Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I have always said that even the worst cruises still have some good points. Certainly, Norwegian Cruises wasn't a terrible cruise but there seemed to be more than an expected number of oops than I've had on other cruise lines. 

Starting from the beginning, boarding was fast and painless and the rooms were ready when we boarded. The mini-suite was roomy with more than adequate storage room. Luggage was promptly delivered. Then when one visited the buffet you started to notice little things. Getting served was easy but finding a place to sit was impossible and none of the staff seemed to be in a hurry to clear dirty tables. The result was walking around looking for a spot and then just walking up to strangers with an empty seat and asking if we could join them. Haven't noticed this problem on other lines. Seemed the personnel were unconcerned and didn't pay a lot of attention to the passengers. 

Then next day was when you really started to notice just how much personnel had been reduced. Our room wasn't cleaned until late afternoon and then towels and wash cloths weren't left. Finally found a cart in the hallway that had some towels. I can't fault the cabin attendant he was trying but you could tell he was way overloaded. To be fair I have noticed over the last few years that most of the large ship lines have made personnel cuts but at the same time I have never not had my cabin cleaned until almost 5PM.and then not have bathroom linens supplied. 

On a positive note three of the four specialty restaurants we visited were outstanding. Le Bistro and Cagney's were first rate, with delicious food and impeccable service. Moderno was also very good and offered a good variety of roasted meats. The only disappointment was the Italian venue called La Cucina. The location is in a spot where there is a banging noise overhead which was distracting. Service was very slow even though there were few people dining. Then when the food was served it was barely warm. I sent back an order of calamari that were cold, greasy, and tasteless. They came back a bit warmer but still not appetizing. The entree was the same, served cold and by this time we had waited over an hour and gave up. I heard similar comments from other cruisers saying the same things. The visit to Grand Pacific was less than pleasant. It was so noisy that people were shouting at each other across the tables. Also food was served at best lukewarm. Even though this was a "free" dining venue I would have expected the food to be tasty and served hot. 

One nice aspect of the Garden Buffet at dinner time was the hot crepes that were prepared with fillings of your choice. The evenings we didn't eat at the specialty restaurants we enjoyed these special treats. I have never seen this done on a cruise line so kudos to Norwegian on this. 

Another very nice venue was the Mixers Martini Bar on the sixth deck. Bartender Charlie did a great job of mixing drinks and keeping the cruisers happy. We enjoyed Mixer's so much that we never made it to any of the other venues serving drinks. Another real plus was the beverage package that Norwegian offers. It was just as advertised, you could have any drink up to the specified limit. This was a very nice touch. 

One of the biggest oops was when the toilet decided to stop working. Push the button and nothing happened. We'd call customer service and be told they's report it. Finally gave up and went looking for other options. Then the commode would decide to operate properly for a short while and then stop again. Finally, someone admitted they were having problems with the system. I realize that maintenance issues are a fact of life, but just be upfront and tell us that you have problems and then we can come up with solutions. This along with the poor cabin service was what kept this cruise from being first rate. 

Would I cruise again with Norwegian? Since they are leaving our area this spring and won't be returning most likely I will not. If this had been my first cruise most likely these negative points wouldn't have mattered that much. But as a long time cruiser I've had much better experiences and most likely will stick with them. 

Please remember that these are only my observations and as such may not be viewed by everyone in the same manner. As I mentioned in the beginning, even  the worst cruise still has some high points and in all fairness Norwegian did have some of those. 

I really enjoyed my cruise on the Jade.  The food was great, employees were wonderful and my room was nice.  The only drawback is that too many of the activities on board the ship cost and their was too much trying to sell me something.  But that didn't keep me from having a great time and I look forward to doing it again soon!

the services were good. The shows were excellent.The ship was cold,had to wear a sweater in many areas of the ship.The deck plans,well lets say I had a hard time getting around,very confusing.The drinks are very expensive and weak.The daily event schedule did not show what level the events take place,for example,show band at the Medusa lounge at 7pm.Where the hell is the Medusa?The lower level rooms were ship noisy.Get what you paid for.

We loved this cruise; the people on the ship were all courteous and helpful.  The specialty restaurants were fabulous, and our package included that plus drinks, so we were well fed and had drinks to spare the whole week.  The entertainment was far superior to other cruises we've been on.  Every night was excellent.  This is a cruise I would definitely recommend to friends.  The only negative item was the process of 'tenders' getting guests off the ship.  There has to be a more efficient way to do this so people don't have to stand in line so long.

Cathy C.

Houston, Tx.

The food was good, the service was average but the room was not clean.  We found mold in the sink and trash can.  We also had to clean the TV screen and the mirrors to be able to see. Found a previous guest Zantac behind the ice bucket and dirty socks under the bed.

Our overall rating of this cruise is that it lacked the overall sparkle that was present in most of the cruises we have experienced. Observations:

The food was of lower quality and selection than anticipated.

