Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The port excursions were beyond lovely.  The Norwegian Jade staff were exceptional. The entertainment was superlative.  The whole experience was extremely nice.

Cruised from Venice to Dubrovnik, Athens, Santorin, and Split.  Awesome destinations and an incredible cruising experience aboard the Norwegian Jade.  The customer service exceeded all of my expectations and the food was excellent.  Cagney's is a must do!  The steak is cooked to perfection and their mac and cheese is the best I have had in my entire life.  The cruise director and his staff also did an excellent job of keeping us informed, comfortable and entertained throughout the entire cruise in a smooth and efficient manner.  I would definitely cruise with Norwegian again.  In fact, I already placed a down payment on my next one.

The cruise was really nice - the food was great, the ports of call were very scenic (Venice, Dubrovnik, Athens, Santorini, Split, Venice).  Be prepared to pay for entertainment onboard (bingo, behind the scenes tour, etc).  Also allow for time to deal with tenders in Santorini and in Split, which can cause you to miss or be late for non-NCL excursions.  We didn't have any problem meeting with our excursions booked through this site though!

My husband and I took this cruise as part of our honeymoon and loved every minute. Our room with a balcony was amazing. We watched nearly every sunset from the balcony...We loved the freestyle cruising and not worrying about getting dressed up or having a set time to eat. While the pool area was crowded, we were able to move chairs to the sun or shade when needed. 

This was the worst vacation of our lives. so much so that we are considering making up compliant forum website to give other a  people a voice and share there cruise nightmare experienced . The crew was not knowledgeable and was extremely rude. The food at the buffets was terrible. The shows were like a high school talent show.

It was both of our 50th birthdays and it was our 27th wedding anniversary. Our trip was ruined by both booking mistakes and the crew did not help us resolve anything and the non caring of  of the ship’s crew for almost anyone's concerns was terrible, We also discovered an internet scam the ship is doing by not have internet yet charging everyone for it. We think the entire cruise industry must be exposed for this scam. We videotaped person after person complain and nothing was done. We took video of both the people and how the crew dealt with this situation.

These were not just our observations we had asked other people on board if they were experiencing the same things and many of them said yes and had other stories. Like a $2,000 charge for seeing the ships doctor after experiencing food poising from the ships buffet.

We have a travel blog that gets over a million hits per month and we do not have a cruise section but we are considering putting one in. This was our first cruse and last cruise but this trip is our 49th trip to Europe and we extremely experienced travelers.  

When these concerns were brought up to the managers they did nothing but get us a reservation at one of the pay restaurants.

 We feel that you should all feel ashamed about this. The only redeeming quality was hat the locations were nice and the ship was clean.

We travelled with two other couples, which made a big difference in our experience. We had fun and enjoyed the two whole days at sea.  Adriatic Sea was smooth as glass which was a big plus too.  The Norwegian Jade is a nice size ship, well-maintained, with a friendly crew.  We had the ultimate drinks package and the ultimate dining package. We did eat one night in a main dining room (Alizar) which was fine; ate breakfast and hung out on the back of deck 12 everyday - this was our rendezvous location.  The evening entertainment in the Stardust Theater was above average - particularly enjoyed the "Elements" show on Thursday night.

Shore Excursions - Dubrovnik - We did not book an organized tour.  We walked the wall that surrounds the old city.  The weather was fine.  Lots of good photo vistas.

Athens - Booked directly with PK Travel and had the BEST tour guide - Michael. Highly recommend the semi-private whole day tour.

Santorini - We booked a whole day tour (with winery and Oia) through .  It was better priced than the NCL offerings.  It was ok.  How much can you describe the volcanic activity that formed the island?  We walked down the donkey trail from Fira to the port - tip - take the donkey!  Walking took 30+ minutes and was semi-treacherous.  The line to the cable car was so long, we would have missed the ship.

Split - Just walked off the ship, and took a small tourist ride up to the top of the mount at Split - great vistas.  On the way back, the "tour" ends at the Diocletian Palace (which is a conglomerate of shops and restaurants). We probably should have explored more, but rain was threatening, so we returned to the ship (and the bar on Deck 12).

I would recommend this cruise. 

The itinerary was great, especially Santorini and Dubrovnik. The ship, though smaller than the mega cruise ships, was very well maintained and staffed. The staterooms were well-kept and made up quickly by the room steward each time we leave. The anytime dining food selection was diverse and well prepared, except all meat dishes were somewhat overcooked (not surprising given the mass preparation required.) However, the formal dining room service was not as personal or attentive when compared to my past cruise experience. I would definitely attribute that to the prepaid gratuity and anywhere dining option, since the wait staff had no incentive to be attentive and most did not appear enthusiastic in doing their work.

Overall, my family and I had a very time as first time cruisers on NCL and will very likely cruise with NCL again.

We wanted to experience Greece as it is today, and we wanted to gain some sense of Greek history. The variety of islands and mainland access afforded us by the Norwegian Jade allowed us to experience several periods of Greek history and even prehistory. We were conveyed from port to port in unparalleled comfort.

The food was good, the accommodations were great, and we enjoyed terrific views from our balcony. 

