Mercury

Thanks everyone!

I suppose it will also depend on the area you are cruising. We are cruising the Greek Isles on the Jade.

I see that there is a Lobster option on the menu of Le Bistro for an extra $10 (Butter roasted lobster tail).

Anyone tried this and do you think it's worth it?

Who is the Jade's Captain?

Wondered if anyone could tell me about using a cell phone in South Africa. Can we purchase a sim card to put into our own phone for use? Are there "disposable phones" available to purchase? We have several tours booked and may have to call for times of pickup and wanted to have something we can carry with us but not use our own phone due to roaming charges. Any help would be appreciated

Hi Homeagain

Try Cellucity:

http://www.capetownmagazine.com/travel-tips/cellucity-prepaid-and-rental-cell-phones-south-africa/162_22_19067

We have found that e-mailing the pre-cruise Concierge was the easiest. They would then e-mail all your selection choices, which gives you a chance to look things over and then e-mail them back.

 

Enjoy!

Thanks for this advice. I am just wondering how to find the email address for the Jade's Concierge?

Thanks everyone!

Alise, we were on the Silhouette two years ago (also in Sept) and there were only about 15 kids on board so they also combined all the age groups.

I am hoping this will also happen on the Jade cruise.

I would love to have the dailies. My email add is:

gina robinson @ mweb . co .za

(without any spaces).

Thanks so much!

Credit cards (in particular Visa and Mastercard) are readily accepted at most merchants so you can pay for most of your purchases in this way.

The cash (Rands) will definitely be most welcome for tips.

Have a wonderful time in South Africa!

We will be cruising on the NCL Jade early October. I know that there is unlikely to be many kids at this time of year.

My DD is 7 years old and my DS is 5 years old. Will they be allowed to be in the same age category on the ship?

Does anyone know of a link to the Splash Academy programmes so that I can see what activities are offered?

Thanks in advance!

Excellent tipping advice provided in the previous posts.

Can I just mention that US dollars are not used in South Africa and therefore, the safari guides would prefer local currency (Rands). If you give them dollars, they may be able to exchange them at the lodge they are working at, but this is actually in contravention of exchange control laws so it is inconvenient for them to have dollars.

Exchange facilities are also not readily available in the smaller outlying areas so another reason why dollars would be inconvenient for them.

Hi Keith

Thanks for your very informative review!

We are on the Jade in October doing the 7 night Greek Isles cruise. You mentioned that you cruised with your 10 year old son. Did he attend the Splash Academy and if so, did he enjoy it? We are travelling with our 2 children aged 8 and 5 years so we are very interested to hear about the Jade's Splash Academy.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks so much to everyone who replied for your assistance. Much appreciated!

We are booked in a 2 bed (cat SC) family suite on the Jade. I thought that only the newer NCL ships have the Haven, but I have seen a thread that mentions the Haven on the Jade. My questions are:

Will we have access to the Haven on Jade?

What is in the Haven on the Jade? (pool/ hot tubs/restaurant?) and lastly

Where is the Haven on the Jade?

Thanks in advance!

We went on an Adriatic cruise 2 years ago and my daughter made a lovely flip file of her experiences.

She then shared it with the class when she returned to school. She had a double page for each port with the flag, language spoken and what we had done. (This was first Grade level).

I think you have been given fantastic ideas from the previous posters. I would also suggest that your daughters can do a presentation of their findings for their classes.

Appreciate your excellent follow-up and correct detailing of the major "facts". Yes, I understand the long distance from western Africa to Kenya. BUT, when some individuals like my wife are "concerned", it is hard, right now, to discuss certain aspects logically and objectively. But there is time till November when we need to make final decisions and the payments are due on this cruise/adventure.

 

We will keep working ahead and hoping for the best for all involved.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Hi Terry

I can understand your wife's concerns. My husband travels to Ghana for work purposes and I am very worried when the next trip comes up. Ghana is far away from the Ebola Outbreak, but I am still worried. May be it is a "woman" thing to be over cautious about potential threats!

Which brings me to the topic of terrorism. Read this article in the Economist:

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21604624-rising-tide-violence-coast-affecting-whole-country-frightening

IMHO, this may be a bigger threat than Ebola when considering holiday options in Africa.

Sitting here at the bottom of Africa, I can honestly say that if you and your wife decide to cancel your cruise, please don't abandon your plans to come to Africa. A holiday in Southern Africa is truly special and you can take in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.

You mentioned that your main interest is big cats - you won't see any at Pilansberg so I would not recommend this option.

If you go to Kruger, you will need to take anti malaria meds as Kruger is a summer rainfall area and a malaria area. It's also very, very hot there in Jan and very very busy - as Starlight mentioned it is peak holiday season for locals.

I would recommend Madikwe game reserve. It is not a malaria area and there are transfer options. We have been there and it is perfect for a two/three night safari. There are big cats and plenty of birds.

http://www.madikwe-game-reserve.co.za/transport/index.php

Enjoy your time in Johannesburg!

Thank-you so much Ewoodspark - much appreciated.

We plan on taking the cable car up to Fira and then a taxi to Oia.

