Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This was the third time in 15 years we cruised with Norwegian for a reason....they exceed our expectations on accommodations, service, food, and fun - more than the other cruiselines! We cruise more for the onboard experience than we do for the shore excursions as there is no way you can adequately experience any of the ports in 6-8 hours. That said, this itinerary was just ok - Cozumel, Belize City, and Roatan. If you like history, the city tour in Cozumel was very good and the Wild River Tour and Altun Ha Ruins in Belize was excellent. The Best of Honduras tour was a total disappointment and we would have more fun staying on the ship in this port. We would not do this particular itinerary again and can't really recommend it. However, if you like cruising, pick Norwegian as they do cruising right!

Enjoyed the cruise. The service, food, staff, and value was good to great. Not disappointed at all.  Has two places to do my walking every day. They have a gymAte at the buffet for breakfast and lunch. Good choice and variety of food. Ate dinner at the main dining room. Great food and selection. Liked the dress code for dinner.  Men minimum eas long pants, collared shirt, and covered toe shoes. Very relaxed or you can dress up to the max. A lot of opinions to do during the day or night if you want. Or just relax which I did.

First time cruising on the Norwegian cruise lines. I was really dissapointed in the over all cruise. We had a mini suite. The things that were complimentary on other cruise lines were very expensive on this line. I do not drink but my husband does. If you buy a drink package it is 600.00 plus.. for one, but you cant buy one you have to buy 2= 1200.00 plus, for 7 days of drinks!!! Rdiculous! Order in suite food for breakfast, 7.95...even if you want coffee and a pastry.. 7.95. Oh and only one place to get food 24/7 AND you have to eat it there.. you cannot even get it to go to your room, when you are there ordering at 2 in the AM..because they want the 7.95 to bring it to you.. One of the things we really enjoy was eating in our room ,at times. I will be traveling other cruise lines from now on. Celebrity..Princess...Royal Carribean, even Carnival treat you better than this cruise line. WARNING!!! We gambled a lot and on most cruise lines.. and I cruise a lot. I won something ..not on this cruise ship "Jade"... nothing... tightest slots I have ever seen. NEVER AGAIN.

embarkation and debarkation was very easy and customer friendly.The only comment I have is why NCL charge $13.50 per day per personas a cumpolsory tips--this is not fair

We booked this cruise less than two weeks before sail date at $40 per night per person for a nice midship inside cabin.  The ship was very clean.  The service was great.  The food was good.  The entertainment was average.

NCL treats its passengers like kings and queens. The Jade was in great condition and the food was excellent. We went to the nightly shows and they were all wonderful productions. We will definitely cruise with them again!

Third cruise in a row with Norwegian. Love the specialty dining. Had the free beverage package as it seems everyone else did. Didn't seem to have as many waiters milling around on deck as usual which made it hard to get service. My teenagers 13 year olds all loved Entourage Teen Club. Find all staff friendly & helpful. The only complaint I have is that we had to tender in Honduras & the time there was so short anyway that it was very rushed. We ended up getting back in Houston 8 hours early so I don't see why we couldn't have stayed in Honduras a little longer. 

Ship was beautiful, always clean.  Staff was exceptionally friendly and nice.  Food was excellent and service was quick.  I must say that Cagney's was the BEST!!! Steak we ordered was perfect.  Also ate at the Moderno and it was fabulous.  Bars and drinks great, shows were very entertaining.  We enjoyed the shore tours of the island and I really enjoyed the shopping.

This is my first Cruise, and I had a very good time. Clean room, good food, great shows, good service.....only one thing I felt inconvenient is no free Wifi.

