Freestyle cruising fits our lifestyle perfectly. My husband and I (51 and 49) cruised long ago on the SS Norway. Our 17 year old son had never cruised. Cruising has come a long way in 20 years! We were completely blown away by the size and cleanliness of the ship, the quality of the food, the size and features of the cabin, and the friendliness and service level of the crew. We are ready to go on the Gem again tomorrow! We plan to do a future cruise on NCL - we do not see another cruise line that better fits our lifestyle.

We spent 3 days in Barcelona pre-cruise, making our own air and hotel reservations. We stayed at the Hotel Arts, a Ritz-Carlton property. Very expensive, but great location and great rooms. We enjoyed the Sagrada Familia and Las Ramblas as well as casual dinners at the Olympic port as we adjusted to the jet lag. I can't imagine flying in the day of departure. You would not enjoy the first few days on the ship as much.

Day of departure: we took a cab to the ship - 20 Euro for 3 people, 3 large and 3 small bags. We arrived about noon and there was no line to check in. Our checked bags were taken away and we went through a security check similar to the airport, but without the restrictions on liquids. We had two small carry-ons filled with water and sodas, and no one stopped us. We had a special check in line for Courtyard Villas, but even the regular check in lines weren't busy. We were escorted to a special waiting room where we hardly got in the door before we were greeted by Claudio, the concierge, Ivana, the shore excursion specialist, and Putu, our butler. We gave Claudio our dinner preferences for the first two nights and Putu took us on board. After swiping our cards and sanitizing our hands, we were given champagne/orange juice and escorted to our room. We then had lunch in Cagney's, found that our bags had been delivered already, and walked each level of the ship to get oriented before the sail away and lifeboat drill - a sit-down affair in the Blue Lagoon restaurant! Read more