Will we be disappointed in NCL/ jade in Greek/ Adriatic cruise?

Was leaning towards RCCL's Splendour with very similar itinerary but due to lack of balcony cabin availability I am considering the Jade... Not familiar with NCL but have cruised with HAL, CCL, celebrity and RCCl and have found them more similar than not.. Am concerned over the freestyle dining and potential for late wait times ( Iike on a port day for supper when everyone's back on the ship) and the quality of the free food . Will probably not eat in pay restaurants as husband will be eating very

Little due to a medical condition .

I read there is a coffee maker in the cabin..do they supply coffee/filters/creamer etc as well ?

Passenger make-up/ demographics? We are 59 and 62 and " kids" are 26 and 29

Thanks for any replies

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Leaving tomorrow for Jade Adriatic/Med cruise on Oct 25. We are 65 & 70.

2nd trip on Jade. I just made reservations for a table for 2 at 530 seating in MDR and they had 6:30 as well.

We sail NCL, RCCL and as live close to Galveston, Carnival. We also took Carnival transatlantic and it was great.

So make a dinner reservations and not a coffee drinker but you can check NCL amenities for balcony extras. Balcony & above get robes which we love. As of Nov 1 there will be more restrictions on smokers if that is any issue.

We just returned from the Jade, a 7 day cruise to Greece. This was our first time sailing on NCL. We had a balcony cabin, which did include a small coffee maker - we are coffee drinkers but did not use it. There is excellent free coffee in the buffet, the machines we liked actually ground the coffee and then made it, it was not syrup, which is what we always ran into on Princess ships. We did make reservations in the two main dining rooms, but after the first night we cancelled our reservations and just ate in the buffet, which we found to have very good food - I enjoyed it a little more than my husband, he did not think NCL did a good job with fish, I do not enjoy fish. The dining room service was not good, in our experience, which is why we stuck with the buffet, or the Blue Lagoon.

I've been on the Jade twice. It is a beautiful ship, not too big. NCL is very similar to RCCL. We were in suites both times on the Jade and I think NCL does suites better than pretty much any other line there is. I participated in a cabin crawl and saw every type of cabin and the balcony cabins are lovely with excellent storage. I think the bathroom design is fantastic as the shower, sink and toilet are in 3 separate compartments in the one room, which means that more than one person can get ready at a time.

The food was your typical hotel banquet type food and they did a good job with it. Of the specialty restaurants, my favorite was Le Bistro - and that's the one I would recommend you go to, IF you should decide to eat in one of the specialty restaurants.

It is important to know that the buffet gets really crowded in the morning where you cannot find a table. Walk all the way through the buffet and you will find the doors to the Italian Restaurant wide open. You can take your food in there! It is nicer in there and nowhere near as crowded as it takes most cruisers at least half a week to figure out they can eat breakfast in there.

I don't know if the regular rooms have coffee makers or not. The suites, Penthouse and above have Lavazza coffee makers with creamer and sweeteners and there is a refrigerator. We would typically buy water and soda pop and a couple of bottles of wine and bring this onboard when we boarded.

One thing that NCL does that is super nice is put out good cheeses in the late afternoon - things like brie and gouda and blue cheese - not the typical pre-sliced cheeses you see on other buffets. They also have these delicious pretzel rolls which I have to control myself and only get 1, otherwise, I might do something crazy like eat 5 of them! I also had some really great curry in the MDR one night and some delicious prime rib another night.

If you are in a penthouse or above, you have breakfast and lunch in Cagney's which is fantastic. I understand the main dining room also serves a great breakfast. The buffet tends to be crowded so on early mornings where we had to leave for an excursion before the breakfast in Cagney's was open, we'd have our butler bring breakfast to our suite. Since we were always in suites, what I can tell you about that is that it is like being on a private yacht with your own butler and they really spoiled us silly! The suites are fantastic with upscale bathrooms, and multiple TV's and DVD players, the Lavazza machine and so much more - the Haven Courtyard has a private pool and hot tub and private gym.

I think you would be very pleased with the Jade, even in a balcony. It's just a lovely ship with good employees and it's a good size - not too big, not too small. We were touring the Med on the Jade, so I never actually got to any of the shows because we were touring from 7am to 7pm and then we'd have dinner and I'd literally pass out from exhaustion. My husband did go watch the comedian and he liked that show.

We did 3 weeks aboard the Jade in May, forward suite, one of the largest balconies aboard ship, absolutely fantastic!!! Couldn't have been a better experience on an outstanding ship! The trip into, or out of Venice is not to be missed!!!

