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

[fireflies]

Here is the last of the Jade photos with dinner photos of the two main dining rooms, Grand Pacific and the smaller Alizar. We mostly ordered seafood when possible since we find meat options can tend to be kind of dry. Service seemed to be always quick and can't find fault with the experience.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the Hawaiian prints adding some flair.

 

 

 

 

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Can't exactly recall some of the names of the dishes but will note it when possible.

 

Roasted Pumkin, Fennel and Arugula salad

 

 

Nicoise salad

 

 

Blue Crab Cake

 

 

Calamari - could have been better

 

Meze Grilled Pork Sausage

 

 

Chinese Duck salad

[fireflies]

Surf + Turf - decent lobster. was served on the first night

 

 

A favorite - Cioppino (fish stew)

 

Think this was the seafood chowder/gumbo dish

 

Lemon herb chicken

 

 

Gonna go with maybe Seafood Lasagna

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Chocolate cake

 

 

Coconut souffle

 

 

Chocolate mouse/panna cotta

 

 

Perhaps Flourless Molten chocolate cake

 

Kahlua Tiramisu cake

 

Phew, that's it for today. I'll try to post the last port visit on wednesday.

[fireflies]

Back for a final cruise look at the oft maligned, "watch your wallets and purses" capital of Italy, Naples. FYI, we like to call Naples "gritty". There are numerous options for this port, places like Capri, historic ruins or DIY city tour. We joined a small private tour for the Amalfi coast, a rugged section of the southern coast in Salerno. Our merry band was 6 cruisers and our guide. It is crazy popular in the summer but in the off season it mostly shuts down. The weather was the worst we had on the cruise, cold and wet for the whole day. The temperature was around 7 degrees Celsius (45 Fahrenheit) when we departed.

 

 

Amalfi Drive, a spectacular road bending for 80 kms carved out of the side of the coastal cliffs. It is an incredible journey and some amazing road engineering, it took around 150 years to build.

 

 

The rain was steady for most of the morning with an accompanying thick fog.

 

 

 

 

Edge defying construction

 

The first town stop was a peak into Positano. With the wet and chilly weather, a bit hard to really enjoy the exploring.

 

 

Some respite from the weather, doing some souvenir shopping. You can get everything lemon and of course the Italian lemon liqueur limoncello.

[fireflies]

Land of the Fiats.

 

 

The massive public buses fill the narrow roads. Driving in the peak season must be awful.

 

 

Visiting Amalfi and the dominating cathedral from the 9th century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The town square.

 

 

 

 

Bright ceramics tiles and pottery pieces are a signature of Amalfi.

 

 

The Amalfi beach side.

 

 

Surf's up, guess that's why locals don't park there

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Driving to Ravello, the last of the big tourist towns and situated high above the Amalfi Coast.

 

 

Being at higher altitude the temperature was much cooler at 2°C (35 F).

 

 

Inside the gate to Villa Rufolo, a private home open to the public. We only had 30 minutes in Ravello so we didn't have time to check out the courtyard and gardens.

 

 

The terraced landscape.

 

 

 

 

Some cafes and jewelry shops were open.

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Our lunch stop.

 

 

Scaloppini al limone (veal escalope flavored with lemon).

 

 

Scialatielli al frutti di mare (home-made local pasta with seafood)

 

 

It was fun overall, would like to spend a few days exploring the towns with some sunshine but is was alright to get that "everything is close/deserted" vibe too.

[fireflies]

Back on the Jade with night views of Napoli and a snow capped Mount Vesuvius, the only active volcano on mainland Europe.

 

 

 

 

Napoli with Castel Sant'Elmo lit up in the background.

Well that's a wrap, thanxs again for the kind posts. Sayonara and smooth sails.

 

“Like I said before, your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”

- Anthony Bourdain

[xenagurl]

Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing your trip. :)

[SteveH2508]

Back on the Jade with night views of Napoli and a snow capped Mount Vesuvius, the only active volcano on mainland Europe.

 

<snip>

With this picture you could win a competition (or sell it to NCL) :D

[meltingmoments]

 

 

Napoli with Castel Sant'Elmo lit up in the background.

Well that's a wrap, thanxs again for the kind posts. Sayonara and smooth sails.

 

“Like I said before, your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”

- Anthony Bourdain

 

 

 

 

This, I just can NOT find words to describe how beautiful it is!!

 

Thank-you SO much for sharing........I'm sorry your trip AND your review have come to an end! Safe travels to you too.......and I will be eagerly looking out for your next review! :) :) :)

[jldev]

Thanks so much for this awesome trip report! It has given me a good idea of what its going to be like sailing on Jade in the Eastern Med in January 2015 :)

[fireflies]

jldev only a year and half away, have a great cruise :)

 

xenagurl - thanks again for the nice posts.

 

thanks for the generous comment ;) SteveH2508. not too sure how that photo would do in the NCL contest, it'll be fun to see what the top 10 photos are after the contest deadline ends.

 

meltingmoments - Naples has a pretty port, you'll be there in no time soaking up the Italian evening. just booked an Alaskan cruise with Holland America (first time in Alaska + on HAL, fingers crossed) in June so might be able to put a review or album up somewhere if I'm not too busy during summer

[cruiseclues]

Thank you so very much for your great review and those really good photos...especially the food photos and comments. :):):):)