My seven day cruise was the best vacation that I have ever had.  The Norewegian staff was wonderful and amazing.  The only problem I had with my trip was with my travel agency, Vacation Outlet.  They led me to believe that all of my gratuities had been payed in advance.  I found out that this was not the case and I had to pay an extra $300 at the end of my trip.  Book only with the cruise lines directly.  They know what they are doing

Our daughter became very ill on the ship - medical expenses on the ship over $8000 - had to leave the ship midweek to hospital on Roatan/more expenses - fly to Houston from Roatan - $4000 (per 4) one way airline tickets. Norwegian should remimburse part of their cruise expenses

We booked the Jade last minute and made it to the terminal in plenty of time to board.  The wait line was short and we were able to get in our room by 1:00.

The dining was fine with food being tasty and well presented.  We did not opt for the dining plan so we ate at the buffet for breakfast and the dining rooms every night except for one.  Lunch was either on deck or the buffet.  The last couple of nights were not as nice, not because of the taste of the food but one night we waited for 45 minutes to get our appetizer and another night was 30 minutes to get dessert.  On our last night my husband ordered his meal and didn't get what was on the menu (ordered garlic shrimp on mashed potatoes with asparagus and got spicy shrimp on a rice/pea plate).  The outdoor barbecue was excellent and other than those instances our dining was good.  

Our room was tiny for 3. Inside room 10073.  Really, if you are a stickler on space, opt for a balcony.  Our stateroom service was fine. This was one ship where I didn't feel that the staff really got to know us.  Which is fine but it didn't seem as personalized.

We did the Xplor excursion from Cozumel.  If you get at all queasy, do not do this excursion!  It is a very rough ride to Playa del Carmen.  We did love the place.  We didn't do an excursion in Belize,  Outside the shopping area is kind of sketchy.  We got a cab to the West End beach and loved our time.  The Tabyana Beach is this one and we spent as much as if we would have booked it through the ship.  

There are no Broadway shows on the ship and I didn't think their singers were very good but enjoyed the shows.  The acrobat act and comedian were good.

Bingo made me mad.  I played the first night it was offered and they played one game.  I paid $50 to play one game and obviously didn't win.  I refused to play on subsequent nights.  

The NCAA finals were the week of our cruise and no one from the staff could tell us where to see it (many said to watch it on the television in our room or didn't know it was a basketball tournament).  When it aired it was on a small tv in a lounge.  In the meantime, we walked around back and forth to our room and the lounge to see if anything was airing.  

We enjoyed a massage at the spa.  Do the $139 special so that by the time your gratuity is added you pay the $179 original price.  

Now for the part about waiting.  We waited for hours for tenders to take us to and from port except for Cozumel.  It seemed like we waited for dining.  

I would say we had a good time but probably will choose a different boat to see if that makes a difference.  We cruise often, and seemed to be more at home on Royal Caribbean and Disney.  

Jade is an older ship and in need of some remodeling, but was clean and most of the staff was very nice. For the cost it was a great value. We picked a bad time to go because it was spring break and the ship was very crowded. We were told the ship is full at around 2600 and there were 3001 people on board.  All & all we had a good time. 

I felt that the customer service of many of the crew members was less than desirable. Called and requested ice the first evening aboard the ship, never received it.  I purchased 2 cabins that had 2 different cabin stewards assigned. The one argued with me and told me I had to go find the other one to answer my question. Changed cabin steward. We had 3 families that went and when we checked in each family was given different instructions at check in. Lack of organization when disembarking the cruise ship for cruise paid excursion, would call our group then tell us no, first time she called our group half of us were down the gangplank to board the tender before we were stopped by other members of our group and told she changed the group to go on that particular tender. Wait staff in Blue Lagoon and in the Grand Pacific were less than desirable, most nights in Grand Pacific we were not even offered drinks. The one night one table in our group was offered and received drinks and we were not. Several statements were made that for several members of the crew it was there last cruise before vacation. In my opinion that was evident. Mario our 2nd cabin steward was wonderful! We finally just finished our "formal" dining in the Alizar, where the wait staff was attentive to passengers, the second night we were the bartender had already memorized our drink orders. Port calls were enjoyable staff on the docks were friendly. "Washy-Washy" who was spraying hand sanitizer was fun.

