Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

THE SHIP:

This is an amazing ship, a floating city. The ship is clean, well cared for, and offers a variety of activities. There always seemed to be plenty of room to find a spot to be to eat or hang out. The pool side chairs were the only exception and one needed to get their early and grab a chair if you wanted pool front real estate. We wish their was a dedicated pool/jacuzi for adults only that was farther away from the main pool area.

THE FOOD:

We had an amazing culinary experience. I highly recommend a 3 or 4 day specialty dinning package. The Tepanyaki was the best I have ever eaten, steakhouse was incredible, and the other specialty dining restaurants were really good. Even though the buffet is above average I would have tired of eating their more than I did. The two main dining rooms were very good as well. Be prepared to wait for your food as each sitting took about an hour and a half. We stated telling them to bring all our appetizers and salads ect. altogether to speed up the service, if you don't you will more than likely miss the 7:30 show in the Stardust Theater. Several of our friends said this was the best food of any cruise-line they have been on.

ENTERTAINMENT:

The first show on the ship was the only one we didn't care for but the Tenors of Rock were great as was the acrobats. Several of our cruise friends who have been on many cruises said that this ship had the best entertainment they have seen on any ship.

SPA, Thermal Suite:

Wouldn't do this package again. It was nice but not worth the cost. Also the massages are very expensive so as long as you want to spend $150 for 50 min you will be fine. If you want a massage wait until you are on the beach in Mexico or Honduras and get one for $25.

PORTS:

Mexico was awesome, we did the Xplore park and it was the highlight of our trip. Our excursion guide got us to the front of the line so we would have time to do everything once. I highly recommend if you are looking for an adventurous activity.

Belize was kind of run down and scary. We went to see the ruins and that was very interesting but I can see why NCL is developing Harvest Caye as an alternative to Belize City.

Roatann was beautiful, get a van and get to the beach as quickly as possible, find a little boat to take you our to the reef for some amazing snorkeling. Relax and enjoy this port it was super fun.

Hi, I went on this cruise with my 19 year old daughter.  There was lots to keep both of us entertained and happy.  The ship is beautiful, the food great and the staff happy and from all over the world.

We did snorkeling in Mexico, Cave Tubing in Belize and hugged monkeys in Roatan.  Wow, lots of experiences.  I would recommend this cruise as there are lots of different activities to chose from.   It would suit both tourists and more seasoned travellers.     Jane and Tiffany from Canada.

We have been on 6 cruises now.  The buffet food was terrible.  Eggs like water, same choices all week.  The outside cafe's had the same hamburgers and hot dogs all week.  The dining room was the Only way to go. 2 nights out of seven the service was slow-once in Jasmine and the Altizar.  But the waiters are fantastic in Altizar and made up for the long wait.  The food was always good there!  Wish there was a bit more to do, but a good time. 

We had a great time on NCL Jade.  We used the specialty dining package and loved eating at the different restaurants.  Fraizer from the Alistar Main Dining area was the best waiter and crew member by far on this cruise.  He was very friendly and personable and tried to make our vacation a vacation of a life time.  Many of the other crew members were pleasant too but Fraizer stood out.  We did have some crew members who were not as friendly and lacked that special touch.  The only complaint that I have is the room was even more tiny then any other interior room we have had before.  The toilet was at an awkward angle that because we are tall we were unable to sit on it normally.  Also there was much behind the sense noise heard during the night and early hour in our stateroom.  I would just recommend going up to a higher floor for that reason.  

We had a wonderful time on the NCL Jade. The staff was excellent, very friendly, helpful, and happy. They made you feel right at home. The officers would stop and chat and make sure that everything was good.

The food was good and there was plenty of it and lots of good options.

The stateroom was clean and the stateroom attendant did a great job and was always eager to please.

Ship is judged by lodging, food and activities. Lodging was OK, clean laundry and restroom, nice steward, some noise first night from above, no TV first day -broken remote control. Food went down from previous cruise or comparing with Princess. Company would not go bankrupt providing free lobster in main dining room. Le Bistro did not live up to the name, was worse than main dining room. Activities not up to my expectations except magician Cripton, trivia in the past were three times a day, fell to two, bookcases in library were mostly closed, choice of books poor. As for shore excursions, change name of one in Belize from "Howler monkeys and Belize zoo" to 'Belize zoo and some monkeys" -zoo was good but monkeys shown for few minutes in one small spot of forest. Next time I will try Holland or Celebrity.

