Great Cruise: Jade, Southampton to Barcelona

Hi to all, the Jade was beautiful, clean, and with very good food and service. My wife and I were extremely pleased with this 13 day cruise. We had a Cat. G, partly obstructed view cabin that was clean and comfortable. The only slight criticism is that the entertainment could be improved.

My BIG TIP about the cruise (or any other): Go to the Roll Call forums, find your cruise, join in, and be a part of the Meet & Greet. This enhanced our experience far more than any other thing we did. Minor tip: when ashore, stop in a super market and buy a bottle of medium-priced local wine just as a local housewife might do. In Spain we found red wine for about 4 Euros, and then paid the $15 corkage to have a nice wine for only $21. This wine easily beat the $35 reds that NCL offered.

Anyway, we will sail again on the Jade (or other NCL ships) without hesitation.

Race you to the buffet line, Howard

Thanks for your review, Howard. Nice to hear that you had such a great time on the Jade! I know we are looking forward to our time onboard!!

Hey Nerd-Guy:

Thanks for the positive input. I have read several reviews lately that could scare me off so yours helps balance the input. My wife, son and I are cruising on the Jade October 13th out of Turkey and are very much looking forward to the trip.

We have cruised on several other lines and in almost every case we were allowed to bring a couple of bottles of wine on at embarcation as long as we consumed them in our room. Does the Jade do the same?

Hey Nerd-Guy:

Thanks for the positive input. I have read several reviews lately that could scare me off so yours helps balance the input. My wife, son and I are cruising on the Jade October 13th out of Turkey and are very much looking forward to the trip.

We have cruised on several other lines and in almost every case we were allowed to bring a couple of bottles of wine on at embarcation as long as we consumed them in our room. Does the Jade do the same?

NCL is pretty vigilant about screening out carry-on beer, wine or liquor. I would advise not packing it in your suitcase that the baggage guys handle, but carrying on wine in a 1.5 liter bottle as you first go onboard. Many of the screeners won't charge extra for the big bottle, just the standard $15 that applies to a .75 liter. When you pay, be certain that they put a corkage fee sticker on the bottle. Then you can bring it to dinner, and they will handle it from there (or drink it elsewhere as you see fit ). Now, I have also heard that not all wine or liquor in suitcases is found by their xray screening. Feel lucky??

After your day ashore, be sure to go back to the ship, Howard

Thanks for the feedback. I guess flying all the way from Canada to Turkey to take this trip we really shouldn't be to mconcerned if we pay a few dollars more for the odd bottle of vino tinto!

Cheers

nerd guy--I am doing this cruise next year. can you tell me which cabin you had? did you have any noise and how obstructed was it? thanks

nerd guy--I am doing this cruise next year. can you tell me which cabin you had? did you have any noise and how obstructed was it? thanks

We were in Cabin 8598, just aft of the Blue Lagoon restaurant & midway between the aft and mid-ship elevators. This was a good location - very handy to most things. This Cat G cabin was rated HC so is was a little larger than most, and the obstruction was minimal as we could see most everything out the window with plenty of light.

Howard

Nerd Guy, did cabin 8598 have a sofa in it? we will have our 9 year old with us. also can you get through from the cabin to Blue Lagoon and stairs down to Atrium lobby?

Nerd Guy, did cabin 8598 have a sofa in it? we will have our 9 year old with us. also can you get through from the cabin to Blue Lagoon and stairs down to Atrium lobby?

We have recently returned from Jade, and were on Deck 8...the answer to the access question is yes, and you can have a late bite in the Blue Lagoon, then roll along the corridor!

Nerd Guy, did cabin 8598 have a sofa in it? we will have our 9 year old with us. also can you get through from the cabin to Blue Lagoon and stairs down to Atrium lobby?

Neither my wife nor I can recall any sofa or other sleeping arrangement, but this is a big cabin so have them bring in a roll-away bed. Now I have looked at the photos, so maybe there is a pull-down bed over the queen bed. Take a look at the last 4 pictures from a cabin crawl on board the Jade - they show 8598.

Have a ball.

Howard

Link to photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gharadon/NCLJadeCabinCrawl#

Nerd Guy, were you able to gain access to Blue lagoon from 8598? it is the back of the restaurant correct?

Sorry, I see you already answered the Blue lagoon question above!! thanks for info!