Norwegian Jade - Good Decision?

[meracq333]

We are booked July 12-26, 2014 on the Norwegian Jade - Venice to Venice. We are a mid fifties couple who previously cruised Holland America and 2 Celebrity cruises. Admittedly, I wished that I researched Cruise Critic prior to booking the Norwegian Jade but alas, we are set to go (cancellation penalty too steep to consider given sail date is less than 1 month away). I read many reviews that are less than stellar about the Jade. The negative reviews revolve around the average to less than average food, though we hope to offeset this by purchasing the Ultimate Dining Package (specialty restaurants). Other reviews point to very crowded pool area; tacky ship decor and substandard entertainment.

 

Has anyone sailed the Jade who may help to allay our concerns?

[Keith1010]

You will get a lot more responses if you post this on the NCL Cruise Line Board.

 

Keith

[meracq333]

Thank you Keith. Will do - much appreciated.

[TheCriuseDirector]

Well, if you just go into the cruise having very little expectations and not expecting it to be the perfect cruise, then I would say that you would be fine.

If you plan on having fun, you will

[jocap]

I would say that the décor is unusual and bright, rather than tacky- and the carpets are works of art! Food- well, yes, the speciality restaurants are mainly good, but you can still find reasonable food in other places- check out the Eastern booth in the buffet, or the daily roast.

We enjoyed her enough the first time to return for a winter cruise, and would be happy to consider her again. :)

[Dayenu]

We took either the same or a similar cruise on Jade from Venice to Greek Islands. My only complaint is that the cruise was too short for me :p

 

Will you take a camera? Make sure the memory card has enough space. There is so much to photograph!

[pris993]

We are booked July 12-26, 2014 on the Norwegian Jade - Venice to Venice. We are a mid fifties couple who previously cruised Holland America and 2 Celebrity cruises. Admittedly, I wished that I researched Cruise Critic prior to booking the Norwegian Jade but alas, we are set to go (cancellation penalty too steep to consider given sail date is less than 1 month away). I read many reviews that are less than stellar about the Jade. The negative reviews revolve around the average to less than average food, though we hope to offeset this by purchasing the Ultimate Dining Package (specialty restaurants). Other reviews point to very crowded pool area; tacky ship decor and substandard entertainment.

 

Has anyone sailed the Jade who may help to allay our concerns?

 

We did an 11 night on the Jade a year ago, round trip Rome, to Eastern Mediterranean. It was our first time on NCL in 10 years, we had not cruised NCL since they started freestyle. We also cruise Holland America, just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam did a TA from Florida to Barcelona. We also cruise Celebrity will be on the Silhouette in October out of Rome again, we like the Mideterranean. We cruise Princess and Cunard as well.

 

Ref your concerns about the Jade. We actually were pleasantly surprised about the cabin on the Jade - we had a mini suite and it was comfortable and well laid out. Ref the food on the Jade, we tried the MDR for lunch and dinner the first day on board. Food was so, so and service was pleasant but not that great. They basically said yes to anything we requested but simply did not follow through, we would have to ask up to 3 times to get anything we ask about. Given that experience and the so so food, we decided to skip the MDR and the speciality restuarants... we simply enjoyed a late lunch of items we picked up from the buffet and took it back to our cabin and enjoyed on our balcony most days. Then we would relax, later shower and dress and enjoy the evening entertainment on board with was okay, don't recall exactly what was offered here.

 

In the Mediterranean, the ports are what is most important. Most cruises are quiet port intensive, so the ship is less important. NCL does not want passengers to bring food on board from ports, which is something we like to do especially in the Mediterranean. Since this is something we like to do I did bring some plastic bags which I took in to port... so that I could purchase some nuts to have with a drink in the cabin. We also purchased some pastry in a port, to have with coffee in the morning.

 

The decor on board is tacky but it kinda of growns on you, all Hawaii themed, colorful. Not the classic style you see on HAL or Celebrity.

