Norwegian Jade - a Good Decision?

[Winnigirl]

 

The Hawaiian décor is still all over the ship, but it is toned down a bit from our first sailing in 2011. The main dining room still has the King Kamehameha statue. Le Bistro is a very nice setting with Hawaiian art throughout.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

I'm surprised they still have the Hawaiian décor! We were told on our cruise that they would be changing that - I guess they still haven't got around to it. I liked it - it was kind of quirky seeing surfing Hawaiians while sailing past the Bridge of Sighs.

[Carolina Daisy]

We were on the Jade last year and it was wonderful, we would highly recommend it. We were very pleased with the food choices and variety. We didn't feel the need to go to any pay restaurants. It's not the biggest ship, but that's part of it's charm. And cruising into and out of Venice is one of life's great moments. Wish we could go again!

[T.O.cruisers]

We'll be on the Jade in October. Have never sailed on NCL before and we are looking forward to the freestyle concept. We will be spending one week in Israel before arriving in Venice the day before we sail. We had originally planned to fly to Athens and ferry over to Mykonos and Santorini on our own. Timing of the ferries, taxis to and from the ports and cost of hotels made for an expensive vacation and we still had to live out of suitcases. When I discovered the Jade visited the ports I wanted to see it was a no brainer that this is the way to go. For us it's all about the ports first and the ship second. I'm sure it will be fine. I do read the reviews but they don't deter me in any way. I'm excited to go to the Greek Isles on Jade and I know I won't go hungry.

[toyotaford]

We did the 10 day Rome to Rome on the Jade in January. It was a spur of the moment trip but the price couldn't be beat so we jumped on it. We had a great trip and loved the ship. Staff was great as we have found on all the other NCL ships. Relax and start looking forward to your trip.

[QuattroRomeo]

Don't worry at all- on this itinerary, you have lots of fabulous ports, good breaks with the sea days, and the perfect sized ship!

 

We have also sailed HAL(x5) and Celebrity once; most recently we sailed the NCL Sun. The service was terrific, staff friendly and helpful, officers visible and actually speaking with passengers, and the entertainment was very good.

 

We have noticed a decline in the MDR on all lines that we have repeated, including HAL. However, NCL offers very good value cruises, so if you want to 'upgrade', just do the specialty restaurants, get a wine package or romance package, and book the Chef's Table when you get on board! We loved doing that on the Sun ( see review below), and are looking forward to our Jade cruise this Fall. Hope to read your review when you get back!

[buckeye82]

Just off the Jade last Saturday and I think the ship is lovely. Some of the Hawaiian decoration is beautiful. I began to realize that the ship had a very familiar lay out and was therefore very comfortable. The forward lounge, as someone mentioned is very nice, the furniture is eye catching in green and purple. My husband and I shared a double lounge in there. Very fun.

 

The Captain is interesting. Be sure to listen to his announcements. He will talk over the PA about anything that seems important to him from the weather, to why he likes certain ports, or the craziness of docking or leaving from certain ports. They had to back out of Split (I think it was Split. We were supposed to tender there but didn't) at a hasty 7 knotts. He said we would probably never experience that again. Apparently we were holding up ferries. He gave a lecture about why he doesn't wait for tardy onshore guests. Just as an airplane or train leaves on schedule so does his ship. It is our responsiblity to be on time. When we met him at the Captain's cocktail party he was warm and friendly. From our aft cabin I saw him taking a walk on the pier and he would stop and allow photo ops.

 

I have to agree that sailing into and out of Venice was a real treat. We enjoyed it from our balcony.

 

About those aft cabins. We loved our cabin, but there was a lot of soot and each morning there seemed to be an assortment of sugar pack wrappers and other debris from the Great Outdoors two decks up on our balcony. Once as I lay lounging a big wad of wet paper towel landed on me. Yuck. However the sweet smell of baking goods almost made up for these!

 

On the whole we found the staff to be helpful and friendly. We had a little snafu with our bill that made our last evening on board rather tense. We were not that thrilled with the way it was handled, but in the end it was resloved and I can still say I had a very good time aboard the Jade.

[HokiePoq]

We are a mid fifties couple who have booked Norwegian Jade July 12-26, 2014 - Venice to Venice. I wished I had researched Cruise Critic prior to committment but alas, we are sailing in less than 1 month and the cancellation penalty is too steep to consider. Many negative reviews are out there in relation to tacky cabins/decor; substandard food and entertainment and very crowded pool area.

 

Can anyone offer some real insight which might allay our concerns?

 

 

We've sailed the Jade four times, most recently in April. All have been good cruises with two of them absolutely fantastic due to a CD who is no longer with them. Entertainment is good. We split our time between the theater and lounge entertainment depending on what was offered on the stage show. The cabins are fine. The decor is Hawaiian as it was originally in Hawaii and will soon move to homeport in Houston. It made no difference to our enjoyment of the cruises. The food was just fine. We had an oceanview this time and ate in both the MDR and specialty restaurants. It was cool in April so we didn't attempt to spend time at the pool so I can't speak to that but the ports on yours are great, so have a wonderful time.

I didn't write a review this time but there should be at least two I've written in the past.

I do understand how you feel about reviews as the ones I'm reading on our two next cruises aren't so great,either. Maybe it's mostly that people who have either a great time or a bad one are the ones who are motivated to write reviews.

Edited June 13, 2014 by HokiePoq

[Seafan22]

I took a family group on a 10-day Eastern Mediterranean trip on the Jade in 2012 - fourteen of us - and that was our first cruise. I didn't know what to expect, but I have to say, I had a great time on the cruise and on the Jade. I have become a cruise fan because of it and we have another trip this September, on the Star.

Some people will look to complain or compare "this trip" to the last trip, or their best trip. That's the best way to ruin your vacation. Relax and have a great time. Things will go wrong; you can make it all about keeping track of what goes wrong or just getting passed it. That is whether you're at home or on vacation. (I'm a psychologist, can you tell)

[meracq333]

To our fellow Cruise Critics - we say thank you very much. The responses to our general inquiry about Jade's quality has been very helpful indeed. You are too numeous to mention individually but we are sending out a collective thank you very much!!

 

Agreed that much has to do with attitude and expectation and all of your emails have helped to reinforce that. I look forward to reading any further thoughts others may have and my excitement about July 12 departure has exponentially grown. I promise to write a review on return.

[cowtowngals]

We have sailed the Jade three times and just booked a fourth for March 2015. You will find there are people on every cruise who will always have to complain. We most recently sailed in May and I was surprised by the negative reviews - although there were a few complainers I heard while on the ship. I found it quite comical to listen to two women complain about how dry the bread was on their tuna sandwiches was and why wasn't it white bread when the menu clearly stated it was served on rye. These are the types I picture writing the negative reviews.

Go an enjoy. As it is summer vacation time in Europe the pool deck will be very busy. We did an August cruise on the Jade through the Greek Islands and found it too hot on deck in the main day heat of the sun. We would go up right after an early breakfast and enjoy the sun on seas days until the sun got blistering hot and then we retreated to a shadier area.