We had a wonderful cruise over Winter Break. I was cruising with my husband and 2 children (11 and 9) and whereas we have cruised a number of times together before, we have never cruised on Norwegian or the Gem previously. Overall, we had a terrific time and would definitely recommend the ship and itinerary.

Embarkation: We were dropped off at the terminal at around 1PM. We easily got rid of our bags on the curb. We had to wait a bit at security but once through check in and were on the ship relatively quickly. We were able to get right into our rooms and up to the Garden Cafe to get something to eat.

The Ship: We liked the Gem a lot. It is a smaller ship and was easy to navigate. Everything was always very clean. It doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles like some of the larger ships. We really enjoyed sitting in the Great Outdoors on the aft of the Lido Deck. I never had problems finding a place to sit even though it was a very busy holiday sailing. My daughter enjoyed trying the climbing wall. My son played basketball on the sports court. The kids both spent time in the hot tubs. The kids missed certain aspects of other ships we have been on. There was no LCD screen on deck and "Dive in Movies" was something we enjoyed on the Carnival Ships. My son watched all of the football games in the atrium but it was an awkward space to watch a movie in. Read more