My wife and I recently returned from a seven-day cruise on the Norwegian Jade (April 18-25, 2015). We enjoyed our experience very much. Our inside cabin was small but comfortable and everything worked properly. Our cabin steward always had it prepared and we enjoyed the folded-towel animals each evening as well. Food aboard the ship was good in the buffet restaurant, Asian restaurant, and the two main dining rooms. Service in the main dining rooms and the Asian restaurant was good also. The activities were quite well organized and enjoyable, and the cruise itinerary offered one delightful location after the next. All of our shore excursions were very good, and we were quite lucky with the weather as well. I would rate the ship and its crew on a par with Royal Caribbean, and it's overall ambience superior to that of Carnival. Celebrity is perhaps a half notch above NCL, but for this trip, the choice of dates and itinerary made the difference in our choice of cruise. We were very pleased with NCL and the Norwegian Jade.
Cruise Photos
Category Ratings
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| Ship Quality | In general, the ship seemed to be well maintained. It started life with Hawaiian name and decor, and much of that persists. Other than some worn fabric on the chairs in the Alizar dining room, everything seemed shipshape. | |
| Food and Dining | We did not try the extra-cost specialty restaurants, but all the food in the regular restaurants was good to excellent in quality, with very good service. | |
| Service and Staff | Freestyle dining does have the effect that you do not form a relationship with your dining room waitstaff, which is a shame. However, if you do have more freedom of choice, which is a plus. All of the crew seem to have a good attitude and there was not the heavy emphasis on selling things, as I have experienced on Carnival cruise. | |
| Entertainment | The shows in the main theater were generally excellent, especially the acrobats and magician and the "Elements" show that puts these performers together with the house orchestra and dance team. We also enjoyed dance classes and trivia events and the "Dance like a Norwegian" competition. | |
| Onboard Activities | As mentioned, we enjoyed the dance classes and I enjoyed the trivia competitions. | |
| Destinations and Excursions |
We had excellent shore excursions provided both through  and through Norwegian Cruise lines. Admittedly, we were also lucky with the weather.
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| Cabin / Stateroom | This cabin was well located and well looked after by our cabin steward, Rickmann. |
Port Ratings
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| Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy | Better than OK, really. We stayed in a nice hotel on the main esplanade, which is nice for walking and has a beach. |
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| Naples, Italy | Could have used an extra day here! Pompeii and the Amalfi coast were great, but we missed the Museum and Capri. | ||
| Messina, Sicily | We had several great choices for excursions. Can recommend the "Godfather" Tour to Savoca and Forza D'Agro. | ||
| Kotor, Montenegro | Spectacular setting and scenery. Nice old town, too! Delicious gelato in the main square. | ||
| Zadar, Croatia | The cruise port is several miles from the old town. We took an excursion inland, which we enjoyed. Again, better than "OK"! | ||
| Venice, Italy | What can one say: Venice! You do need to be reasonably fit to get around here: it is not a wheelchair-friendly place and getting about requires walking and stair-climbing abilities. |
Tip
The library was pleasant, but rather small and tended to fill up early in the day. This may have been because the cooler spring weather kept more people inside rather than out on deck with their books. If you enjoy meeting other people, sharing a table with people you don't know yet is recommended
