The Jade

[wvfrogg]

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wvfrogg wvfrogg is online now

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Join Date: Oct 2011

Location: Chicago

Posts: 271

Smile The Jade

 

 

After reading all the poor reviews lately of the Jade, I was very concerned about my cruise 12/5 on the Jade. But I should have had no fear at all -- it was a wonderful cruise and an awesome ship. The ship was spotless and in great condition.. The crew was outstanding: friendly, happy and very helpful. Our cabin steward Derick was one of the best I have ever had. And I felt that the food was definitely two or three notches up from my last few NCL cruises.

 

I normally ate breakfast at the Garden Cafe and there was a huge variety and I had no trouble finding a place to sit. Usually (on purpose) I ended up in the Great Outdoors enjoying the sea and sun. The omelet stations were very good, made to order. The pastries were also very good although I tried to stay away from them (failing from time to time on that one). All the bacon you could ever want was available, both in the crispy and limpy varieties. Huge selections available. I even thought the coffee was better than last year. Again, at lunch, I ate at the Garden Cafe. Dinner, though, was reserved for dining!

 

We ate 3 times at Grand Pacific and thought it was very good to excellent. I had poached salmon that was prepared perfectly, a "striploin" steak prepared rare that I though was as good as the steak at Cagneys, and prime rib, again rare and excellent. The French Onion Soup could have been left off the menu, it was a disappointment, but the rest of the appetizers we tried were good -- carpaccio, fried brie. Desserts also were very pretty but not very tasty- not worth the calories. We usually skipped dessert there and headed to the crepe station in the Garden Cafe for made to order crepes. Probably one of the best desserts on the ship.

 

Specialty restaurants: LaCucina -- fantastic. The carpaccio was perfect and the osso bucco was unbelievable. I missed having the 3 flavored oils with the warm bread, but they did give you good olive oil with a drop of balsamic to dip your bread. The osso bucco was one of the best I have ever had - on sea or on land. My friend ordered a pizza as an appetizer and was disappointed with that. But my meal was wonderful. Le Bistro -- again excellent. Escargot for an appetizer and the rack of lamb for entree. Both perfect. Creme Brulee for dessert, and this was one appetizer that was worth every bite. Cagney's -- okay! My least favorite of the 3. I ordered the lump crab meat salad for an appetizer, and there was no "lump" to it -- tasted like tiny bits of crab in mayo. Not impressed. The steak (ribeye) was very good and huge -- could only eat about half of it. Excellent were the fries in truffle oil and parmesan cheese. OMG. They were that good. I didn't care for the raspberry creme brulee at all -- thought it had a funny texture.

 

Okay - service at meals: I thought it was perfect - about 1 - 1 1/2 hours for most meals. They didn't try to rush you and I thought made the meal an occasion. I know there are those who think that is too long for a dinner, but for us it was just right. Often we sat with our coffee for even longer.

 

Negatives: Getting reservations for the specialty restaurants was a joke. I went down on Sunday morning to get 4 different reservations, and my choices (when I had one at all) were 5:45 or 9:30. There has to be a better way of doing that. We ate at 5:45 each night, and even by 7 when we were finishing, there were still lots of empty tables. It felt as though I had to fight for my "free" platinum dinner! Soda Package: my friend got the soda package, and most of the time when she went to the bar to get soda, in her words "when they saw my 'free' glass they just passed right over me." Maybe they should have a soda bar instead of having to jostle with the "tipping" tipplers for a drink.

 

Embarking and Disembarking: I thought they went well. We got to the port around 11, and were onboard at 12:05. We put our carryons in our cabins and then wandered until around 2 when our rooms were ready. Disembarking felt like it took forever, but when I checked my watch when we were done it only took 40 minutes, which really isn't bad. We had a later time - 9:30 and we were at IAH airport before 11:30.

 

Pool - always found seats, although on sea days it was crowded. But still found 2 together just about anywhere. There were a few chair hogs, but as there were plenty of lounges it didn't bother me. Negative - they did let the kids run around all over the pool and they would often "bump" into people. Thought the staff could have watched that a little better.

 

Cabins - my friend and I had adjoining balcony cabins on the 10th deck, mid ship. Obviously, we had plenty of storage as we weren't sharing with anyone! They were spotlessly clean, towels were newer and fluffy and plentiful. Derick made wonderful towel animals every night.

 

All-in-all this was one of my favorite cruises of all times. I'm not a huge fan of sailing from Houston (cost of taxi from hotels to port), but I love the Jewel class ships and this was my choice this time. And it turned out to be an excellent choice. So if you are concerned by the negative Jade comments, rest assured -- it was a fantastic cruise.

