A somewhat jet lagged review of the Jade Uk/Ireland May 22-June 2

This cruise was a dream itinerary for us as I had never expected to visit Northern Ireland where my father's family originated. This cruise was the only UK/Ireland itinerary for 2016. We booked this the day it was announced. My widowed sister joined us even though she had to pay double. She is from Rochester NY where we grew up.

A bit about us: DH and I are recently retired, late sixties, from the Boston area. This was our 3rd Norwegian cruise though we have sailed Celebrity and Carnival. NCL just seems to fit us best. We were Silver Latitudes on this cruise.

We left Boston on May 18 to spend 3 days in London. I hadn't been there since 1977! We stayed at the Hampton by Hilton near Waterloo station. It was reasonably priced, close to the train station and tube, and walkable to the South Bank. It was clean, comfortable, and had a pretty good free breakfast. We never felt unsafe. There are a number of restaurants and bars in the area that are pretty busy. Friday we walked around the Prominade on the South Bank before collapsing.

Saturday we got a one day hop on hop off ticket to get oriented to London and it included a walking tour to the Changing of the Guards. So Sunday morning, running late, we got an Uber to get us to Trafalgar Square to join the walk. We were able to see the Change from the beginning, essentially jogging along with the band and new Guard on its way to the Palace,, then essentially running to the other side to view the other band and Guard march to the Palace. The two groups meet at Buckingham palace, something we did have no hope of seeing, but what we got to see was way more fun. That afternoon we went to RAF museum in Colindale, which required a one day pass so we could use both the tube then the train. DH is a military buff but both DS and I had a great time too.

Monday the 22nd, we took the Megatrain from Waterloo to Southampton. I booked it 6 weeks ago and it was a great deal: £24 for the 3 of us. (Thank you so much you nice people on the Britain CC board for the heads up!) The fares can vary, but we were happy with our deal. It was for a very specific train, so you have to watch the timetables at Waterloo. All we had to do is show the gate attendant our printout with confirmation code and were on our way. We got there about 11:30 .We got a taxi to the port and there was the Jade. We dropped off our bags with the porters and everything finally seemed real.

Embarkation was easy. It took maybe 10 minutes. Then we used a lot of ramps to get to the ship.

Once on the ship, we asked if the rooms were ready. One crewman said yes so up we went to greet a very flustered Steward. So, we decided to find lunch and asked about the dining room. We were told it wasn't open so we and everyone else went to the buffet. I never did find out if the Grand Pacific was open.

After lunch, which was pretty good, we found our rooms were ready and set off to explore the ship.

I've only seen pictures of the previous decor, but the new Jade is quietly classy. It is a work in progress, though. Workmen were changing out lighting and some windows during port stops. I don't know how much work was done in the MDRs. Grand Pacific is dark wood and Polynesian murals, Alizar is a bit more colorful but not garish. The various bars were

We had adjoining "obstructed" balconies, 8538 and 8540, meaning the superstructure slightly encloses the balcony. It never bothered us and protected us from wind and sun(when we had some!). Being so far forward, I wondered if we would notice ship movement more. We didn't.

The rooms had updated bedding and decor, and the usual tiny bathroom. There was plenty of storage, and we had a coffee maker and a real hairdryer, not the tube contraption we had on the Spirit last year. All in all we were really comfortable.

More to come on the ports, excursions and general impressions, but I will say I would do this itinerary again in a heartbeat. (There are supposed to be 2 next year.)

On the bucket List!

For some reason, the crew like to direct you to the buffet on embarkation day! When I went on the Jade, I was tipped off that the main dining room WAS open for lunch. I asked a crew member when I got on board & they said no. However she did go & ask someone else & came back to me & apologised & said it was open!

So I had a very nice, civilised MDR lunch that day on the Jade!

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Thanks for the review.

Thanks for the feedback!

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We are doing this next year and I am so excited to hear all the details on ports and ...well everything !!!!!

I guess I am jet lagged; I lost a paragraph someplace.

If you are new to NCL, be advised that the Jade is not like the newer megaships. It has an intimacy about it we loved. We rarely felt crowded. The ship was immaculate. We noticed a few worn spots in our stateroom, like the sink which had a few dings, and the plastic toilet seat which protested -loudly- when someone sat down.

Food. It was pretty good. Food is such a subjective subject, but we never had a problem finding something to eat. We mostly used the buffet for breakfast if we had early excursions, but did eat in the Grand Pacific when we had time. It often depended on what I call the great lox hunt. DH, being from NYC, loves his lox and bagels. You can't get it at the buffet anymore. You can get a nicely presented half bagel piled with lox in the MDR. When I asked about it at the meet and greet, I was told it was a budget decision. I suspect, lox, being smoked salmon, is highly perishable and probably has a lot of waste. But this is a change from last year.

The crew: with only a couple of exceptions, they were friendly, professional, and went out of their way to help.

For example, I also mentioned at the M&G that I never saw a laundry special. That is, it was available to Gold and Platinum. I was Silver. I was doing hand wash in the sink each night, which is not my idea of a vacation. The Hotel Director made sure that DS and I were taken care of after explaining that the ship could not produce enough water from sea water traveling at the slow speeds we used due to short distances between ports. Though I was very grateful for both the explanation and the perk, I wondered about other poeple in the same fix.

Another reason to go to the M&G!