Is there plenty of taxis available? When we want to return from Oia to Fira, will it be easy to find a taxi?

Do the ship's shore excursions also make use of the cable car?

Thanks!

Thanks Keith - much appreciated.

I have searched the threads but most deal with the earliest time to disembark.

We have an afternoon flight out of Venice and I would like to know what is the latest time we can disembark the ship? We will be on NCL Jade.

Thanks for any assistance!

I have answered the question about formal nights on page 3 The Ship looked very tired and the staff though friendly some could do with more training as the captain said in a question and answer talk when asked was the training done on board his answer was NO ITS A PITY THE TRAINING IS DONE AT HEAD OFFICE , The gang ways on and off the ship were very steep. There were other places to dine if you wanted to pay extra we did on the last night.

 

As I have said before that we enjoyed the places we went to and the shore excursions were good The Cabin on deck 11(11066) was fine and near a lift which was good for my walking as I did not want to take mobility scooter around all the time

 

All in all you are right our main problems were with the food and furnishings as well as some of the staff who made life more difficult about taking my scooter on excursions which I wrote about on the review page

Thanks so much for your further input.

Just to say I have posted a review on the review page and to put in context that we have cruised before with PRINCESS and CELEBRITY which we found in all areas to be of a much higher standard with anytime dinning and if you did not want to go to the Formal Night there were plenty of places to eat and drink on the same evening.

 

I really think that N.C.L need to look at all aspects of there catering with somewhat more choice in there main dinning rooms. It would also be nice some of the furnishings could be updated they had made a start with new carpets in some areas !!!

 

We did enjoy our cruise as all the ports we went were fabulous and the weather was great just pity about the ship

I must say that the title of your thread worried me as we are sailing the Jade later this year.

However, it appears that the main problems you had were with the food and the furnishings. If this is the case, then I am less concerned. I have cruised many times before and know that the Jade is not one of the glitzy new ships. Did you have any other concerns?

I am also not sure what you mean by the formal evenings as NCL does not have any?? Or did you mean that NCL does not have many places to dine besides the MDR?

TIA!

Please post a review on your cruise and your suite. We are sailing the same itinerary and also have a 2 bed suite on Oct 4.

I am excited with you! Look forward to hearing about it!

I was totally unaware of this and COMPLETELY SECOND what you said. Elephants are meant to be free and South Africa has so many parks where you can see them in their original surroundings. We have lived in 3 National parks during our lifetime - Hwange in Zimbabwe, and Kruger and Pilanesberg in South Africa and the conservation of animals is of utmost importance to us. I am so sorry to have been out of the loop about the above and withdraw my suggestion …. forgive me for even suggesting it, it breaks my heart.

Thanks zebra - I agree with you that this is heartbreaking.

Kruger is an amazing place and we have been blessed to observe elephants there. My wish is that all people will rather choose to view elephants in the wild.

Stan

I am not really a shopper and for the most part we don't bring back souvenirs. If i was to shop for anything it would be something that was a high quality 'art' object, something that I could hang on the wall or put on the mantle with some of our other treasures. We bought terracotta warriors in Xian made from the same clay as the original ones, bought a decorative papyrus in Egypt and silks in China and Thailand. That is about the only kind of shopping we do.

 

If you or anyone has any suggestions on what to bring home that can be displayed I would love it. As well as reputable place(s) to buy.

Thanks again for your help.

Kathy

My suggestion for Johannesburg is to try African Queen:

http://www.joburgsdarling.co.za/post.aspx?id=831

This shop is located in the Benmore Gardens shopping centre which is 5 mins away from Sandton City. You could very easily get there by tuk tuk which is the popular way to get around these days:

http://sheshatuks.co.za/

If you happen to be in Jhb the first weekend of a month, it's a great idea to head to Artists under the sun:

http://www.artistsunderthesun.co.za/

For Cape Town options try:

http://handmadebymeblog.com/tag/south-africa/

Garden Route:

My ultimate favourite is the wooden birds handmade in Knysna. I have a lovely collection on display in my home. Try:

http://www.feathersgallery.co.za

or

http://www.birdsofafrica.co.za

Happy shopping!

If I was docking at Mossel Bay, I would definitely go to Knysna … it's only 100 km (60 miles) away and is absolutely gorgeous. It's a beautiful drive all the way along what we call the Garden Route, stunning! One fabulous place to go is the Knysna Elephant Park where you can ride on an elephant - see this website http://www.knysnaelephantpark.co.za

 

I have tried to refrain from commenting on this, but after reading the weekend newspaper, I cannot leave this unmentioned: There have been allegations of cruel training practices at this and other elephant parks (you can also go to trip advisor to read further.) The truth of the matter is that an elephant is a wild animal and it is not normal for them to behave in the way that they do at such elephant parks. Now there is a case against one park brought by the NPSCA and the Knysna elephant park is also mentioned in the article.

http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environment/elephant-park-facing-cruelty-charges-1.1690795#.U4QyB8cwiCc

So what I want to say is please don't visit a park like this. Rather see the majestic beauty of elephants in a game reserve and observe them as they are meant to be: wild and free.