jaclync324

We are considering Mr. Sancho's for our March cruise but are concerned that we don't get off the ship until 11. Assuming your timing was the same, did you have any issues getting good chairs at that time? How long were you there? Long enough to make the all inclusive worth it? We are also considering the pay as you go option but would probably just do Paradise Beach in that case.

I think we had enough time. We had a table with chairs and two beach chairs about 2 in from water. I think we stayed until 3:30? We had two children with us so that was good enough. :)

I was considering Mr. Sanchos. Do you remember what the cab fare was? I know is was $17 each way for Nachi Cocom & we were with another couple.

It was $26 each way.

We will be on the Jade in 18 days. It will be the same Itinerary as our last cruise so we may stay on the ship for Belize. I have already booked a private excursion for Roatan so I just have to figure out what to do in Cozumel. Have been there several times. What did you do when there? Trying to get some new ideas. We have been to Isla Passion twice, Nachi Cocom, Salsa, Salsa, Island Tour. We stayed in the Haven on the Epic in 2013 for our Anniversary. Will have to do another 2018 for our 40th.

We did Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel! It was sooooooooooooo fun! I think it was $55 per person for unlimited food and drinks. You get your own waiter and he comes around constantly asking if you need anything. The food was really, really, really good!

Thanks for your review and information! We are on the Jade Mar 12th. Only our 2nd cruise and first time on Norwegian & a suite. We have Omar too so very excited to hear your comments about him! On the Tendering, How quick to do think we can get off at Belize & Rotan? I'm looking at booking private tours so we can have more time on the island,(not having to wait on others to join the excursion)...Will having priority tendering make much of a difference?

Roatan was fine, no issues at all. Belize took forever. Try to get priority tickets and get off as soon as you can.

For Belize, if you are interested in the zoo, I heard you can contact the owner directly and she will take you on the tour herself and get you up close and personal with the animals. We did the excursion through the ship and it was 6 hours and we only got 1.5 hours at the zoo.

Will be on the Jade first week of April. We were disappointed that Harvest Cay was changed to Belize City. But thats what we are stuck with. Tendering seems to be a huge issue at that port. We will probably just do a ships excursion but was wondering what your thoughts were on the tendering there? Alot of problems or did it go smoothly?

 

We have always arrived at the port early to board but then you go through long lines and still have to wait an hour or two for the room to be ready. Sitting around a crowded buffet waiting has gotten old. Been on most of the main cruiselines and with the exception of HAL they are all the same. Question, have you boarded later, maybe around 1-130? If so was it quicker through check in or the same? I know suites get priority but we have had priority before and it wasn't any better. We have gone out of Houston once but on Princess and the experience was as described.

 

Thanks.

We got there at 11 and went to the suite room and boarded about 30 minutes later. They take the suite guests right to Cagney's and rooms are ready by 1.

I have never boarded later than that. I would imagine that later may be better. At 11, it was hopping in there, lots of people, really busy.

Here's a tip...go to blue lagoon or the main dinning room for a leisurely lunch. Throw out your watch, explore the ship and enjoy your vacation. :)

The tendering wasn't great. I wont lie. Try to get on the first tenders if you can. We were with a tour and we waited around forever, then waited in line to get on the tender.

Just off the POA (doesn't have a Haven) and couldn't DISAGREE with this more...the Concierge did NOTHING for us except say hi and goodbye. The Butler took care of everything for us.

 

Prior to the cruise, (this was our 4th in a suite) we generally have an idea of what we will tip the Concierge, Butler, Steward, Haven Staff (other cruises), wait staff, etc. Well, this time the Butler got his AND the Concierge's tip (plus a little extra because he was so great) and the Concierge got ZERO from us.

 

I'm not saying he was a bad Concierge - I have no opinion on that as we did not ask him for anything, nor did we need to. Our Butler took care of it all.

 

Just my opinion is that if you don't use them - and they don't check with you regularly to see if you need anything, you shouldn't feel the need to tip them.

 

On land, when I tip, I tip the people that provide a service to me (waiter/waitress, valet, doorman, driver, etc) - I don't tip everyone else just because they are there and rely on tips as part of their compensation.

