NCL Jade and Barcelona feedback requested

[NewPennCruiser]

We are considering a cruise next year out of Barcelona on the NCL Jade (March 2011 - 12 day Eastern Mediterranean) with a couple of extra days in Barcelona to check out the city, etc. We saw an offer that seems like a very good deal that includes air and we have always wanted to see Barcelona and do a Mediterranean cruise that is not too port intensive. This one seemed to fit the bill.

I was looking for any comments you all may have regarding this ship, the city of Barcelona, etc. Also, if anyone has done this trip, do you have any thoughts and ramblings about what you liked or didn’t like? We usually cruise Princess although my partner cruised on NCL many years ago before the whole “Freestyle” way of cruising came about so it would be all new surroundings for us.

I have browsed the regular NCL boards and seem to have gotten a pretty good take on the restaurants, cabins and general vibe of the NCL ships; I was just looking for a more “gay” opinion on things. Thanks for any feedback!

Dave (and Steve)

[Turtles06]

Hi Dave,

 

Giving you a "lesbian" opinion (all I can give!): my partner and I were on the Jade's 12-night Eastern Med cruise this January, RT from Barcelona (Barcelona, Civitavecchia (Rome), Piraeus (Athens), Izmir (Ephesus!), overnight in Egypt, Malta). We arrived in Barcelona 3 nights before sailing so we'd have a good amount of time to see the city's highlights.

 

Apart from the norovirus outbreak on board (which was re-hashed on many threads on CC), and some other ups and downs, we had a blast. It was one of the best trips we've ever taken. We enjoyed the ship and we enjoyed the ports, as well as the many sea days on the cruise, and we enjoyed the folks we met thru CC and the other folks we met on board (gay and non-gay alike). I should add that we were in a suite (our very first time), and I'm sure that colored our experience a good deal. But still, it's a fantastic itinerary.

 

We used private tour operators everywhere (except Malta, which we did on our own), all found here on CC. Ephesus (with Ekol Tours) was the best single day we spent.

 

We are big fans of NCL, as we like Freestyle dining. Don't want to be told when to eat, or with whom. And on an itinerary like this, where you are getting back from ports at all different times, and often pretty tired, it was great to have the flexibility to decide when and where to eat.

 

Since you asked about Barcelona -- I'm glad we visited the city and had several days there, but it did not "grab" us as it seems to grab others. It was a nice city to visit, there was plenty to see, it was a fine place to start off a cruise, but neither of us has any great desire to return. (I know others feel differently.)

 

I don't know that I've given you a particularly "gay" opinion, just my own take on a trip that I greatly enjoyed. I would be happy to answer more specific questions if you have them.

[NewPennCruiser]

Thanks for the feedback! The one thing that really struck a cord with us was the itinerary and while I had not cruised on NCL before, we had been looking at some other cruises with them too. As I had mentioned, we always cruise with Princess but we do Anytime Dining and had gotten over the "formal nights" a long time ago and knew NCL would probably fit our style pretty well. I dress nicer for work so when on vacation, give me shorts and send me to the buffet line after a day of sightseeing and I'm happy!

 

We'll probably spend 2 days in Barcelona since my work schedule won't let me stay much longer, but at least it is a nice way to see if maybe we want to come back and spend more time. As for the itinerary, we love the port selection and the added sea days. I just can't imagine hitting 10 ports on a 12 day cruise. Princess seems to pack the ports in on their itineraries and you'd be exhausted by the end of the cruise. Someone told me to pick a day and stay on ship and I laughed thinking that if I'm coming this far to see places I may never get back to, I'm getting off the ship!

 

You mentioned that you stayed in a suite. We'll probably go with a balcony room at best, but it does seem that people who stay in suites or villas really do rave about the accommodations. Is there that much of a difference in what you get with a suite that would make the ship experience tremendously better? I'm just curious.

 

We will probably book this because it really seems to hit the mark on what we were looking for in the Mediterranean. The problem is we'll need to wait 10 months! I'd love to go now... at least we'll have some time to plan excursions.

