Live From the Garden Villa on the Jade

We are three couples (one from Ohio and two from Houston) being treated like Royalty in the Garden Villa on the Jade. My idea of a great flight is one that arrives safely. My idea of a perfect flight is one that arrives with my luggage! With that criteria, I am thrilled to report we had a PERFECT flight. Our Ohio couple, who had to change planes in NYC, arrived on time Saturday morning in Barcelona. But we Texas people, who had comparatively great weather, flew non-stop to Frankfurt, and weren't as lucky. Because of the frigid north, we flew directly across the Atlantic instead of up the east coast and across the edge of Greenland. That gave us a headwind and we were late getting into Frankfurt. We had no gate, and like about a dozen other airplanes, we parked on the tarmac and were bussed in. Frankfurt airport bus transport dumped us at an entrance at an airport that isn't very user friendly. We didn't see our flight on the board and assumed we had missed it. We finally found one little lady trying to answer questions for about 10 busloads of people and determined we had been rebooked. We followed the crowds to passport control, made it through and found ourselves in the main terminal. Long story short, we had to go back through security, find the Lufthansa rebooking desk and a painfully slow 3 hours later determined we still had time to make it to our new gate for our flight to Barcelona.

The Frankfurt airport is rather old and not ageing all that well. Very tired and not user friendly at all. Especially compared to Barcelona which is a gleaming, new, easy to maneuver, facility with lots of brass and glass, beautiful granite floors and no visible airplanes parked on the tarmac. No busses. And not much in the way of customs. We gathered our luggage (is there a better feeling than seeing your luggage come around the carousel?) and proceeded through an opening that said "nothing to declare" right into the Barcelona taxi line. We assumed that since we had entered Europe elsewhere, we were on a "domestic" flight and Spain is happy with Germany's clearance.

We asked for a "grande" taxi to accommodate four people and lots of luggage and 28 Euros and 20 minutes later we were at our hotel, the Eurostars Grand Marina, which is 5 minutes from the dock. By now we had been traveling 24 hours and fell into a very comfy bed in a beautiful room with hardwood floors, and beautifully decorated. Highly recommend the hotel!

The next morning all six of us piled our luggage into the hotel's van (25 euros please) and headed to the ship, arriving at the terminal at noon. We were greeted by baggage handlers and proceeded to the terminal with our carry-on bags. The terminal is very organized with clear line entrances for guests including lines for CAS passengers, Suites, and Courtyard/Garden Villas. There were already about a couple of hundred people in line to board the ship. We were checked in efficiently and quickly and escorted to the VIP lounge where we met Monica. She was very pleasant, welcomed us aboard and called our butler, Roland, to escort us to our little piece of heaven atop the Jade. As we were boarding, we heard announcements that rooms would be available around 3:00 PM. Being in the GV, our room was already available, which is one of the nice benefits of the suite life! The suite is beautiful. Many people say the colors (bright pinks and purples for carpeting for example) are garish - but I have absolutely NO complaints about anything in the GV. Well - except it would be nice if all three bedrooms and bathrooms were the same instead of one large and two smaller - but otherwise, it is perfect!

Our luggage arrived very quickly and we were unpacked by 1:15 and headed to Cagney's for our first lunch. We asked Roland about the big Noro virus problem and he said the cruise that just ended had very few problems and indicated it was only a handful of people and the problem is gone. There are plenty of sanitizers available everywhere and a channel devoted to staying healthy. There are sanitizers ON the elevators!

Because it was Valentine's Day, there were specials in Cagney's and Le Bistro which included wine and champagne and a special menu for $45 per person. We weren't really up to all the alcohol and couldn't get all six of us to agree that we wanted the limited choices - so we had dinner in the main dining room and the food and service were excellent. Monica kindly met us at the entrance and escorted us past the short line and to our table, which was very much appreciated. The service and food were very good! Because of timing we missed the Welcome Aboard Show but had fun in the casino!