Let's agree to disagree. There is a big difference between "on land" and cruise employees. There is also a big disparity with regard to fare wage among land employees and cruise employees, especially employees coming from developing nations. Don't forget the working conditions of these folks. I stand behind my statement.

The only thing this thread has taught me is perhaps I should have tipped more.

I just searched the NCL site and I don't think there are any real guidelines. It is really up to your discretion.

We gave the butler $100 on our last cruise and $60 to the concierge. We also tipped our room steward $50 since she was so great.

We have tipped the butler in the past way more but this one was not so great. I don't know if he had an attitude program or trouble understanding us.

On our last cruise, our youngest was only 2 and he would not sit for meals so we ate every meal in our room. We made sure to tip the butler very well since he brought us our food.

Some people don't use either the butler or the concierge and think this warrants not tipping. It doesn't. They don't get tips like every other crew member so if we are planning to stay in a suite, you need to plan for these extra tips.

Hope this helps.

Hi All,

This was my 9th cruise, and my 4th with NCL. We chose the Jade for a few reasons. Since it's a sister ship of the Gem and we've been on the Gem twice, we wanted to experience the Jade. The port was different for us. We never sailed out of Houston and lastly, the price was amazing! We booked a 2 bedroom family suite in the haven and were 3 adults and 2 children. This was our third suite in the Haven and 4th suite experience with NCL overall.

We book with NCL strictly for the suite perks. We have sailed on a suite with Royal and they can't even touch NCL. We read a lot of the bad reviews before embarking but we know to always manage our expectations. Our expectations are in the Haven all will always be good and outside of the haven, mediocre to sometimes excellent.

The ship was very well maintained. The food was excellent except for the main dinning room on Italian night! We ate in Le Bistro twice, Cagney's once, and Teppenyaki once. We went to the main dinning room one night and the food wasn't great. The lasagna smelled and tasted like Chef Boyardee. The service though in the main dinning room was really, really great. Out waiter (wish I remembered his name) was so attentive and wonderful. He made sure to feed the kids first and that was a really great help. When he noticed we weren't eating our meals, he offered to get us anything we wanted but we really wanted to catch the show so we ended dinner and rushed over to the theater. We also ate at the smaller dinning room and whatever night that was, the food was decent. I am a New Yorker and we have access to the best food in the world. Overall the food in the specialty restaurants was a 9 or even 10. The main dinning room food on the "good" night was an 8 and the other "Italian" night was a 5 but the service was a stellar 10!

The entertainment was surprisingly good. The elements show was really amazing.

Omar, the concierge was the best concierge we ever had. He was really friendly and approachable. Everyone loved him! He came out on stage during the last show and the Haven and Suite section of the theater went crazy! I could hear people behind me saying how he spoiled them and now they can never go back to a regular room.

Out butler was so so. I don't think he understood English very well but he got us our breakfast and that is all we really cared about. We ordered from the main dinning room one night and he served us in courses. The food that night was good too (forgot about that one).

If you haven't done a cruise in a suite on NCL, try it out. You may even get an awesome deal out of Houston before they move the Jade permanently. You will not be disappointed.

I can't really comment on anything else unless anyone has specific questions on what we did in Belize, Honduras, or Cozumel.

Hope this helps. :)

Can I get more info on the charity aspects mentioned? We are traveling with a 3 year old and almost 9 year old. We have been on many cruises and I would love an opportunity to bring something that may help the children in Belize. Any help would be appreciated.

The haven was nice when it started raining when we were on the slides with my 7 year old and we went back to the haven with roof closed and enjoyed the pool and hot tubs. We just upgraded for our Gem 9 night from 2 bed suit to 2 bed haven for 800 more.

Get the two bedroom suite it's the only way to get him the benefits and will be nice for him to enjoy the haven as it nice with the closing roof. We have stayed in the 2bed before the second room is not that bad it's like an inside cabin the bed is a day bed not a pull out and the bedrooms have doors making the living room a true separate room. The bed is only a twin or full so it would not be great for two people but one person will work fine. Have not Hurd one person complain about the bed. Plus the couch in living room is a pull out so you could change it up I'f needed and they will bring a mattress topper if you need.

