NCL JADE - Feb 2013 Mediterranean & the Holy Land * Photo review *

[canehdn]

Love your review and photos. Brings back such wonderful memories. We were on the Jade February 26 thru March 6. It was a fantastic itinerary and we all loved the Jade. Your photographs are stunning. I posted a long review with pictures, but your's are so much better.

 

Would love to be back there. Thanks again for sharing your view of the cruise.

 

Cdn in KS

[spacepotatoes]

hi. thanks for sharing your cruises too! I have been looking around at Alaska cruises recently (my interested got peaked a bit watching Top Chef cruise on the Celebrity Summit) figuring since Vancouver is so close should try it one day. good to know ahead of time about HAL being sticklers for formal dining dress code. those desserts look awesome, the creme brulee trio looks especially yum, NCL does an Asian creme brulee which I will put up later. that watermelon pie is practically jumping out of the picture!

 

Thanks! The food on HAL was the best cruise food we've had so far. Alaska wasn't too bad either ;) Sailing out of Vancouver and the Inside Passage were beautiful, definitely worth doing some time!

[russianmom]

Your pictures are absolutely stunning! Thank you for sharing :D

[ROCruiser]

Sharp pictures of Alanya!

[jimbri]

Amazing photos and review. Looking forward to the rest.

[4774Papa]

Great Photos. Herculaneum looked better than Pompeii. Next time we go to Naples, we will go to Herculaneum.

[fireflies]

Pictures are wonderful. Can't wait to see more! Brings back wonderful memories - we were on the last cruise to Egypt in November and ported during the rocket attacks in Israel. But, it was our favorite cruise thus far. The Jade, despite all her quirkiness, is a great ship, with a wonderful staff.

 

 

It is great that you had a chance to see Egypt on your cruise. We had a day in Giza and the Pyramids when we were on the Costa Concordia a few years back so we were okay with the cancelled Egypt stop, it likely made the cruise much more affordable for us. When you ported in Haifa did people stay on the ship or did they leave as normal?

[fireflies]

Love your review and photos. Brings back such wonderful memories. We were on the Jade February 26 thru March 6. It was a fantastic itinerary and we all loved the Jade. Your photographs are stunning. I posted a long review with pictures, but your's are so much better.

 

Would love to be back there. Thanks again for sharing your view of the cruise.

 

Cdn in KS

 

 

Thanks for your review too! I liked your collage type pictures, reminds me of those old school mixed scene postcards. One thing we missed out on the cruise was the Beerfest food offering so it was nice to see and read about it.

[fireflies]

Sharp pictures of Alanya!

 

 

Thanks. Someone posted a link to your travel blog before our cruise so your photos were a good preview of what we could expect. It was fun seeing the suite life, hopefully we get offered an awesome upgrade one day.

[fireflies]

Great Photos. Herculaneum looked better than Pompeii. Next time we go to Naples, we will go to Herculaneum.

 

 

Thanks, it seems a little under appreciated on the Naples circuit. A lot of fun to roam in practical peace and quiet. I would like to see the larger scale and the amphitheatre in Pompeii sometime.

[fireflies]

Hey. Thanks again for the kind comments. I will post the Cyprus set of photos this morning.

 

 

We had been to Cyprus a few cruises back and did the bus into town thing and was a little underwhelmed, we did not research as much back then and just strolled around town and the beach strip. This time we joined a bus tour that hit the group of tourist sites outside of Limassol. The weather was a mixed bag of cloud, sun and some rain that day. Much more interesting the second time around and the stop in Omodos was a cool chance to see a small town.

 

 

First stop was at Kolossi Castle.

 

 

Surrounding castle ruins.

 

 

Next up was the ruin complex at Kourion. A mosaic floor.

 

 

Mosaic floors with fish and bird designs originally from the 2nd century B.C

 

 

Was told that all that land below is the property of British military forces.

 

 

You then walk down to the theater site. It is a restored Greek-Roman theater (did not compare at all to Aspendos but it has a view with the Mediterranean sea in the background). Would be cool for open air musical performances.

[fireflies]

 

 

After a short drive was The Temple of Apollo complex.

 

 

Buuuuzzzzzz

 

 

 

 

The temple itself

 

After a bit of a drive we arrived in Omodos village. Here a store selling bottles of the local Commanderia wine and olive oil.

[buggins0402]

It is great that you had a chance to see Egypt on your cruise. We had a day in Giza and the Pyramids when we were on the Costa Concordia a few years back so we were okay with the cancelled Egypt stop, it likely made the cruise much more affordable for us. When you ported in Haifa did people stay on the ship or did they leave as normal?

