Norwegian Gem
Sail date: February 14, 2009
The ship is immaculate. The food is outstanding. I loved that with free style cruising our dinner companions, the time we ate and our selections were all up to us. On other cruises I felt like I was going to a catering hall for dinner each night. This gave us quality food, a wide selection and intimate dinners with our own family each night. We chose to dress up on some nights but polos and kahkis were fine other evenings. We never met a staff memember that wasn't going out of their way to make our experience 5-Star even though the tipping was included so they were truly just working to make us happy. I felt no obligation to tip beyond what was charged to us as a service fee. Everyone seemed grateful that we were on board and that they had jobs! Even the cruise director made a point of saying in tough economic times they were extremely grateful that we chose to spend our vacation and obviously our money with them. :)