I've read many reviews on this site that helped me so hope to do the same. One thing that would help is knowing whether a reviewer owns a BMW, shops at Nordstrom's and drinks Starbuck's or if they have a JEEP, shops at Target, and drinks Dunkin' Donuts. That being said, we are the latter!Broke down into categories for those who want to skim, and an asterisk * means a cruiser tip! My ratings out of 5 stars being best.Trip prep background:This was our 1st cruise ever with our kids ages 10 and 6. We chose NCL and the Gem because of the price, port of calls, and out of the Big Apple. Also the freestyle concept. Dress in jeans if you eant, eat at whatever time. Casual and relaxing rules in our book. By reading this board found out that the Gem is one of NCL's newer ships, built in 2007 and the decor and layout didn't disappoint. 2,000+ passenger ship. Was sold out but never seemed too crowded.Embarkation: Parked literally next to the GEM at dockside for $30 a day. Steps and an elevator ride to customs and emarkation area. Process was smooth. 4:00 p.m. sailing and we were onboard at noon. *While in waiting area you can sign up for various onboard activities. Walk around and look. We did the spa for $119 per person unlimited use. Thought was worth it. *Boarding at noon everyone is hungry - make tour way past ccrowds at Gadren Cafe to outside deck cafe for seating and lunch. They have a buffet and station out on deck at rear of ship. Bar too! 4 stars.Cabin: Inside stateroom, Deck 10. 143 sq. feet which I read is small compared to other lines. However, worked well for us, two single beds and trundle making one big long bed across cabin with foldout wall single bunk on one side. Good for our boys as they are small and pretty well-behaved. For those families with bigger or more energetic kids - this may be too tight! Well decorated with cherry wood cabinets and shelving,lighted closet, 16" LCD tv, hair dryer,full length mirrors, small table, room safe, mimi-mini fridge. Enough room to store 4 pullman style duffle suitcases. Bathroom small but usable. Nice shower massager and swimsuit hanging clothesline. *Shower hot/cold very sensitive, test first! Water pressure always good, sliding glass shower doors.Roberto, our steward, friendly and on the money with service. 4 stars. Dining:We never went to any specialty restaurants. Magenta for dinner. *Lamb and duck dishes good. Service great. Garden Cafe is main dining area with buffet and cook to order stations. *Off one end is a kiddie area where adults can sit in as well. They have a station with kid food like chicken tenders, mac and cheese, fruit bowls and dessert. Apple and OJ always available and TV on wall! Well done. Garden Cafe buffet food is a step above Old Country Buffet. Burger meat not to our liking and buns always dry. However, usually lots of other things to choose from and fruit was always fresh and good - pineapple and cantalope rocked at every meal! *Best bets for - Breakfast: Omlette cook station - egg white and egg beaters available no extra charge. Spanish potatoes good. French toast. Lunch: Sandwich station with fresh breads of every kind. Dinner: Veggie stir-fry station was quick, healthy and fresh especially over noodles. Pasta station ruled - pick your own pasta, sauce and toppings and they cook it up for you. Crepes at crepe station to die for. Blue Lagoon - great Tomato basil soup and buffalo wings. I liked panini prosciutto sandwich as well.The lunch on Great Stirrup Cay (GSC - NCL's own private island) was good too. They had fruit, salads, burgers, hot dogs pizza and our kids and us particularly enjoyed the potato salad, coleslaw and bbq ribs and chicken. All eating under shaded picnic area out of the blaring bahamian sun! Yeah mon! 3.5 stars.Entertainment/ActivitiesPool has a spiral waterslide and there were 2 jacuzzies that fit up to 8 adults. One pool for adults only although some kids were in it.There always lots to do. Our kids liked the giant Wii screen at Crystal Atrium. The screen is about 20 feet tall by 10 feet wide! They have scheduled Wii tennis or golf or bowling through the day so check if you have video game young kids. Guarantee it is the largest screen they will ever play on! We did Bingo at the Spinnaker Lounge where kids play free and the lowest cost package is $29. Not bad for an hour of family fun time with a chance to win a few hundred bucks playing 3 rounds of Bingo and a chance to win the big $7,000 jackpot! We tried shuffleboard, used the game room, air hockey for $2.00. Also played with giant Chess set on outside deck. Promenade deck never crowded. Rock climbing wall on upper deck cool. *Cool wicker bed lounges with cushion and pillows for sunbathing on Deck 13 bow. Get there by 8:00 to have the best lounges for relaxing and reading, even napping. About a dozen of them. Yin and Yang Spa - we purchased spa thermal relaxing package and thought ok for the price ($119 for all 7 days unlimited use). *They only sell 84 of them to keep spa uncrowded so get them early if