I will start this review with the caveat that we booked this cruise very late in the game and would not have booked the cabins we booked if others were available.

CONCLUSION: We were 38 hours delayed leaving. This was not NCL fault but left 1/3rd of the ship disgruntled and you could feel that vibe throughout the trip. Having said this, after 11 days I understand why Royal Caribbean did not attempt to retrofit their older boats with Star Class. Its really a category/service that needs its own location of the ship unless your "butler" can act like a "genie". I will also say that after 7-8 days they were starting to get into a rhythm, but for the price we paid, we shouldn't have felt like test dummies for the first week. Not fair on school vacation week. They know how that goes.

PREP: I read every Cruise Critic review there was to prepare myself. I understood coming in that the Gem had a cult following. The live music cover acts were all great, the staff was amazing, but there was not a ton to do on the boat as far as programming. Cruise critic has never sent me away with unrealistic expectations so the negative parts of my review are the reflection that I did not have a typical experience on this trip. Read more