Staff members were obviously not trained in the ships features. Questions unanswered, among others, were; Where would we be able to attend a worship service while on board, and; prior to leaving the port in Houston; where will a cell phone work?

  A major concern:  during the night, at about 3 AM on 2 nights while at sea, we were awakened by pounding and other construction sounds. It sounded like heavy articles were being moved around. We asked about this at the service desk. what we were told was to call if we heard it again. We did hear it again but since it was toward the end of the cruise, it seemed it would be a waste of effort to call in the middle of the night, and then need to answer our and be imposed upon even more. We were in a cabin on deck 10. It shouldn't have been difficult for you to determine the source of the noise. 

The entertainment on cruises in general seems to have deteriorated over time. NCL is no exception.

The cabin dimensions have become too tight. 2 examples: the overhead bunk is an obstacle for navigation on one side of the cabin, and the corner table below the TV makes it difficult to squeeze through on the other side.

This was our second, and probably our last NCL cruise. On our first cruise, not NCL, we were impressed with the pristine atmosphere, the food quality, staff knowledge, among other things. In several cruises since that one, on varrious cruise lines, we did not notice a significant decrease in quality between cruises until this one. 

Overall, NCL is disappointing in many ways. 

I like the freestyle type of eating the state room was always made neat and clean great stops and enjoyed the ports better than flying to each country will go back to Roatan Honduras

Had a good time.  Food was great.  Boarding and unboarding was very quick and efficient.  Belize tender took a long time (5 miles from shore).  unless you do a tour, the stops are just typical tourist traps but still fun.  Our biggest complaint was this- the cruise staff in charge of activities were all from a non English speaking countries and most do not know how to read, write or speak either American or British English.  Their attempts to run various games such as trivia or family feud were a disaster.  They were unprepared and not familiar with American customs, resulting in a lot of misunderstanding.  Communication is their job but they do it very poorly.  There also were not very many free activities on the at sea days.  Bingo was a bit expensive (39-89).

The cruise itself was great. The tours we took at ports were great. The only concern we had was on Thursday we were informed that there was a $13.50 charge per day, per passenger as a gratuity for the room stewards and the food staff. I don't have a problem with the charge because they deserved it. The problem we had was we were not informed of this before we left. The additional charge of $183 was a shock. On our past cruises, the charge was as low a $5.00. I believe should have informed us of this. 

The Norwegian Jade had the best entertainment of any of my nine cruises.  Food was excellent and the wait staff very conscientious.  Loved the Cruise Director and his staff.  Would definitely said the Jade again.

Overall the cruise was good, the ship was kept clean and neat. Our room was very nice, we had everything we needed and our room attended was probably the best part of our experience on the ship. I celebrated my birthday while on the cruise and I never mentioned it to him but he found out and was the only one of the ship crew that wished me a happy birthday, and left a birthday card from the ship in our room. Unlike our room attendant, every thing else on my birthday made the day difficult and upsetting. We had booked an excursion on the 2nd to celebrate in Belize and we missed our excursion because of the delay to get off the boat. I understand the boat was SLIGHTLY delayed because of local clearance, but the tender process was terrible. We waited in an extremely long line for over an hour to get a tender ticket, then stood and waited in another line for several hours with our group number to board the correct tender. We watch people who did NOT have a tender ticket or had tickets for later tenders go in front of us. The attendant that was supposed to be taking the tickets was too busy talking to pay attention to her job. We missed our excursion, lost the deposit on that excursion and lost 3 hours in port time. This made the worst start to my birthday. It was followed by a terrible dinner in the blue lagoon restaurant, where my chicken was served raw on the inside..completely raw.. when I was brought a replacement of the same meal the chicken was near burnt and was not served with my side or sauce. We just gave up and went to bed. Hoping that was just one bad day the next morning hoping the tender to get to Honduras would work better. Again we stood in line for 2 1/2 hours, despite being one of the first in line. And again it was unorganized and people didn't know where to line up creating very confused and then very angery people. My boyfriend sent me inside away from the crowd because several people began yelling at each other and one threatened physical violence. Durning this whole episode there was not one crew member present. Until several people went to the service counter were crew members sent and by then things were such a mess they ended up causing more confusion.  We also had issues at the bars, we would have to stand and wait to be attended to and then was told on one of the last days people had created a line to help the bartenders attend to people in order. Why do the people on the ship have to help organize the crew process to get service?  We also had issues with the entertainment. It was all geared towards a much older age group and we felt very overlooked and limited on how to send our time on board. Most of the time we would go and watch people play bingo- not fun. Granted a majority of the people cruising were 50 and older, but it would have been nice to have a few things geared toward a younger (25-35) crowd. The magician was fun to see though. It would also have been nice to have more 24 or even late night food options or snacks. It wasn't the worst trip we've been on but we agreed that when we cruise again we will be choosing a different cruise line. 

