Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

My wife and I just completed our 10th cruise and opted to try NCL instead of the usual 2 cruise lines of which we have sailed with 5 times on one and 4 on the other.   We really enjoy cruising and have been very satisfied with our previous cruises as demonstrated by our history of of being returning guests.  We chose NCL this time just to see what else is out there and because the proximity of Port of Houston to our residence.  Our expectations were far exceeded in just about every aspect of the whole experience.   First, the ship was really beautiful. Granted our experience with multiple ships is somewhat limited but to us, the ship was the best we have been on. in fact, the whole cruise was the best one we have had to date.  The kitchen and wait staff were attentive, helpful and always pleasant. I can think of no way to improve on our experience as a whole with the crew, bar none.   We did the Mini-Suite this trip. We usually book that class of room so we have a pretty good idea on what the room should be like.  We found the room very pleasant but felt a little more confined than we have on the other 2 cruise lines. The room seemed  narrower than what we have used before. We found the bed to be a little too hard to our liking and was disappointed to find the sheets to be unfitted sheets with the bottom sheet always dislodged from its appointed place.  I really hate to find myself lying on a bare mattress sans bottom sheet.  Housekeeping staff did a great job of maintaining our room and always kept the ice bucket filled.  The entertainment on the ship was super. The shows were varied from song and dance to a pretty good magic show that was enjoyed by all.  This was a Christmas cruise for us, along with our children and their mates and our grand children.  The ship was tastefully decorated for the Christmas holiday and there was several opportunities to join in for singing carols in the big atrium. There was even a personal visit for every child from Santa in the main show room.  Every child received a gift from Santa. That was a nice touch NCL.   We will definitely return to NCL in the future.  To be clear, all the cruises we have taken in the past were really good but we found this particular cruise on the Jade to be great.    

For the most the cruise was nice but the boat was very rocky and my whole party of 3 did not feel too well. My daughter got extremely sick the fourth day of the cruise because of all the movement of the ship. 

Although some of the staff were outstanding on the Norwegian Jade, many of the staff looked like they were overworked and burnt out. They couldn't even smile. I feel like Norwegian may do a better job with benefits, i.e., provide wifi for the staff who are so far from home and from their family. It was my understanding that the staff had to pay for wifi and it is quite expensive.

Dining Rooms were not very elegant and felt more like eating in a cafeteria. The waiter in the Grand Pacific did not explain our choices, much less crack and smile or even act friendly. Again, I feel like these people are overworked.

We felt like the food was mediocre at best. Several meals left us feeling kind of sick to our stomach. After trying both dining rooms and finding them terribly noisy and not great food, we preferred the buffet even for dinner. Although the last evening (12/10/15) the buffet left us feeling very disappointed and somewhat sick.

Sorry to be so negative, but it was quite a disappointment in so many ways.

Some highlights were staff who went above and beyond.....Nilda in the buffet turned in my purse that I inadvertently left in the dining room....thank you to her! I Ningah (sp?) from Indonesia was a terrific young waiter and never without a smile and happy attitude. Loved him! Aubrey, our room steward was great and provided us with superior service. Thank you so much to all those who go the extra mile. I know they work hard and I feel for them having to be aware from friends and loved ones for so long while working on the ship.

The NCL Jade was usually very clean and well kept (just a few areas I noticed).  The entertainment was great!  We really enjoyed The Tenors of Rock and the Elements show!

Just a couple of small things:

The Blue Lagoon could use a good buffalo sauce on their buffalo wings.  The current sauce seems like it is ketchup based and sub par to many out there in restaurants.  

I enjoyed the Jasmine restaurant, being a regular dinning area now (you do not have to pay extra for it), I totally understand the wait time because it is a small area and many people want to dine in this area.  The appetizers were great!!!  The entree's were not great!  Entree's could use work to look and taste more like authentic asian cuisine.  It opens at 5:30pm so have a member of your party arrive at 5pm (or earlier!) to wait in line.  After that, there seems to be a wait for most of the night.

The restaurants, Grand Pacific and Alizar, were pretty good, we could always find something that we really wanted to try out.  We miss the Lobster night!  I wish NCL could bring that back.  One major complaint is that a majority of the nights dinner lasted almost 90 to 120 minutes.  A two hour dinner? Really?  That means if we sit at 5:30 (which is when it opens) and want to go to the first show at 7:30pm in Stardust Theatre, we will not make it!  We had to tell our waiter not to bring dessert out on two dinners of our seven night cruise because of that.  This is consistent with NCL, my last three cruises with NCL, dinners were too long!

I really, really liked our Ultimate Beverage Package, very much worth paying extra to add it on during booking (try to catch one of the deals that are offered).

I didn't see as many spa promotions this time around, I was looking for a good one to take advantage of, but that wasn't my main focus of the cruise so I did not end up doing a spa treatment this time.  

