Norwegian Jade Western Med Cruise 04-18-10 Review - long

We sailed on the Norwegian Jade leaving on April 18th, 2010 out of Barcelona, Spain to the Western Mediterranean visiting the ports of Monte Carlo, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Naples, and Palma before returning to Barcelona on the 25th. It was our 11th NCL cruise (14th overall) and both DW and I are 53.

It was our second time on the Jade as we had sailed on her a year earlier on a 5-day cruise from Southampton, England to Ireland. Of the 11 NCL cruises we have taken, this was the first time we had sailed on a ship previously. We are rated as Platinum Latitudes members with NCL. This was our first Mediterranean cruise and our first visit to each of the countries on the itinerary.

The itinerary was the first of the Jade sailing on a 7 day cruise out of Barcelona. She will continue with this itinerary for the next 6 months.

The week leading up to the cruise had the Icelandic volcano eruptions which caused havoc with all flights in most of Northern Europe. We were worried that our flight from Newark to Barcelona would be affected, but we were able to take off Friday night with our direct flight to Barcelona as that airport had not yet been cancelled. We did find out later that they did close the Barcelona airport on Sunday, so we were happy we had chosen to fly in a day earlier. But a lot of passengers did not make it to the cruise. So did join up in later port days.

Arrival in Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona the day before our sailing on the Jade. We had arranged in advance to have a private tour with Barcelona Day Tours. They had a Mercedes sedan pick us up at the airport. The driver, Christian, took us on a 4 hour tour of the city’s main tourist sites which included La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, La Pedrera, Gaudi's Trio "Apple of Discord", Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar, Olympic stadium, The Royal palace (where Isabella met Columbus), Barceloneta, Olympic Village, Parc de Ciutadella, & Montjuic with brief stops at each one. At the end of the tour, the driver dropped us off at the Hotel Regina which was only a block away from Placa Catalunya. We felt the money (€109 each) we spent for the tour was well worth it as we did not have to worry about how to get to the hotel. We were able to sit back and relax as we were taken around the city to see the sights and get a sense of what Barcelona had to offer. Christian was very knowledgeable about the history and architecture of Barcelona. He provided water and made us feel comfortable. After checking into the Hotel Regina, we spent the rest of the day exploring nearby Las Ramblas and the Gothic area, including the Barcelona Cathedral on our own before heading back to the hotel to get some rest from our jet lag. We chose the Hotel Regina because of its location next to Placa Catalunya and the beginning of Las Ramblas.

Day 1 – Embarkation Day Barcelona, Spain

It was a cloudy day with temps in the 60’s F.

In the morning around 11:00 am, we walked from our hotel down to the end of Las Ramblas and over to the cruise shuttle stop in front of the Columbus Monument. We stopped by some shops on the way. The walk took about 30 minutes. At the shuttle stop, a blue bus was stopping every 15 minutes. They charged €2 per person to get on the shuttle. The ride to Terminal B took about 10 minutes.

When we walked into the terminal at noon, there was a short line for security before lining up for the sign-in process. We just walked up to a clerk in the gold and platinum Latitudes line, received our docs and keycards, and were ready to go to the ship in less than 20 minutes from the time we arrived in front of the terminal. The cruise terminal was the best one we had seen. Before you went to the escalators to go up to the ship, you passed duty free shops and a currency exchange booth. They did not let anyone up the escalator until 12:30 pm. As we boarded the ship (no free champagne) we were told that the cabins would not be ready until 3:00 pm. We could spend our time roaming the ship or getting something to eat in the buffet on deck 12 or the Grand Pacific Dining Room on deck 6. They let you drop your carry-on luggage in the Medusa lounge on deck 7 where they had an attendant. Our cabin was an inside cabin (room 10079) which was midship and by 2:45 pm, they made the announcement that all of the cabins were ready for us to go to.

All announcements were made in English, German, French, and Spanish.

The muster drill was scheduled for 4:00 pm, so we headed down to deck 6 to our muster station in the bar city lounge area. We did not need to bring our life jackets with us for the muster. After the drill, we went back to our room and found that our luggage had arrived, so we quickly un-packed and pressed our clothes (you can request an ironing board and iron from the front desk) before the 5:00 pm sailaway. We went to deck 13 and the Bali Hai bar overlooking the pool area to watch the sail away. The Jade pulled away from the pier at around 5:00 pm.

We met up with a couple of Cruise Staff members that we had met on previous cruises. They said that due to the volcanic ash flight delays, they were estimating about 700 passengers did not make it to the cruise. That explained why the check-in time was so quick. They also said that due to the mixture of passengers with varying languages, the main shows would be more visual with singing and dancing and less talking.

After the sail away, we went back to our cabin to change before going to dinner in the buffet on deck 12.

The show for the evening was the “Welcome Aboard Showtime” show in the Stardust Theater at 08:30 pm. The Stardust Theater has a variety of seating and most have good views with seating for about 1,000 people. The show was hosted by the Cruise director, Jill Tasker who did a good job of welcoming us and introducing entertainment acts that would be performing on other evenings. They included a magic/juggling act called “Extreme Vegas”, a Spanish dancing troupe as well as the production cast singers. Jill spoke in both English and Spanish. After the show, we went to the Atrium to listen to the ship’s Jazz band perform for an hour.

