Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

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!

The ship was clean but very out dated. Purchased the beverage package as an average cost of a drink is $ 7-9 including beers ( a bottle of water is not included in your package ). The first 2 days we were at sea but somehow got food poisoning which last 3 days. Disappointed that when I knew that I had food poisoning, called the Infirmary and they said to come down so I did and they were closed. Went back on 3 other occasions at times when they were suppose to be open and again they were closed. Finally went a shore and got some medication. Like NCL's Freestyle approach to dining, but don't know if I will book a cruise with them again. 

The old lady is definitely looking a little aged. She is going to dry dock sometime next year and is certainly in need of some updates and repairs. Having said that, the trip was wonderful and the crew really great. Really, there is not much to do on this ship (compared to some others we have been on) but they make the most of every inch of space, and made a great atmosphere. The entertainment was top notch! 

I've cruised with NCL before.  The state rooms, cleanliness, activities were all as expected, but service was the worst I've seen!  At dinner, more than once, we waited ~45 minutes after ordering before being served (tough to do with kids) and the room attendants were not at all attentive.  It took multiple calls to get the 4th bath towel we needed when our room was booked for four, and actually, the 4th towel never came!  We had to share.  A real frustration when you are automatically charged service fees and have no choice in the matter.

The cruise it self was nice, the food was good, but the shows was very short. Most of the shows only lasted about 30 minutes. The cruise also have a childcare center for the kids to play in that was a plus. But my problems with the cruise is that no matter where you are on the ship, the staff members are alway trying to sale you something. And all the ports that we been to are nothing but shopping malls. For example: on one block of the street there are three Diamond international stores that are recommended to you by the cruise to buy diamonds from. That's too much diamond shopping for me.

And on the last night of the cruise my wife found that she was unable to open the safe in the room after numerous tries. She asked the room staff to help, a supervisor was notified. Two hours later, a staff member came and unlock the safe. The wife and I then checked the items in the safe, and found $40 dollars in twenty bill was missing from her wallet and $60 dollars in twenty bills was missing from my wallet. We check our wallets daily to know how much we spend. And everything on the cruise ship is charge through the room key card so we don't need to carry cash on the ship. The safe open everyday without any problems, but on the last day it would not open. It's very suspicious. Then we found twenty dollar bills missing both of our wallets. Normally people would miss that because they usually carry more twenty dollar bills then another bills and if they don't know how much they have in their wallets.

It was already late at night, I told myself I need report the theft in the morning. I forgot the next day. I was too busy checking to make sure all the charges to my account was correct from the cruise's invoice. It was not, because I still have $44 dollar of room credit left on the account. I spoke with guest services, they told me that I can't use the credit on bill. That is ridiculous, because I was told that the credit can be apply to any charges on the ship. I was told no, and that I'll lose the $44 dollar credit.

On 4/18/2016, I checked the charges on my credit card, and I found the cruise line charge me an additional $100.80. I don't know what that is for since I don't have any invoice or bill for that amount. So whoever decide to cruise with Norwegian. Just be careful.

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.

Clean ship with strong service component. Freestyle Dining was good. Belize port was disappointing. Roatan was the best. Excessive sales promotions were annoying and repulsive. Houston airport was pathetic, as was the city.

The staff on the Norwegian Jade are very unfriendly other then the room attendant. If your child chooses not to participate in the splash program there isn't much for kids to do, especially when staff closes the basketball court at 5:30 or whenever a guest complains about the noise!! We've been on many cruises and never has the BB  ever closed at 5:30 or whenever the staff saw fit! Was disappointed with the shows, as I've stated we have been on many cruises I was really looking forward to the shows. Must say the food was good, that's about the only positive thing I can say about the Jade and her staff

everything went off without a hitch.

the ship was smooth sailing with plenty of color and lively

the crew was first class

the entertainment was awesome,  Crimpton the magician was a first class act

the ship made good time reaching all ports on time and making it back to Houston 8hrs early

We mostly cruse with Carnival, but this time NCL threw a deal out there we could not pass up, and we have been wanting to try out The Bayport Terminal anyway, and then we find out that Houston plans to shut it down. What a complete waste of the Tax payer's money. The terminal proved to be everything that it was designed to be. The Norwegian Jade is a beautiful ship, smooth and fast, and the food was incredible. The best part of the cruise was, we did not have to fight for anything, like getting our meals, no long lines, fast service, no problem getting a seat for their awesome shows, and they were out of sight. Going to those shows were worth half what we paid for the cruse. I can't say enough except I miss their mango, cranberry water. When I got off the ship, I thanked them for allowing us to cruise with them. Thanks NCL, for the great service and experience you and your crew provided.

Great cruise good food need more entrainment in afternoon had a good time but it rained two days . Was a nice ship nice crew . Didn't like belize that much but cosemel was nice water was great went snorkeling had great time lots of fish to see