Sincerely yours,

Pavel Martynov

We could not have been happier with our cruise.  We have sailed with Norwegian before, but this was the best trip ever!  This time we had the "beverage package" and could get a mimosa with breakfast, and mango meltdown with lunch, wine with dinner, and a nightcap after seeing a show.  The entertainment was great, the food good, and we enjoyed our shore excursions too.  Thankfully we booked our shore excursions with NCL because in Cozumel there were some problems (like a flat tire and another guest left her wallet) and we were late returning to the ship - but we were not left at the dock!  And we really, really, really like the "Freestyle" dining so we could go to eat when and with whom we wanted.  Hooray for NCL!!!

Too much smoke!  Smoking allowed in the casino and at a cigar bar.  No separation so smoke drifted badly to nearby lounges etc.  The service by waiters, bar tenders, etc. was friendly and efficient.

This was a great week with outstanding  service and smiles from the crew. The quality of the food was exceptional and excellent. We enjoyed the Cruise so much that we have booked another Cruise with Norwegian next year.

Simply an awesome adventure that ended to soon for a first time cruise. Looking forward to more cruises with the Norwegian line. Everything was excellent, the food awesome and a great value for what we spent. Can't wait to go out again.

I was the escort for 100 Zoomers on the Valentine Cruise abroad the Jade.  The experience went so smoothly because of your the crew and staff that I can say "excellent".  Several cruisers made the comment that the loading  and disembarkation was the easiest ever..  I met with Antonellle Cassata and Aldine, the dining manager at 2:00 pm to the discuss the needs or the groups and every desire was met.  If there were any specific issues during the cruise, I had the names and numbers of the "go to" people and issues were resolved immediately.  The group got to have a special cocktail party along with a group pictures that they will print in our Del Webb magazine, Sun Rays.

Cruise overall was average. Dining rooms were noisy.Specialty dining was better.

Staterooms were not as well maintained by staff as on all other cruise lines I have cruised with. Cruise director/entertainment staff were very good.

While this wasn't my first or second cruise with Norwegian, it was my 3rd. I have actually been on this ship when it was the Pride of Hawaii. I suppose it was better when I was cruising around Hawaii, I don't remember the ship being so small. First, the ship was much smaller than I recalled. I went to show my boyfriend around as it was his first cruise. Well a short walk and we had completed the tour. Not much left to see or do. The activities were lacking. The casino was small. The shop was the smallest shop I've ever seen on a ship, don't expect to find anything if you forgot to pack anything...you won't find much. 

What I do like about Norwegian is the lack of 20-somthing aged Carnival partiers hanging around acting like insane fools. I don't miss the 100+ families that allow their children to act like undisciplined mongrels. I myself have 4 kids and have taken them on a cruise and they were so well behaved they got praises every meal.....I don't miss the 20-something aged party seeking people acting like children neither..... Norwegian is for those aged 30+. You will find that most are 45+ but if you enjoy quiet cruises not dedicated to a huge party you will enjoy NCL for that much at least. 

It's not the large array of different aged guests quite like Royal Caribbean...RC is much more of young, family, and some wiser guests. It isn't quite the age of Princess Cruises either though. NCL is just the calmer, older crowd which I do not mind.....(we aren't talking Holland America here....calm down) 

The Pro: Freestyle cruising. I still love being able to come back and eat when I like. I will say that we were so bored on this ship we ate dinner every meal first thing. No restriction on when you have to rush back to go to dinner or eat really really late was still a plus. 

CON: NCL still has some of the worst food of any cruise line I have been on. Dessert? NO thanks, everything tastes like sponge cake with color. Snickerdoodle pound cake? why sure I love snickerdoodle cookies and cinnamon! Oh wait....hold on...where's the cinnamon? No cinnamon or sugar? sooooo it's just regular pound cake with a scoop of ice cream? what kind of trickery is this????

Oh but the crepe bar was nice. Could be better, but was delicious considering our meals most of the cruise.

My favorite: bananas foster....don't get your hopes up here. It only resembles the dish being that it had bananas and a sauce similar in color to bananas foster....who forgot to order cinnamon????!!! 