Day 2 – Monte Carlo, Monaco

It was a partly cloudy day with temps in the 60’s F with a nice breeze.

We arrived on the port of Monaco (Hercules port) shortly before 10:00 am. I had gone topside before breakfast to watch as we sailed past Nice and Villefranche before we arrived at Monaco. The ship docked near the Old Town (Monaco-ville). They announced that the ship was cleared and we could disembark at 10:00 am.

We walked to the train station (the entrance is next to a church called Ste Devote). We had planned to catch a train to Nice, France. But, due to volcano ash flight cancellations, the ticket window had a wait of over an hour as people were trying to find a way home without flying. We walked back outside the entrance and caught Bus #100 that took us to Nice. The bus costs €1 per person and it was a 45 minute ride to Nice. The ride had spectacular views of the Cote de Azur as we went past Beaulieu and Villefranche on our way to the Nice bus station. The bus station is on the edge of the old city section of Nice. Old Nice consists of narrow streets filled with cafes and shops. We spent an hour seeing the sights in the area such as the Ste-Reparte Cathedral, Palace of Justice, Cours Saleya and Opera House before walking along the beach (which consists of small rocks and not sand) and the Promenade des Anglais before returning to the bus station to catch the bus back to Monaco. We had stopped by the Palais Lascaris, but it was closed for lunch.

Upon returning to Monaco, we walked back towards the ship and at the end of the terminal area, we found a series of steps (quite a few) that led up to the old Fort (Fort du Antoine) that overlooked the port area and our ship. At the top was a lovely park-like setting and it was just a few blocks to the Oceanographic Museum. The entire country of Monaco takes up less space than Central Park in NYC, so we decided to take the Azur Express Tourist Train. We caught the train (€7 each) at the Oceanographic museum which took us on a 30 minute ride with commentary in English that passed the Prince’s Palace, the Gardens, the Cathedral, and the Monte Carlo Casino before returning to the museum. From there, we walked back around the corner to visit the Cathedral. Inside the church, we found Grace Kelly’s and Prince Ranier’s tombs behind the altar. We then walked back to the ship.

The Monaco Gran Prix was scheduled for early May and they were already setting up the guard rails and stands for the races. The tour guide said that it takes 6 weeks to set up everything and 4 weeks to take it all down. We can’t believe how a F1 race car can get up to 100 mph with the narrow streets with tight corners. The tourist train followed a large portion of the course and it is amazing to imagine how the cars would have to constantly be turning, braking, and accelerating in order to get up speed let alone have the space to pass each other.

For dinner, we went to Le Bistro and had a window table as the ship sailed away at 7:00 pm.

The evening’s entertainment in the Stardust was a Spanish dance show called “Maestranza Spanish Ballet”. We went up to watch the Jeopardy show in the Spinnaker lounge after the show. The Spinnaker Lounge had the Super 70’s Disco Dance Party later on, which was lightly attended.

Day 3 – Livorno, Italy

It was a partly cloudy day with temps in the low 70’s F and breezy.

We arrived in Livorno before 08:00 am. They announced that the ship was cleared and we could disembark at 08:10 am. You could see long lines of tour buses, rental cars, and taxis next to the ship.

We had a leisurely breakfast before heading off the ship. Our plan was to only go to Pisa for a little while. A lot of passengers were heading to Florence which takes about 1 ½ hours to get to and we had decided to stay closer to the ship and explore Pisa instead. They had a shuttle bus (€5 each) which would take you to Piazza Grande which is not close to the train station. Our plan was to get to the train station (Livorno Centrale, about 3-4 miles away from the ship) and take the train to Pisa. When we got off the ship, we walked over to the taxis and were told a ride to the train station would be €20. We took a taxi to the station. There were long lines for tickets, so I went into the Tabacchi shop and bought train tickets (remember to validate them with a stamp from the yellow boxes on the platforms) for €3.50 each instead of waiting in line. The train ride to Pisa took about 20 minutes.

We walked from the Central Train station in Pisa to the Field of Miracles. It took about 30 minutes to get there from the train station. Along the way, we saw several interesting churches, buildings, and shops including a huge mural on the side of a building by Keith Waring. There was a Roman bath ruins just around the corner from the Tower of Pisa. At the Field of Miracles, we saw the leaning tower of Pisa and went inside the Duomo, Baptistery, and Camposanto that are located there. At the Baptistery, which is a round building, the acoustics are amazing. Every 30 minutes, one of the guards closes the doors and stands in the center of the ground floor before asking everyone to be silent. She then starts to sings a series of notes which would echo back creating chord tones. It was a treat to hear this. The inside of the Duomo was beautiful. For €10 each, you could visit 5 of the buildings/museums there. For an additional €15 you could climb the Tower of Pisa which had long lines waiting to go up. After a few hours, we walked back to the train station and returned to Livorno. From there, we bought local bus tickets (€1 each) and caught the number 1 bus from the train station and got off on Piazza Grande next to the Livorno Duomo before catching the shuttle back to the ship. The shuttles were running every 30 minutes. All told, the bus and shuttle rides from the train station to the ship took about 30 minutes.