 

Dave

[neilrr]

Thanks for the feedback! The one thing that really struck a cord with us was the itinerary and while I had not cruised on NCL before, we had been looking at some other cruises with them too. As I had mentioned, we always cruise with Princess but we do Anytime Dining and had gotten over the "formal nights" a long time ago and knew NCL would probably fit our style pretty well. I dress nicer for work so when on vacation, give me shorts and send me to the buffet line after a day of sightseeing and I'm happy!

 

We'll probably spend 2 days in Barcelona since my work schedule won't let me stay much longer, but at least it is a nice way to see if maybe we want to come back and spend more time. As for the itinerary, we love the port selection and the added sea days. I just can't imagine hitting 10 ports on a 12 day cruise. Princess seems to pack the ports in on their itineraries and you'd be exhausted by the end of the cruise. Someone told me to pick a day and stay on ship and I laughed thinking that if I'm coming this far to see places I may never get back to, I'm getting off the ship!

 

You mentioned that you stayed in a suite. We'll probably go with a balcony room at best, but it does seem that people who stay in suites or villas really do rave about the accommodations. Is there that much of a difference in what you get with a suite that would make the ship experience tremendously better? I'm just curious.

 

We will probably book this because it really seems to hit the mark on what we were looking for in the Mediterranean. The problem is we'll need to wait 10 months! I'd love to go now... at least we'll have some time to plan excursions.

 

Dave

 

NewPennCruiser - Dave - We took the NCL Jewel, as it was year old at the time and the itinerary was wonderful. The room was a mid-ship balcony cabin which was great (beautiful bathroom) and entertainmnet was very good. That is where the good part of the cruise ended...

The food was disgraceful in the buffet and MDR and service fair. You are basically being pushed into the Specialty Restaurants to get a decent meal which were generally fair to good - nothing special - so budget extra money (not like a very, very special evening in Murano's on Solstice or Century or Olympic on Millennium).

I would definitely read the reviews closely, as I was recently just looking at them myself -- and nothing has changed. At the same time take a look at the reviews for Celebrity, HAL ( generally, an older crowd) or Princess. I know a review is somewhat subjective, but I look for consistency in either direction and I think you will see the difference.

Too be honest -- we will not travel on NCL again. We are avid travelers of Celebrity and have been on various other lines as well and I would take a second look before booking on NCL.

 

As one traveler put it "if you want to go on a cruise and lose weight - go on NCL."

 

By the way, we absolutely loved Barcelona - the people, the food, the culture -- very gay friendly. Go to Gay-"Example" - a section of Barcelona. It was wonderful. We would go back again in a minute. We stayed four days after the cruise ended in the Las Ramblas area.

 

Good luck and happy cruising.:)

[Turtles06]

Thanks for the feedback! The one thing that really struck a cord with us was the itinerary and while I had not cruised on NCL before, we had been looking at some other cruises with them too. As I had mentioned, we always cruise with Princess but we do Anytime Dining and had gotten over the "formal nights" a long time ago and knew NCL would probably fit our style pretty well. I dress nicer for work so when on vacation, give me shorts and send me to the buffet line after a day of sightseeing and I'm happy!

 

We'll probably spend 2 days in Barcelona since my work schedule won't let me stay much longer, but at least it is a nice way to see if maybe we want to come back and spend more time. As for the itinerary, we love the port selection and the added sea days. I just can't imagine hitting 10 ports on a 12 day cruise. Princess seems to pack the ports in on their itineraries and you'd be exhausted by the end of the cruise. Someone told me to pick a day and stay on ship and I laughed thinking that if I'm coming this far to see places I may never get back to, I'm getting off the ship!

 

You mentioned that you stayed in a suite. We'll probably go with a balcony room at best, but it does seem that people who stay in suites or villas really do rave about the accommodations. Is there that much of a difference in what you get with a suite that would make the ship experience tremendously better? I'm just curious.

 

We will probably book this because it really seems to hit the mark on what we were looking for in the Mediterranean. The problem is we'll need to wait 10 months! I'd love to go now... at least we'll have some time to plan excursions.

 

Dave

 

Dave, you sound just like me -- dress for work, be really casual on vacation!

 

To answer your question about the suite. We were originally booked in a balcony for this cruise, but several months before sailing the prices really plunged on the AC, AD, and AE suites. (We sailed in January, a "quiet" time in the Med.) It was really a "too good to refuse" deal so we jumped on an AD suite -- that's a suite in the stern.

