Never again with Norwegian Cruises( The Jade)

[penders]

Just to say I have posted a review on the review page and to put in context that we have cruised before with PRINCESS and CELEBRITY which we found in all areas to be of a much higher standard with anytime dinning and if you did not want to go to the Formal Night there were plenty of places to eat and drink on the same evening.

 

I really think that N.C.L need to look at all aspects of there catering with somewhat more choice in there main dinning rooms. It would also be nice some of the furnishings could be updated they had made a start with new carpets in some areas !!!

 

We did enjoy our cruise as all the ports we went were fabulous and the weather was great just pity about the ship

[lgfromdg]

How did the price you paid for your Princess and Celebrity cruises compare to the price of your NCL cruise? I would bet they were a lot more expensive. For the difference, you could have paid to eat in the specialty restaurants and had more variety.

 

The decor of the Jade definitely needs updating. The ship still looks as it did when it sailed Hawaii. Tiki gods, surf boards, outriggers etc don't jibe with the charm of Europe.

[garycarla]

Different ships for different folks. That's okay.

[Ilovesailing]

Different ships for different folks. That's okay.

 

 

Agree.

[punkincc]

Just to say I have posted a review on the review page and to put in context that we have cruised before with PRINCESS and CELEBRITY which we found in all areas to be of a much higher standard with anytime dinning and if you did not want to go to the Formal Night there were plenty of places to eat and drink on the same evening.

 

I really think that N.C.L need to look at all aspects of there catering with somewhat more choice in there main dinning rooms. It would also be nice some of the furnishings could be updated they had made a start with new carpets in some areas !!!

 

We did enjoy our cruise as all the ports we went were fabulous and the weather was great just pity about the ship

 

Don't judge the entire fleet by just one ship. If you had chosen one of the 3 newest ships, your opinion might have been totally different.

 

I know many people think highly of Princess and Celebrity, and we have sailed with both, but you are paying a pretty penny for those higher standards. Someone commented recently that they could get a suite in the Haven area with Butler, Concierge, private Courtyard, private Lounge and Restaurant on NCL for the same price as a Balcony would cost them on Royal.

 

You get a lot of bang for your buck on NCL.

[paulsurf]

Have sailed 24 cruises

None with Celebrity

7 with Princess

6 with NCL

I rarely dine in any main dining room regardless of line...most always go with specialty dining

Like both Princess and NCL but do favor NCL

I try to study each ship before sailing and read reviews just to keep my expectations in check

If a ship is older then I know what to expect

[sparks1093]

Different ships for different folks. That's okay.

 

Yep.

[penders]

We have been on 2 with Princess and 1 with celebrity and found the price for 14 nights were much the same as N C L staying in a mini suite. I note most of the reply's are from the U S A may be its the exchange rate that has been in our favour in the past !!!!!

[ellie1145]

We sailed on Jade last August and thought the food was awful, too, we walked out of the main dining room twice as the food was inedible, and the service very mediocre. Despite the dining room being empty most of the time, so they certainly weren't overworked, they lacked basic training, were very unfriendly and spent most of their time trying not to serve you.

 

Yes, we could have paid extra to eat in the specialty restaurants but then we would have been paying as much as we would have done on Celebrity or Princess, for an older and scruffier ship. In fact we sailed on Princess the previous year for half what we paid on Jade. We did eat in Cagney's on my birthday, and although the food was much better they still produced frozen chips (fries) with the steak!

 

But despite the food we had a great cruise, we made the best of it and there were lots of things we loved - the entertainment was first class, and better than anything we had experienced on Princess, Celebrity or Royal, except on Allure and Oasis. The ports were fantastic and we loved the Great Outdoors cafe at the back of the ship, which was an amazing place to watch sailaways, and beautiful in the evening. The cabin was rather dated but large and with an excellent bathroom so that was not an issue. Despite being well worn and a bit tacky (dusty, old plastic flowers and plastic birds in the entrance to the dining room as an example) we liked the ship.

 

Would we go back on Jade? Only if the ports were as good. And if we could get a good price on a cabin. Would we risk another NCL ship? Well maybe one of the larger newer ones.

[luddite]

Well,....darn.

[meltingmoments]

We sailed on Jade last August and thought the food was awful, too, we walked out of the main dining room twice as the food was inedible, and the service very mediocre. Despite the dining room being empty most of the time, so they certainly weren't overworked, they lacked basic training, were very unfriendly and spent most of their time trying not to serve you.

