Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Destinations were scenic but just ok (except for Edinburgh-that was very nice, although the price of the "Edinburgh on your own" bus was too high- better off with a taxi next time) Great staff. Well run ship. We had lots of fun. Miss them already!

We cruised late in the season - it rained and rained. Sea was somewhat rough. However we enjoyed the ship and the excursions. We would recommend sailing in mid summer.

Great cruise. Great ship. Great staff. Great ports. Food was not as good as I had expected but was good. I definitely would go on Norwegian again. Also great value for cost. Overall happy.

Excellent cruise and ship the only down side is that in the night clubs for the most part they played 80s music or older and is not a great variety of other music genres

Well, the illness i've got on board disrupt my vacation, we had tours booker in london which we couldn't do and we lost our money, because i couldn't leave the hotel room, I was in bed for 2 days. When I returned to canada I went to emergency twice, i'm still sick after 20 days, i did not eat for 13 days and i have more tests to do. Ct scan on monday I should know more in a week. I had a full physical 2 days prior to my trip and everything was normal, so it is something i've pick up on the ship!!

Great destination. Could have been a more efficient and friendly cruise experience. Insufficient staffing made for long lines and wait times for most events and restaurants.

I recently went on a Holland America cruise which was fantastic, and I expected a similar quality on the NCL Jade.  Unfortunately, my expectations were severely crushed.  The service on the Jade was horrendous.  Truly awful.  Bartenders and servers did the bare minimum to get by without interacting with customers.  No "hi, how are you?" or "how was your day?"  or even a smile!  My husband and I started playing a drinking game to see how many NCL staff members we could get to smile.  Needless to say, it wasn't many.  The bartenders also did not know how to make a drink.  Or pour a beer correctly.  And the dining room staff refused (multiple times) to get me a cocktail... apparently because they don't have a full bar in the main dining room.  And they also refused to get my husband a beer that was offered in a lounge not too far from the main dining room.  So basically be prepared to only drink wine when eating!  The quality of the food was subpar when comparing it to Holland America.  Now, think of the quality of the cheapest restaurant you can eat at.  That's pretty much what the Garden Cafe is.  The main dining room is better, but the food is still hit or miss.  I would order the same dessert almost every day.  Sometimes it would turn out fine, others not so much.  Absolutely no consistency.  We scheduled all of our shore excursions through NCL.  On the first shore excursion I was told, "all of the guides in Norway are originally from a country other than Norway, so don't expect much."   If they are not confident in the quality of their guides, maybe they shouldn't hire them????  Or perhaps not charge so much????  The first guide we had in Alesund was bad--- she was very nice, but her English was poor and she basically read all of her information off of a piece of paper that was printed off.  Yes, basically like being driven around while reading Wikipedia.  The guide we had in Geiranger was surprisingly good!  He was from Germany, but was well read, able to speak English, and knew a lot about the country.  We were very pleased.  Then we went to Flam, and it all went downhill from there.  The guides were in over their head.   I don't know if they were college kids who were trying to make some quick cash and didn't know what they were doing.  But we had four buses show up to lunch, and the lunch place was only expecting one.  Huge commotion that lasted way longer than it should have.  Basically wasted a half hour of time.  When collecting us for the train, the guides had a very poor plan, and basically left someone behind.  And they didn't care.  They still had no idea what they were doing.  And the tour ended... but no one told us.  It was pathetic.  Surprisingly, the next day in Bergen was worse.  The guide told us about 5 times that she was too tired to remember names, dates, or information.  So unprofessional.  The tour was supposed to last 3- 3.5 hours, but only lasted half of that.  She took us to the top of Mount Floyen, and it was cloudy, so she said we would leave in 15 minutes.  Thinking we were leaving right away, we didn't wander off and explore.  After about 15 minutes came and went, she said that we would be up there another 20 minutes.  20 minutes came and went, and she said we would have to wait for another train.  So another 20 minutes.  All of this time we could have spent walking around and exploring, but we didn't want to go too far and be left there.  She didn't tell us that there were goats on top!  Or walking paths.  She just said, "there's a troll over there."  Maybe give us SOME information.  It was the worst tour I've ever been on.  I was embarrassed for her.  I finally decided to complain to NCL's shore excursion team and was dismissed.  They told me that she was probably just making jokes (about being tired?  and not knowing names, dates, or information?) and that I was wrong because the tour guide had been living in Bergen for 14 years.  They gave me 10% off in the end, which I thought was poor service.  If someone is giving me half a tour, shouldn't I get half off?  It ruined my entire day in Bergen.  I think the way the shore excursion team handled it was the nail in the coffin... definitely no more NCL cruises.  Ever.  Also, the cruise entertainment staff compared Michelle Obama to an ape.  And then laughed hysterically about it.  I was appalled.

There are a couple good things to say about the Jade.  The cabin was nice, although a mini suite is comparable to a regular room on Holland America.  Also, the nightly show was of decent quality.  Not a Vegas show, but that's not what people should expect on a cruise line.  

Over all, this was the best of six cruises with four different lines.  Shore excursions and evening shows were by far superior to any others we've seen. 

Seeing parts of the British Isles that we had never seen.  The Orkney Islands on the north of Scotland were amazing.  I enjoyed Weymouth and Inverness.