Again, no cinnamon on the bananas foster, no cooked bananas, the sauce was a mixture of butterscotch and some sort of citrus flavor mixed with sayyyy passionfruit??? I don't even know what to call that conglomerate of a dessert that I ate 2 bites of....only to try to figure out what the freaking heck it was made of. 

PRO: You are on vacation!!! You are in peaceful serenity!!

CON: you chose this over that awesome Royal Caribbean ship with more activities. 

If you find yourself choosing this cruise based on the great price.....enjoy yourself and go into it knowing you must bring board games to occupy yourself and just kick back with your smuggled booze and relax......

we took this cruise last minute so we got a great price on the cruise.  We booked an ocean view guaranteed room.  We ended up in cabin 4526.  Good room location , near the elevators with a straight shot up 12 to spa, fitness center, pool and Garden Cafe. Jorge was a great room steward. Friendly and accommodating to our needs and schedule. There was plenty of storage for the two of us, space adequate and bed comfortable.  I was worried about the location on deck four but it was smooth sailing and it made going to shore easy since that is the floor you exit on n ports.  We had been to these ports often so we just wandered around the dock shopping area.  Always stop for a beer and free wifi at the Beer in Cozumel.  So as far as port reports we did not do excursions.  

The Jade is a nice midsize ship.  It is in need of updating but is kept pretty clean by a very friendly staff.  The one exception are the chairs in Medusa, they could use a good cleaning.  The entertainment on the ship was very good.  David Naster, the comedian, was great and delivered a wonderful message about using humor to get through tough times.  The production shows were very good.  The acrobatic duo were awesome.  The comedian/juggler was very entertaining.  As with most theaters on cruise ships you are glad the shows don't last too long because the seating is not the most comfortable to stay in too long. Rows very close together but does not stop us from going to the shows.  We dined in the main dining room at night and food was good to very good.  Garden Cafe had a good variety and the setup of several food stations made it flow well.  Prince, the washy washy guy that greeted you made me smile.  He was so joyful.  Not many people go on cruises and stick to their "diet" but f you choose to do so there are many healthier options to choose from.   We are not gamblers but did walk into the casino.  It appeared small and smoky but well used.  We used the Thermal suite in the spa for an extra charge.  It was nice but would like a larger coed relaxation area so hubby and I could relax together.  But all in all it is worth the expense of $129/ person for the week.  On the deck area near the pool it was crowded on sea days but we could always find a place to sit, read and people watch while enjoying a few beverages.  

Debarkation was so easy.  We carried off our own luggage.  Was off the ship in record time and had about a two hundred yard walk to our car in the parking lot($85 with a car cover for the week). It was a very relaxing cruise and yes I would recommend sailing out of Houston.  

This was my first cruise arranged by my daughter and her family.  I am 84 and wonder why I waited so long to do something this exciting and wonderful.  It was such a great experience. There was something for everyone and I am only sorry I could not take in more of the activities.   That means maybe I should take another cruise so I can enjoy the activities I missed, such as the zip line, the ruins, and some of the shows I missed..   The crew was outstanding and took wonderful care of us.  The food!   Oh my!  It was outstanding and there was so much to choose from.  I am sure I gained weight but it was worth it and will happily work on losing any extra pounds.    I especially enjoyed the surprise of the folded towel animals I found in my room each night and I did get to learn how to make them myself so can surprise my friends and family with them in the future.. I took advantage of the chapel and was so thankful you had it there where I could escape for some quiet time of prayer.

Thank you, Norgewian Jade, for a wonderful experience.  I can find nothing to complain about.

Mary L.Martens.  

Had a great time, the embarkation and disembarkation went very smoothly and quickly, and was well organized. We were a little concerned about several things after reading lots of reviews. But I will say, the ship was in great condition, very clean, and there were always crew everywhere cleaning. They were very careful about passenger hygiene, so there were hand sanitizer everywhere. And like at the buffet there were always ( washy, washy ) crew members with squirt bottles and big smiles and made it a part of the eating.

And I will say, the main crew member with that duty, got to be quite the celebrity during our trip. The cabin stewards were also great. We were very impressed buy all the crew, they all seamed to be having a good time, and had great attitudes.

