Help me choose - Emerald Princess or NCL Jade?

[Albinroo]

I am stuck making the choice between these two and as my husband has given up trying to help me decide I now ask you, members of Princess and NCL forums here on cruise critic to help me out. We haven't been on either ship before, but have travelled with NCL previously and had a booked Princess cruise that was cancelled during the pandemic.

Both cruises are in December, 14 days caribbean and we have not visited any of the ports before. 

NCL Jade stops in Key West, Great Stirrup Cay, Barbados, Aruba, St Thomas, St John, Grenada, Curacao and Puerto Plata.

Emerald Princess stops in Barbados, Aruba, St Kitts, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Grenada, Trinidad and St Lucia. 

Which of these two itineraries is best if we want to go out and explore on our own by foot, or if necessary a short bus/taxi ride. Since we travel with kids we will mostly try to enjoy beach days and local things around the port.

 

My first thought was to go with Princess since from what I understand they have better service and food. But my worry is that we will feel out of place since we travel with four kids, in the dining room etc. (Our kids are generally well behanved but if the two year old would make a fuss we would remove him from the dining room without hesitation). On the other hand, we don't really drink and I am worried NCL will have a part vibe - plud I've heard not so great things about the MDR in Jade. We don't really do specialty dining because of the kids.

In NCL, the 5,7 and 10-year old can stay together in the kids club, but on Princess the oldest would have to be on his own - which can be a problem since our kids don't speak English that well. But their kids club looks really wonderful, and seems we can go there and stay with our 2-year old which we would love. 

 

Any advice would be much appreciated, I feel I am spending SO much time choosing between the two (same cost, two oceanview cabins) even though I am prety sure we would have a great time on both. We are pretty easy to please, but they are scheduled for Aruba the same day and I don't want to stand on one ship wishing I was on the other! 

 

 

[deliver42]

For the itinerary, I would choose Princess.

[Rick&Jeannie]

If itinerary is your main focus...probably Princess.  That being said...we've been on the Jade before and we've not been on Emerald, so I can't give you a good comparison there.  Jade is a decent ship...older and smaller than the behemoths they are cranking out now but I imagine (I've not looked into the specs) that they are both very similar.  The Jade itinerary has some interesting ports.

[Albinroo]

21 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

For the itinerary, I would choose Princess.

Thanks! Why is the Princess itinerary better in your opinion? 

[kiwimum]

Having sailed on both ships, Emerald would be our choice.  Jade definitely had a party vibe, the two meals we had in the dining room were poor at best.  Based on our experience we will not cruise NCL again.

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by kiwimum

[Albinroo]

10 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

If itinerary is your main focus...probably Princess.  That being said...we've been on the Jade before and we've not been on Emerald, so I can't give you a good comparison there.  Jade is a decent ship...older and smaller than the behemoths they are cranking out now but I imagine (I've not looked into the specs) that they are both very similar.  The Jade itinerary has some interesting ports.

Yeah they do seem quite similar although Emerald is bigger and holds more passengers. Thanks for the advice, any specific reason why the Princess itinerary looks better? 

[Albinroo]

1 minute ago, kiwimum said:

Having sailed on both ships, Emerald would be our choice.  Jade definitely had a party vibe.   Based on our experience we will not cruise NCL again.

That's what I'm afraid of, but thought it might be better on a longer cruise? What in particular did you not enjoy on NCL Jade?

[kelib]

My opinion…based on having your kids and beach days I would lean towards the Jade. I am on the Ruby Princess in November and so far the amount of excursions for Guadeloupe and Martinique are very limited. 

[kiwimum]

26 minutes ago, Albinroo said:

That's what I'm afraid of, but thought it might be better on a longer cruise? What in particular did you not enjoy on NCL Jade?

The lack of space in cabins.  On the plus side the bathrooms were good, larger shower.   Dining facilities congested and lower quality.   Pool area seating was nearly impossible to find.   Ship is very dated with brighter strong color and decor.  
Your children will enjoy the Kids Clubs on the Emerald.   I would not worry about the language issue.   Children will find a way to communicate and many of the staff are bilingual.

[Albinroo]

27 minutes ago, kelib said:

My opinion…based on having your kids and beach days I would lean towards the Jade. I am on the Ruby Princess in November and so far the amount of excursions for Guadeloupe and Martinique are very limited. 

Thank you. Yes, I think I will need to do some research on the ports, and what is easy to do with kids there.

[Albinroo]

17 minutes ago, kiwimum said:

The lack of space in cabins.  On the plus side the bathrooms were good, larger shower.   Dining facilities congested and lower quality.   Pool area seating was nearly impossible to find.   Ship is very dated with brighter strong color and decor.  
Your children will enjoy the Kids Clubs on the Emerald.   I would not worry about the language issue.   Children will find a way to communicate and many of the staff are bilingual.

Thank you for details, we really dislike when it gets too crowded so that is really useful information.  And of course the dining quality matters as well, sounds like Princess is better by all accounts there!

