Sailing on the Gem with a large family

Sailing on The Gem with my large family of 20 ages from 3 to 60 what are the must do's on the ship? Most of them will be their first time on a cruise and I want not to make it their last any suggestions welcome!

Don't feel that the group has to be connected to the collective 'hip' and let everyone do their own thing. You realize that dining will be an issue if you all try to go at the same time? You can book a large group at the 5:30 seating (If you want to eat that early) dining at 'normal' times might be tough to get you all in an area near each other. NCL doesn't have a lot of large tables so you might not even be able to all sit together.

We sailed with a large group about that size and it did happen to be on the Gem. Each "group" will want to do their own thing so it is hard to try to organize much other than maybe excursions off the ship. People have different eating likes, wake times, etc. Maybe try one group dinner at a specialty.

Oh, and if you want to make sure it isn't their last, don't cram too many people into one room.

We had a large mixed family group on the Gem in 2015 - a whole bunch of my cousin's and my brother-in-law's family. Everyone did their own thing and we met up to go to shows or dance. I had a suite and the concierge arranged for dinner for everyone on the first night. They put us in the front corner of the aft main dining room - sort of under the stairs where they have large banquets - almost like a private room.

Reservations in advance for dining together, at least a couple nights. Call to get this done. We enjoyed this on our cruise. Make it well known that everyone can do their own thing. Find a way to let each other know where you are, so if you wanted to be together you could. We did sticky notes, because iconcierge did not work yet.

Enjoy the great outdoors! Early morning it was great for breakfast and late it was great for snacks.

You can eat breakfast in la Cucina. It's quiet.

For places to hang out all together we used Spinaker lounge and Maltings.

O'Sheenans was great for late late night food and hanging out.

Deck 14 and 15 had quieter sunning areas.

The staff was great! Get to know them.

Visit the bridge viewing room & Edelsten-Det Jente Fiske.

In the back of Bliss - before you even get inside - are 2 "private" rooms with couches. We met in there & had huge dance parties.

It might be hard to get all 20 anywhere, together, at any given time, BUT there are many "family" activities to do with all (or most) of them. Might be advantageous to you to download (prior to sailing) then activate the iConcierge app so you can keep in touch with the group by text. Very helpful with meeting up.

I do suggest that you check your dailies for the staff activities such as scavenger hunts. Whole family can be on team and you take photos of items on the scavenger list. Kids love this and adults have some fun as well. If they offer a group dance class, go to it. One ship does "Thriller" and at the 80's party, the dance group does the whole routine organized by the CD. Make sure you all line up together and have someone video your family dancing skills!

Organize a family shuffle board tournament, or ping pong, or any sport offered on the sports court. You just need to sign out equipment. Meet for a "walk a mile" early mornings with the staff, also listed in the dailies. You can use that time to discuss plans for later in the day.

Don't sweat it if all members don't want to do everything at the same time. Younger kids may also want to go to the kids clubs, since they have so many activities geared toward their age groups.

Enjoy your cruise!!!

Thanks all! Looking forward and I had TA call and for dinner reservations for 3 nights.