The ship left Livorno at 7:00 pm and we were by the window in the Grand Pacific Dining Room for the sailaway.

The main show in the Stardust was a production show called “Showdown”. The show was a type of American Idol singing contest with the audience voting for the best singer.

Later on, in the Spinnaker lounge they had a Latin Fiesta dance party.

Day 4 – Civitavecchia, Italy

It was a sunny day with temps in the low 70’s F.

We arrived at the port of Civitavecchia before 08:00 am. They announced that the ship was cleared and we could disembark at 08:00 am.

This was the one port where we had a full day planned. We got up early before heading off the ship as soon as they gave the all clear. They had shuttle buses (no charge) to take us to the gates at the end of the port area (5 minute ride). From there, we walked across the street, turned right, and walked a few blocks to the train station and bought BIRG tickets at the station. There were long lines of cruisers already there (we were on the second shuttle), so I went past a Tabacchi shop and bought the BIRG tickets at a coffee shop for €9.50 without having to wait. These tickets would cover the round trip train ride to Rome as well using the Rome metro and bus system all day. We caught the 8:42 am train and arrived at the Termini station in Central Rome at 09:52 pm.

We had arranged in advance to have a guide take us on a 7 hour walking tour to several sites we wanted to see while in Rome. Our guide, Ron Phillips (from RoninRome.com), met us at the Termini station which was also the last stop for our train from Civitavecchia. Ron gives walking tours of Rome for groups up to 6 people (€120 for the two of us). Ron is an American who is living in Rome with his wife, who is a teacher at an American school there.

From the train station, we went on a very aggressive tour where Ron used combinations of buses and the Metro to crisscross the city. He started the tour by taking us to a local neighborhood to show us how the locals eat and shop. From there we went quickly by the front of St. Peter’s Square and saw the Pope giving his weekly public audience. We took buses over to the Capitoline hill to see the forums, Arch of Constantine, and the Coliseum. Then we went over to see the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon. Along the way, we stopped by several churches to see statues by Michelangelo and Bernini. We ended our day in Rome at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. It took about 30 minutes to go through the security screening and fashion screening (your shoulders and knees must be covered) before being able to go inside the Basilica. St. Peter’s is the largest Catholic church in the world. I never imagined how large it is and how big all of the statues and artwork would be. It is truly an amazing sight to walk around inside the building. The Basilica can accommodate 50,000 people inside. It was a short walk from St. Peter’s to the San Pietro train station where we caught a train back to Civitavecchia at 5:00 pm. I must admit it was a grueling 7 hours, but we were able to see most of the major Roman sights except for the Sistine Chapel (which takes over an hour to get to). Ron did a terrific job of pointing out all of the sights of Rome and we highly recommend him as a guide. He seemed to try and make sure we were able to get on buses that would reduce the amount of uphill walking (Rome is filled with hills). We stopped for a quick bite of pizza on the run to help reduce time waiting for food. (Being on a cruise ship, eating off the boat is not a priority)

We arrived at the ship by 6:00 pm and the ship sailed away at 8:00 pm.

For the main show, the “Extreme Vegas” magic show was in the Stardust. It was very entertaining.

Between shows, they had the production singers in the Atrium singing Broadway tunes. It was very good.

In the Spinnaker later that night, they had a “Dancing with the Jade Stars” contest.

Day 5 – Naples, Italy

We arrived in Naples at 07:00 am. They announced that the ship was cleared and we could disembark at 07:30 am.

It was a partly cloudy day with temps in the low 70’s F.

After the busy day in Rome, we did not want to rush around Naples. Our only plans in Naples were to visit the Duomo di San Gennaro and the Museo Archeologico ****onale which are about a half a mile away from each other. When we got off the ship around 11:00 am, the only information booth in the terminal was one for the local HOHO buses (hop on hop off). There were no local maps or bus information available in the terminal. I had not researched Naples as much as Rome and when we asked the HOHO bus guide how long it would take to walk to the Duomo, she said about 45 minutes. After all the walking from the previous day, we decided to take advantage of the HOHO buses as we have had good experiences with them in Boston and other cities. This was the start of a long frustrating afternoon. As we walked out of the terminal, we were able to get on a HOHO bus that turned out to be a quick shuttle over to the central terminal where the buses from different routes converged to allow you to switch buses. After paying €22 each for tickets, we went over to the central terminal and found out that the HOHO buses only run once every 45 minutes. The light blue route bus was the one which would take us by the Duomo and Museum. It was scheduled to leave at 11:30 am, but need not arrive until 11:45 am at which time they said that it would not leave until the next scheduled departure of 12:15 pm. Once we left the terminal, the second “stop” was the one for the Duomo which the bus passed by and did not stop. We got off the third stop and were told that the next bus would be by to pick us up in 45 minutes. We walked the few blocks back to the Duomo only to find that it was closed from 1:00 pm to 04:30 pm which I did not find out in my research. That is why they had not stopped there. Shortly after that, a HOHO bus from a different route came up the road and from their map, it had a scheduled stop at both the Duomo and the Museum. So we stood at the marked Shuttle sign and tried to wave down the bus. But, it just went past us!? The museum was about 10 blocks away, so we walked over to the Museum and found out that it was National Heritage week and the museum was free all week. The museum contains many of the items retrieved from Pompeii and Herculaneum along with other art treasures. It was worth the trip to visit it. After we left the museum, we stood at the assigned shuttle stop spot and waited for the HOHO bus. In a few minutes, a bus came up and that one went by us again even though we were waving frantically! I guess you can hop off, but not on their buses. I did have a map of the city and we walked back to the ship (which only took 20 minutes) from the museum. I guess my advice is to only use their HOHO buses if you do not plan to get off at any spot except their central terminal. (By the way, they only had 3 buses running three of their four listed routes that day)