 

Seemed like everyone continued on with original plans with slight adjustments. Captain announced night before that the ship would stay in Haifa. If the rockets had started a day earlier we probably would have diverted - it would have been clear this wasn't the usual stray rocket thing that goes on from time to time. Do have to admit that a noisy air conditioner in our Jerusalem hotel room had me wondering a few times if there was an "incoming" so it made sleep a little difficult.

 

Can't wait to see the rest of your pictures - they are so nice! Unfortunately a large portion of our trip pictures ended up flawed by a camera problem.

[fireflies]

Omodos square leading up to the 17th century church.

 

 

One of many narrow pathways.

 

 

 

 

The village is known for handmade lace work.

 

 

Had a chance to sample some local wines. Almost picked up a bottle of Moscato wine but decided to save the packing heft. Free time passed quick, imagine the town would be even nicer in the spring + summer with some sunshine and a bit more tourist buzz.

 

 

The bus then made its way back to Limmasol for lunch.

[fireflies]

Another port, another local beer. This time Keo brewed right in town.

 

 

Not fancy looking but a great Greek/Cypriot salad.

 

 

Calamari, how can you go wrong? Super fresh.

 

 

Smokin + staches are still alive in Cyprus.

 

 

After lunch we saw these men playing backgammon.

 

 

Safe travels everyone!

[SteveH2508]

Ahh Keo beer - had one last night with my fish and chips in north London. Luvverly!

[jmvda]

Stunning photos

 

Great work

[xenagurl]

Love these photos! :)

[YankeeFan4Ever]

WOW! Your review is great and your photos are absolutely stunning! Thanks for sharing! :)

[SeaHunt]

Such a fantastic review! And such wonderful photos! Thank you so much for posting this, it really makes me feel like I am right there.

 

I'm really drawn to the fresco and mosaic work, and I know I could spend a lot of time just gazing at those. And the food! As matter of fact, I could really go for a "Sfogliatelle" right now :D

 

I was surprised to see that the boat in the seaside of Side was named "Miami" - is that a popular name there?

 

And I have to agree that the Hawaiian theme looks a little odd in some places (the big "ALOHA" and the hibiscus prints), but I love the Asian themed casino. Hmmm. Maybe there should be a Jade Med cruise in our future :)

[kikki21]

Your pictures are fantastic! :)

Have just flown back today from Rome after a 10 day cruise on the Jade and it was a fabulous cruise, great memories!

[fireflies]

Seemed like everyone continued on with original plans with slight adjustments. Captain announced night before that the ship would stay in Haifa. If the rockets had started a day earlier we probably would have diverted - it would have been clear this wasn't the usual stray rocket thing that goes on from time to time. Do have to admit that a noisy air conditioner in our Jerusalem hotel room had me wondering a few times if there was an "incoming" so it made sleep a little difficult.

 

Can't wait to see the rest of your pictures - they are so nice! Unfortunately a large portion of our trip pictures ended up flawed by a camera problem.

 

 

Sounds like a real roller coaster of a hotel experience, but maybe good for telling stories now. It's awful luck about your pictures, what is a memory card problem or a camera writing error? We download our pictures onto a laptop every night on cruises as a backup in case something messes up with the camera or just in case something happens.

[fireflies]

Such a fantastic review! And such wonderful photos! Thank you so much for posting this, it really makes me feel like I am right there.

 

I'm really drawn to the fresco and mosaic work, and I know I could spend a lot of time just gazing at those. And the food! As matter of fact, I could really go for a "Sfogliatelle" right now :D

 

I was surprised to see that the boat in the seaside of Side was named "Miami" - is that a popular name there?

 

And I have to agree that the Hawaiian theme looks a little odd in some places (the big "ALOHA" and the hibiscus prints), but I love the Asian themed casino. Hmmm. Maybe there should be a Jade Med cruise in our future :)

 

I get a lot of tips from the boards so it's nice if people get something out of this thread.

 

Yeah, had to do a double take on the boat name not sure why it would be named that wouldn't imagine it is too popular. The new Med itinerary has a tempting trio with Tunisia, Sicily and Sardinia all places I'd like to visit.

 

Here's a few more pics of frescoes and mosaics to check out.

 

 

This mosaic is the floor tiling from the women's bath house in Ercolano.

 

 

 

From the Kourion complex in Cyprus.

[fireflies]

hey, back with some photos of the Jade. It was pretty windy most of the time and so the decks never seemed busy when we went out for strolls.

 

 

Don't know just looks like a giant pineapple coil to me

 

 

 

 

 

Quiet spot at the back.

 

 

 

 

[fireflies]

Here's the packed Chocofest. I'm not sure if all the other cruise lines are still doing the choco/dessert buffet or if it's a dying art or not. Fun to see all the designs and crazy stuff going on.

 

 

 

 

Fondue for all. Wonder what they do with the Swan afterwards.

 

 

Creepy Golem onboard the Jade.