Never Again!

Norwegian Jade Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Jade

7 Night Western Caribbean (Houston Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 02, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Jade

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 10517

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

After everything we read about "Free Style" cruising and even though we chose the ultimate drink package and paid the extra gratuity up front we were still charged for things! A bottle of water was $4.50 plus 18% gratuity!! We read that tipping was our choice, NOT TRUE, they withheld $13.50 per person per day out of our account. Sure it's not much but it is aggravating when you're told you tip who you want to. We dined at Cagney's for my husband's birthday and it took us 3 hours to complete our meal!! I much prefer having the same waiters each night and building a camaraderie with them.

There were very few activities on the ship while it was in port. There were several bars on the ship but, if there was no activity in the area they were closed. 

It was just not a good cruise overall and even though we LOVE cruising we will NEVER cruise with Norwegian again. Looking forward to cruising again in May on Celebrity!!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
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2 Comments

realbondgirl    8 years ago

You could have chosen to prepay the Daily Service Charge, but those "tips" go toward the back of the house staff that you never see, among other things, and has been a part of cruising for some time. It seems you don't like the Freestyle way of cruising, which is certainly your perogative, so happy sailing on cruises more your style :)

Lousampson    8 years ago

Tipping has never been a choice in our fifteen years of cruising, no matter which line. There is always a mandatory minimum; you are free to tip more. The Ultimate Beverage Package details on the NCL website clearly state that bottled water is one of the exclusions.

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