We also stopped for pizza while in Naples. We are spoiled with several terrific Napoli style pizza shops near our home in Connecticut and it was a treat to try the real thing.

The ship sailed away at 7:00 pm and we had dinner in Le Bistro to watch the views.

The main show for the evening was another production company show. This one was called “Night of Enchantment” and was a selection of songs. Of all the cruises we have been on, their production company singers were the best overall group.

After the show, we decided to spend the rest of the evening up on the pool deck using the pools and hot tubs. We had the entire area all to ourselves for the most part.

Up in the Spinnaker, they had the CD staff with their “White Hot Party”.

Day 6 – Day at Sea

The day started off cloudy and drizzly, but it turned to a hazy sunny afternoon in the mid 70’s F with a nice breeze.

In the early morning, we passed between the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. We could see the coast of Sardinia on our port side.

They had a Jazz brunch in Le Bistro from 10:00 am to noon that day for a fee of $15 per person.

In the Stardust Theater they had a production show at 7:30 pmcalled “Shout” which is based on the music of the 60’s. We had seen it twice last year on the Jade. It is a very good show and worth going to.

At 9:30 pm, they had the Crew Show in the Stardust Theater which is very entertaining and ended with their version of “Fountains”. We do not know how they perform with all that water and spitting and not breaking up laughing.

They had a “Rock & Roll Night” in the Spinnaker lounge at 10:30 pm.

Day 7 – Palma, Mallorca

It was another nice day with partly cloudy skies and temps in the mid 60’s.

We arrived in Palma at 6:00 am. They announced that the ship was cleared and we could disembark at 8:00 am.

The ship docks in a port terminal area that is several miles from the city center dominated by a magnificent cathedral known as Sa Seu which towers over the city.

NCL had a shuttle ($10 each) which would take you to a spot across from the Cathedral and the center of town. But you had to pay for the shuttle before you left the ship. We did see city buses constantly running along the shore, but I did not know if you could pay as you boarded or if you had to go to a shop to get tickets. We took the NCL shuttle (running every 15 minutes) and from the drop off point we walked up to the Cathedral. The Cathedral is immense and it has large stained windows that had the sunlight pouring through onto the pews below. It was very surreal sitting there basking in the colors. The altar area was re-designed by Gaudi and was very different from the rest of the ship. From the cathedral, we walked out the back and followed signs to the Arab Baths (from the 10th century). We had planned to visit the Almudaina Palace which is across from the cathedral, but the lines were long. So we decided to walk elsewhere and circle back later before catching the shuttle back to the ship. Unfortunately, the Palace closed at 1:00. Now we understand why the lines we so long to get inside.

The ship sailed away at 6:00 pm.

The main show in the Stardust Theater was a concert by four Spanish speaking singers called “Fourever”. They sang a wide variety of songs in English, Spanish, and Italian. Even when they sang a song in Spanish, you knew most of the songs like “I Did It My Way” and “Unchained Melody”. They did two rocking versions of Queen songs in English and sounded just like Queen. They had terrific voices and stage presence. Several times, they came out to the aisles and sang to the audience from there. I think everyone enjoyed them. After the show, plenty of people were lining up to have their pictures taken with them.

In the bar city area, they had the production singers perform a variety of songs which was fun to listen to at 8:30 pm.

We had been given luggage tags and information on disembarking the ship. If you wanted to have your luggage brought down by the ship’s porters, you had to have your luggage outside your cabin with your luggage tags attached by 10:00 pm.

They had a Karaoke contest in the Spinnaker Lounge that night.

Disembarkation Day – Barcelona, Spain

We were scheduled to arrive in Barcelona by 5:00 am.

By 05:30 am you could start to walk off the ship if you carried all of your own luggage. By 06:00 am, passengers with specific colors of tags could start to walk off. They would not make announcements until 07:00 am, so it was up to you to head down on your own.

They also offered a shuttle bus to the airport. For $30 per person, they had a 06:00 am bus for persons with flights between 09:50 am and 10:59 am. They had another shuttle at 06:45 am for flights between 11:00 am and noon. Then another at 07:15 am for flights between noon and 02:00 pm. The last shuttle was for flights after 02:00 pm and left at 08:30 am.