Fell into our really luxurious bed about 1:30 am. We have had calm seas and this morning the sun is shining on a beautiful day in the Med. On our way to Rome........

Everyone looks healthy so far and I will try to post often. Right now, we are having the vacation of a lifetime!

Cathy

Thank you for reporting from the Jade as I will be onboard in March (although only in a minisuite) Good to hear about the noro situation. Is silver service still in place in the buffet? Enjoy the cruise and the Garden Villa.

The Frankfurt airport is rather old and not ageing all that well. Very tired and not user friendly at all. Especially compared to Barcelona which is a gleaming, new, easy to maneuver, facility with lots of brass and glass, beautiful granite floors and no visible airplanes parked on the tarmac. No busses. And not much in the way of customs. We gathered our luggage (is there a better feeling than seeing your luggage come around the carousel?) and proceeded through an opening that said "nothing to declare" right into the Barcelona taxi line. We assumed that since we had entered Europe elsewhere, we were on a "domestic" flight and Spain is happy with Germany's clearance.

As you landed in Germany which is a Shengen community country, you already cleared immigration at that point and don't need to do it again when entering another Shengen country (almost all the EU countries except UK).

Thanks for 'reporting'; nice details! Have a fabulous cruise! We cruised from Barcelona a couple years ago in two Owners Suites on Jewel and just loved that cruise although we (not the ship) ended up skipping a port so that we could actually get some relaxation as it is pretty port intensive...maybe take a day for yourself in the CY area. We too stayed at the Eurostars Grand Marina and really loved that hotel. Thanks again and enjoy being treated like royalty.

Thanks for the report. Looking forward to more details about the ship and ports! We will be on the 12 day itinerary, March 28th, and are a bit concerned over the Noro situation.

Cathy, I will be following your posts, as we are headed for the E. Med cruise 3/7. :) Thanks for easing our minds about some out of control noro outbreak.

May I ask about how they are handling passports? Were they taken from you at embarkation?

We haven't been to the buffet yet so don't know about service. We had breakfast in Cagney's and we were NOT to touch anything on the buffet as they had a server. We just told him what we would like.

Also, our passports were held at embarkation and we will receive them when we get to Egypt.

The Meet and Greet was today. Very well put together by Hanna and Gav from Australia and very well attended. We had the pleasure of hearing the Captian, Hotel Director, Cruise Director, Assistant Hotel Director (from Texas) and Food Manager speak. And they took questions. Of course everyone wanted to know about Noro and the captain said that the previous cruise was much much better. He also said that Noro is rampant all over Europe and since it doesn't show up until a couple of days after exposure, many times people get on and then become sick a couple of days later. Their job is to sanitize and sanitize and try to isolate the ill travelers. They try to screen at embarkation if anyone is already ill. They are very concerned and said no matter how much they sanitize, if we don't wash our hands very often, it's difficult to get under control.

We had a lovely breakfast in Cagneys - one of the best suite perks. Interestingly, no sweetners on the table and no jelly. We had to ask for both. The only jelly/jam available is strawberry jam or orange marmalade. And there is an extra charge if you would like fresh orange juice.

Tonight we are having dinner at Le Bistro. The seas are very calm and we are not going very fast at all - maybe just a couple of knots at most. We have been enjoying the casino (I just won a W-2G which put a smile on my face) and have been to the art auction. Sea days are wonderful - and this itinerary is nice because they are evenly spaced throughout the cruise. Explore some place new and wonderful and then rest the next day.

More later.

Thanks for the great reports. We spent 2 weeks on the Jade in the Med in July and had a great time.

If you are going to Le Bistro tonight, do not forget the Chocolate Fondue!

Cathy, I will be following your posts, as we are headed for the E. Med cruise 3/7. :) Thanks for easing our minds about some out of control noro outbreak.

 

May I ask about how they are handling passports? Were they taken from you at embarkation?