The suite perks are worth it to us the butler it self makes the cost worth it. The haven suites are awesome do to the private pool area with the closing roof for days with rain and bad weather. The breakaway haven area is real nice with its own bar and restaurant. Our room was on the same floor so we just walked out our room right to bar to grab a drink.

If I remember correctly the bed in the second room was more like a day bed with pillows making it a couch. Not sure if it was a real mattress but it was not a pull out. Just go to YouTube a watch some videos. There is also a bed that comes down from the ceiling like a bunk bed that our seven year old son loved and used just because he thought it was cool even though he had the room to his self.

The two bedroom is nice because it has a true separate living room so it has three separate rooms with two full baths. The haven area is great and the haven lounge bar area is a nice perk.

Don't get the mini suite no reason no perks go for a real suite In haven it will be the vaction of a lifetime I promise. NCL suite perks are the best in the busniess for sure!

Our favorite cruise to date was the Breakaway. We are going on the Gem for the second time in March we liked the Gem and chose it for the 9 night option with stops that we have not been to.

Expect to never want a regular room again that's for sure. After my DH talked me into it after getting to the pier and not waiting in line and getting whisked away to a private room with snacks and drinks I was hooked. We were walked in the employee entrance then down a private gangway it was like being treated as royalty.

The best perk for parents of small children is the dine in your room. The butler will bring you the menus from dinning rooms and set your table with linen and you enjoy your meal and your kids can just hang in room and play. We use this on every cruise we get the two bedroom suite so we have space to relax as the cruise is the complete opposite of our life.

My loving husband posted all of the above posts. The "best husband in the world" comment should have been a clue. Lol.

For the boarding and dinning comments, he was referring to the priority boarding perks and cagneys. We do have a nanny and she is wonderful. We wanted her to experience the "suite" life. This would be a vacation for her as well but since she is not a live in, we are not comfortable sharing a room.

Loved the comments. We do raise our own children but we both work out of the home and since our dog is not up to watching a rambunctious pair of boys, we had to hire outside help. It's up surd, I know! By the way, that's sarcasm.

Thanks for the info. Not sure why DH even asked the question here. I already had the answer as most wives do.

Happy Holidays.

That seems insulting to treat a professional that way.

What way? Tipping them a lot of people tip this way. I can see this being upsetting to employee who for the most works for tips to get handed cash money up front.

no offense OP it made not sense, just trying to figure it out. yuo are willing to "tip concierge heavily" so they will allow you to take nanny into the haven, but not to spend in the cabin cost?, maybe the $$$ will make the difference.

 

maybe you wanna book mom+dad in 1 suite and kids+nanny in other one, kids can sleep in the beds and nanny in the couch. or get H9 balcony spa for the nanny, is the less expensive way to get into the haven. it seem like you are very generous when it come to people to provide services to you, maybe you wanna be generous with your nanny and get her the spa access so she can relax a bit after watching your kids unless you are planning to have her working watching your kids 24/7.

No Problem with booking and paying for second room the issue is allowing the nanny to dine and use priority boarding. Does not make sense to pay her to be with us to help with kids and she can not be with us when we eat and board two most important times besides watching them if we do adult only meal. Most likely will book her in the suite with us and book a second room again in her name if that works.

Garden suite is out 30,000 is a little over budget

We did book a two bedroom. The second bedroom is for the kids. We want the nanny to have a separate room so we can have privacy. We will give her one of the key cards so she will have complete acess and can use the room and balcony. We like the two bedroom suite for the two separate rooms and the living room with the three tvs so we can all have our own space.

Can a person book two rooms with same name and book nanny in suite. Has anyone had any luck tipping the concierge heavily first thing. In past I have tipped every one first thing at the start of cruise with amount people tip for the hole crusie and explained that I still planned on tipping more at the end if I was happy with service.

We are going on the Gem 9 night in March we booked a two bed family suite it's me my DH who is the best husband ever and 7 and 2 year old. We want to bring our nanny and get her own inside cabin. What's the best way to book it and will they let her board with us and eat in suite areas which is important as that's the reason she will be with us.