We had a great time on the Gem, with mostly all positives. Embarkation was quick and easy - arrived and parked at 10:00, was sitting in the waiting area by 10:30 and walking onto ship a little after 11. Went right to O'Sheehan's for lunch and by the time we were finished our cabins were ready. We had balcony rooms (2 adjoining) on the 11th deck and they were clean and plenty big enough. we had been concerned about noise from the garden cafe which was right above us (on the Dawn we heard the scraping of chairs all day), but we never heard a noise - day or night. Getting off the ship was just as easy - our tag was called at 9:15, walked right off, found our luggage, and by 9:35 we were in the car getting ready to leave!!

We had the package for 3 specialty restaurants and went to Cagney's, La Cucina and Cagney's again. Cagney's was good both nights, but our group (6 of us) enjoyed La Cucina more - delicious calimari and entrees. Our only complaint was the length of time it took - be prepared to spend 2 plus hours, although we were asked all three nights if we were going to a show and if we had said yes I'm sure service would have been a little faster. The rest of the time we ate in either the Grand Pacific or Magenta and never had to wait. We tended to go on the earlier side (5:30-6:00) and walked right in. We ate all breakfasts in the Great Outdoors and never had a problem getting a table. Much less crowded and less hectic than the cafe.

Entertainment was good and we went to all shows except for the comedian (heard some of his show the first night and didn't think he was particularly funny), and most nights there were plenty of seats available right up until about 5 minutes before the start. Casino was smoky and difficult to get around with a wheelchair and slot machines didn't pay out very much , at least for our group. Read more