 

 

I know food is very subjective, but I have to say, this was not our experience on the Jade last August. The food was fine and the service was excellent. We found the staff very friendly in both MDR's and couldn't fault them. I am VERY fussy over my food :o and I never struggled to find something to eat.

 

Yes, we could have paid extra to eat in the specialty restaurants but then we would have been paying as much as we would have done on Celebrity or Princess, for an older and scruffier ship. In fact we sailed on Princess the previous year for half what we paid on Jade. We did eat in Cagney's on my birthday, and although the food was much better they still produced frozen chips (fries) with the steak!

 

As I said, food is always subjective, but I certainly didn't get frozen chips in Cagneys......I would have gladly gone back there just for the cone of fries alone.....one of our group DID!! :) Sorry to hear your experience of the Jade's food and sevice was not so good.

[ellie1145]

As I said, food is always subjective, but I certainly didn't get frozen chips in Cagneys......I would have gladly gone back there just for the cone of fries alone.....one of our group DID!! :) Sorry to hear your experience of the Jade's food and sevice was not so good.

 

Well we certainly had frozen fries in our cone! I even took a photo of them as I was so shocked, I was expecting hand cut fries, properly cooked (twice or three times is best) not what we got. The rest of the meal was delicious, but then we paid quite a lot for it, so it should have been. Had we eaten there every night we would have paid nearly $500 more each, and for that we could have had a balcony cabin on either RCI or

Princess, with superior service and dining in the MDR.

 

Yes, food is very subjective, but having been on nearly 40 cruises with a variety of different cruise lines i am afraid we did not enjoy the food, but thats a good thing, too, as we didn't put on any extra weight, and we ate onshore a couple of times which was a nice change. At least our day didn't revolve around food!

 

i think a lot depends on what you are used to at home, too. We cook a lot of vegetables, and eat high quality meat, and we certainly didn't get that onboard Jade. but if you enjoyed it then I am pleased for you. Each to their own.

 

We did not go on the cruise to complain, as I said, we loved a lot of things about the ship. We had sailed with NCL a few years ago and had been very happy with the food, but this was, we felt, a disappointment, but not one which spoiled an otherwise delightful time.

Edited July 13, 2014 by ellie1145

[AF-1]

Ellie1145, did the wait staff correct the frozen fries issue? Did wait staff apologize for not getting your order correct?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report! Can you be more specific on what you did not like?

[Mr Robberts]

Well we certainly had frozen fries in our cone! I even took a photo of them as I was so shocked, I was expecting hand cut fries, properly cooked (twice or three times is best) not what we got. The rest of the meal was delicious, but then we paid quite a lot for it, so it should have been. Had we eaten there every night we would have paid nearly $500 more each, and for that we could have had a balcony cabin on either RCI or

Princess, with superior service and dining in the MDR.

 

Yes, food is very subjective, but having been on nearly 40 cruises with a variety of different cruise lines i am afraid we did not enjoy the food, but thats a good thing, too, as we didn't put on any extra weight, and we ate onshore a couple of times which was a nice change. At least our day didn't revolve around food!

 

i think a lot depends on what you are used to at home, too. We cook a lot of vegetables, and eat high quality meat, and we certainly didn't get that onboard Jade. but if you enjoyed it then I am pleased for you. Each to their own.

 

We did not go on the cruise to complain, as I said, we loved a lot of things about the ship. We had sailed with NCL a few years ago and had been very happy with the food, but this was, we felt, a disappointment, but not one which spoiled an otherwise delightful time.

 

Nope you didn't go on the cruise to complain you waited till you came here. 😀

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Hikini]

Sorry it wasn't up to your expectations, but all ships can't be "brand new" all the time.

 

When I think about the amount of traffic those carpets, beds, sofas, chairs, etc. get, it's a wonder there aren't a lot more areas that look worn.

 

The prices of our cruises would go up considerably if they had to replace everything at the very moment it started to look a little worn. I think they do a great job maintaining, for the most part.

 

The subject of food is always a hot topic and everyone has their own idea of what is good, great or otherwise. We've always been pleased with the food on NCL. Both in the specialty restaurants as well as the MDR's.