[tobyt]

I can make a case for both. Are you booking for the adults or is your focus the kids? And consider your children’s age…. While both are not the newest Jade is the sister ship to Pearl which we have cruised on several times and we have also cruised on Emerald. Your kids may love the brightness, noise level and fun on the pool deck on NCL or not. Princess is generally a far more sedate pool area than NCL. Emerald does have movies under the stars which is always a winner for families. Food is subjective so I will not comment but snacks to me for kids double check ice cream, snacks and now with the changes room service for the littles in case. Jade does win with a nice beach day inexpensive with the included picnic at Great stirrup cay, St Thomas there is the tram ride up the mountain always a nice day, lots of nice shopping to walk through in Curaco but better yet a quick bus ride to a resort. There is also an awesome pirate tour with snorkeling in Aruba that your kids might enjoy. Princess does tend to have far less children so that could be a positive, or not.

I know this is the Princess board response but truly I would review what you want to do with your family both onboard and at each stop as the best indicator.

[Albinroo]

12 minutes ago, tobyt said:

I can make a case for both. Are you booking for the adults or is your focus the kids? And consider your children’s age…. While both are not the newest Jade is the sister ship to Pearl which we have cruised on several times and we have also cruised on Emerald. Your kids may love the brightness, noise level and fun on the pool deck on NCL or not. Princess is generally a far more sedate pool area than NCL. Emerald does have movies under the stars which is always a winner for families. Food is subjective so I will not comment but snacks to me for kids double check ice cream, snacks and now with the changes room service for the littles in case. Jade does win with a nice beach day inexpensive with the included picnic at Great stirrup cay, St Thomas there is the tram ride up the mountain always a nice day, lots of nice shopping to walk through in Curaco but better yet a quick bus ride to a resort. There is also an awesome pirate tour with snorkeling in Aruba that your kids might enjoy. Princess does tend to have far less children so that could be a positive, or not.

I know this is the Princess board response but truly I would review what you want to do with your family both onboard and at each stop as the best indicator.

Thanks for your comment, I do agree that I will need to look into each port and think on what we want to do. As for your first question, we did consider some other ships with splash parks and water slides etc that would be mroe focused on the kids, but we realized they don't really need it. While we, on the other hand, need some peace and quiet and good food and service. They won't mind if there's not man other children on board as they always have eachother and can be quite shy making new friends. 

I do agree Great Stirrup Cay is tempting, and thank you for tips on what to do in Curacao and St Thomas! I will look into the other stops and try to make a decision!! Th

[milolii]

What type of cabin (s) do you have/interest?    There’re six of you, is that correct?  Have you looked at the family two bedrooms on the Jade?  There are actual doors between the rooms, not curtains.  These are on decks 11 (not sure if these are Haven cabins) and 14(Haven cabins). 

 

 

 

[walkingsoon]

I'd go with Jade, having been on both. I expect you'll do fine either way.

 

The ships - Jade is simply smaller. The Grand class ships are indeed grand, but adding an extra deck for the Grand-X class makes them somewhat crowded at full capacity.

 

The service - Neither is better or worse than the other, imo. I sail more on Princess, but NCL does lots of stuff well, including their long running version of dine anytime (freestyle cruising) which is still a work in progress on Princess. Main dining room food on both ships is good enough for me. I have a slight preference for the specialty restaurants on NCL. For casual dining away for the pool area, I prefer O'Sheehans on NCL to the International Cafe on Princess. Many here will disagree with me.

 

The itinerary - that's a toss up. They're both great, with the fourteen day voyages taking you to some of my favorites: Martinique, St. John, Puerto Plata, Curacao. I'd have a hard time choosing, but you should enjoy either one. Note that, with your plan of exploring on your own, not all is paradise everywhere in the Caribbean..

 

The vibe - also a toss up and your concerns shouldn't be problem. Your young family will be well received in the Princess main dining room. Nor will there be a heavy drinking party feel on NCL. That's more a function of length of voyage rather then choice of cruiseline. Either of these two should be a lot more mellow than the five or seven day voyages out of Florida.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

walkingsoon

[Albinroo]

1 hour ago, milolii said:

What type of cabin (s) do you have/interest?    There’re six of you, is that correct?  Have you looked at the family two bedrooms on the Jade?  There are actual doors between the rooms, not curtains.  These are on decks 11 (not sure if these are Haven cabins) and 14(Haven cabins). 

 

 

 

I saw these, they look great. We stayed in a family two bedroom on Joy a few years ago, and loved it as it allowed us to have quiet breakfasts in La Cucina. Unfortunately it's not an option for this trip, the family 2 bedrooms were more than twice the cost of getting two ocean views. I try to console myself thinking that we don't spend that much time in the cabin anyway. 

[Albinroo]

17 minutes ago, walkingsoon said:

I'd go with Jade, having been on both. I expect you'll do fine either way.

 

The ships - Jade is simply smaller. The Grand class ships are indeed grand, but adding an extra deck for the Grand-X class makes them somewhat crowded at full capacity.

