I would definitely recommend this cruise. If I could make changes, I would add another day in Jerusalem and another day in Istanbul. There were many religious sites to see, and a longer stay at the ports would have been worth the extra cost to extend the itinerary.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Things were going smoothly until we were told by agents at the port that we needed to complete a form for entering Israel. After over an hour of attrempting to do this, and after my brother lost patience with the process, an agent told us that we could board the ship without completing the form. I realize that they were only following orders.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Just as good as I remember it from my last cruise on the Jade in January 2020.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Due to the busy itinerary and still recovering from jetlag, I had very little time to partake in any of the activities.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Tika, my room steward, was always polite and cheerful, and always greeted me by name. Another person worth mentioning would be Mr Adrian de Kock, Food and Beverage Director. When I told him that a couple of buffet employees were adamant that Jade did not serve cookies at 3pm, Adrian said he would look into it. That night, there was a delivery of fresh cookies in my room. Finally, I had to call Guest Services about my room being ice cold despite the fact that the thermostat was set to the warmest level. Two electricians were sent to my stateroom (9146). Within a matter of minutes, they had the thermostat working again. I regret not writing down their names.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
It was comfortable and clean. I wish there was more counter space, but we survived the trip by constantly moving things around to make space for coffee delivery.
Ship tip
Check out the board that has pictures of the officers and make a note of who does what. You might need to contact one of them during the cruise.
The port itself was an industrial port, so not pretty. Unfortunately, it was Palm Sunday, and the town was busy. Our original excursion was canceled due to the religious activities and traffic, but we chose a substitute excursion. The excursion was supposed to be 7.5 hours long. Sadly, it was curtailed due to traffic, and we only got half the time for the excursion. After bringing this to the attention of NCL Shore Excursions, management reduced my excursion cost by 30%, which I appreciated.
Probably the most beautiful port of all. Our excursion was canceled because of security and traffic surrounding the visit of the president to a mosque. However, we were still able to get around on the hop-on, hop-off tour bus.
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