NCL Jade Cruise Review - March 27th - April 6th 2013

[kikki21]

We had to walk off dinner so drifted back over to the Trevi Fountain again, then went up to the Spanish Steps and back to our hotel again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that was our first day in Rome, done.... I have been there quite a few times before but it was Martin's first time and he was loving it....day 2 of Rome pre cruise next! :)

[june123]

great photo`s i`m getting really excited because we`re off on the jade eastern med next jan and we`re in rome for 4 days before the cruise .( allowed 4 days just incase we get snowed in :eek: ) we live in west wales and have to get to gatwick .

looking forward to the rest of your photies :)

[kikki21]

That's a good length of time to be in Rome and you will love it! Been in Rome a few times before and never get tired of it! :)

 

great photo`s i`m getting really excited because we`re off on the jade eastern med next jan and we`re in rome for 4 days before the cruise .( allowed 4 days just incase we get snowed in :eek: ) we live in west wales and have to get to gatwick .

looking forward to the rest of your photies :)

[kikki21]

We woke up to a pretty rainy,gloomy day in Rome but we still decided to have a good walk round and we did... set off to the Spanish Steps again after a good, continental breakfast.

 

 

The breakfast is brought to your room at a time agreed by you so it's all good!

We walked to the Spanish Steps again and walked along to the Pincio Gardens and then up to the Borghese Gardens, still in the rain!

We then walked down to the Piazza del Popolo and checked into a cafe on the Via Ripetta for a pizza/coffee stop and also checked out where our restaurant was for tonight's meal, the well acclaimed Ad Hoc.

[xenagurl]

I'm enjoying your review. Love those photos! Especially the one with the moon peaking out of the clouds. :)

[Northern Bear]

Nice pics. We're boarding on the 27th, Naples to Venice, thanks for the preview!

[AquamarineBreeze]

Great start to your review!

 

I've finally begun looking at my photos....

.... And got some prices for a summer cruise on the Jade for me ...;)

 

Keep the pics coming :)

[glittergal1]

Hi Ladies glad you all got home without incident and lovely to meet you onboard . I think I need to do the same itinerary again with a few days in Rome too.

I was sooooooooo tired this week I don't know how I managed to get through my week at work .

 

 

 

For anyone thinking of booking cabin 9085 on the jade DONT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had very little sleep because of the banging clanking and scraping coming from somewhere within the ship :(

[boaterette]

Very nice start to your review. Looking forward to more.

[Aubreysmom09]

Thanks for the great pictures :) My family is thinking of going on the Eastern Med cruise on the Jade next year. Never been on NCL.. Still in planning mode. I really wanted to go to Rome for a week, but we will have an almost 5 year old. Thought a cruise would be more entertaining for her.

[kikki21]

Thanks for all the lovely comments! :)

 

I will be posting more a bit later I hope, trying to work and post at the same time!

 

Hi Michelle - glad you got home ok and enjoyed the cruise, not good re the lack of sleep. I have to say that our cabin has some noise as well esp when we had the force 8 gales we seemed to run into! :rolleyes:

 

Hi Liana - I really want to do the Jade out of Venice for a bit of a Greek Isle cruise too..... this depends on business and a cheap deal if possible, if I can pick another deal out of NCL, that would be awesome! :)

[kikki21]

 

A far away view of St Pauls from the Borghese Gardens.

 

 

 

Water everywhere - in the Piazza Del Popolo!

[AquamarineBreeze]

Thanks for all the lovely comments! :)

 

I will be posting more a bit later I hope, trying to work and post at the same time!

 

Hi Michelle - glad you got home ok and enjoyed the cruise, not good re the lack of sleep. I have to say that our cabin has some noise as well esp when we had the force 8 gales we seemed to run into! :rolleyes:

 

Hi Liana - I really want to do the Jade out of Venice for a bit of a Greek Isle cruise too..... this depends on business and a cheap deal if possible, if I can pick another deal out of NCL, that would be awesome! :)

 

 

Well... I'm thinking end of summer - just before work starts again for me... From where I live Venice is about 2 hours by train. Straight & simple ( not like almost missing the Jade in Rome this time because of mechanical problems with the flight from Milan :eek: )

 

I'm just not sure ... Three times on the same ship???

[kikki21]

 

We walked quite a fair distance and didn't let the rain spoil the day!

 

 

St Paul's close up!

 

 

Castel Sant Angelo - glad we passed this one for post Rome due to the rain!

