Concerned about Jade

[trasee]

I am looking for help on booking on the Jade in November. We are going to meet my son in Barcelona on his R&R from Baghdad. In the past, we have cruised Disney, RCCL, & Princess...but never NCL. I have been reading reviews for the past several hours and am concerned about the service, food qualilty, and entertainment on the Jade. This trip fits his timeline and I want to make sure we won't be terribly disappointed. Any help out there would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

Tracy

[bakerintn]

I will guarantee you that the service, food and entertainment will beat the socks off what your son is used to in Iraq!!

 

Thanks to him for his service.

[AlohaJoe23]

We went last year on the 11/28/08 cruise on the Jade. Two couples mid 40's and we had a blast. We have spent most every day trying to figure out how to do it again.

 

We aren't afficianados of fine dining but loved going where we wanted when we wanted. The free dining is fine but we enjoyed the specialty restaurants. We are frugal and went mostly on the two for 1 nights. I think the money goes for the atmosphere more than the food. We didn't see the food as that much better but the behaviour of those in the restaurants was more civil. The buffet could be a little disturbing if you were trying to be polite. Everyone going everywhere with little or no consideration for those around them.

 

Entertainment was great. We enjoyed the Second City comedy troupe. We would go up to Spinnakers in the afternoon and watch the walk throughs before or after Bingo. Again it was free and we found it interesting. Some nights were pretty crowded in the theatre but we found it less crowded in the balcony and it was easy to get up and leave if we were tired or the show wasn't the greatest.

 

The mixture of sea and land days were great. The ports of call were diverse and interesting. We planned all our excursions after researching this site and trip advisor. We flew from our home in Hawaii did the cruise and Paris for 3 days for $5000 per couple. We have a million memories and at least 5000 photos and would recommend that trip to anyone.

 

Yes you will have unhappy people everywhere and some will be on your ship but I for one do not understand why they are unhappy.

[DMH15]

When you said you are meeting your son on BCN did that mean he would also be going on the cruise? If so, I think he would love NCL and freestyle. He has probably eaten on a schedule and one of the things I love best about NCL is the dining flexibility.

[schneidwife]

We were on the Jade for a 14 day Med cruise in May and had a great time. We ate 5 dinners in the specialty restaurants, 2 at the buffet and the rest in either Alizar or the Grand Pacific. With the exception of two entrees, the food was very good or better. The couple of times we didn't enjoy what we ordered, our servers went over the top to get us something else. The service all over the ship was excellent. While the production shows were very good, the other entertainment ie magician, acrobats and dancers left alot to be desired. Overall, it was well worth what we paid and we would go again in a heartbeat. Enjoy!

[JohnIreland]

I have been reading reviews for the past several hours and am concerned about the service, food qualilty, and entertainment on the Jade. This trip fits his timeline and I want to make sure we won't be terribly

 

Anyone who questioned the service , food or entertainment on Jade are fools. Each one is top class.

 

Some people are never happy , or from reading some of reviews I suspect were never on the ship.

[Stillfloatin']

I wouldn't concern myself too much with the reviews, the experience will be what you make it. I've got B2B cruises booked on the Jade for next year and can't wait because I know it will be an amazing adventure. And let's face it, you will all be together again with your son so how can it be anything but wonderful? :)

[Cardex]

I am looking for help on booking on the Jade in November. We are going to meet my son in Barcelona on his R&R from Baghdad. In the past, we have cruised Disney, RCCL, & Princess...but never NCL. I have been reading reviews for the past several hours and am concerned about the service, food qualilty, and entertainment on the Jade. This trip fits his timeline and I want to make sure we won't be terribly disappointed. Any help out there would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

Tracy

 

Hi Tracy,

I am taking my second cruise on the Jade this November. We had a wonderful cruise last year and I am looking forward to cruising on the Jade again.

The service on board was excellent but food is very subjective. It just depends on what you like - I would say for us it was ok to good. As our cruise was so port intensive and we were very tired at the end of the day, we really didn't see much of the entertainment.

I kept a blog of our cruise (link below) that may help.

I think you will enjoy the Jade. :D

Linda

[mypleasure]

I was on the Jade for 2 nights recently. I found the crew and the service to be top notch except for one small incident that wasn't worth bothering about.

I enjoyed food in the main dining room, the smaller main dining room, the buffet, the Great Outdoors and Le Bistro. Always found something I liked and the quality was very good in all.

