Onboard Jade now and it appears empty

[casofilia]

@complawyer

 

Thank you.   I hope that, if it is Bruno Dentone, that he is still on when we are there in November.

[complawyer]

if he is, you'll be more than delighted. he's without a doubt the best concierge i have ever used while sailing in either a haven or regular suite. most  of the time i just use the concierge to  get me off the ship quickly on the final day, bruno, however was always right on top of things to the point i thought i was bugging him with our requests

[casofilia]

@complawyer

 

I have cruised with Bruno a number of times and have always found him to be excellent both in his professional capacity and informally when I have met him ashore in his time off.   One day we had a really great "chin-wag" puffing slowly up the Great Wall.

[casofilia]

@jmknife

 

When you boarded in Athens what was required regarding Covid; paperwork and/or tests, before or at the port?

 

Thanks

[complawyer]

we had the covid tests 72 hrs before boarding to comply with the ncl requirements in effect at that time. at the pier we were also administered another covid test. we showed them the paperwork from our tests in the states, and waited for the covid results from the pier.

 

to add insult to injury (so to speak) the 1st day was a sea day and the first port on the 2nd day was jerusalem. i dont know how they managed to so it, but on the sea day the israeli health ministry managed to get their people onboard the ship, and all the passengers were required to one agaain get another covid test ( this time administered by the israelis) . the next day, no one was allowed to disembark, and the ship was not allowed to dock, until all the previous days results were in. we had an 8:00 am shore excursion, but werent allowed off  the ship until after 12

[vanchelle]

7 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

What's the mask situation? 

 

We're on in a few weeks and I've read mixed things.   Tyia 

Masks inside. Not expected on outdoor decks. They did speaker reminders and all finding entryways reminded you to put it on if you weren’t already wearing it. 

[Crazy planning mom]

Hi Vanchelle,

 

Thanks for responding.  How has the dining and bar service been?

[vanchelle]

9 hours ago, casofilia said:

@complawyer

 

Do you have any details of officers please?   Someone has already told me the name of the concierge.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

Helen was the Director this week and Bruno was Asst Cruise Director. That’s all I recall. Both were great. 

[vanchelle]

Just now, Crazy planning mom said:

Hi Vanchelle,

 

Thanks for responding.  How has the dining and bar service been?

Dining…sadly we thought this was the least impressive dining experience we’ve had on NCL or Carnival. However, we certainly were fed lol. Garden Buffet was same at breakfast, rotated for lunch and dinner and was just ok. Alizar was surprisingly the most impressive for us-consistently good food and service. 
cagneys-my entered and salad were great but the prime rib was meh. )it was better at Alizar last night) 

bar service-good but mixed drinks were SO inconsistent. With all of this being said I really loved the ship and the crew was so friendly and attentive in our experienceWith all of this being said I really loved the ship and the crew was so friendly and attentive in our experience

[Lisa86]

On 6/25/2022 at 7:45 AM, jmknife said:

Sorry about the cruise director and other personnel, I haven’t been onboard enough to tell.  With a different island every day, the boat is more like a hotel for us than a cruise ship. 
 

cabin stewards and wait people in the restaurant have been wonderful. My preference is to not have a different waiter each night, but that is just me. I like developing a little bit of a relationship with them. Food has been fine, but the garden restaurant choices have been a little limited.  To be fair, I am comparing NCL to my last cruise on Oceania - completely different classes. 
 

one negative. We were brusquely TOLD to leave our table in the Garden restaurant because they needed to  clean it.  We were close to closing time for the morning, but I think it would have been better if they had brought a couple of trays over and offered to move us to the stern of the ship. 
 

overall, for the money, I am very pleased.  Since the ship isn’t really the destination on this cruise, it was great. 

Can you clarify about the limited options in Garden Cafe? This usually at lunch etc has a good range--what is currently being offered? 

Many thanks!

[pdmlynek]

Interesting. 

 

On our 12-19 June cruise, we had about 1530 passengers.  It was crowded enough.  I can't imagine what it must be like when it is 2400!

 

 

[complawyer]

if y ou feel that a ship that can accomodate 3000 passengers feels crowded with around half that many, maybe your expectations are a little out of line. we were on the jade apr 8 with about 1/3 capacity and felt just fine 

why would you even book a cruise if you worry about crowding conditions (especially if the ship sails at full or almost full capacity)

 

did you think you'd have the entire ship to yourselves and a few friends. 

 

seems some people are never happy. maybe next time you should consider booking a cruise with a line that caters specifically to smaller crowds

 

 

[jmknife]

The Garden Cafe had the basics like bread, but maybe only one or two kinds instead of several. For instance, they only had plain bagels. I didn’t see any selection of cheeses other than some slices for sandwiches. They had several hot food options, but they tended to be casserole type options (beef stew) and we’re generally unappealing. There was plenty to eat, but your options within a food type were limited. In my opinion, which is probably wrong, if it was expensive or hard to prepare, it wasn’t on the buffet. 

[jmknife]

I am off the boar now and had a very pleasant cruise. For about half the price of Celebrity, I had a cruise that was about half as luxurious as Celebrity. All in all, a good value and perfectly acceptable when the ports are the focus and not the ship.  I would not take NCL over Celebrity for a transpacific cruise with lots of sea days, but I would cruise on NCL again if the itinerary was correct. 

[Crazy planning mom]

11 hours ago, jmknife said:

The Garden Cafe had the basics like bread, but maybe only one or two kinds instead of several. For instance, they only had plain bagels. I didn’t see any selection of cheeses other than some slices for sandwiches. They had several hot food options, but they tended to be casserole type options (beef stew) and we’re generally unappealing. There was plenty to eat, but your options within a food type were limited. In my opinion, which is probably wrong, if it was expensive or hard to prepare, it wasn’t on the buffet. 

Was O'Sheehan's open?  Did you eat there?  If so, how was that?

[Crazy planning mom]

11 hours ago, jmknife said:

I am off the boar now and had a very pleasant cruise. For about half the price of Celebrity, I had a cruise that was about half as luxurious as Celebrity. All in all, a good value and perfectly acceptable when the ports are the focus and not the ship.  I would not take NCL over Celebrity for a transpacific cruise with lots of sea days, but I would cruise on NCL again if the itinerary was correct. 

Thanks for sharing your experience.