__________________

WVFrogg -- Fran

 

Coming Up:

12/5/15 - NCL Jade

 

Previous:

 

 

11/14 - NCL Jewel

12/13 - NCL Pearl

02/13 - NCL Dawn

12/12 - NCL Epic

11/11 - NCL Pearl

06/11 - Celebrity Infinity

02/10 - NCL Pearl

12/09 - NCL Sun

11/02 - NCL Sky

12/89 - Carnival Celebration

[EllieinNJ]

Thanks so much for your positive review of the Jade. I've read so many negative reviews that I started questioning my decision to take the b2b Jade out of Venice next September. What I especially liked is the good review of the food choices. This is the first time we will have the specialty dining package, never having eaten in a specialty restaurant before. Knowing that the food is good will make this trip much more pleasurable.

 

Also thanks for the heads up about making reservations. I will now certainly do the dining reservations online before the cruise in order to get the best times.

 

You have put many of my fears to rest considering the horror stories about bad food, bad service, dirty cabins, chair hogging, etc.

[Oakman58]

Thanks for taking the time to post a review of your cruise on the Jade. I'm on the Jade in January and really looking forward to it.

[zoiebear]

Good to hear a good review! Will be on the Jade in January. ...can you tell me how the tendering in roatan was? We have an excursion booked with Victor bodden and past tendering stories were making me nervous about being late ! :eek:

[littlebull]

Thanks for taking the time to write your experience! I am hopeful our cruise Jan 2 will be just as great!

[lj77346]

I was also on the 12/5 Jade sailing and it was an enjoyable cruise. As "wvfrogg" mentioned specialty restaurant reservations were a bit of a mystery. I had problems getting the time I wanted at LaCucina, so I expected it to be crowded, but when I was there it was very empty. On the first night of the cruise, there were less than 10 people eating there between 6 and 7. On the fourth night of the cruise there were less than 20 people, but the reservation board showed it as being crowded.

 

In Roatan, the tender ride itself did not take long - only about 5 minutes, but as they are using lifeboats as the tenders, the process did not move too quickly. If you want to get off early, make sure someone from your group gets tender tickets as soon as they are available. In Roatan, I think they started distributing tender tickets at 7:30 a.m. from a table that was set up on the starboard side promenade. The first group was called at around 8:30 a.m., but shortly after they must have started using the tenders for NCL tours because it wasn't until around 9:30 that it seemed like tender numbers were being called frequently.

[vinnytman]

I was also on the 12/5 Jade. I have to agree with the restaurant reservations-- kind of a joke.

 

When we tried making reservations ourselves, the person on the phone would say they were all booked.

 

We were in a Garden Villa, so when we called Bruno (the concierge) he got us in at whatever time we wanted. We ended up having most dinners and a few breakfasts in our cabin.

 

Our least favorite restaurant was La Cucina. We did have the whole main lobster in Cagneys and in LeBistro. Both were good.

 

We went to the New Orleans brunch in LeBistro one morning (there was a $20 cover pp) and it was a joke. There was a jazz band there but all the food you could get in the Garden Cafe or Cagneys for breakfast if you're a suite guest. Bruno refunded our covers since there was no New Orleans food whatsoever. I told him that they should rename the brunch or have New Orleans type of food there if they're going to charge a cover.

 

The only complaint we had was the hostess at Alizar. She was very rude and we got into a couple arguments with her. She wouldn't let us talk to the manager so we had to call Bruno in. Their communication is horrible and they seem to make up rules as they go along. It didn't ruin our cruise but the hostess could've been more polite.

 

The rest of the Jade was great! Service was awesome! Crew were awesome! And the ship was in great shape! We'd definitely sail in her again.

 

One other thing: 2 of us had the UDP and our 3 guests had the SDP. A few nights while eating in our cabin, everyone ordered multiple entrees so we could share and try different things, they never charged us extra. Our guests ordered Steak & the whole main lobster from Cagneys and never an up charge for ordering both or for ordering multiple entrees fro Cagneys or LeBistro. Seemed like they treated the SDP just like the UDP.

Edited December 13, 2015 by vinnytman

[Lisalk12]

Thank you for the review! We will be in a balcony on the 9th deck in March. Our room specs say that the room will hold 4. I was wondering if you noticed a pull down bed along with the couch in your cabins? Also where was it located (over main bed or over couch area)? I'm a little worried about the layout.

 

 

NCL

Star 2013

Sky 2015

Jade 2016

[jeo_la]

Thank you for the review! We will be in a balcony on the 9th deck in March. Our room specs say that the room will hold 4. I was wondering if you noticed a pull down bed along with the couch in your cabins? Also where was it located (over main bed or over couch area)? I'm a little worried about the layout.

 

 

NCL

Star 2013

Sky 2015

Jade 2016

 

On all NCL cruises I've been on in the balcony and mini suites the couch in the sitting area makes out to a bed, some were twins some were doubles

 

Did anyone who has been on the Jade recently been able to check a case of water in with the checkin luggage?