The ports of call on this trip were amazing!  Very easy to navigate through the cities.  Be sure to taste the local food and wine.  Don't forget your camera or you may be saying more than cheese!! 

Overall the cruise was good. This is my second cruise with NCL and definitely like their "freestyle" cruise. However, I found that their staff is less enthusiastic than other cruise lines. The complimentary dining food was so so. This is the first cruise where I spent less time at their buffet. 

This was an amazing cruise with a top rate staff. The only real problem was communication. We frequently received contradictory information or no information. Most of the time this was not an issue, however it is ridiculous when the itinerary changed the day before the second half of this cruise and passengers did not get notified until day 2 of that leg, it is an extreme problem. There were also problems with Freestyle Daily. Quite frankly, NCL and all lines would benefit by having passengers proofread all their communications. Often times the problems with communication is a matter of being written by people who live aboard. Simple example, there are no directions for which copy of the triplicate form passengers should keep, and no indication if form goes in the bag or is attached outside. Also, this business of letting thousands of people off the ship, in foreign ports, without at least a simple port map, is irresponsible.

Last, but far from least, when you advertise a port for a specific city, it is wrong to charge passengers for bus transfers to that city!

We took 16 night transatlantic cruise aboard the NCL Jade with stops at St Thomas and Funchal, Maderia and ended in Barcelona.  We remained aboard for 5 night cruise to Venice with stops at Palma Majorca and Valleta, Malta.  We have taken over 30 cruises and this cruise was truly enjoyable with plenty of sea time to relax and yet had great destination stops to sightsee.  We especially enjoyed the Tobbagan ride in Funchal.

We enjoyed the food and the entertainment.  Many of the staff members (from bar servers to room stewards to restaurant servers) went out of their way to be welcoming.  We would have used the casino more and enjoyed it IF it was smoke free.  

Funchal and Botanical Gardens excursion did not seem well organized.  I would not recommend this excursion.  

From the moment we boarded we could see the cutbacks on service.  We remember the days when you were greeted with a beverage/champagne. 

We visited the casino once - the smoke was too much!  In one of the lounges the Cigar Room was adjacent and every time the door was opened you were exposed to more smoke.  It's difficult to enjoy the entertainment in that general area due to the smoke and smell.  The Garden buffet area was very noisy - probably due to lack of carpeting in the dining area. Wait staff was quick to clear tables, but they now carry bins to collect dishes and the bins are wet and drip on passengers. Also noticed, NO carts to reoffer coffee or other beverages. Some times change is not good!

Lots of professional and courteous folks on board.  Glad to have so many nights at sea to get acquainted with our fellow travelers.  Food was excellent all around and the rooms were comfortable and well-appointed by our diligent room steward.  Entertainment was wonderful, in particular the lounge artists singing and accompanying themselves on either guitar or piano...especially Martin, Carlos, and Taylor.  Think we may take this one again in the future!

Sorry they have left Houston! great ship, lots of activities, food super, staff mostly very friendly, ship very clean. Would do the trip again in a heart beat!

We spent 19 of the 21 nights onboard the Jade, opting to disembark early in Malta. The staff were very warm, friendly, helpful and courteous, especially in the Grand Pacific dining room. I checked out a mahjong set to play on sea days in the Card Room and made many new friends. The biggest decision each day was what to choose for dinner. I mention this because it took us two days on land to get back into the process of making decisions about where to go and what to do in Valletta.

First time traveller on Norwegian Cruise Line... if all their ships are run so efficiently, have such friendly, attentive staff, offer a wide variety of activities and excellent dining choices and have such great entertainment, then NCL is my new favorite cruise line to sail with!  The Jade is 10yrs old, but due to the excellent maintenance of its staff, it looks like it's been recently refurbished.  We had a transatlantic/repositioning itinerary with only 3 stops in 16 days, and never got "cabin fever"... there's too much to do!  Highly recommend NCL to anyone looking for a great cruise experience!

I have zero complaints about the ship, the food, the staff or the tiny staterooms :) ha ha, or the ports. We have cruised before so the tiny rooms were to be expected.  Its hard living in a bat cave for 7 days but we chose an interior room because it was cheaper.  You are only in there to sleep really and to nap and change for meals and or activities.  So it was fine. I loved the "deck cam" channel that I could turn on and it was almost like a window to the outside world to see if we were moving or not and if the sun was up or down!  (Its confusing after a few days and you sleep longer than normal!) LOL

The food in the main Garden Café was like most buffets, but better than other cruise lines we have tried. Compared to Carnival cruise food, I liked it way better! A ton of options every meal, so you never get bored.  And I'm a very picky eater than wont try many new things.  So that speaks volumes

The shows were outstanding!   Really some of them could be Vegas headliners, and I know.... I am a native Las Vegan!  Really impressed my husband and I a lot. 

Lots of complaints I read beforehand were lack of entertainment and poor food quality.  I honestly couldn't disagree more!

I really  have no complaints!

This was our first cruise and I was very unsure of what cruise line to choose. NCL is by far the best choice I could have made. Everything was amazing, from the port to the room, the food was great. The bartenders were amazing. We have already booked our second cruise with NCL and can't wait to go!