 

A cruise experience is really what you want to make of it. We had a great time. We did meet one couple who seemed to have a lot of complaints,mainly about waiting around 2 minutes to be seated - maybe they are used to fixed dining? and didn't like freestyle. They told us the best cruiseline was RCCL and that the service on HAL was the worst on any ship they had ever been on. Horses for courses I think.

 

Everyone else was having a great time including us.

[jocap]

We first sailed on Jade last summer, and enjoyed her much more than our 3 previous lines. She is the first ship, and the first line we have repeated, for we booked immediately to return on her last winter. We cannot understand the complaints of returning cruisers, especially about the food, for the choice is massive, and you would have to be a consistent "fine diner" to never find anything to your choice. The other problem appears to be the whole "Freedom" concept, which may be strange to people who enjoy being told when and where they must eat. Be content-there is free food available 24hrs a day, so you can graze your way around the ship at leisure, and not miss any activities or trips. Yes, it is informal, but I should imagine your son will appreciate that after his daily rigours. Enjoy!-jocap.

[cmpaula]

We sail on the Jade in less than 2 weeks and I can't wait! We heard some bad things about the Pride of America, the food was bad and the service terrible, etc...and we had a great time. The American crew had a less "formal" attitude than past crews we have been with but they were friendly and got the job done. Safety andcleanliness are my top 2 requirements and I find that most everything else is subjective.

 

Life is what you make it and a cruise is what you make it. Is your son going to be with you on the cruise? Please thank him for his service to our country and I wish you fun and safe travels.

[insidecabin]

You need to look at recent(last 8 weeks) reviews for the entertainment. there have been some big changes on the Jade the main one that Second City are no longer on the ship not sure if they are coming back.

 

NCl are currently going through some changes on the food front, some new menus are on trial so these may or may not end up on the Jade by Nov.

 

 

These 12n round trip BCN trips are great we did it in Jan good mix of ports and sea days.

 

[garycarla]

Yes, there have been some bad reviews, but I am pretty sure there have been way more positive.

 

You are NOT going to get 5 star food or service.

 

But, NCL offers a great product. Just look at the repeat cruisers here. And, the latitudes party usually has 200+ people at them.

 

Gotta be some reason people keep coming back.

[insidecabin]

But, NCL offers a great product. Just look at the repeat cruisers here. And, the latitudes party usually has 200+ people at them.

 

Gotta be some reason people keep coming back.

 

I never got this, 200 is not high repeat number for a modern ship

 

A lot of cruises have repeats < 1000, ships are 2000+

 

So a lot of new cruisers to a line on these cruises

 

If the growth has been 10% py where are all the repeat cruisers?

[garycarla]

First off, the 200 number is just a wild guess. It is well more than that. And, I KNOW there are people that are repeat but do not come to that event. After all, it is free drinks, and listen to the staff yack. Not eveyone's cup of tea - or wine.

 

How many on NCL vs other lines? I really do not know. I was just pointing out that they apparently are doing okay due to a fair amount of repeats.

[JohnIreland]

the main one that Second City are no longer on the ship not sure if they are coming back.

 

That's a shame, they did some great shows. :mad:

[insidecabin]

That's a shame, they did some great shows. :mad:

 

Second City were not to eveyones taste in the europaen market,

 

Some of the cruise line skits were very good but still very ameriacan after year in EU(that was in Jan 09).

 

The "Jady bunch" was a clasic for those that got to see it.

[grandma863]

We sailed on the Jade lat month. The ports and excursions were top notch. We found the food to be pretty good. We did not enjoy the entertainment at all. It was not up to par in comparison to RCL and Princess. All and all, the cruise was a good value.

[exarche02]

We were on the Jade last summer and it was amazing. We loved NCL and the ship. I am sorry to hear about Second City though- they were great! My husband made sure he caught every show over the 2 weeks we were on board. Enjoy your cruise!

[JohnIreland]

Second City were not to eveyones taste in the europaen market,

 

Some of the cruise line skits were very good but still very ameriacan after year in EU(that was in Jan 09).

 

The "Jady bunch" was a clasic for those that got to see it.

 

 

Good point , I would imagine some of the jokes would have gone over your head if you didn't spend time in the states.

 

On the other hand I don't think Lenny Windsor would have been to the american taste.