3rd time on Gem and she is in great shape after renovations. Clean and so easy to navigate. We have cruised all the lines, with Carnival and Celebrity most recent. I will use some caparisons later. Here goes:

Embarkation and Disembarkation: We were on the ship by 11:30, terminal was organized and our room was ready at 1:15. Luggage was delivered promptly. Disembarkation was another story. I think 80% of passengers now take advantage of self assist and with only a few customs agents it took 45 minutes to get off. You may want to just check bags and use the priority disembarkation if you are gold or platinum; and enjoy breakfast. We were at the mercy of pickup, I wasn't dishing out $320 to park in lot (crazy).

Cabin: We do a lot of cruising so we took an oceanview cabin on deck 5, midship. Not bad; AC worked great, beds were comfortable, lots of storage, fairly clean, and service was okay. Carnival room stewards were much friendlier. Who stays in there room anyway?? lol. Read more