Great Ship and itenary with a few issues
Norwegian Jade Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
10 Night Eastern Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 15, 2017
Ship: Norwegian Jade
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 8629
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
We had a great time in all the ports on this cruise and liked the size of this ship and all the different dining options.
The food was satisfactory, but the deserts were a little lacking except for Cagney's. The steaks and sides were excellent in this restaurant.
Our food was never hot either with the exception of the specialty restaurants. We learned to ask for our food extra hot in the dining room, but that didn't solve the problem in the Garden Cafe. The pancakes and waffles were so cold the butter wouldn't melt. We were always in the Garden Cafe when they open for breakfast too. I was also disappointed that outdoor cafe didn't open until 7:30 AM. Why? We like to eat outside and watch the sunrise and would like to see this changed. Dining Room service was not what we expected. I had a hard time getting my Diet Pepsi, and our water glasses sat empty a lot. One time I even got up and attempted to refill our water glasses. That got the server's attention. The wait time for them to take our order was extremely long too.
Casino- you have to pay for coffee! Yes, regular plain coffee that is served for free all over the ship. Why? This policy makes no sense and needs to be changed. You are making money off of us in the Casino, but want me to buy coffee? I hope they will do something about how the smoke from the casino takes over the entire ship when it is in drydock too.
Pool Deck - the pool deck, was under repair the entire time we were on our cruise. We had access to both pools on sea days, but not on port days. The repairs being made were extensive and should have been reserved for drydock. Furthermore, the first sea day it was very windy. My husband and I had been in our chairs from 6:30 AM until lunch time. There were a ton of people that had put towels and other belongings on chairs and had not returned since they "reserved" them at 6:30 AM. Since the wind was so bad, we left our seats for less than 30 minutes, and our chairs and clips were taken from us while the other chairs that had been left for over 4 hours were not. When I inquired about where my towel clips were, they found one set, but couldn't find the other. While they were looking for my clips one of the employees said you can't reserve chairs. I pointed out all the reserved chairs and told them they had been empty for 4+ hours and not taken away. He said they had been stickered and would within an hour, but they never were. I also told him I had been gone for less than 30 minutes and he said you were gone an hour and you can go to guest services to review the security footage. I challenged him on his time keeping skills and he then said he wasn't the one who took our chairs. I asked to speak to the person that did and he wouldn't let me. 20 minutes later we had our clips and were on our way to find other chairs. If you are going to make us follow the rules you should make all the passengers! This issue was frustrating and didn't leave me with a warm and fuzzy
feeling.
We spent most of our time in the Casino because all the entertainment options start too late. Why not have dancing and other entertainment earlier for the early risers that don't want to stay up late?
We loved all the ports and would like to return to them one day. We enjoyed a walking food tour in Key West and a beach break with lunch in Saint John. We felt like the excursion to Maho Beach in Sait Martin was too long, as it is not a beach to relax at and spend the day. The bar is very crowded, and you can't get the wifi to work because so many people are trying to access it. Everyone should see the jets landing at the airport but just take a cab. Our cab ride back was $8.00 a person. There is also a beach named Blue Beach that is a 10-minute walk from the cruise port, and there are great shops in this port. We didn't do anything in Tortorla and I regret that. There is not much to do in port, but the island is beautiful. You can get off the ship and take a trolly ride around the Isle for $20.00. They pack a lot of people in that trolley, so if crowds are not your thing, book an excursion through the ship. I did purchase a beautiful pottery bowl in this port. It was the end of Christmas in San Juan, and there was a big street festival. It was a bonus for us to be in port during this time. Walking around Old San Juan, seeing the forts and shopping was time well spent.
We had four specialty restaurants with our package. We loved Cagney's and went there twice. We enjoyed the Brizzialn Steak House but didn't care for the Japanese place. The food isn't the same as the Japanese food at home
I will look for a literary like this again. Ten days is the perfect length, and the ports were very crowded but well worth it. We would cruise on this ship again if given the opportunity even though there were a couple of issues for us. We did put a deposit down for two future cruises and are looking forward to our next adventure.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Ports of call
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Traveler Photos
3 Comments
Keenan70 7 years ago
ackelster, yes I realize it is due for drydock. I was told a company had the ship rented out for the next month or two and they were replacing the tile on the pool before those cruises happened. I understand that routine work has to be done all the time and all cruise line do it, but this was pretty extensive. We still had a great time and would go on this ship again.
Keenan70 7 years ago
ackelster, yes I realize it is due for drydock. I was told a company had the ship rented out for the next month or two and they were replacing the tile on the pool before those cruises happened. I understand that routine work has to be done all the time and all cruise line do it, but this was pretty extensive. We still had a great time and would go on this ship again.
ackelster 7 years ago