[camz]

Personally, we do not go on a cruise for the food. As such, we have always found something good to eat and have never ever gone hungry. Also, IMO NCL does a stand-up job on keeping their ships clean and ship shape. Needless to say, the older ships will show some wear and tare. In any event, I am sorry some of these scenarios impacted your cruise. Before you totally disregard NCL in the future, maybe you could consider sailing on one of NCL's newest ships in the fleet. There are a couple to chose from. However, if NCL is not for you, no worries, keep sailing and Bon Voyage!! :)

[KeithJenner]

I have a question.

 

I note this from your review:

 

"The menus did not change, from one day to the next."

 

Is that actually the case? I ask because this isn't the first time I have read this written about the Jade. On every NCL cruise I have been on, about half of the menu changes every day. Is there really just one ship that serves exactly the same food every day? I'm interested because I'm sailing on the Jade in a few weeks.

[Johnny Bananas]

Just to say I have posted a review on the review page and to put in context that we have cruised before with PRINCESS and CELEBRITY which we found in all areas to be of a much higher standard with anytime dinning and if you did not want to go to the Formal Night there were plenty of places to eat and drink on the same evening.

I really think that N.C.L need to look at all aspects of there catering with somewhat more choice in there main dinning rooms. It would also be nice some of the furnishings could be updated they had made a start with new carpets in some areas !!!

 

We did enjoy our cruise as all the ports we went were fabulous and the weather was great just pity about the ship

 

I'm confused by this statement.... there is no formal night on NCL and there are lots and lots of places to eat besides the MDR...:confused:

[KeithJenner]

I'm confused by this statement.... there is no formal night on NCL and there are lots and lots of places to eat besides the MDR...:confused:

 

I think the OP was saying that on other lines there are other places to eat on formal night.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Nope you didn't go on the cruise to complain you waited till you came here.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Well the website is called Cruise "Critic". Not Cruise Adoration.

 

When someone Googles up places to be a critic, or criticize a cruise. This seems like a logical place to come do that.

 

 

Sorry OP that your cruise want that good for you. I hope your next one is much better.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Rottweiler Puppy

[swedish weave]

We sailed on Jade last August and thought the food was awful, too, we walked out of the main dining room twice as the food was inedible

.

 

 

I stop reading when I see the word inedible because I KNOW it is not true.

 

NO CRUISE LINE IN THE WORLD SERVES INEDIBLE FOOD !!

 

The other 2000 or so people on the ship must have eaten some of it. Cut the drama !!!

[luddite]

as the food was inedible

 

quote]

 

Rocks and tennis balls are inedible.

[SeagoingMom]

Don't judge the entire fleet by just one ship. If you had chosen one of the 3 newest ships, your opinion might have been totally different.

 

I know many people think highly of Princess and Celebrity, and we have sailed with both, but you are paying a pretty penny for those higher standards. Someone commented recently that they could get a suite in the Haven area with Butler, Concierge, private Courtyard, private Lounge and Restaurant on NCL for the same price as a Balcony would cost them on Royal.

 

You get a lot of bang for your buck on NCL.

Your observation interested me so I wanted to look into it for myself. My findings tend to support your conclusions, for the most part.

 

I did a quick internet search to get a feel for the price differences among 4 lines: NCL, Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean. Chose March 2015, Caribbean cruises of all lengths. On my favorite online cruise fare source the cheapest balcony and suite prices (per person per night) were advertised as being in the following ranges:

 

 

_______________NCL_______Celebrity______Princess_____ _Royal

 

Balcony -------$95-164 ----$119-192-----$149-185-----$109-214

 

Suite ----------$116-185 ---$229-371 ----$185-236 ----$141-350

[sverigecruiser]

Your observation interested me so I wanted to look into it for myself. My findings tend to support your conclusions, for the most part.

 

I did a quick internet search to get a feel for the price differences among 4 lines: NCL, Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean. Chose March 2015, Caribbean cruises of all lengths. On my favorite online cruise fare source the cheapest balcony and suite prices (per person per night) were advertised as being in the following ranges:

 

 

_______________NCL_______Celebrity______Princess_____ _Royal

 

Balcony -------$95-164 ----$119-192-----$149-185-----$109-214

 

Suite ----------$116-185 ---$229-371 ----$185-236 ----$141-350

 

The difference between balconies and suites seems very little, can the price be for minisuites? We pay around $400 per person per night for our suite on the Breakaway in February.