I was on the Jan. 24 cruise. Our passports were indeed taken from us at embarkation in BCN, and ret'd to us the day before we arrived in Egypt. Auntie Barb, I know from other threads you and I were among the folks concerned about this, so let me tell you that it worked out fine. Just keep a copy of your passport with you (in a secure place, like an inner waist pack) when you go ashore before Egypt (Rome, Greece, Turkey) and be sure to have the NCL port agent's contact info with you as well. This contact info is clearly printed in the Freestyle Daily for each port day, so you won't even have to ask anyone for it.

I was worried about this system before the cruise, but it all worked out fine, so you should ease your mind about this! :)

Cathy,

Thank you for the detailed post. DH, DD and I are in a CV on the March 7th Jade 12-day and I am soooo looking forward to this trip.

We'll flying into Barcelona direct so it was nice to hear how well organized they are. I'm also relieved to hear that the noro problem is resolving itself. (My doctor had given me a "what to do if.." but I sure don't want to have to put the what if's in play!)

Looking forward to your port reports! :D

Cathy - I am enjoying every word. Happy cruising.

Also, our passports were held at embarkation and we will receive them when we get to Egypt.

Thank you!

I was on the Jan. 24 cruise. Our passports were indeed taken from us at embarkation in BCN, and ret'd to us the day before we arrived in Egypt. Auntie Barb, I know from other threads you and I were among the folks concerned about this, so let me tell you that it worked out fine. Just keep a copy of your passport with you (in a secure place, like an inner waist pack) when you go ashore before Egypt (Rome, Greece, Turkey) and be sure to have the NCL port agent's contact info with you as well. This contact info is clearly printed in the Freestyle Daily for each port day, so you won't even have to ask anyone for it.

 

I was worried about this system before the cruise, but it all worked out fine, so you should ease your mind about this! :)

....and thank you.....including the advice about the NCL port agent contact info! :)

At least I know not to get into a fight at embarkation! LOL I still don't like the whole idea of my passport being held, but my mind is finally at rest.

Cathy, I like your style of Live reporting reminds me of mine.;) Thanks for bringing us along. While I will not have a GV on our upcoming cruise we will have an aft suite so looking forward to hearing of your ship adventures :)

How "suite" of you to give us a live report from the GV! Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Can not wait for more!

coka

We are looking forward to Rome today. We have a private excursion booked with Fabrizio, who has been our guide before in Rome. Some of the reasons we rebooked with him are because he took very good care of us last April when we were in Rome. He was passionate about Italy and very much a character. We saw a lot of places in a short period of time. And he took us to a little out of the way place for pizza that was unlike any pizza we have ever eaten in the U.S. Fabrizio (AllAroundItaly.com) won't be available himself but he is sending Peppe and promised us he will do a great job and knows where the pizza place is.

Speaking of excursions, on the first day the Excursion Desk was swamped every time we went by. I was stunned at how many people waited until they were onboard to make reservations.

Monica had told us we were to receive a complimentary meal with wine at the restaurant of our choosing. We chose Le Bistro tonight. It was the best meal we have ever had on NCL. I had read that the menus had changed, but we received the same one we have received before - and not sure if the mushroom soup still comes in a bread bowl as reported by others, but it still says it comes in a bread bowl. Almost everyone had the escargot, which we all highly recommend. Our waiter, who was absolutely fantastic throughout the meal, explained that we could have anything on the menu. With six of us, there were three orders of lobster, a shared 32 oz. porterhouse and one filet mignon - all were the highest quality. The maitre'd was observant but not intrusive. The ambiance was such that you would never know you were on a cruise ship. I'm certain the meal would have cost $400 - $500 in a restaurant in Houston and we all thought was well worth the upcharge we would have paid. It was fine dining at it's best.

We didn't want to rush our meal and subsequently missed both shows on Monday night. The Jade has a new format this year. They are offering the same shows on two consecutive nights. For example, Monday night was a violinist at 7:15 and a production show, Shout, at 9:15. Tuesday night the sames shows will be repeated with Shout at 7:15 and the violinist at 9:15. That seems like a great solution for both the performers and the guests. We missed both shows on Monday, but could possibly catch them on Tuesday and the performers should be fresh for each show. I like that the Jade seems to be very innovative in their approach to making things better. We understood from the Captain and Hotel Director that they have a very ambitious offering of itineraries - and not the same repetitive schedule week after week.