The Norwegian Jade is a beautiful Ship. The entertainment was fantastic, I think has been the best of any ship I have been on, I love the Garden Cafe no long lines. The overall staff were very friendly and helpful. I would return to a cruise on this ship in the future

Upon boarding the Jade at 1545, I had to fight my way thru racks of linens, large brown paper trash bags, chemicals, sprays, rags, cleaners, buckets , giant linen bags, large red power cords, etc. blocking the entire hallway of the bow area on the port side, deck 5. Once in my cabin, the bed had been made up with clean linens, and the head was clean. However, there were lots of crumbs, hair, dirty kleenex, etc on the floors (had not been cleaned), and there was smeared goop on desk, and all tables in cabin (of various colors and degrees of hardness). No water or ice. Porthole was FILTHY!! Blackout curtain half hanging down with no attachment to rod, etc.... 

Three calls to front desk and housekeeping did not solve problem over three hours time. I found my cabin steward, and told him the hallway, (now with spilled bucket of fluid, and large yellow dirty linen bag blocking door) and dirty cabin was UNACCEPTABLE!!! (ship time 1850 on 1/23/2016). I politely but firmly,said I was going up on deck and will return in one hour, please correct these issues. I returned 90 minutes later to: Spotless cabin, clear and clean hallway, fresh ice and water. He was extremely polite and kind, and must have worked furiously to make this happen...kudos to him!!! (I wrote a HERO card for him) He deserves ALL gratuity money! Not one single staff person on this ship deserves ANY of the gratuity. Your standards on this ship are pitiful compared to my last cruise on The Spirit, 12 day Med. cruise Sept. 2014..Sham on you!!

Very nice cruise.well worth the money spend.the only thing keeping me for giving it a five is compared to other cruises I have been on they could improve on the main dinning experience .

Friendly staff, very clean and sanitary ship, & plenty to do. Food in main dining room could be hit or miss sometimes. Food in specialty restaurants totally worth it, especially in the dining package. Bed wasn't comfortable but this was an inside room and you get what you pay for. Very hard workers aboard who take pride in what they do. 

We enjoyed just about everything about our trip this time.  Our only complaint is that they could use better coffee and our steak in the restaurant Cagney's which we paid an up charge for (about $58 I think) was just sort of ok.  I had better steaks in the free style dining areas that had no upcharge.

We thought the entertainment was wonderful!!  David Naster and El Gaucho were real highlights and of course, all the dancers/singers were wonderful.  Magician

Cripton was quite good.  Started out a little cheesy but ended up with a real bang!

Waiting on my $100.00 refund. We was due a $100.00 on broad credit. Didn't receive it. The ship personal said that they had talked with you and you said that you would just refund the $100.00.

This was the BEST cruise we have ever been on.  (We've been on 5 cruises now.)  The people who worked for NCL, the food, the service, the ship, etc. were exceptional.  I would be hard pressed to find something to complain about.  I would repeat this cruise in a heartbeat!!!!!

My husband and I had not cruised with Norwegian for almost a decade but have cruised with them on three prior cruises. This was our 16th cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed it for the most part.  The staff was beyond wonderful and the food was great.  There were only two areas that disappointed us.  First and foremost was the fact that people were allowed in the nicer, more formal dining room in attire only appropriate for mowing the lawn.  When we asked a dining room supervisor why it was allowed when it was clearly stated in the daily newsletter that shorts were not allowed in that dining room for dinner.  Basically she indicated that upper level management policy was to not enforce the guidance because they didn't want to make people angry.  Well, to that I say what about the rest of us who make the effort to shower and wear decent clothing to dinner?  Do we not matter?  If I wanted to cruise on Carnival that is what I would expect, but my previous experience cruising with Princess, Azamara, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean is that they do not allow this.  

    The other disappointment was with the tendering operation in Belise.  I had gotten an excursion ticket thru  (whom I booked this cruise thru) and was instructed that I needed to be on the first tender due to the excursion departure time.  On the morning we arrived in Belise, I got up early and was the second person in the line, which I stood in for 1 1/2 hours to get a first tender ticket.  Well, we waited and waited for our number to be called and when it finally was (over an hour after our excursion show time) they called both numbers 1 and 2 simultaneously and there were so many people camping out on the stairs that we couldn't even get to the point to turn in our # 1 tender ticket.  By the time we got ashore, our excursion was long gone.  We were put on a later, abbreviated version which was great, no thanks to Norwegian. In short, I wasted my time standing in line and waiting to be called when hundreds of people with higher tender numbers were allowed to completely block access and ultimately were allowed to board ahead of us.

   In essence, these were small disappointments because we did have a wonderful time overall.  What I want to impart is that having policies and guidelines that are clearly not followed sends the message that those of us who follow the guidelines are less important customers than those who ignore them.  Not very professional in my opinion. My husband and I cruise frequently, often several times a year, and while we will probably cruise with Norwegian again at some point in the future, it will not be our first choice.

My Mom and I had a great time on this cruise. Thank you for the  excellent service of the entire NCL Crews and Staff, great food and entertainment and on board activities. This trip is highly recommended. This is our first cruise and would love to do it again. Special thanks to Alicia Salgado Robles for putting it together.