We did however find a great Gelato place - Gelateria Del Theatro and when we went back, we found it back again! :)

[kikki21]

Both of us like to eat nice food so as this was an engagement cruise, we decided to splash out on some special meals. I had heard about Ad Hoc on these boards and on Trip Advisor so we decided to book on line - you get a 10% discount for doing this and seeing if Ad Hoc lived up to the hype!

 

There are a number of menus you can choose from as there are a variety of tasting menus and an a la carte menu, we both choose the land tasting menu without matched wines as we wanted to choose our own wine.

 

Decisions, decisions! :)

[fireflies]

nice color touch on the Rome photos. thanks for the review and good luck sorting your photos :)

[kikki21]

That's the time of year for us too..... I would sail on the Jade again and we are looking at a cruise on her next summer for 14 nights but we are looking at other options too as it will be our honeymoon! :)

 

3 times on the same ship just means you like the ship........ i've been to Ephesus 5 times now and I would still go back again lol.... and Rome the same!

 

Well... I'm thinking end of summer - just before work starts again for me... From where I live Venice is about 2 hours by train. Straight & simple ( not like almost missing the Jade in Rome this time because of mechanical problems with the flight from Milan :eek: )

 

I'm just not sure ... Three times on the same ship???

[kikki21]

 

We had a complimentary glass of prosecco to start and then a carrot flan amuse bouche with handmade rosemary breadsticks followed by our starter which was a beef carpacchio, my favourite, a pesto, mozzarella and tomato tart which was Martin's favourite and a stuffed courgette flower on black rice, all were tasty!

 

 

The bread that we had was delicious, 2 of the breads were so light, it was like eating cake!

One of the buns at the top of the picture was made with truffle, that was amazing!

[kikki21]

 

Pasta course - the rabbit ragout was yummy, that was both our favourite on this course. The beef dish was tasty but came in a really heavy parmesan basket so we just gobbled up the rabbit! :)

 

 

The main course was a fillet of beef which was my favourite and roast pork which was Martin's favourite, both very tasty dishes in any case.

[kikki21]

 

Inside Ad Hoc......very cosy atmosphere.Very big wine list indeed!

 

 

Our dessert was a tiramesu which tasted great but was very strong at the coffee bit!

 

It was a very tasty meal and the service was good, we also got a bottle of Asti to take back to the hotel with us which was a nice touch.

So our final verdict was that yes Ad Hoc did live up to the hype as it was a place to have a special meal and the wines were very good indeed.

 

 

Petit fours to end the meal with.

[kikki21]

So we ended our first stint in Rome on a high as the next day, it was time to be heading to Civitavecchia and boarding the Jade.:)

 

We organised a van transfer with Pauline and David from the CC roll call and despite having to run through crowds of tourists at the Trevi fountain with our luggage as for some reason the van driver did not come anywhere near our hotel, the rest of the journey passed without incident and we got to Civitavecchia in record time (even with van driver driving with his ear to his phone and one handed at times!)

[Fielding Mellish]

Ad Hoc was a lovely place to eat and we'd definitely go back the next time we're in Rome.

[jimbri]

Review and photos are great. Looking forward to the rest.

[kikki21]

So embarkation although full of people, I think we got there just before 12pm, was quick and easy and in no time at all, we were onboard!

 

I asked if lunch could be eaten at the MDR and was told it wasn't open, but bless her, the lady did check and come back to me and said it was open from 12pm to 2.30pm, phew! So all was going to plan as I wanted to do the MDR experience this time round and not the frantic buffet thing as before!

 

Going to do lunch at the MDR was definitely the way to go! We took our carry on stuff with us and after a leisurely lunch, we went up to out stateroom and it was all ready for us!

 

We had a balcony mini suite midship 11588, beware that some of deck 11 is shaded by the Deck 12 overhang, we were shaded, the 2nd cabin in, it wasn't that bothersome as if we wanted sun, then we went on deck but if you wanted sun on your balcony then you wouldn't get it!

 

We were very pleased with the stateroom overall, plenty of space for both of us and Martin loved his coffee maker, even more so when he taught me how to use it lol! :D

 

The balcony had full size sun loungers on it and the bathroom had a bathtub/shower combo.

 

The only negative was that the TV was still an old one and not a flat screen one but it was a small matter as not on a cruise to watch TV! :)

[canehdn]

Hey kikki

Love your food photos taken at ad hoc. Looks like a wonderful meal. Glad you and your fiance were able to enjoy a very special engagement dinner. Really enjoying your entire review. DH and I would love to go back to Rome for a week or two ... way to much to see and do there. Thanks for sharing.

 

Cdn in KS