For a little background, as we say in Texas, this isn't our first rodeo. We sailed in the GV on the Star in November 2008 and the Gem in April 2009 for the Transatlantic NYC to Europe. Everything about the experience on the Gem was perfect. Alex Forbes was a tireless concierge and put himself in our path multiple times a day. He would always show up at our dinner reservations to be sure everything was fine. He somehow found time to greet us at every port prior to disembarking and personally escorted us off the ship and to our waiting driver. Aries visited our suite multiple times per day and would ask each of us every time he saw us if there was any service he could provide. He was attentive to the smallest detail and brought us anything he THOUGHT we might want. Together they made our experience the epitomy of luxury and set a standard we knew would be hard to meet. Our current concierge is doing a great job. Our current butler is doing an okay job, probably 100% of what they are both supposed to do - and we are happy with their services. That being said, the outstanding service we received from Alex and Aries will probably never be repeated by anyone. I'm glad we knew them and even though Alex has left NCL we hope to meet them again some day to thank them for the truly amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience!

The captains cocktail party was this evening. He is very young (36) and highly visible around the ship. The Executive Officer (second in command) is also very young and from the U.S. Champagne, wine, sodas and hordourves were served. It was a pleasant affair, and seemed smaller than usual.

The seas are still flat. The weather is still cool. We are expecting rain, 48 degree high and few crowds. We think our first stop is the Vatican, which we only cruised by last year.

More later. Having a blast! BTW, no indication that anyone has become ill...... fingers crossed! And thank you all for your nice comments. One thing I failed to mention on my earlier post, at the M&G the captain and hotel director both said they read our posts. They encouraged anyone with a problem to give them the opportunity to fix it before we go home.

So much fun reading your posts!

We will be in the GV on the Star in a few months...Since you have been in the GV three times ( WOW:D ), did you get a complimentary meal in a specialty restaurant each time?

Hope Rome was WONDERFUL!

Cathy,

Great report!

We are booked on the same cruise in an aft suite for 2011. Will be anxious to hear about your excursions that you have booked.

We leave in April on the Sun from Santiago, Chile to Miami in a forward suite.

Are you traveling with the same couples that were on the Gem? Say hi to all!

Dancing Mike

Truly enjoying your reports, and wishing you a wonderful cruise. Is our James on their with you guys, or did he get off when you boarded?

Al

Cathy,

 

Great report!

 

We are booked on the same cruise in an aft suite for 2011. Will be anxious to hear about your excursions that you have booked.

 

We leave in April on the Sun from Santiago, Chile to Miami in a forward suite.

 

Are you traveling with the same couples that were on the Gem? Say hi to all!

 

Dancing Mike

Hi Mike! We are with our same friends as last time but not my sister and her husband. Instead we are with my husband's brother and his wife. I think you will enjoy the cruise and I know you will have a great M&G if YOU are involved! I hope you will post about South America - someplace we have never been. I love the idea of flying only one way. Wish we didn't have to go back through Frankfurt.....

Truly enjoying your reports, and wishing you a wonderful cruise. Is our James on their with you guys, or did he get off when you boarded?

 

Al

Hi Al,

I haven't met anyone named James...... I'll post more later.

Cathy

How "suite" of you to give us a live report from the GV! Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Can not wait for more!

 

coka

Coka, How suite of you to say so. I always enjoy your witty, hilarious posts!

So much fun reading your posts!

We will be in the GV on the Star in a few months...Since you have been in the GV three times ( WOW:D ), did you get a complimentary meal in a specialty restaurant each time?

Hope Rome was WONDERFUL!

I don't remember for sure on the Star because there were about 21 family members with us on a 7 days cruise and most of the meals are a blur plus the GV was such a new experience we were absorbing so many other things about it! But we definitely did on the Gem and the Jade.