[Linda the Book Lover]

Thanks for your review. We are so looking forward to enjoying the Jade.

[olesiabr]

We will be on the Jade in March, and I also have a question about the tendering process in Roatan. Are they still docking the ship for a short time early in the morning and then anchoring for the tender?

[vinnytman]

We will be on the Jade in March, and I also have a question about the tendering process in Roatan. Are they still docking the ship for a short time early in the morning and then anchoring for the tender?

 

 

Pretty much. There were 4 ships total on Wednesday. An RCI ship was docked at the pier; the Dawn anchored about the same time the Jade started tendering; a ways back on the other side of the island a Carnival ship was anchored or docked -- I couldn't tell which.

[comcox]

Do you remember how early the pools opened in the morning?

 

Are children allowed in both pools or is one reserved for adults?

[wvfrogg]

Do you remember how early the pools opened in the morning?

 

Are children allowed in both pools or is one reserved for adults?

 

 

 

Am not sure how early the open -- but it is early. One pool is reserved for adults and 2 of the 4 hot tubs are reserved for adults.

[NMLady]

I was also on the 12/5 Jade sailing and it was an enjoyable cruise. As "wvfrogg" mentioned specialty restaurant reservations were a bit of a mystery. I had problems getting the time I wanted at LaCucina, so I expected it to be crowded, but when I was there it was very empty. On the first night of the cruise, there were less than 10 people eating there between 6 and 7. On the fourth night of the cruise there were less than 20 people, but the reservation board showed it as being crowded.

 

In Roatan, the tender ride itself did not take long - only about 5 minutes, but as they are using lifeboats as the tenders, the process did not move too quickly. If you want to get off early, make sure someone from your group gets tender tickets as soon as they are available. In Roatan, I think they started distributing tender tickets at 7:30 a.m. from a table that was set up on the starboard side promenade. The first group was called at around 8:30 a.m., but shortly after they must have started using the tenders for NCL tours because it wasn't until around 9:30 that it seemed like tender numbers were being called frequently.

 

Whenever we've been to Roatan on NCL we have never tendered. Where is the tender pier? Near marketplace at Coxen Hole?

[armymom101]

So glad to see that service and food on the Jade has improved since the first couple of weeks. This will be my 5th NCL cruise and I have never had a bad one, but I was beginning to worry a bit. I was hoping that the re-positioning did not cause that much of an upset.

Has anyone ever stayed in the Aft facing Mini Suites on Deck 11.

Reviews have been mixed. Some say the great outdoors which is above can be noisy. I am not sure why as I do not think they use it at night:)

[dortrust]

Why are the reviews so bad? Hope it has improved. Looking at booking February but concerned. Would be going with a first time cruiser, don't want to mess up. NCL out of Houston is coming to an end and he lives right by the port.

[NMLady]

Why are the reviews so bad? Hope it has improved. Looking at booking February but concerned. Would be going with a first time cruiser, don't want to mess up. NCL out of Houston is coming to an end and he lives right by the port.

 

I think the reviews that were bad were mostly the first cruise or two after its return from Europe. Evedently some of the crew were more used to the European way of doing things. But the recent reviews have been more positive.

[lj77346]

In response to a question a few weeks ago about the location of the tender pier in Roatan, it is at the market place in Coxen Hole.

[jeanneful]

Are you able to get a table for 2 the main dinning room?

[lj77346]

We ate dinner 4 nights in the Alizar main dining room and always were able to get a table for 2. I don't know how it would be in the other main dining room - the Grand Pacific.

[NMLady]

In response to a question a few weeks ago about the location of the tender pier in Roatan, it is at the market place in Coxen Hole.

 

Thank you. I was the one who'd asked about it.

 

Are you able to get a table for 2 the main dinning room?

 

Since the Jade is like the Jewel, Yes. Sometimes there might be a short wait but there are several tables for two.

[zdcatc12]

Since the Jade is like the Jewel, Yes. Sometimes there might be a short wait but there are several tables for two.

 

We also were sat at a 4-person table by ourselves numerous times. On a TA with 13 dinners, our longest wait for a table for 2 was about 5 minutes.

[Samstress]

Just wondering who your Butler was. We have booked the Jade in 2016 and we are hoping that Roland will be our butler...he is/was scheduled to transfer from the Dawn to the Jade.

Cheers,

Sandy.

[kmaxwell43701]

Just got back from the 12/19 sailing on the Jade and it was the worst cruise I have been on in thirty years.The dining rooms were dirty with staff not able to keep up with cleaning tables in the Garden Café,tender service ridiculously slow at ports,xtra charges for everything and lastly ,a change in the itinerary that resulted in us docked in Houston 16 hours early