We spent 6 days in London then did back to back cruises with Norwegian.  I was appalled to learn there were no laundry facilities available for passengers to use.  This meant washing underwear by hand every night, which is not my idea of a fun vacation.  On the first cruise (Norwegian fjords) there was an opportunity to have one (not very large) sack of clothing washed for $20.  This was never offered on the British Isles cruise.  When we have previously been on longer cruises, with Princess, there has always been laundry facilities available, including an iron and ironing board.  For me, this was a deal breaker.  I wouldn't choose Norwegian again.

After two Alaskan cruises, we weren't sure we would be wowed by Norway. Couldn't have been more wrong! Norway is simply gorgeous in its own super special way. Loved the Jade; we had a mini-suite, and it was well worth the extra money. My husband and I enjoyed the extra space and the tub/shower in bath. There was some rough water in the North Atlantic, which I expected, but this ship felt very smooth and stable. Food was great all around, but especially in the specialty restaurants. Our cabin steward was wonderful; he just took very special care of us. Shore excursions were really good - something for everyone. Kayaking for my husband, stave churches and Edvard Grieg for me. We would recommend this cruise to anyone.

This itinerary was wonderful and the views splendid. Our all time favorite will always be the Geiranger Fjord with its steep sides and hundreds of waterfalls. While there, we also visited a self sufficient goat farm which produces delectable cheeses and traveled through beautiful countryside. Stavanger and Bergen were nice towns but the fjords, mountains, pastures, waterfalls, and nature in general were amazing.

the scenery was unbelievable and the food was excellent. Unfortunately our room had no heat for 4 of the 8 days.  

We enjoyed the on board trivia daily, the easy walk into the towns, the ease of the sign up, the friendly washy-washy lady, and our room gentleman that tried to make us okay with no heat.

We like the itinerary. The IT person was helpful in getting my onboard wifi minutes. 

We love the French Specialty Restaurant with good food and great services. The Shehannon Restaurant has a good menu for comfort food. 

The desserts are fair at best at all the restaurants. The Brazilian Specialty Restaurant has the worst desserts. Selection was poor and dessert we chose was

poor. 

The cooking demonstrations need need to improve. Not impressive at all. 

Camera/photo department provides good services and Mr Kumar is friendly and helpful. 

Staff at the the reception desk needs more training. They are helpful but give out wrong info at times. I have to ask two or more people to make sure I got the right info. 

NCL's food and entertainment were first class.  Norway's fjords were extremely scenic.  The ports were excellent, especially Geiranger.  Would definitely recommend this cruise and NCL.

My favourite part was the scenery -- so worthwhile. I learned so much about Norway, and I really loved it. The Jade is well appointed with a great staff! The shows are some of the best in the cruising world. I have sailed on 5 of the best lines including Cunard and Celebrity.

The one thing that prevents me from a 5 star review is that besides the daily service charge, 18% is added to every drink served. There are no washing machines onboard though they will do it for another charge. 

The bed was comfortable and the cabin was clean, with enough room to move around.  The bathroom was bigger than expected, although the toilet was cramped.  Only one real problem, the safe didn´t work.  I went to the front desk three times to ask to have it fixed.  The second time the employee who came had to call his supervisor, who told me there were no working safes available and they would let us know if they found one.  After hearing nothing I went to the desk again.  This time they went to an empty cabin and replaced our safe with the one from that cabin.  Other than that the service was good.  

The magician in one of the shows used some inappropriate language for kids.  The rest of the shows were good.

Loved trip itself but changes to staterooms while upgrading rooms  are not very good. Less storage and more useless space. No place to sit with good lighting to apply makeup-- must have been redesigned by a man.  But enjoyed bathroom setup.

 Seating in buffet inadequate and the ship allows people to sit and play cards and games( taking up many tables) during peak meal hours.  went to the main dining room meals after several days of milling around looking for seating without success.

Good entertainment.

Casino seemed like an afterthought to the layout of the ship.

People at the main desk not very knowledgeable or maybe just not willing to help.Only ship I have ever been on that did not have postcard stamps and so I was told to ask a local onshore to mail the cards for me. This is unacceptable.

Also thought ship should have supplied maps of the towns where we were stopping like every other cruise I have ever been on, The lack of maps seemed to me like a petty attempt by the cruise line to get back at customers that did not schedule shore excursions.

Cruise director's staff was wonderful as was our cabin steward Marvin.

enjoyed the penthouse suite and the services. The staff, Rosie, Pedro and Omar were a highlight. We enjoyed eating breakfast and lunch on the 13th floor as it was nice and quiet and the food very good.

VERY FRIENDLY CRUISE. EXCELLENT FOOD AND THE CREW WAS EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD. MADE OUR TRIP MEMORABLE. PORT PICKS WERE VERY GOOD. ENJOYED EVERY STOPPAGE. GOOD ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES

14 days living the good life aboard the NCL Jade.  Crossings are wonderful way to get to know the staff and other travelers as you interact a lot during multiple sea days.  We particularly enjoyed the evening performances including Dimitris and Victoria's aerial performance.  A greatly earned standing ovation for these two very talented people.