We love freestyle cruising on NCL and really like the Jewel Class ships. Cruised on the Breakaway last year, not the ship for us, too big. Won't sail on the larger, newer ships. We love the GEM and the outdoor buffet area, don't have that on the larger ships. It's a great place for coffee in the AM and a drink in the afternoon. The food in the main dinning rooms was very good for the most part. There were a few times when the food was barely warm when served and the fried mozzarella was only room temperature. My biggest complaint would be that the chairs in the Spinnaker Lounge are very uncomfortable, especially for shorter people. I needed two pillows/cushions to feel comfortable and there aren't enough of those to go around. Overall we enjoyed the cruise very much and placed our Cruise Next Deposit on board. Will start planning our next cruise soon.