 

The price on NCL is a cheaper... so we figured we got what we paid for. We would do another NCL cruise for the right itinerary and price. on the Jade or a sister ship.

 

We are kinda of fussy, especially when it comes to food. But even so we generally found something at the buffet we were okay with. They do a lot of confort foods. We did salads and sandwiches we made ourselves from the buffet. Most days we did breakfast from room service which we like to do. They don't offer eggs on the room service menu, so I would go to the buffet and pick up eggs to go with the room service tray, worked out well for us.

 

We were surprised about how folks dressed on the Jade. Even on our recent HAL cruise, it seems folks are dressing extremely casual... not smart casual at all. So that would be the only other thing I would mention. Basically anything goes, seems like that is more common on most lines these days. We are more traditional cruisers.

 

Hope you have a good cruise on the Jade.

[meracq333]

Pris993 - thanks for the detailed reply. We were also on the Nieu Amsterdam for a 12 day cruise (6 months after it launched). I would be curious to have your take on a ship to ship comparison?

[Karysa]

We are booked July 12-26, 2014 on the Norwegian Jade - Venice to Venice. We are a mid fifties couple who previously cruised Holland America and 2 Celebrity cruises. Admittedly, I wished that I researched Cruise Critic prior to booking the Norwegian Jade but alas, we are set to go (cancellation penalty too steep to consider given sail date is less than 1 month away). I read many reviews that are less than stellar about the Jade. The negative reviews revolve around the average to less than average food, though we hope to offeset this by purchasing the Ultimate Dining Package (specialty restaurants). Other reviews point to very crowded pool area; tacky ship decor and substandard entertainment.

 

Has anyone sailed the Jade who may help to allay our concerns?

 

DH And I did this cruise in May. Purchased UDP and enjoyed it. We like to dance and found opportunities nightly to do just that. The shows we attended were entertaining. We did not have sunbathing weather so there were plenty of deck chairs. I loved the ports but I would not like them during the time that you are going. I think that you will have more issues with the crowds on your port days and extremely hot weather than you will with the ship. To us this trip to the Greek Islands was really about the ports and with mid may crowds and temperatures it was perfect for us.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Karysa

[pris993]

Pris993 - thanks for the detailed reply. We were also on the Nieu Amsterdam for a 12 day cruise (6 months after it launched). I would be curious to have your take on a ship to ship comparison?

 

I think it is hard to make a ship to ship comparison - HAL really is better, fares are higher on HAL too. Nieuw Amsterdam is classic traditional cruise. Jade is similar - less formal.

 

HAL still has formal nights, NCL has dress as you wish.

 

Food and service in MDR/buffet on HAL far superior to the Jade. We like traditional dining with fixed seatings and prefer late. On the NCL no fixed dining all anytime dining, unless you make a reservation at a specialty restaurant We did not try the speciality restrauants on the Jade. We did not go to the SR on the Nieuw Amsterdam this last trip because we had such great service and food in the MDR.

 

Cabin layout for two ships probably similar, we had the mini suite which was quite nice. Room Service for breakfast is better on HAL, no hot food on NCL, other than coffee. Overall cabin service about the same between on the two lines.

 

HAL allows passengers to bring on two bottles of wine - can use in cabin for free/$20 corking in the MDR. NCL you can bring on as much wine as you wish, charge $15 for every bottle at the gangway. No food allowed from ports on NCL, suspect because they want passengers to go to the speciality restaurants. On HAL and most lines you can bring on board whatever you want from ports in the way of food items.

 

HAL does a great job with guest speakers on local ports. Entertainment on our last HAL ship was not that great, we cruise HAL about 1x in 4 years, so don't know if this is a sign of a trend, we were on a TA. Entertainment on NCL was okay, better than what we had on HAL.

 

When we go on different lines, we focus on what we like and go with it. Each line is different, each cruise can vary too even with the same ship.