My husband and I have two children (12 y.o. son and 18 y.o. daughter) at the time of this cruise). We had been on two prior Caribbean (Western) cruises with Disney (first was on the Magic and the second on the Fantasy). NCL Gem is about the size of the Disney Magic. We LOVED our Disney experience, but the cost of leaving from Orlando and the options for my son on board seemed to be limited...so we looked at other options and found NCL Gem departing from NYC. We had a wonderful vacation. It wasn't the "magical" experience of a Disney Cruise, but we will certainly cruise with NCL in the future.
Cruising for us is a family vacation, so we don't gamble, drink alcohol or party late. All of this is available on the GEM and many people appeared to enjoy it. I just can't comment on it. We were able to select a free service (beverages, upgraded dining, service, wifi). The free beverage package is the most valuable if you drink alcohol. We did the free service charges ($270 value). Next time I'd select free wifi. We decided just before leaving to purchase the unlimited wifi ($300) to allow my son to keep in touch with school and his homework assignments. Very worthwhile.
Parking - at the terminal is convenient, but expensive ($400 for 10 days). Some of the passengers from Canada stayed at a hotel in NJ and were able to leave their car parked there for less money. It's worth it to do some research or get a food friend to drive you!
Inside Stateroom - the inside state room on the Disney ships is about 30 square feet larger and seem to make the best use of that space. The NCL inside stateroom is very tight. Frankly, it was initially difficult for all four of us to be in the room at the same time. I sent everyone off to explore the ship while I unpacked the suitcases and stored them under the beds. Fortunately, we are all light packers. Sleeping arrangements: the twin beds are pushed together to make a King-size bed on one side of the room, a lower trundle bed is pulled from under that bed (imagine wall-to-wall bed) and a bunk bed is pulled from the wall above the trundle. It's doable, but cramped and everyone needs to be flexible. We found it was best when only two people were in the room at a time - so my husband and I would get up early, dress and go for breakfast. Our kids would get up later and get ready for the day. The bathroom was a good size (larger than Disney) and the soap/shampoo products provided were nicely scented. I will explore other larger stateroom options for future cruises. It is fine for two adults or two adults with younger child/ren who don't need a lot of time in the room. IT WAS VERY STABLE WHEN WE HAD ROUGH SEAS off the NC coast. Also, we weren't the only four-person family in an inside stateroom, but everyone needs to work together and be good sports.
Embarkation went smoothly.