Was a solid good cruise

Overall I enjoyed this cruise.  Was it the most exciting one that I have been on, NO, on the other hand was it the worst or most problematic, NO to that too.  It was for the most part quite middle of the line.  

I am a forced Gluten Free person, I had concerns about this prior to going aboard as I had read reviews saying both good and bad about accommodations on board.  Beyond a doubt "Pradjar" (and I am sure I am not spelling that even close to what it should be) was amazing.  I called before sailing and told NCL I needed GF meals.  On the first day there was a note in my room to call Pradjar about this.  He let me know the best places for me to eat, he met me every morning in the main dining room to take my "order" for the next day for the restaurants I would be in, and  he brought me cookies and muffins!!  He became a wonderful part of my days along with making sure that I never felt like I was missing out.

As great as he was I personally (and I know this is just my experience and not everyone will have experienced this)  was not overly thrilled with my cabin steward or most of the bartenders that I interacted with.  First my cabin steward was basically not around when I was and when he was he was not the super friendly, making you feel welcome that I have experienced on past cruises.  My room was always clean, I always had ice etc... no complaints there at all.  I've always had great stewards in the past and had a lot of fun talking with them.  The longest conversation I had with the one this time was when I ran into him in the hallway and he told me that my bathroom was not useable as they were working on the lines.  That was it ... I happened to run into him later on that day to ask if things were useable again. (they were) If you have had a great steward before, then you will get why this was so different.

As for the bartenders they were again adequate but not engaging.  There were many times that I was not drinking but was close enough to overhear interaction between the bartenders and the guests.  Lots of laughing, lots of trying to recommend great drinks etc.  I tried to order frozen drinks several times from places that did not have them, ...  I am not a big drinker so my out of the box what do you try on a cruise that is fun and different, must have drink list is pretty limited, so I would ask well what is fun that you recommend... I personally did not get the enthusiastic interplay that I witnessed with others.  I was probably at the wrong bars for that, but it was disappointing.  Again, not enough to ruin anything, just kind of a "well poo that was no fun" and I would walk away with something very mainstream or was the case on the private island day, something that tasted like battery acid.

I was on the Break Away last year, the only time I had down time during sea days was when I opted for it.  So much to do and I typically had to choose between activities.  This trip on the Gem was completely opposite.  I found the activities to be very limited with very few things that I wanted to do.  In comparison,  I had a lot of reading time on the Gem.  

The ports are what you make of them.  I went to Orlando and had a great time, went into Nassau to go shopping and visit Atlantis and remembered why I decided never to go to Bay Street again about 10 years ago and the private island ended up being my favorite.  I did a couple of excursions and had a blast.  

Like I said at the beginning this was a solid "good" cruise.  Had some high points and had some middle of the road kinda boring parts.  If it was a different itinerary I would not discount the Gem, but it would not be my first choice next time.