Nothing great, just a time to rest and relax. No good shows, no good activities. NCL was even charging us for room service now. The cruise staff were all wonderful as always. Just an OK nofrills cruise.

We loved the food and the dining options.  The gift shop was overpriced and the  staff was not knowledgeable or helpful. Our cabin was clean and the beds were comfortable, but our steward was grumpy and acted as if we were a nuisance rather than guests. The tenders used to get on and off the ship were way too pokey. 

The nightly shows were better than I have seen on other ships. they were great for adults and even my kids were mesmerized! The ports of call were not as nice as eastern Caribbean islands I have visited. I will never go on another cruise with tendering, as I would just skip the poor operation. twice we we were tendered rather than the one time they notified us about and to make it more confusing each time they tendered they handled the entire operation differently. the first time it didn't matter if you waited inline for 2 hours early, you left at the same time as someone who just showed up. the second time we showed up at the advertised time and weren't scheduled to leave for HOURS!! I missed the unique food options that I could choose on the Carnival cruises. There were not many activities to do with children lest you place them in the daycare.  

5 of us went on the Norwegian Jade for our Senior Spring break. We made so many friends (both crew and other cruisers) and couldn't have asked for it to go any better. I have never been on a cruise as an adult (only as a 10 year old with my mom and dad) and this was such a great first cruise! We stayed on the 4th floor in an interior cabin. The price was unbeatable. I'm sure staying in a suite with a balcony or window would be awesome, but we didn't really want to spend any time in our room, and we really didn't! The club upstairs (Spinnaker's) was very fun and we frequented it every night (Special shout out to Roy, our favorite cocktail server!) Our second favorite activity on board was watching Carlos play the guitar in the lounge. Carlos is FABULOUS and was by far the most talented person we met on board. (Another special shout out to Oliver the bartender at the Martini bar for being awesome and fun!) 

The food was extravagant as well. As college students, you can imagine we spend a lot of time trying to stay fed, and this was an awesome experience because it was always unlimited! (Unlimited food in college is equivalent to an "I love you" from your significant other :P) Our favorite appetizers included the Brie sticks from Alizars, the french onion soup (to die for) amongst many others. Favorite entrees include Prime rib from Alizars and Lamb from Grand pacific. Desserts: Tiramisu and Warm chocolate volcano (available every night :P). We also greatly enjoyed that the Blue Lagoon was always open for the late night post-club food run. Over all, the waiters were all so friendly and very deserving on the service tip. The only thing I could've asked for is that the tip fee be included in the initial payment, because by the time you visit 3 countries and drink all the delicious drinks on board, your budget has been WAY overshot! 

The room was always very nice and clean, our stuff never tampered with and a cute little towel animal waiting for us! the itineraries were given out in a timely fashion for everyone to make decisions about the next days activities. 

We wish we would've made it to karaoke, it sounded very fun, but the trivia offered was great (shout out to Ricky!!), and so were all the shows! we only made it to a couple, but I heard they were all great. 

The only things we weren't too fond of was how long it took to get off the boat at ports. It took a solid hour - 2 hours to get to where you were going and if you didn't book an excursion through the cruise, you could very well miss it. 

These things didn't at all take away from our experience though. We would definitely book another cruise with the Norwegian Jade staff and crew. 

We hope to see you all again!

Love, The CSU girls!

We just returned from this cruise on the Norwegian Jade. We will never sail with MCL again!  The ship didn't have enough to do and with 2 days at sea back to back, we were so bored, we wanted to get off early! The staff know little English which made communication past "hi" difficult. The tendering in Belize was a nightmare and disembarcation was even more disorganized!  Bottom line, go with Royal Carribean!

Exceptionally clean, sound proof staterooms, friendly and accommodating staff, loved food in the Garden Cafe - great selection and available most of the day. Con: took a long time to disembark for the on-shore excursions, especially at Cozomal.