Our cabin was very nice, we had a balcony room, and it was well worth the few extra hundred dollars. We had the door open the entire trip, once we left Houston, it was so great to sleep and wake up to the sight and sound of the water rushing by. I highly recommend it, you will sleep like a baby.

The entertainment was top notch, and there was a lots of variety, the singers and dancers were fantastic with big routines with lots of choreography and they never missed a beat and the singers were truly stellar. They also had an illusionist  couple that did a big show, and also another couple that did acrobatics, they were also great. and comedian Dave Naster who did 3 very different programs, which were all very thought provoking and yet very entertaining, and should be heard by a much bigger audience. And then another comedian/ juggler, also very entertaining. 

We got off the ship at all 3 stops, and did 2 snorkeling excursions, the first at  Belize, A tendered stop, so the boat picked us up right off the ship. took us out to the reef. The water was spectacularly clear and the excursion boat was very nice with a great crew and very nice equipment, lots of different fish and coral, even a ray swam by, very cool. and then they took us to a private island           ( starfish island ) and then took us back to the ship. It was a great day.

We also snorkeled in Roatan, but the weather was a little choppy where we were going, so before leaving the ship the excursion director handled it very well, with lots of excursions impacted he did great. He got us another excursion on the other side of the island, that particular tour was a little disorganized ( not run by NCL ) 

Overall a great trip, we would get right back on the ship now and go again and the couple we went with ( first timers ) also enjoyed themselves a lot.

A word of warning about the corkage fees, we thought we would be smart and bring a big bottle of wine as we knew about the corkage fees $15 per bottle, but they charge more for the big bottles $30 so plus the cost of the cheap wine $11 it winds up being $41. You can bring on your own water and pop which we did. But you do not really need to there is always drinks available juices and such. But the water was nice to have.

Anyway we had a great time, and would highly recommend NCL to anyone, and we cannot wait until we can go again.

Darryl & Robin

My young adult daughter and I booked 10 days before departure.  Great price for an ocean view room.  Food was great! Only problem we encountered was the tendering in Belize took far to long and people who had booked excursions from other vendors and not NCL were very upset because they were going to miss their excursions. From what the staff said, it was  not NCL's fault but the tender boat operators from Belize.  This should be fixed when in the late summer NCL opens its new island off of Belize which means no more tendering!

Overall we had a wonderful time and would cruise NCL again! Staff very pleasant and helpful!

Since this was our second Jade cruise, I was expecting to be "delighted," and NCL delivered the same quality and cleanliness standards we have come to expect. A few of the cruise staff remembered us from previous trips on other ships, making us feel like family reunited.  I hope NCL will decide to again offer lobster dinner at the complimentary restaurants for at least one night.  That would definitely earn them my 5-star rating.

We booked our land excursions separately through .  Watch out, because Norwegian Jade arrived one hour after our stated time for our day one land excursion.  On day two, we stood in line on the ship for 1 1/2 hours to get a tender number to get off the ship at an early time, (we were numbers 9 & 10 in line).  Our land excursion that day was set for 1 3/4 hours before we disembarked from the ship.  On day three, we finally arrived 2 1/2 hours early for our land excursion.  We have been cruising for years and have always booked our land excursions through Cruises Only and have never run into this problem before.  

The ships daily buffet was not very impressive...same uninteresting food each day. The dessert part of the buffet was okay, if you wanted an ice cream cone, as the rest of the desserts weren't very plentiful for individual selection.

The staff on Norwegian Jade was very cordial and did try to help as much as they could.

We are up in the air as to booking with Norwegian in the future because we want to enjoy our cruises that we plan for our vacation each year, not to worry all the while we are on the ship cruising.

There was nothing great about the jade - an older ship that needs to be refurbished.  Food was the same, menus for dinner, same - seafood you have to pay additional cost - Carnival does not charge extra. 

 Getting off at Belize was a nightmare..... NCL docks in Belize every week and they have not found a way to accommodate everyone getting off the ship in a timely fashion- not 2 hours waiting time .  Find another port then.....waste of time.  No waiter to offer coffee in the morning while you are having bfast but lot of "busyboys" to clean the tables.  

Some staff were very helpful - Carlene in jewelry, Megan at customer service, a waiter that works on deck 8 - working the nite shift from INdia - don't remember his name.