DH and I are in our 40s. We are doing our second Jade European cruise in just a couple of weeks. I found the buffet to be better than most. We also were in a suite, and the Cagney's breakfasts were exceptional. Our suite offered expanded room service for breakfast, which was fantastic on those days when we needed to be off the ship early. We never had to wait more than 20 minutes for a table in the main dining room without reservations (they would pass out coupons for a free drink at the bar while you wait,) but now you can simply reserve a table and avoid the problem. But we also ended up eating quite a few dinners in the buffet and the Blue Lagoon because we were in port until late and then didn't want to have to bother with a long meal. The decor of the ship is a little dated, so that's something to consider. The crew was friendly and efficient.

I think all the PPs have given you good advice. I disagree that the decor is dated, it is just Hawaiian;). Which some find disjointing but it's never bothered me. Regarding the in room coffee maker, it is a four cup auto drip, they provide coffee in filters, sugar, creamers, etc. if you are a coffee snob you might to bring your own along with filters....for me, I've been satisfied with using two of their coffee packets per pot....at least until I make it to those grinding coffee makers the PP mentioned.

I agree with everything said so far about the Jade. Great ship, superb crew, good entertainment and querky decor. Go quickly before NCL take it back to the States!

The whole of the Ariatic coast is absolutely beautiful with Dubrovnick and Spilt particularly excellent. NCL do not go to Kotor in Montenegro , but it is absolutely great if you ever get a chance to see it. Greece and her islands are all pretty and full of history. It is really difficult to criticise anywhere there.:)

I have just returned from my first NCL cruise on Jade to Adriatic, Greece and Turkey. It exceeded my expectations. We travelled with experienced cruisers who have been on many Disney and RCL cruises and they were very happy with their first NCL experience.

I agree with most of the others comments. We found the service in the Grand Pacific to be slow for lunch and breakfast and the food could have been hotter. Occasionally it was hard to get a table at the buffet but as others have said go to the Outdoor Cafe or La Cuccina and there are usually seats. We had lunch a couple of times in Blue Lagoon which was fine for a lighter lunch.

We found there to be 2 different coffees in the buffet area and preferred the one with beans over the one with powder. We had a mid-ship balcony room and there was a coffee machine but didn't use it.

We bought the UDP for $119 each and only had dinner in speciality restaurants. Our preference was Cagney's but Le Bistro was also good. Only one we didn't enjoy was La Cuccina.

A couple of different points:

1) The Jade is consistently the top rated ship in Europe.

2) Any itinerary in Europe should be the focus over the ship or the line. You will spend way more time off the ship than on. I've not gotten the chance to do an European itinerary, but I think my focus even for food would be on land.

As far as coffee goes, order a pot to be delivered when you're planning on getting up and ready for the day to help you get going. But they do supply coffee, creamer, etc if you'd like.

Also just back from 14 days on the Jade. Everything posted reflects our experience as well. Had an aft suite are platinum latitude members and purchased the UDP. No regrets only great things to say about our 10th NCL cruise. One warning if pass on Athens. Crowded looks more like an eastern block country. Chefs table well worth the $99 fee

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Read my signature block.

If it was not a superb experience we would not keep going back again and again...

(Jade beat the cr*p out of our RCL experience as well!)

NCL do not go to Kotor in Montenegro , but it is absolutely great if you ever get a chance to see it. Greece and her islands are all pretty and full of history. It is really difficult to criticise anywhere there.:)

I beg to differ, on my three week cruise aboard the Jade in May of this year, we visited Kotor in Montenegro as well as Koper, Dubrovnik, and Split, and Katakolon in Greece. Absolutely beautiful itinerary.;)

Thanks for all the replies. I feel more confident that I will enjoy the Jade/NCL experience

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We did a Med cruise on the Jade a couple of years ago. If you've ever been on the Pearl, Gem, or Jewel....this is a sister ship. If you've never been on NCL before, then it will be a little bit of a different experience. It's not for everyone, but if you like to keep things casual, you will probably love it.

My experience with dining is that the larger main dining room is usually the better of the two (I think it's the Grand Pacific). This one has the more experienced servers. If you are willing to share a table with other couples, you will cut down your wait time. I've never had to wait very long on any Norwegian ship (about 15-20 max--and that was rare). I'm not a fan of the buffet for dinner--not because of the food--just because I don't like buffet style dining.