This was an amazing 17 days. I've sailed Carnival 3 times, this was my first on NCL. The Gem is an older ship but very well maintained. It's going in for some refurbishing the end of October but I personally saw little that needed repair. I travelled by myself and the inside cabin I had on deck 11 was perfect for me. I'm not sure how 2-3 people would do, however. I'd certainly recommend an outside, larger cabin for 2 or more people. There were two electoral outlets but both were at the desk sites so you definitely need an extension cord if you need bedside electricity (at least a 6 ft cord). There is storage space under the bed where my smaller suitcase fit and the large one went into the closet ok. There was more than sufficient storage space. The bathroom was larger than I expected and having the removable shower head was an unexpected benefit. I'm a big guy and this was larger than my shower in my mobile home. Theres a safe, blow dryer and small frig in the room. The frig was fairly packed with their "bar" supplies but I took them out and put them on the shelf to make room for my stuff. I;m disabled and used a rolling walker without problems except in my cabin where the hall was almost too narrow, I had to turn the walker sideways to get it out the door.

I found most of the staff to be very friendly and helpful. Language can be a barrier at times but it never had any serious effect. The food was generally terrific. I enjoyed the Magenta restaurant and the Buffet was always had lots of selections. I spent a lot of time on the 12th deck Great Outdoors...great bar and excellent buffet especially breakfast outdoors! I went to Cagney steak house for my birthday and had a great filet and dinner. It was worth the additional price. I also had strip steak in Magenta that was excellent.

Getting off the ship at ports was a little challenging with a walker. They repeatedly did not have a designated handicapped elevator which caused unnecessary delays. I was surprised at the inadequate response there was to that particular issue, but it was one of my few disappointments. The entertainment was good. The biggest disappointment was the Second City group but it was still mildly entertaining. Jeff Helm was very funny and worth seeing. Read more