I got up at 05:30 am to get ready for breakfast and looked out the side of the ship. There had to be at least 30-40 taxis all lined up in front of the terminal for people needing to go to the airport.

We had a 10:45 am flight to Newark form the Barcelona airport. We had made arrangements for a car and driver from Barcelona Day Tours to pick us up at the cruise terminal and bring us to the airport (€59 for the both of us). We walked off the ship at 07:15 am and Christian, the driver from our previous Barcelona tour, was there waiting for us with his car. We were in the car and leaving the port by 07:25 am and arrived at the airport by 07:45 am. The terminal’s luggage area was very organized with carousels running by with each specific color. There was no traffic to speak of on this Sunday morning.

We did meet up with families at the airport that had taken the 06:00 am shuttle to catch the same flight as we had. They had arrived at the terminal the same time we did. By the time we made it through check in, security, and customs, we were in the terminal sitting at a table by 08:30 am for our 10:45 am flight.

I am sure the fact that so many passengers were missing helped to explain why disembarkation from the ship and airport processing was so quick. I had been reading horror stories about long lines at the airport security lines which were non-existent for us this particular morning.

All passengers were to be off the ship by 09:00 am that day.

Dining –

The Jade was built for “freestyle” dining. The ship has several restaurants which include two main dining rooms that are free of charge along with the buffet areas and the Blue Lagoon (a 24 hour restaurant). The other restaurants had a fee. We are not too picky about food, so we never felt the need to go to any one restaurant over another. We went to the Grand Pacific dining room one night, Le Bistro (French) on two occasions, and the buffet for the other evenings. All in all, the food was good and there was a wide variety to choose from. The only criticism would be that the quality of meat had gone down over the years, but the other foods are very good.

We did find that the lines in the Grand Pacific were much shorter than the Alizar (the other free dining room which is smaller in size). Waiting for a restaurant was no problem with the smaller group of passengers on board.

The buffet area seemed more open and easier to find a seat than the similar buffets on the Norwegian Gem and Jewel, sister ships of the Jade.

We did notice that the specialty restaurants were very empty with only the Teppanyaki room being busy every night.

Bar Service –

We are beer drinkers and we took advantage of the beer bucket specials where you would get 6 beers for the price of 5 that was offered throughout the cruise. Since the Jade had been in Europe, their selection of beer was much better than any other NCL cruise ship we had been on. I wish they could bring some of those selections over to the States. They allowed us to mix the beers we ordered. The free beer would be the cheapest of the ones you selected. I preferred the German wheat beers to most of the selections offered on the ship.

Also, in Le Bistro we were entitled to a free bottle of wine (see Latitudes). When we explained that we do not drink wine, they allowed us to order beers of any variety we preferred.

Starting on day 2, they were offering beer specials of 2 for the price of 1 for select brands. Most days it was Coors light, two days it was Becks, and on one day they had two different Weiss beers (Paulaner and Franzinskaner). Perhaps this was due to the small group of passengers on board. I do not know if they would continue these specials on future cruises.

Latitudes –

We are rated as Platinum Latitudes members and were invited to the two Latitudes parties. We also received a welcome aboard package with fruit. But, we did not get any snacks delivered to our cabin as on previous cruises.

There were supposed to be about 400 Latitude passengers on our cruise. But, that number was less due to the volcano ash fallout. The party for all of the Latitudes members was held on the afternoon of the sea day in the Spinnaker lounge which was not very crowded. They gave away a small variety of gifts for the Latitudes guests and plenty of drinks. We saw rows of unused drinks on the bar counter as we left the party.

We were also invited to a separate party for Silver, Gold, and Platinum Latitudes members in the Medusa lounge and it was only 20 people. It was held the evening we sailed from Mallorca was for a half hour with only wine and a variety of cheese.

As platinum members, we received some additional perks which we were offered. The guided tour of the ship was free (held on the sea day) which we did not attend as had taken the tour on the Jewel on our last cruise. We did receive and use two separate invitations to Le Bistro for a free meal and bottle of wine. They did not offer laundry service that was free of charge (it was $25 to fill the bag). We were given VIP luggage tags which allowed us to disembark at any time we wanted and have our luggage waiting in a designated area away from the carousels.

Activities –

There were plenty of other things to do on aboard for all interests. They had the usual plethora of bingo games and art auctions.

We took advantage of the several trivia games (which we enjoy) they offered during the cruise. We met up with several friendly people and we enjoyed their company and conversations. We did win several times over the cruise.

Music –

They had plenty of talented musicians on board to entertain people at various locations and times. But, it seemed that almost everyone played easy listening music. The Jade Show band were great playing big band jazz.

In the bar city area and atrium they either had a piano/singer and/or a single guitarist playing easy listening music.

The Spinnaker lounge band called Sound Bytes played a wide variety of music to listen and dance to. We have seen them on a few other cruises and they are very good playing a wide variety of music genres.

In the Medusa Lounge, they had a trio called Guys and Doll playing dance music.