this sounds like fun for you. The spa has seperate mens and ladies locker rooms with showers, dry and wet sauna and two single jacuzzis. Then in common area there are cushioned loungers overlooking the ocean on windows at bow of ship. They also have heated ceramic tile lounges - nice to warm up and nap on. The therapy pool is heated with an area to lie on or an area to sit around - all with bubbling jacuzzi like water effects. Then there is another co-ed round jacuzzi tub, big enough for 4 adults in at once. We used this alot and was never crowded. Very clean, modern and well-appointed. *Different shows available at Stardust theater and for a great laugh go see the "Fountains" show for sure. It is a one of a kind and trust me if you have a good sense of humor and even if you don't you will be entertained by it! 4.5 stars.Ports of CallPort Canaveral, Great Stirrup Cay, Nassau. (One day at each place)Port Canaveral - If you are thinking about Kennedy Space Center, do your own excursion to save money (we saved $120) and avoid crowds. It's easy! *Executive Limo (Mike) www.executiveviplimoousine.com picks you up at dock, drops you off at KSC front entry and gets you back to ship whenever you want when you call him all for only $59 in an air-conditioned mini-van will fit family of up to 6! This way you don't have to be stuck waiting for the shore excursion shuttle buses and lines either way, and especially if you want to go back to the ship earlier than the excursion ends. Loved KSC with my boys. Learned a lot and had fun, did 3D IMAX Hubble movie, Star Trek show, and toured the space shuttle. Awesome. Live long and prosper.GSC -Let me begin with bashing the tender process! Zero stars,ugh. They start giving tickets at 7:30 a.m. on board which makes sense - you line up to get assigned a number so that deboarding to the island at 11:00 a.m. on the tenders should be timely and less chaotic. Well, at the lounge where people were waiting for tickets, no line. No ropes or line set-up. When the tickets did arrive, mad crowd rush to table. I did get an early tender number but once we were called to board there was a half hour wait and then people with later ticket numbers were getting on before us! They didn't check the numbers and let people through. People were pissed off, us too. NCL needs to fix that. That being said, ride to island short 5 minutes, beautiful weather and natura3 protected beach area with safe swimming and snorkeling for all. Great bbq island lunch included. We brought our own snorkel gear - if you don't I think it's $30 to rent. First time snorkeling with my boys, some little fish and they enjoyed the sand. *Get towels from ship to bring for lounges. Get on early tender to find good shaded spots. Clamshell shaded loungers can be rented for $29. Go early to eat before lunch rush.Nassau - Easy off and back-on ship. Chose to do Pirate Museum and self made excursion at Sheraton Cable Beach. Lots of shopping once off ship. Great local shops for souvenirs and lots of high end stores like Cartier and Rolex too. Walked a few blocks to Pirate Museum. Small and no big deal but air-conditioned and learned about the real pirates of the caribbean. All for $40 for all of us, not a bad hour of pirating fun. You can ride the Jitney buses for a very low fare. All the way to Cable Beach was only $5 for our family of four!!! We chose Sheraton because they are directly on Cable Beach and have day passes. It cost $75 for all of us for all day use of towels, lounges, pools, restrooms and non-motorized water sports. At low tide in afternoon, you can walk out to reef and stick your head in to see fish. Good fish pics too and water clearer than GSC. Well worth the price to have bathroom and pools for the boys! Overall ports of call and fun factor: 5 stars.Service/CleanlinessMust say that service was always with a smile. From dining to cabin crew and all around ship - staff was courteous and friendly.n Ship was clean overall nd well maintained. 5 stars.Kids crew - DaycareThis service was free and having kids with food allergies, I was impressed that they were thorough and on top of our safety concerns. A staff phone was given to us so they could contact us in case of an emergency. Kids had fun and were provided with safety ID bracelets for check in and checkout. They had free play time when both boys could play together, then a seperate play time designed for activities for different age groups. Boys liked going and we did spa when they were there. 5 stars.DisembarkationEasy again since we chose the walk-off option. basically if you can carry all your luggage you can deboard the ship anytime you want. Otherwise you leave your luugage out the night before with color coded tags to be picke dup at baggage area when you deboard. Our process was quick and easy, went right through customs and an elevator ride to our car parked next to ship. If you don't want the hassle of tarnsfers and airports, parking at dock is a breeze!Hope this helps you on your sailings and adventures!