 

The service - Neither is better or worse than the other, imo. I sail more on Princess, but NCL does lots of stuff well, including their long running version of dine anytime (freestyle cruising) which is still a work in progress on Princess. Main dining room food on both ships is good enough for me. I have a slight preference for the specialty restaurants on NCL. For casual dining away for the pool area, I prefer O'Sheehans on NCL to the International Cafe on Princess. Many here will disagree with me.

 

The itinerary - that's a toss up. They're both great, with the fourteen day voyages taking you to some of my favorites: Martinique, St. John, Puerto Plata, Curacao. I'd have a hard time choosing, but you should enjoy either one. Note that, with your plan of exploring on your own, not all is paradise everywhere in the Caribbean..

 

The vibe - also a toss up and your concerns shouldn't be problem. Your young family will be well received in the Princess main dining room. Nor will there be a heavy drinking party feel on NCL. That's more a function of length of voyage rather then choice of cruiseline. Either of these two should be a lot more mellow than the five or seven day voyages out of Florida.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

walkingsoon

Thank you so much for this reply, it really helps! I think in the fear of choosing the wrong cruise I forget that both will probably be right! And while we haven't sailed Princess before, we have never had any complaints about the food or service on Norwegian. Less crowded sounds tempting. I've looked around a bit now on things to do during the stops that aren't too complicated or expensive with kids, and it does really seem like NCL might have the better route. Then again, on Princess the kids club is open while in port which can be nice too.

Anyway, thank you again for your detailed reply!! I am sure we will have a lovely time whichever one we end up choosing!

[Kerry's Girls]

I sailed on the Jade for the second time this summer and we won't go back.  The staff was absolutely wonderful and we really enjoyed being in the dining room, but the food was so poor in quality that it was a daily ordeal.  We aren't picky or snobby eaters, but ugh.  

 

As far as the dining room on Princess, your children will be more than welcome at the early seating.  I've been cruising Princess since my twins were one year old and the dining room has been so amazing with the kids that we go there for all our meals (SO much easier than the buffet).  

 

On Princess we get connecting obstructed view cabins - great value.  

[Albinroo]

10 minutes ago, Kerry's Girls said:

I sailed on the Jade for the second time this summer and we won't go back.  The staff was absolutely wonderful and we really enjoyed being in the dining room, but the food was so poor in quality that it was a daily ordeal.  We aren't picky or snobby eaters, but ugh.  

 

As far as the dining room on Princess, your children will be more than welcome at the early seating.  I've been cruising Princess since my twins were one year old and the dining room has been so amazing with the kids that we go there for all our meals (SO much easier than the buffet).  

 

On Princess we get connecting obstructed view cabins - great value.  

The food issue on Jade does worry me, because you're not the first one who's said something similar! Thanks for your thoughts and assurance about Princess. 

How obstructed are usually the obstructed views? Has it ever been completely blocked for you? 

[Kerry's Girls]

3 hours ago, Albinroo said:

How obstructed are usually the obstructed views? Has it ever been completely blocked for you? 

The map of the ship has proven to be accurate and we've always chosen at least one room that's "between" life boats, so we can see the ocean, but's it's never a clear view.  But for us having the separate rooms/2 bathrooms has proven more important than one large room with a good view/balcony - and we're just three! (me and my twin 18 year olds).  

[deliver42]

Princess has ports that I haven't been to.

[2011mom]

8 hours ago, Albinroo said:

Then again, on Princess the kids club is open while in port which can be nice too.

It's a VERY long time ago (my kid are all grown up now!) but my first cruise was on a Carnival ship when my 3 kids were 3 - 10 years old. The ability to leave them in the kids club while we spent a couple of hours in the port was incredible - we were able snorkel together and see sights that would have been impossible with the kids there.

 

Also, I don't know how it is these days, but our favorite port back then was Grenada. We just settled down at an uncrowded beach, there were a lot of pushy vendors but we paid for an umbrella and a blanket to sit on, and the guy we rented those from made sure we were undisturbed. The beach was beautiful and the water was calm and warm, perfect for our kids to splash in.

[Albinroo]

12 hours ago, Kerry's Girls said:

The map of the ship has proven to be accurate and we've always chosen at least one room that's "between" life boats, so we can see the ocean, but's it's never a clear view.  But for us having the separate rooms/2 bathrooms has proven more important than one large room with a good view/balcony - and we're just three! (me and my twin 18 year olds).  

Good tip, thank you!!

[Albinroo]

8 hours ago, 2011mom said:

It's a VERY long time ago (my kid are all grown up now!) but my first cruise was on a Carnival ship when my 3 kids were 3 - 10 years old. The ability to leave them in the kids club while we spent a couple of hours in the port was incredible - we were able snorkel together and see sights that would have been impossible with the kids there.

 

Also, I don't know how it is these days, but our favorite port back then was Grenada. We just settled down at an uncrowded beach, there were a lot of pushy vendors but we paid for an umbrella and a blanket to sit on, and the guy we rented those from made sure we were undisturbed. The beach was beautiful and the water was calm and warm, perfect for our kids to splash in.

Yes, having the kids clubs open when in port is a big draw for us to choose Princess indeed.  And that sounds great about Grenada!!