Crew –

For the majority of times, we were always met by a smile and a “How is your day?” when we walked by any of the crew members.

Jill Tasker (England), the cruise director was always at the production shows and Latitudes parties. But, other than scheduled events, you never really saw her. She was leaving the ship after our cruise to be replaced by Karen. The rest of the cruise staff were very friendly, especially Richard (Phillipines), Montsy (Mexico), Hannah (Australia), and Gabrielle (Gabby) (West Va. U.S.A.). We had met Richard and Gabby on several other cruises. Gabby is the NCL trivia master of all time, who makes the effort to put together challenging trivia questions. She is also a terrific singer who performs at the crew talent shows. For several of the CD staff, this was their last cruise before their vacations.

The ship –

The ship was originally built and named as the “Pride of Hawaii”. It was to be used for the Hawaii only cruises by NCLA. Even though the ship has been renamed the Jade, other than the hull artwork being changed, the rest of the ship still had Hawaiian themes.

The fitness center had several treadmills and other pieces of equipment available at all times. Normally, I try to run 5k or exercise for 30 minutes each day. But, the itinerary was very port intensive and we did a lot of walking. I ended up losing 2 pounds on this cruise even though I never used the fitness center or jogging track.

We constantly saw crew members cleaning and polishing. Of all the cruise ships we have been on, the Jade was the most shipshape we have ever seen.

One trick we learned was that the carpeting on the decks with cabins had dolphins in the print. The dolphins face forward in all of the hallways, so you can use that to help navigate around the ship. The breaks in the Dolphin patterns signaled a stairway.

There is a bridge viewing room on deck 11 forward on the port side.

Overall –

We enjoyed our cruise on the Jade. It was strange being on such an empty ship due to the volcanic ash fallout. It did make it easy getting around the ship as well as getting on/off the ship.

We were told that for the Western Mediterranean Cruises on the Jade, they would have passengers joining at a variety of ports and not just Barcelona. I wonder how that affects the idea of “Welcome Aboard” shows and information provided?

Hard Rock Café – We make it a point to visit Hard Rock Cafes around the world. Prior to this cruise, I have been to 41 HRC. We were able to visit the local HRC in Barcelona, Rome, and Palma. The Barcelona HRC was located at the Placa Catalunya. The Rome HRC was near the Spanish Steps and American Embassy. In Palma, the HRC was right by the harbor about a mile from the Cathedral in Mallorca. Next month, I hope to visit the Honolulu and Maui Hard Rock Cafes which will bring me up to 46 locations.

Here is a link to photos we took on our cruise:

Since we were on the Jade last year, I did not take a lot of pictures of the ship areas. If you are interested in seeing photos of the ship areas, check out the photos I took last year on our Jade cruise to Ireland:

I have a PDF of all the freestyle Dailies. If you want a copy, send an e-mail to the following e-mail address. Please be sure to have "Jade Freestyle Request" in the header so that I do not delete it as spam:

ct-cruisers@sbcglobal.net

If you have specific questions regarding the itinerary, you can send me an e-mail at the same address.

We have already booked a 7-day cruise from New York City to the Bahamas on the Jewel in October and are already looking forward to it.

Thank you for the great review. I have a friend considering this itinerary and will forward this on. I am so glad to read of someone actually taking advantage of visiting Naples and not just heading down the Coast. Not that the Coast is not worth it, but after a land vacation to the area, I realized that Naples gets a bad rap because people just pass through. While it is a more gritty city than other Italian cities, it has many wonderful things to see. Even living here in Connecticut, I know I'll never have pizza as good as that at the spot it was invented. MMMMMMMMMMMM, I still crave it. Naples is also the home of the most beautiful statue I have ever seen, "The Veiled Christ." And then there is the creche-making. Okay, I'll stop, I could go on and on, but this is not a thread about Naples. ;)

Glad you had a great cruise!!!

Enjoyed your review...we were just off the Jade April 18th...but were lucky to have stayed 2 extra days , so made our flights home

We did not get any afternoon treats either...but I saw them delivered to inside cabins...we have had them on past cruises ..I asked Alfonso(?) the hotel director at the second Lat party and he was rather nonchalant about it...didn't have an answer for me...we were in a mini suite and gold members

BTW DH is a HRC t-shirt collector too.... we hunt them out in every port available:D

Enjoyed your review very much - hope you posted at the ship reviews. We are taking this same cruise in the fall and glad to see you did many things on your own as we plan to do. Your detail to train schedules, disembarking, etc. were very helpful. And thank you for posting some of the highs (your day in Rome) and your flubs (such as the HOHO in Naples) - this helps tremendously in planning. Cant wait to be on the Jade!

