My Husband, mother and I were on the Gem on 11/29/2008 out of NYC. We have over 15 cruises in our past. Number two for NCL, all the rest were Celebrity with the exception of the cruise taken this past spring was with Azamara. I initially made plans for this cruise because we were going to be in NYC for thanksgiving but when I started checking this site I began to have doubts. I feared it was substandard to the other ships we had been on and I was afraid it was a younger cliental ship. In reality it was neither. Embarkment was a breeze. We waited maybe 5 to 10 minutes to get registered and then went directly into the ship where we were told to relax, get something to eat and they would notify us when the room was ready. We waited in the dining room, and with a very pleasant younger couple had a delicious lunch and before we were done our room was ready. We ere all in a Mini-suite and it was very nice and met our needs - a lot of storage space, privacy for our third person, and plenty of room on the balcony for 3 chairs. I found the ship to be very well organized, you would never known there were that many people on board. With the variety of activities going on I never felt "herded". The shows were very professional, I particularly enjoyed a singer/comedian Chocolate Mama, I believe her name was. We did a mystery dinner outing I encourage anyone to give it a try. We had a grand time and met some wonderful people. Service was great. Staff was attentive without being in your face. We would ask our steward a question or request something , usually on a note in the morning and it was taken care of when we came back to the room. We found all the crew we encountered very pleasant and helpful. One thing I did notice on a negative note is the way some passengers treated the crew. Instead of taking a complaint, which for some were legitimate , to the person in charge and able to change the situation the cruiser would yell at the staff member who was doing their job and had no way to change the situation . This was a real issue at the end of the cruise when there were lines to finalize different things no one enjoys waiting in lines. This cruise we did not do any shore excursions. We preferred to stay on the ship and enjoyed the pool area with less people. Positive point People did not save chairs like I have noticed on other cruises. We never had problems finding a lounge and we would bounce from sunny to shady area. The programs for the children must have been wonderful because we never were bothered by a unruly child. The spa was very nice with a pleasant staff. We had a very negative experience in the spa on the Azamara cruise and were reluctant to try this spa but we are glad we did. Disembarkment- this was the best plan we ever had!! We stayed in our room until our color was called. For us we needed a wheelchair and with the color called went to a designated area. The negative side - not enough chairs or staff, I don't know, but it got a tad ugly down there. Everyone waited their turn, I was told we were next, then some man came in yelling at the man in charge that he needed a chair now he had a car waiting. We all had someone waiting. Long story short he got the chair. So I got assertive and we got the next chair with the kindest escort and left. We had a wonderful time and would go NCL again. Forgot to mention the food it was wonderful. We ate 4 nights in the specialty restaurants and no complaints.