This was our 1st cruise out of NYC, but our 36th cruise and 9th on NCL. First time on the Gem, but have been on all her sister ships. We drove and spent the night before the cruise at a Hampton Inn in Ridgefield Park NJ. Got a nice room, breakfast, parking for the 10 nights, and shuttle to and from Manhattan terminal for a reasonable price. Got to the port about 10:15 or so, and they started checking people in about 10:30. Long line, but we got in priority line which was short and were checked in within 10 minutes. Had to wait for awhile in terminal, but were on ship by 11:15. Friends we had met on a previous Alaska cruise from Texas had invited us on this cruise, and they flew in that morning. They were on the ship by 1:30.

Went to Grand Pacific dining room for relaxing lunch as opposed to fighting crowd at buffet. Food on board for the most part was good quality, but service in main dining rooms was usually slow. We would usually skip dessert so we could make it to the 1st show. Would then head up after show to get dessert from the buffet. This became the normal pattern.

Entertainment on board was for the most part very good. Singers and dancers were great, as were most of the other shows. Did not care for Second City comedy shows. Cruise Director Mark was very personable, and kept people entertained. Our room steward Arnold was great, and it was the 1st time we got 2 towel animals per day. Rest of the staff was also usually very friendly and helpful. Read more