Enjoyed your review...we were just off the Jade April 18th...but were lucky to have stayed 2 extra days , so made our flights home

We did not get any afternoon treats either...but I saw them delivered to inside cabins...we have had them on past cruises ..I asked Alfonso(?) the hotel director at the second Lat party and he was rather nonchalant about it...didn't have an answer for me...we were in a mini suite and gold members

BTW DH is a HRC t-shirt collector too.... we hunt them out in every port available:D

We collect the HRC pins, takes up less space. lol ;-)

Thanks for the review! We're headed out there in the fall, and I'll be reading everyone's reviews in the coming months. I appreciate your time and effort in a thorough review. :)

What a great review, thank you so much for posting. We will be doing this exact itinerary on June 6th and also staying at the Hotel Regina. BTW, how was the hotel?

Great review! Very helpful for our trip on the Jade in July. :)

What a great review, thank you so much for posting. We will be doing this exact itinerary on June 6th and also staying at the Hotel Regina. BTW, how was the hotel?

The hotel was OK. Very clean. The breakfast buffet had plenty of options.

We were given a superior room which had added floor space and a separate couch. The funny thing though, was that there was limited space between the bed and the wall unit they had in the room. We had to lift and carry our luggage over the bed.

We picked the hotel for its location by Placa Catalunya. In all of our travels, it was the most expensive hotel we had ever stayed in ($280).

If we were to go back, I would try to find a hotel that would be a few blocks away and cheaper. We would only be sleeping there.

Thank you for the fabulous review! We are leaving next week for the same trip, it was so helpful to read all of your details :)

By any chance do you recall the surcharges for the Tapas and Sushi restaurants? I'm unable to find any current info. for the restaurants on the Jade.

Thanks!

Thank you for the fabulous review! We are leaving next week for the same trip, it was so helpful to read all of your details :)

 

By any chance do you recall the surcharges for the Tapas and Sushi restaurants? I'm unable to find any current info. for the restaurants on the Jade.

 

Thanks!

Paniolo Tapas $10

Cagney's $25

Le Bistro $20

Papa's Italian Kitchen $10

Jasmine Garden $15

Sushi Bar $15

Shabu-Shabu $15

Teppanyaki $25

thanks for the great review. we are on this year's last Jade seven day in the Mediterraean so your insights were a lot of help.

I gather from what you wrote that all ports are docked (as opposed to tendered). I guess since your trip had alot of missing passengers that you wouldn't know how crowded the normal disembarkation lines are on port days. guess we will see! Probably the only pay restaurants we will do will be the tapas, and maybe Papa's Italian.

we are hoping to have dinner seated at windows so that we can enjoy sail away the same as you. I love sail away and arriving in ports!

Beverly

thanks for the great review. we are on this year's last Jade seven day in the Mediterraean so your insights were a lot of help.

I gather from what you wrote that all ports are docked (as opposed to tendered). I guess since your trip had alot of missing passengers that you wouldn't know how crowded the normal disembarkation lines are on port days. guess we will see! Probably the only pay restaurants we will do will be the tapas, and maybe Papa's Italian.

we are hoping to have dinner seated at windows so that we can enjoy sail away the same as you. I love sail away and arriving in ports!

 

Beverly

Yes, all of the ports are docked. We did not have to tender in any of them.

Yes, I am sure we were very fortunate to have a cruise so such a small number of passengers. It was not a true gauge of the chaos with a full load trying to get off and get to the shuttles and trains in each port. We felt terrible for all of those that could not make it.

CT Cruisers:

Paniolo Tapas $10

Cagney's $25

Le Bistro $20

Papa's Italian Kitchen $10

Jasmine Garden $15

Sushi Bar $15

Shabu-Shabu $15

Teppanyaki $25

Thanks so much, you are a great source of information! :)

Great Review :)

I translated the whole thing in Dutch :eek: for my parents who'll be doing this trip in may. It will be a great inside for them :)

What were the lager prices Do you remember?

Thanks for a great review, we are really getting excited for our turn in a few weeks:D One quick question, do you recall when they offered the laundry "fill the bag" deal? We are trying to minimize our luggage but want to make sure we have enough to get us to laundry day:eek:

Thanks for a great review, we are really getting excited for our turn in a few weeks:D One quick question, do you recall when they offered the laundry "fill the bag" deal? We are trying to minimize our luggage but want to make sure we have enough to get us to laundry day:eek:

I believe it was that they left the bag Tuesday night for a Wednesday morning pick-up.

Thanks CTCruisers for your great and detailed review. We were on the same sailing, so we enjoyed seeing your pics..!!

We were fortunate to arrive just before they closed the Barcelona airport and were on the ship at 12Noon and in our accommodation #9004 which was so nice.

We did have dinner in Cagney's one evening and the steak was done to perfection. Overall, I thought the food was better on this NCL cruise than our last.

Our days were spent in port all day during those days. I had read great reviews of Miles & Miles in Rome on tripadvisor.com http://www.toursofrome.it/ and we booked for the day including a Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel visit with a private guide who was very knowledgeable. You won't go wrong if you use Miles & Miles in Rome and/or Naples and we had no waits in lines anywhere and saw more than we possibly could have otherwise. We enjoyed Francesco so much that we booked with his company again (Naples-Amalfi Coastline) just before our Rome tour ended at the port -- talk about last minute..! To some of us, Naples and the coastline were the highlight of the ports.. Great job again..!