 

Our thinking was this: normally we don't spend a whole lot of time in our cabin, but this was a pretty long cruise with a lot of sea days, so we thought the extra room would be worth it (it was). Also, given that it was January, we figured that having a balcony that was sheltered from the wind would mean that we'd probably be able to use it, when other locations might be too windy. And we were correct -- it was wonderful to sit out there, even on the chilly days, and really peaceful to watch the wake. I don't know that I'm one of those "aft only" people after this, but it worked well for us on this itinerary.

 

You've probably read that many posters consider one of the best suite "perks" of all on NCL to be breakfast at Cagney's, and I'd have to agree. There was something very special about starting the day up on Deck 13 in a small, bright, quiet dining room with a wall of windows AND having a wonderful meal (stuff like crabcakes benedict, french toast, etc. and the usual breakfast fare) served by people who just want to pamper you. I'm a breakfast person, so this really did it for me. Lunch at Cagney's too, though after a few days in a row I found the food, while delicious, almost a bit too much.

 

The other HUGE benefit of a suite on this particular cruise was the priority disembarkation in the ports that we got from our concierge. This isn't a guaranteed suite perk the way that priority tendering is, it's up to the concierge. Since we were going on private tours in the various ports, in order to maximize our time ashore we wanted to get off as quickly as possible. And our truly wonderful concierge made this happen, for us and for any other suite guests who asked. As soon as the ship was cleared, she'd take us (and non-suite guests on a tour with us) down the crew elevator and right out to the gangway, first off the ship. This REALLY mattered, since time in the ports was limited. And it was a special benefit when we went to the Virgin Mary House outside Ephesus, because we beat the tour buses and had the place to ourselves, which made it feel like the special site it is (and I'm not even Catholic) and not a tourist trap. Our guide even commented on how fortunate we were.

 

We're very "low maintenance" people, so we didn't really need the concierge for much else, but she would have done anything she could to make our trip as fantastic as possible (including making dinner reservations at any restaurant). Same for the butler -- he was there if we needed him. We did have him bring room service breakfasts for the early port days (suite guests can order any food, not just the limited room service menu), and we decided that for sailaway from our last port (Malta) we'd invite the people we'd met on our tours to our suite for drinks, and so our butler did the set ups.

 

Finally, with the noro outbreak on board, passengers were not allowed to serve themselves in the buffet, so being able to have breakfast and lunch at Cagney's was an even bigger perk than usual.

 

All in all, it was fun to be pampered like this. I doubt we'd do a suite for a shorter cruise or one with few seas days, particularly to a warm weather destination where we'd rather be out on deck somewhere or by the pool than in our cabin, but for this cruise at that time of year, and at the price we got, it was simply fantastic and truly enhanced our trip.

 

One comment on the food in the MDRs, given neilrr's post above. We found the food in the MDRs on the Jade to be decent and adequate. Not fine dining or five star restaurants, but that's not why we cruise with NCL. Food is subjective, and I know from the NCL boards that some folks are okay with it, as we are, and some are disappointed.

 

Apologies for the long post, but I wanted to answer your questions. Judging from what you said about yourself, I think you'd really like this itinerary. Note though, that even with the many sea days, it was still pretty tiring, because these are "go-go-go" ports.. but tiring in a good way because it was such a great trip. BTW, two days in Barcelona will enable to you to see a great deal of the city; it's pretty compact, and it was very easy to get around by walking and by Metro (which was easy to use).

 

I do have two questions for you, since we've never cruised with Princess: what is it specifically that you like? And does "Anytime Dining" work well?

 

Thanks!

[micro yaya]

hey maybe it's just me, but after 30 cruises i have learned to be patient about everything. that being said we loved the jade. it was our first ncl cruise, and everyont couldn't have been nicer. the m& m they set up was better that rcl, we never waited for a table at anytime dining. our room was a porthole on deck 4, and let me tell you it was the best room ever... we walked off the ship whenever the door was right there. so easy to come and go. people complained aabout a rough night and we never felt anything..... barcelona is one of our favorite cities we stayed one day at a hotel, and the ship was two days in port, so we got to see everything. it's a walking city, and that's what we did... don't let anyone tell you what they think me included, take a bit from all of us.... have a great time i am jealouse

[NewPennCruiser]

If there is one thing I've learned from reading these boards over the last couple of years is that opinions will vary, especially when it comes to food. I have friends who are real "foodies" and they can find something to complain about anytime they eat if they want to; we're just not like that and really food is one of the last things we concern ourselves with when we cruise. I realize we might be in a minority but I can honestly say I haven't sailed on a ship yet that has caused me to lose weight.

