Our cruise jan.26,our prior were on the Royal caribbean and Princess and years ago on NCL. We our in our 50's. We had NCL airfare and transfers which was great!! they picked us up at the airport after are plane landed they found us within minutes you could not ask for more perfect we were soon at the docks. And when i saw the GEM she almost brought me to tears her beauty We had been waiting over a year!! Soon after that we were on the ship. The ship was Beautiful so detailed you needed to take a moment and look at the style and not compare because the Gem is a Beauty in herself,which is not like any other cruise ship you have been on and people need to appreciate how original the Gem is and not compare her to other ships decor they have been on.. Before we left i saw many complaints on cruise critic's which after being on the Gem realized many people have a problem and it becomes there whole trip, the negative. which is unfair because NCL takes care of problems if possible and sometimes you just have to move past and enjoy this awesome cruise the GEM, which offers so much if you are open!! to join in and have fun. We had a minisuite it was wonderful, we found it to have so many little extras from lights on each side of the bed to many drawers to large closet, first time we ever took our clothes out of our suitcases on a cruise it was so nice. It was so handy everything was easy, bathroom was large and nice with full tub. Service was great. We really were not needy like many so did not take advantage of our room stewards. Did leave a extra tip he deserved. People complain about tipping and i feel most of the people on the cruise more then deserve a little extra beside your $10. a day. thats a bargain. They need to stop complaining about extra charges its normal don't be so cheap!!! Dining was wonderful in the Grand pacific we enjoyed breakfast lunch and dinner there, but not every day. we did try Cagney's it was wonderful and the french we did not care for service or food and also went to the mexican it was awesome, We also watched them cook our food in front of us the food was so good the extra was worth it. we did not mind paying extra and of course we added extra tips its only right. The blue lagoon was great, the buffet we found very busy and very few seats. Entertainment was Great enjoyed comedians they were awesome also enjoyed jugglers and magic show the music shows were good but not great!! a little scattered some good singers thou. and we loved cruise director Que. and all the shows in the bars and the game shows were great. My husband loved the football i guess it was a big game!! was not our state team but they made it so much fun i even watched a little it was a party. If you joined in you had a blast. A cruise is what you make it when the Gem offers so much you have to have fun. The casino was not good to me. needs to give out some!! Excursions we went on 6 we enjoyed some so much meet some great people!!! on our bus boat canoe tour in Dominica he was the tour guide he asked if anyone had a anniversary and i said we did and he sang a love song to my husband and i it was so romantic it made such beautiful memory for us. we loved our cruise so much the Gem made it so special!! its always easy to find problems but to be able to remember the 95% or more good and let the problems go where ever we go nothings perfect but NCL really does try hard. We love our Gem cruise and our memories will always be part of us. Thankyou so much NCL!!