Disappointed

Norwegian Jade Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 34

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Jade

7 Night Western Caribbean (Houston Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 09, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Jade

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9578

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

My wife and I booked this cruise for my birthday.  First time on Norwegian Cruise Line.  On the positive side, this was the best embarking and disembarking cruise we have ever been on.  From parking lot to cabin in about 15 minutes.  The ship was neat and clean and the food was excellent.  However, paying $27.00 per day for gratuities  REALLY ticked us off.  Most ship employees were fine but some were outright rude and most could not speak fluent English. NORWEGIAN JADE NEEDS MORE BARTENDERS !!!!!!  It seems like we spent a lot of time waiting to get a drink, especially around the pool, where most times there was only one bartender taking care of many people.  The ship's shore excursions were very expensive.  NCL charged us $158 to go to a very crowded beach on Roatan. The deck chairs were placed so close to each other, we could have used a crane to seat us. Entertainment on board was 3rd class.  Specialty restaurants were very expensive.  No more Norwegian cruises for us.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Clean but very small.

Ship tip

Bring lots of money, drink prices outrageous, poor selection of wines, charged $15.00 corkage for opening our good wine. Research alternatives to ship's shore excursions, very expensive if bought on board.

Ports of call

Houston, Texas

3 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

1 out of 5

Belize City, Belize

3 out of 5

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

3 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 34

2 Comments

CruisnCousin    8 years ago

My mom and I just came off the NCL Jade 3 days ago, from a 16-day transatlantic cruise.  We had a mini-suite, and our cabin gratuity was only $13.50/day.  At $27/day, 'websterintexas' might have been in the Haven or Owner's cabin with private butler, etc....? $27 does seem excessive, but maybe that included drink gratuities at 18%?  I agree, though, that prices on NCL are higher than other cruise lines for drinks, bingo, etc.  Putting that aside, we had such a good experience, I would still travel NCL, but just raise my cruise budget!

RLynnM    8 years ago

On what cruise line are you charged less for gratuities? I have found that any cruise line charges much more for their excursions, so we just book independently.

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