The exceptions? Service in Grand Pacific was erratic, mostly at breakfast. The servers were friendly, and worked hard, but just didn't know what to do sometimes. We were told a group of new employees destined for the Joy were being trained, maybe someone can confirm that, but there definitely language problems.

Looking forward to your review. Hoping to do this itinerary next summer.

Me again. The other glaring exception to service was the Internet Cafe. There was an offer for 30 minutes for 14.95 on the final day, a sea day, for checking in with airlines. We traveled Virgin Atlantic ( a very good airline and value, btw) and could not get a seat assigned until 24 hrs before flight time, unless we wanted to pay, that is. I won't go into the fun of dealing with the slow speed, but it took the full 30 minutes to check in 3 people. Next to us, there was a family trying to check in with Air Canada. They were there before us, and were still trying when we finished. The problem was there was no one at the Cafe to help. The printer didn't work. Why offer a deal and not staff enough people to be there? DS asked the woman across from us, one of the Art Auction people, and got a snippy reply. Doubtless, she was tired of questions she wasn't responsible for, but her attitude was different enough to notice.

Specialty restaurants. We went to Cagney's the first night, our anniversary. It was the usual great meal, hand down our favorite. DS and I had the Petit Filet, DH had the larger cut. We also got a cake and a serenade thanks to DS.

Le Bistro. Funny, I can't remember what we had, the food being good, but very rich. Service and ambiance were excellent.

Sushi and Jasmine Garden. DH is a sushi lover, DS and me not so much. We enjoyed the regular restaurant, DH had sashimi and a crab roll which was partially cooked and, he said, crunchy. He was a little disappointed.

Moderno. When they say meat, they mean meat. It was really good meat, but you have to starve yourself all day to make room for all the offerings. Really good meat but so much of it!

Generally, we found the meat to be very good in all restaurants. The prime rib in the MDR is maybe a bit smaller than the specialty restaurants, but it was good. DS thought some of the pork was a little tough. Again it's all a matter of taste. But we never starved!

Entertainment. Another subjective suggest. We generally liked it. The shows were entertaining. I've read on other Jade review varied opinions. The performers worked hard to give us a good show, we really enjoyed the Showtime Band( their concert of Dixieland music brought down the hose). Music in the lounges varied, but there was a style for everyone. It tended to be loud, but that seems normal on most ships.

Passengers. This was very port intensive, and from talking to some people, they were there for the dream ininerary. I was surprised at the seemingly large number of very elderly passengers and those who needed assistance, but I suspect they were there for the same reasons we were..to see places they never expected to visit. Being a European cruise, the passenger mix was very international. We probably were a sedate bunch, getting up early for the next day doesn't lead to late nights. It's sad to note that I have reached the point in my life where I'd rather sleep than party.

Excursions and ports. DS had the shore excursion perk( we had prepaid gratuities which is our choice whenever available) so we mostly used the ship excursions.

Guernsey. We didn't take a tour, preferring to walk St. Peter's Port. We were going to join a walking tour offered by the visitor's center, but there was a couple of hours to fill before the tour, so we just started walking. We wound up at a little museum at the site of the GermanHigh Command's signal center painstakingly restored by volunteers. For DH, this was a find. We got a comprehensive tour that was fascinating . We never did take that other tour, instead got a real insight into Guernsey's war experience., as well as a lovely walk. There is so much more to see on this island.Weather was cool and foggy so we really need to go back to see more!

We tendered this port. Between the crazy Channel tides (at low tide, the inner port has no water!), and wind, tendering was a bit of a mess.

Portland. I didn't know much about this port, which actually isn't all that far from Southampton, but the stretch of countryside as well as the coast itself, is gorgeous. We took the Corfe Castle tour, a ruin originally owned by King John, destroyed in the English Civil War. Beware, when a guide tells you there is a "wee bit" of a walk, be prepared to walk. And climb. Of course, this day was warm and sunny. But the views at the top of the castle were spectacular, and there was the charming little village of Corfe was at the bottom.

Cobh. This lovely little village is the port for Cork. We took the full day best of Irish countryside tour. We did have a drive through tour of Cork, then we went to Blarney Castle tour. We decided not to climb 120 steps and wait in a long tine to kiss the Stone. There is a large beautifully landscaped garden which we did explore, and a lovely Blarney Woolen Mills outlet where DS and I shopped. I got a nice sweater, she got souvenirs. We then stopped for a full lunch at a hotel, complete with Irish music and dancers. After rolling our bodies back to the bus, we completed the day by visiting Kinsale, a beautifully preserved fishing port. Weather was cool and cloudy bordering on misty.

If I keep using the terms beautiful, charming and lovely, it's because everything was.

Our tour guide told us how happy Cobh was to have us as visitors. At Sailaway, we were entertained by Irish music and dancers. Being on the port side, I got to enjoy the show. Sorry, I'm Irish, I'm a sucker for this.

More to come.

Thank you for posting! I am debating on this itinerary or a land trip for Ireland in two years. Looking forward to more of your review.

Thank you so much for this review! We are headed to Norway on the Jade next month. Do you happen to have the dailies?

Thank you so much for this review! We are headed to Norway on the Jade next month. Do you happen to have the dailies?

I do. Haven't figured out how to post them but will a) try and B) answer what're rt questions you have!

I was on this cruise as well and am enjoying reading your review.

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By the way, I too was surprised by the large number of very very elderly and disabled folks. I think it's another reason tendering at Guernsey and New Haven (Edinburg) took so long.

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