 

We were on a cruise with Princess once talking to a couple and they were just ranting about the food on that particular cruise and I remember thinking we were not having any issues at all. I knew at that time that no matter what you try to do, when you get 3,000 individuals on a ship for a week, you're not going to make everyone happy. We just go with the flow and enjoy ourselves.

 

The perks of suite living on NCL sound pretty nice. Thanks for the details!Maybe we'll try it out sometime. Turtles06 was asking about Princess. I've cruised with them 6 times and my partner a few more then I have. We basically continue to cruise with them because we enjoy the experience, love the way we are treated and in most cases, we find an itinerary that appeals to us. We weren't real happy with their various offerings in Europe which was really the only reason why we decided to venture off to try NCL. We are big fans of Anytime dining and not getting tied into a schedule. Princess offers that on most of their ships (the 3 small ships don't offer it) and we think it works well. There are fewer "fee" dining options on Princess but the Specialty dining rooms are quite nice. We've tried most of them at one time or another and they are fabulous. The only complaint we have is usually it's too much. But that's just us. We're very unfussy, so if we've been out running all day, we'll usually just head to the Buffet or Cafe Caribe if the ship has it.

 

As far as the dining rooms, there are dedicated ones for traditional dining and others set for anytime dining. They have the same menus, etc, and are just different in how you are seated. You can call and reserve a table in anytime dining but we usually don't. You can request a table for 2 or ask to be seated with others and they will typically be able to seat you right away unless you're really hitting at a peak time. We tended to eat early and were always seated right away.

 

Even though I have not cruised with NCL yet, it does seem that Princess is still a little more formal. All dining rooms will at least require you to wear khakis and collared shirts (no shorts) and they still do 2 formal nights on a 7 day cruise. But less people seem to participate so I have often wondered if they'll eventually just do away with it even though Princess diehards insist that it is the only way to properly cruise, so who knows. Go read some of the Princess boards and there will be numerous discussions on proper dress. We have not even taken anything close to formal wear on our last 3 cruises and just ate in the buffet on formal nights. Pretty much anything goes in the buffet area as long as you're wearing clothes. So even though Princess does seem to be more formal, you really can do what you want.

 

We have always been treated extremely well as a couple on Princess and never had issues with staff or other passengers. It's not like we're skipping around holding hands but you know what I mean. They have regularly scheduled LGBT meetings run by someone from the Cruise Director's staff and on our last cruise they even provided us with a couple of bottles of champaign at the first get together. It was a nice touch and they seem to go out of their way to make you feel welcome.

 

Of course any given week can be a completely different experience on any ship since the passengers are always different but we really have never had any major complaints regarding Princess. Even saying that, it will be nice to try NCL and do something for a change of pace.

 

Dave

[Wingtips56]

Well, we did enough Princess cruises to reach the Platinum level of their Captain's Circle program, and enjoyed several cruises with absolutely no discomfort of being "two gentlemen sharing". But then we had Frankie Verocca as our Assistant Cruise Director by chance on 4 cruises. He made sure the FOD (Rainbow/GLBT) gatherings were well publicized, and encouraged crew members/performers to attend.

 

But we were disappointed with the food (same menu, just not very good) on the Alaska trip.

 

So we decided to take the Norwegian Jade on our next cruise -- actually B2B in the Mediterranean-- because of the itinerary and wanting to try another line. That turned out to be a great decision on our part!!!

 

While the crowd at the FOD meetings on both segments were largely not our crowd, and some flat out boring, we weren't on the cruise just to be gay...that was just happenstance.

