Love the Gem, Love the staff, Islands were greaqt, cant wait to sail her again!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Smooth, no issues at all
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
MDR for us, isn't so great. We find the food only ok. The specialty restaurants are pretty good. We like Cagney's, Teppanyaki, and Morderno. Not fans of La Cuccina, and while other gush about Le bistro, its just OK. They used to have a great steak for 2 which is no longer offered. We DO NOT LIKE the food at Orchid garden. It's not even close to good Chinese food. The buffet is pretty good for a buffet. Its our go to breakfast place. We LOVE the poolside BBQ with the paella, grilled chicken etc.
Shaker's Martini & Cocktail Bar
5 out of 5
The staff at the 3 connecting bars, maltings, Shakers, and the Champagne bar are great. Lots of fun and they go out of their way to make sure you feel comfortable and are having a good time.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Not a ton to do, we had 6 sea days total. We always make our own fun. We love hanging at the Great Outdoors area during the afternoon. Spectacular views as well as friendly easy access bar area and lite lunch fare.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We saw some shows...2 comedy, an acrobat show ( which was pretty cool) and a musical revue of the 70's . All the shows kept us entertained and weren't overly long. about 45 minutes each which is fine with us.
Children's Programs
no kids
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I am going to rate this as excellent.....HOWEVER...our cabin steward was not good. the 5 star rating is because I don't think his poor performance should ruin the rating for the rest of the crew who were fantastic. We gave our room steward $60 as soon as we got on board. I had planned on another $60 upon leaving. He didn't get that second $60. On the second day, we noticed the complimentary champagne had gone missing. We really don't care since its pretty bad, but were curious as to where it went. We asked the steward about it and he sheepishly said, its in the fridge. (duh, we looked there, it wasn't) He sorta mumbled and we let it go. Next day, we come back in the afternoon and find a dirty rag on the night table next to the bed as well as a plate and some glasses still on the counter from breakfast that we brought back to the cabin. Raymond, is still in the hall 9 down the hall from us, so our room was finished) so I bring out the stuff to him and he says, oh, sorry. Ok...Next night we return to our cabin and there are 2 bottles of complimentary champagne on the counter. We found it annoying that he had obviously done something with the first bottle and to get back in our good graces brought us 2 in return. What he didn't get was the fact that it was taken in the first place. To add just a little more pettiness, my wife really enjoys the cute towel critters that are on the bed every night after turndown...usually there is 1 there every night...not so with Raymond. we got 6 for an 11 day trip...we rolled with it and enjoyed the hell out of our vacation, but it was a sour note.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Love the Gem. Its is easy to get around, layed out well and since we have been on her before , wo know where everything is.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
On the Gem, the mini suite is a big difference in size from a regular balcony, not so on newer larger ships like the escape. The bathroom is larger as well as the room in general, well worth the few extra bucks. See aboeve for cleanliness and service of the cabin
Ship tip
Take advantage of the Great Outdoors area. Its really nice, breezy, usually relaxing, a hidden gem on the GEM
We didn't get to do much here since time was limited, all aboard was at 2pm. We just strolled around the port town, but some trinkets, an called it a day. No issues and the water and weather was perfect
Ship ported late due to currents in the Hudson (at least that's what they told us) People in line were getting antsy and started getting a bit rude. Everyone wanted off. I didn't mind since I realize they wanted us off as badly as we wanted off. Sometimes you just have to deal with stuff that is beyond your control and know that we weren't being jerked around, there were just obviously some issues
Jennifer, They have A white party, a dress up or not night, and every night the buffet offered a different theme from different countries, (italian, asian, indian, etc)
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