My boyfriend and I took a cruise on the Norwegian Gem. It was a first cruise for both of us. We enjoyed it a great deal despite the fact that it really was not at all what we expected. For starters the weather was not good and that's no one's fault. We are not party animals and had no idea that a cruise is nothing more than a floating party. That said we did enjoy relaxing in our stateroom. We were always told that cruises are 24/7 eating and while that is true a lot of the food was hard to palate. We got the beverage package as an upgrade perk with our stateroom and all drinks and alcoholic beverages are included accept SPECIALTY COFFEES AND WATER. WATER????? When we went to the JAVA BAR we sat and asked for 2 regular coffees and were charged. We told them we had the beverage package and only specialty coffees were not included only to be told by the staff that all coffee at the Java bar was excluded from the beverage package. We are not big drinkers so the beverage package is a waste. If we took a soda from the mini bar in our stateroom we were also charged. Getting a seat at the buffet was a constant challenge. The excursions are pricey and very disorganized. It was pouring rain and no one knew what to do or where to go; which bus to get on; no back up plan for inclement weather. It wasn't just raining . we had serious thunderstorms and were forced to walk in wind and pouring rain to our shuttle while local taxis were allowed right up to the ship side. Disembarkation was a nightmare. We never got instructions on how to disembark. We were lost and had to ask other cruisers what to do and where to go because when we asked the cruise team members all we were told was to choose a baggage tag color for disembarkation time and that would be our time to disembark. No one told us we didn't HAVE TO choose a baggage tag. We could have chosen easy walk off. We also were not told we had to be out of the stateroom by 8 am. All that said we have better experience and a point of reference for our next attempt at a cruise. I will not write it off nor will I discourage others who have not cruised from going on a cruise. We did enjoy the relaxed atmosphere in our stateroom some shows and the specialty restaurants. Other than that expect to pay extra for everything and lower your expectations for the food.