Late April cruise on the Gem leaving NYC the Tuesday after Easter. My wife and I are from Queens NY, so it was an easy car service ride to the port. My wife had 2 bottles of water in a plastic bag but they were confiscated by security. But as soon as you get past there, you could buy water at a snack stand! More water perils later. Since I use a cane to help me walk, embarkation was extra easy. They let us on the ship as soon as we registered as they just started boarding passengers. We went to the buffet for lunch. We though the cafeteria food has greatly improved in our last 2 cruises (the previous on was to the Panama Canal on the Pearl from Miami). The hamburgers are spot on, but that is all personal preference.

It rained for all of 10 minutes on the entire cruise docked in Tortola, except on the last night, but by then it was cool outside and getting dark. Other than that, we had beautifrul sunny weather. Mark was the Cruise Director. I spent some time talking to him. Nice fella, very organized with a good sense of humor without being goofy. The comedian Tim Kaminsky was a riot.

Too many school age kids, they should have been in school! No way all of them were home schooled. About 10 of them roamed the ship at all hours, nary a security guard. They had no business being in the Stardust when Tim had a late nite show with adult content. The only time I saw security was leaving and entering the ship. And one time upon re-entering, I had 2 bottles of their expensive water in a plastic bag. They would not let me on the ship with them unless I dumped the water out. Sure, they want me to constantly buy their overpriced water. Don't tell me it's a security issue either. They are very anal about the water issue! Read more