 

We loved the menus, the wild Hawaiian decor (the Jade is the ex-Pride of Hawaii, without time to update the decor), King Kamehameha overlooking the elegant Grand Pacific MDR, with our favorite haunt being the Alizar Dining Room, where we were recognized and greeted every night after just our first visit. The on-board facilities are great, and we love the Freestyle approach. On Princess, we always (on recommendation) went with the late seating so that we weren't rushed if coming back from a long shore excursion. But that meant sometimes waiting, ravenous, and staying up too late. With the NCL Freestyle, we could eat whenever, with hardly ever a wait of more than 5 minutes for a table. We liked having the option of having a romantic table for two on some nights, and sharing a big table on others, meeting a bunch of really terrific straight couples we ended up palling around with.

 

And we did dress up a little (no jackets, but slacks, shirt and fun tie) on the designated formal -if you want to- nights, as we can eat in sloppies every night at home. (Jeans without holes and a nice flannel shirt is fine for dining out where we live, so it's nice to gussy up a bit, for a change.)

 

So we loved the Jade, the trips, the excursions and have become hooked on NCL, with two more trips already pending.

 

Enjoy!

[sjbdtz]

NewPennCruiser - Dave - We took the NCL Jewel, as it was year old at the time and the itinerary was wonderful. The room was a mid-ship balcony cabin which was great (beautiful bathroom) and entertainmnet was very good. That is where the good part of the cruise ended...

 

The food was disgraceful in the buffet and MDR and service fair. You are basically being pushed into the Specialty Restaurants to get a decent meal which were generally fair to good - nothing special - so budget extra money (not like a very, very special evening in Murano's on Solstice or Century or Olympic on Millennium).

 

I would definitely read the reviews closely, as I was recently just looking at them myself -- and nothing has changed. At the same time take a look at the reviews for Celebrity, HAL ( generally, an older crowd) or Princess. I know a review is somewhat subjective, but I look for consistency in either direction and I think you will see the difference.

 

Too be honest -- we will not travel on NCL again. We are avid travelers of Celebrity and have been on various other lines as well and I would take a second look before booking on NCL.

 

As one traveler put it "if you want to go on a cruise and lose weight - go on NCL."

 

By the way, we absolutely loved Barcelona - the people, the food, the culture -- very gay friendly. Go to Gay-"Example" - a section of Barcelona. It was wonderful. We would go back again in a minute. We stayed four days after the cruise ended in the Las Ramblas area.

 

Good luck and happy cruising.:)

 

 

 

1. We've cruised on several NCL ships, and a LONG trip on a Princess ship. The only time we didn't like the food was Princess. Everything was complex, and I'm a picky eater. So the roast beef (fine) was served with garlic & mustard & whatever (always something I couldn't/wouldn't eat). I survived on desserts for 22 days....barely found anything to eat otherwise.

 

Our other comparison between Princess & NCL is that on Princess we felt like valued customers (yes sir, no sir, please sir), while on NCL we felt like family (how was your day? where did you go?) which was FAR MORE our style. NCL's theme song on the last night of the cruise is Home Away From Home (it's long, but moving...

) and it truly reflects the way we feel about the experiences we've had consistently on this cruiseline....various ships, years, seasons, and geographies.... consistently it's felt like family.

 

 

 

 

2. The Example (ay-cham-play) district is the gay district. Remember that the Spanish eat dinner at 10 pm - miidnight, then go home & get ready...clubs don't start to get busy until 1 - 2 a.m..... and as such in my 5 trips BCN I've never stayed up late enough to go out. :(

 

3. Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I've travelled EXTENSIVELY for both work & pleasure. The archictecture is spectacular, even beyond the Gaudi stuff.....just think, Picasso, Gaudi, Miro are all from the region....and you can get that flavour just walking around.

 

Las Ramblas (the rambles....not to be mistaken for the place of the same name in Central Park NYC :rolleyes: ) is very touristy. It's my least favorite part of Barcelona. Walk through the Gothic Quarter...lots of narrow alleys with quaint shops.

 

See the Fonts Magica, don't miss Parc Guell, and take a stroll down to the beach for shirtless spanish boys!

 

If you want to see gay spanish boys, they all go to Sitges, which is not far from Barcelona (by train....it's a day trip).

 

It's like the Provincetown or Key West of Spain.

 

 

 

The Jade is a great ship, with a fun crew....we were just on her in October to the Black Sea, and had a great time.