April seems so far away!

[Baileygirls]

Hi All,

 

We've just booked our first NCL cruise on the Jade from Barcelona.:D

 

Although we've cruised twice before this is the first time we've been able to take our 3 kids with us (11,13&15) so we're all very excited!!

 

We're after the lowdown on NCL, what's good (and what's not), food, drinks, entertainment, excursions, anything at all you can tell us.

 

I'm planning on reading as much as I can over the next few months but its always nice to have a thread to refer back to.

 

Also interested in people's view of the port in Barcelona, how easy it is to reach, how early you can board etc.

 

Just anything lol :D Thank you xx

[kymry]

We're sailing out of Barcelona in April as well, what day are you leaving? We're on the 3rd. And yes, it seems like forever from now!! I'm hoping to see some answers on your thread too :)

 

Because it leaves so late in the day, we're planning on just flying in the day of unless anyone knows of a reason why we shouldn't?

[Baileygirls]

Hi Tracy!

Thanks for the reply :)

We're on the same cruise, so I'm sure between us we can gather some useful information!!

I have another thread going about hotels but there's some really useful info about taxi's in there... http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=30449989&posted=1#

 

We've decided to arrive the day before. We booked our own flights as it was so much cheaper so we can stretch to staying one night in a hotel. Also means that we get a chance to look around Barcelona. The other concern we have when booking seperate flights is that you have no back up if you are delayed so we like to arrive in plenty of time, although realistically we would have loads of time.

 

Looking forward to hearing more about NCL/Barcelona.

Keep in touch.

Sara x

[kymry]

Have you already booked your flights? I didn't think to check to book this early, is it really that cheap? I didn't book flights through NCL as I figured I could do it cheaper. You know, I was just looking at the calendar, and since hubby hasn't booked his days off for it yet, we might as well come in on Monday too. That way he'll just have 2 full weeks off.

 

Have you already found a good/cheap/easy to get to the port hotel? I'll check out your other thread after posting this lol.

 

We'll be me, my husband, our 10 year old daughter, and my sister. We're staying in one of the two bedroom Haven suites. Your youngest isn't by chance a girl? That would be funny if they ended up being friends! We're planning on using the kids club some, but not sure how much until she tries it and sees how she likes it.

[collectingcoke]

Hard to believe but it will go fast, I booked in January for our upcoming cruise in late september. Seemed so far away and now we are less than 3 weeks away. It is fun reading the boards and pickingnup tips.

[kymry]

I hope you're right collectingcoke lol!

 

The sad thing is I have a wedding in Italy next month, NYC in October, and Maryland in Nov for another wedding and I just wish they were all done so I could go CRUISIN'!!

[Baileygirls]

Our flights were £77 return from Liverpool using Easyjet!! Booked it the same day as the cruise because I couldn't believe it could be that cheap!

 

Still looking for a hotel, but have had quite a few recommendations. Found them quite expensive but there are 5 of us so often its because we need 2 rooms. Check out the other thread as there's quite a few new posts with recommendations.

 

My youngest is indeed a girl!! She'll be 11 in February. Thats fabulous, we'll have to arrange to get together when we board as my boys will just go off together so it would be great if our girls hit it off! The boys will be 13 & 15 and are not quite stroppy teenagers yet but I guess there's still 6 months haha!

 

Speak soon x

[Baileygirls]

Hard to believe but it will go fast, I booked in January for our upcoming cruise in late september. Seemed so far away and now we are less than 3 weeks away. It is fun reading the boards and pickingnup tips.

 

Have a fabulous time Collectingcoke! Where are you going?

[kymry]

My husband wants us to try to fly British Airways as much as possible for the miles lol! But still not bad, I can get return tickets for about £120 including all fees/taxes/etc out of London.

 

My daughter was very excited to hear about your daughter! We're American but are living in London for (at least) a year. Are you signed up on the roll call? Someone on there is going to arrange a meet and greet, we could meet up there? I know she'll want someone other than us to play with as we're all so old lol. What deck are you all staying on?

 

Is it April yet????

 

Tracy

[Ask4Jay]

@kymry -

Since nobody has commented on your flight schedule yet, may I voice on opinion? I know you are flying from the UK. Full disclosure: I am an optimist, but ...