Thanks so much for posting . I am enjoying your daily updates. I have to agree with you about Alex, he is exceptional and will be greatly missed. We had Simone as our concierge on the Star last year and I must admit she was definately on par with Alex. We were made to feel like royalty on that cruise. I'm sure being in the G.V. helps. We have also used Monica's services and unfortunately were less than happy. Hopefully you will have a better experience. Can you tell me who the cruise director is on your ship?

Keep sending the great info, and Thanks again.

Thank you for taking the time to share your details. It's so nice reading an upbeat report. Happy sailing!

Up early this morning getting ready to venture into Rome. Our butler, Roland, gets an A+ so far this morning. We ordered breakfast for a 6:30 am delivery and when we came in last night our dining room table was completely set with tablecloth, napkins standing like little soldiers and flowers on the table. Plus he brought a couple of bowls of candy and GRAPES which we love. Having been spoiled by Aries (he knew we liked chocolate covered strawberries and brought a plate of six (one each) every afternoon, plus my husband mentioned how good the cookies were and from that moment forward we always had a plate of cookies in the suite), we had asked about chocolate covered strawberries and Roland told us the ship was out but they will be picked up in Rome. I had also asked him if there was any buttermilk on board - he checked and said there isn't, but he said he requisitioned some for me and we should get that in Rome too. .

We have noticed a few subtle changes and not sure if some of them are logistical (we'll restock in some future port), financial cutbacks or health (too many hands touching stuff) related. For example, no sweetners and no salt and pepper on the table for breakfast at Cagneys - teh waiter brought for us and took with him when he left. That seems like maybe a noro prevention issue. The only flavors of jelly were strawberry and orange marmalade. That could be a supply issue. And the pod coffee pot has been removed from the large master bedroom. We never used it anyway, so no big deal at all. 'The snack menu is gone but that's okay because getting a ton of food at 5:00 pm is a big appetite buster and constantly eating is NOT why we cruise. Yesterday we skipped lunch and requested a cheese/cracker plate and Roland brought it in a few minutes. As reported previously, there was no champagne at embarkation - but none of us noticed or missed it. It was a festive touch, but if they have to cut costs (and who doesn't these days), that seems like a great place to do it.

We all love the casino and will report later about our experiences.

The ship docked on time and we were cleared for entry immediately. There was a medical emergency evac first, but we dont't know what the problem was. We met Monica in the Star Lounge and she took us down a private elevator and we appeared at the exit. Wonderful. When we disembarked we were surprised to see our friend and guide from last year, Fabrizio himself as he had thought he wouldn't be able to make it. He hugged us and we hurried to his van because it was windy, cold and raining. He loves his work and talked all the way to Rome. We visited most of the must see places including the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Circus Maximus (just a pause - too wet to get out), Basilica of St. Paul, the view from Capitol Hill above the Forum. We visited Santa Maria on top of Minerva, Venice Square and of course threw our coins into Trevi Fountain. It certainly worked last year! We had pizza at the same place as last year and then Fabrizio introduced us to our guide for the Vatican, Serena. She gave us a wonderful tour of the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Church. We are so glad we had a guide as she made us very aware of everything we were seeing. Otherwise, we would have been looking but not understanding. A stop for gelato on our way to the ship topped off our day. We got a little cold and a little wet, but it was a great day. Fabrizio is so excited about his wonderful country, it's fun to hear him tell you the history.

Returning to the ship we were pleased to find chocolate covered strawberries, a platter of cheese and crackers, cookies and a whole bowl of grapes. Now Roland gets an A++ and we are headed for an as yet undecided spot for dinner and hopefully to the shows tonight.

More later and thanks for all your comments. In response to the cruise director question, our CD is Jill (not quite sure what her last name is). Hotel Director is Armando Da Silva.

Cathy

Thanks Cathy for a well-written and informative thread. Do you know how many butlers are on the Jade?

P.