We shared our Miles & Miles tours with three lovely ladies we met through this thread -- thanks to cruise critic and it's members.

CT

We were also on the Ireland cruise in May 2009 and are doing this 7-day Med at the beginning of June (we probably competed against you in the trivia!)

Thanks for the review - it has given us a few pointers for the shore days as we are going solo more this time.

Thank you CT Cruisers (I hope you're not getting tired of hearing that!) - a very thorough and timely review as I am heading out on June 6th -- first time cruiser. You mentioned that you had an inside cabin, how was that? I booked an inside cabin as well assuming that I won't be spending too much time in it and as a means of saving some money (and spending it where I want to get the most bang-- sightseeing, museums maybe, shopping, etc.)

Also, it sounds like you were able to see quite a lot on your own using local transportation and local guides. I'm looking at the excursions that NCL offers and find them grossly overpriced. My only concern with arranging on my own is the potential for being delayed and missing the boat -- NCL will hold the ship if their own motor coach excursions are delayed. Any thoughts??

Thanks in advance.

Thank you CT Cruisers (I hope you're not getting tired of hearing that!) - a very thorough and timely review as I am heading out on June 6th -- first time cruiser. You mentioned that you had an inside cabin, how was that? I booked an inside cabin as well assuming that I won't be spending too much time in it and as a means of saving some money (and spending it where I want to get the most bang-- sightseeing, museums maybe, shopping, etc.)

 

Also, it sounds like you were able to see quite a lot on your own using local transportation and local guides. I'm looking at the excursions that NCL offers and find them grossly overpriced. My only concern with arranging on my own is the potential for being delayed and missing the boat -- NCL will hold the ship if their own motor coach excursions are delayed. Any thoughts??

 

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your kind words. I think that Cruise Critic is a great resource for information to help prepare for cruise vacations. I just wanted to share as much knowledge of our experiences to help future cruisers like yourself.

We have always booked an inside cabin for all of our cruises. That was whether it was the two of us or a few years ago included our son. We feel that the room is just a place to sleep, change, and shower. On a cruise like the Wed Med itinerary, pretty much every day is a port day. You will hardly be in your room. For us, the money saved booking inside cabins allows us to cruise twice a year. We never felt cramped in the inside cabins.

As for getting around on your own in the ports, you need to be aware of the last call to be on board (30 minutes before she sails). Do the research with train and bus schedules to factor in transportation. If you go to the ports of call boards, you will find plenty of advice regarding local tour services that will go out of their way to be sure you are back to the ship in time. But, still do the research to be sure about times. For example, in Rome, we caught a 5:00 train that would get us back to the port by 6:00 which gave us a 90 minute cushion for last call in case there were delays.

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to e-mail me.

CT

 

We were also on the Ireland cruise in May 2009 and are doing this 7-day Med at the beginning of June (we probably competed against you in the trivia!)

 

Thanks for the review - it has given us a few pointers for the shore days as we are going solo more this time.

I must admit we were very impressed with the turnout for Quiz events on the Jade out of England. The Spinnaker lounge was packed! On most of the cruises, we are lucky if 4-6 people show up.

One interesting thing I learned from that cruise was about the "Backs" of Cambridge. Just last month, I had to go on a business trip to Haverhill which was only a few miles from Cambridge. When I was asked where I wanted to go for dinner at the end of the day, I asked if I could see the Backs. They were amazed that I knew about them. Great town and wonderful sights.

Cheers!

Thanks for your kind words. I think that Cruise Critic is a great resource for information to help prepare for cruise vacations. I just wanted to share as much knowledge of our experiences to help future cruisers like yourself.

 

We have always booked an inside cabin for all of our cruises. That was whether it was the two of us or a few years ago included our son. We feel that the room is just a place to sleep, change, and shower. On a cruise like the Wed Med itinerary, pretty much every day is a port day. You will hardly be in your room. For us, the money saved booking inside cabins allows us to cruise twice a year. We never felt cramped in the inside cabins.

 

As for getting around on your own in the ports, you need to be aware of the last call to be on board (30 minutes before she sails). Do the research with train and bus schedules to factor in transportation. If you go to the ports of call boards, you will find plenty of advice regarding local tour services that will go out of their way to be sure you are back to the ship in time. But, still do the research to be sure about times. For example, in Rome, we caught a 5:00 train that would get us back to the port by 6:00 which gave us a 90 minute cushion for last call in case there were delays.

 

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Thanks again for the quick reply CT... is there a link to your email address somewhere, perhaps that might be best.

One other question that others might be interested in...did you have a plan B in any of these excursions in the event of, let's say, train delay from Rome to the port?

Thanks again for the quick reply CT... is there a link to your email address somewhere, perhaps that might be best.

 

One other question that others might be interested in...did you have a plan B in any of these excursions in the event of, let's say, train delay from Rome to the port?

At the end of the review, I mention that I have PDF files to share and my e-mail address:

ct-cruisers@sbcglobal.net

As for plan B, it would have been to pay an exorbitant amount for a taxi.

For Rome, the trains were loaded with fellow cruisers both ways from Civitavecchia.