Let's say you are ready to take off and your plane develops a mechanical out there on a taxiway. They'll turn around to the gate or try to fix it out there. It's a creeping delay. One 30-minute estimate after another. Will you be relaxed, sitting in your seat on the 'aeroplane', or back at the gate? Ah, they have a replacement airplane ready to take all pax to BCN. In time for the ship? Great, but will they also get your bags there in time? Did you see them load YOUR bags? What if you guys make it, but not your bags? For those kinds of reasons we always leave two days prior (from the US), and spend one night in the port city. And we buy travel insurance, not to get our money back in case of missed connections etc. We buy medivac insurance. If one of us has an accident overseas, we want to be flown back home. Very reasonable.

Luck favors the prepared. Hope that all goes well with you guys and you have a great cruise.

 

 

Juergen (and Helen)

Via Tapatalk & iPod touch.

[garycarla]

Personally, I would fly in a day in advance, and tour Barcelona.

 

Make sure you visit the ROLL CALL boards for your cruise.

 

See some other notes below.

 

On the next posting, try to be very descriptive about your question. (in the subject line)

[kymry]

ask4jay & garycarla, I will take that under advisement! Seriously. I would love to fly in the day before, but now my husband is saying he'd like to work that Monday to make sure the office can survive without him (I don't think they can lol). Maybe I'll try to get a late flight so he can work but we'll still be in the night before? Does anyone know how far in advance you need to be at the airport when flying from London to Barcelona? All my experience is UK/USA flights! I guess I'm hoping staying within Europe is more like flying to another state and we won't have to be there as early.

 

Plus, since the cruise doesn't leave until 7pm, we'd have a good chunk of time to do something fun in Barcelona. :)

[jolgro]

Hi Baileygirls, your looking for info about NCL Jade

 

We sailed with the Jade from Barcelone in oct.2010. We arrived the day before departure and stayed in a hotel near La Ramblas. The other day we took a cab at 11.30 am to the cruiseport (15-20 minutes ride , about 20 euro,s) Embarkation was very quick and easy and we were onboard about 12.15. We went to the Garden buffet but is was very crowded, if you like to lunch relax ; the MDR is also open for lunch. Rooms are ready about 14 pm and than our suitcases arrived as well.

When we left we did Self-Disembarkation , there were plenty of taxi's and they cost us about 30-35 euro (we were with 2 people/2 suitcases) and a 30-40 minutes ride to the airport.

It was our first cruise then and we loved the Jade and the freestyle concept of NCL. We visit 3 specialty restaurants ( Italian, Cagney's and Le Bistro) We liked Le Bistro the most, also did the jazzbrunch in Le Bistro super! But MDR is also very nice. In the buffet there are lots of choices to make, but we didn't ate there alot.

We stayed in a minisuite and I think it was very nice, with lots of space for your clothes, and I loved the balcony.

 

I see you go to the canaries, Lovely ,we go there every winter (not this coming winter because you can spend your money just once and our next cruise we booked a suite, maybe spoiled for ever) Lanzarote is one of my favourite. We also are counting down for a Panamacanal cruise in april 2012. For us the first time out of Europe. So hope time is flying, we say in the Netherlands.

 

Have a good time

[Baileygirls]

Hi Tracy, we found the rollcall and have joined up. I see the meet is for the very next day which is a great idea so if we don't meet before then, that would be a perfect opportunity. (I have to say, we have usually bumped into people by chance when we board before the meet and greets)

 

As for flights, I agree that arriving the day before is always a safer option however most flights I've priced leave the uk early morning and arrive by lunchtime so I think you would be ok if you have no alternative. You need to be at the airport 2 hours before departure which is not unreasonable and goes quickly. The flight from Uk to Barcelona is less than 3 hours which is also great.

 

 

Jolgro, thanks for your input! This is our 3rd cruise but we've used a different company each time. You speak highly of NCL/Jade which is helpful and I have heard Le Bistro is very good so we look forward to that!

I'm pleased to hear you can board early as we like that.

We would love to do a panama canal cruise, I hope you enjoy it! Enjoy your suite!