Great in the beginning but ended in mass confusion...

The food in the beginning was very good especially in the specialty dining rooms but, On the 1st night at sea, we went to Magenta's Restaurant and ordered the Prime rib - end cut... Bad Move... Came out extremely dried out - no moisture to it at all, cold, and took a chainsaw to cut it... Veggies way over cooked (boiled). everything was precooked and sat around for hours... Do not go onto deck 12 (poolside) for a hamburger/cheeseburger... on a daily basis I had to tell the Filipino cook they were raw inside were she did not seem to care until I went over her head.. Other dining rooms they did not know the specials of the restaurant without having to go back to the kitchen to ask. Once you get to order, it took an average of 15 - 20 minutes to see the appetizer then another 30 minutes to receive the entree. It seemed to be the training ship for the new employees coming into the Norwegian fleet. When going to the Orchard Garden on the 1st night at sea, the Maitre d' that seated us was very non-responsive until someone at the table waved her arms like a rag doll to get his attention and when he was 8 feet away, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, turn around took 3 steps and put the phone back into his pocket and walked away. When we did get a waiter we asked what type of food we could bring back to the room for someone seasick that they could or might keep down and he said "a pill"... Really... Many times the restaurant ran out of things like teabags, deserts, also things like coffee cups, silverware at the tables, and very slow to clear tables when people finished eating and left. I understand the need to be clean and germ free while aboard but every-time you turn around you hear washy, washy, clean, clean.... someone with a spray bottle trying to spray your hands with liquid disinfectant... They do not realize you need some of the oils in your skin and too much of this spray dries you out. The best employees were Amber - guide for shopping, Abby, waiter in a specialty restaurant, Mr Marlon who took care of our suite and made it a room special to us.

Plenty of places to walk... for exercise... Found broken seats in the Stardust, the main complaint was spectators could not take photos but when some did, the theater did nothing about it. They complain but then do nothing to follow up... When they do allow you to take photos, they turn lights on & they point them into the audience so the glare blinds the cameras.

The best employees were Amber - guide for shopping - High Energy - Very knowledgeable, Abby, waiter in a specialty restaurant - Went out of his way to help us - He has the most positive attitude of all the wait staff. I could not pronounce his full name so he joked by saying to call him Abby and not to be confused with Abagale... Mr Marlon who took care of our suite and made it a room special to us.

Extremely Clean... Best kept room on the ship... The bathroom could have been a bit bigger (proportionally speaking) Shower too small for 6'2 person (height - ok) the issue was the width from wall to glass door (sliding). Too Tight...

Mass Confusion... Announcement said everyone had to be out of their rooms by 8:30 am... Everyone went down to deck 7 as instructed... Can you imagine how many people on the ship could fit (jammed) into a space for a hundred...we were next to the main doors onto the deck for departure when an announcement came out that self service departures need to go to the door near "Bliss" Lounge, when we arrived we found out that the line wraps around the entire ship from mid-ship towards the bow, around and down the port side towards the aft, around and out the starboard door. 2 Hours in line to get out of the door and another 45 minutes to get onto the dock. once onto the dock, another 30 minutes to get through customs... 3/4 the way around the ship in-line, they decided to open the doors where we were standing originally. No further communication, no water or refreshments unless you paid cash at the bar as you went past it. Senior Citizens were having a sever time getting around the ship for departure and we had to help a couple along the way... This is one reason I will not go on the GEM ever again...