We encountered a very rude casino employee (at the help desk), she was not very courteous to a couple people of my group.  Maybe she was having a bad week?

Other than that, we had a fantastic time on NCL Jade!

This was our first cruise so we had no preconceived ideas about what to expect.  We were pleased with cruise which we took to unwind and relax more than anything else.  Our cabin was comfortable--we wouldn't have enjoyed anything without a balcony we decided.  We enjoyed the specialty restaurants, the personal service and friendliness of the staff, the cleanliness of the ship and the choices of venues for dining and drinks. 

Complete lack of bar staff on pool deck any days but with 3 full sea days I saw 2 servers max for the ENTIRE CRUISE FOR THE ENTIRE POOL DECK. I had to chase down a waiter or wait 10 mins or more to get a drink at the bar. Every night dinner was a 2 hour plus ordeal. Getting refills for water was almost impossible. But if you ordered lots of drinks with nice gratuities on it...oh boy you got amazing drink refills then, even when you don't ask more more drinks you get them and they get charged to the room bill. 3 nights the manager for the specialty dining restaurants would have to send other waiters to finish our dinner cause we would sit for over 30 mins waiting for the next course and nothing. Our first waiter would fully help the Haven guests or larger groups ordering tons of drinks with gratuities but not us. The manager would always very carefully come ask later how was the taste of your food. Not how is your dinner going? I would quickly open my mouth to complain and they would interrupt and loudly be like" oh good glad your food is good." Turn and walk off. Never asking what the service was like. I was charged for cans of soda that we never even ordered and if I had not been watching my account like a hawk I would of been charged extra money. I have never seen such long lines day in and day out at customer service. I got maybe 15 receipts this whole cruise. All the rest I was never asked to sign for. Hard to prove you never got something if you don't have receipts. I know 6 other people on board that were charged an extra 10 or 15 mysterious dollars to the on board account also. Nice way to slowly rob the guest. Our toilet was broke from day one. I reported the issue no one ever came to our room. Spent full cruise having to baby the flush button and hope it would pop back out so we could flush. Does not leave ones room smelling good. I asked customer service about the lack of employees to actually provide actually the services I paid for. She told me to talk to HR if I thought the ship was understaffed and then to contact NCL when I got home to complain. She could not help me. I left notes to have the bed changed because we were being bitten at night by some bug. I believe possibly one bed, the main bed the sheets where changed. Not the two other beds because my kids glitter or face painting marks were still on the bed sheets. So the bites continued. Normally, at return to port there is water, Popsicles, cookies. cool towels while we have to stand in line to tender or wait for security. I got a warm but wet towel and plain water at Honduras, of course the last port. Only once did I see someone enforce the no jumping into the pools rule. Even tho there was staff manning the slide. It was to late for me to continue using the pool after a kid jumped on me and then kicked me in the face. No enforcement of the adult only hot tubs or pool also.And the massive water main break. That we were offered only some bottle water POURED into a cup. You guys couldn't even give us a full bottle of water during this time. I had to get off the ship to fill my water bottles and GO BUY a bottle of water at a decent price. I do not spend tons of money to have to babysit your staff to make sure I enjoy my cruise. There needs to be enough staff and they need to know how to deal with every situation on board. Not tell you to call and complain after the cruise. I should of never walked off the ship with you holding my money hostage. I did not get what I paid for. This was our 4th cruise in 1 year with NCL. I know what service is. I know what to expect from good service on board. I DID NOT GET IT. You have my money that you DO NOT Deserve. 

The cruise started off with no A/c for the first night (stayed up sweating all night) and after 2 complaints and demanding they fix it now they came around noon the next day. The service was horrible, no silverware on tables or s&p, no of at the machine, ice cream machine was broke almost the whole time. Made several attempts to find port shopping lady. Took 3 days and several inquiries (no one tried to find her for us they just told us where she had been hours ago), finally tracked her down in Belize b/c I had heard her say where she would be at 11:45 that day. The food was horrible as were the cocktails (even if you have the Ulimate Beverage pkg. they try to give you well instead of top shelf even when you ask for it. Got to watch them closely) unless you went to the Topsiders bar. Restaurants all close at different times so we spent a lot of time searching for one to be open. Ended up at the Garden Café mostly and the food sucked there except for the omelets. Ship was dirty and smelled like cigarettes. Husband found gum on elevator railing after he had already touched it, ewww! Room service took 2 hours for a cheese and fruit platter. It wasn't even cooked food and they took forever! Staff was very unjoyful. They did not speak or understand English very well. It was hard to communicate and they looked like they wanted to jump overboard too. The ship listed far to port on 12/15/15. I flew into our cabin door from the bed. When I called the lady at front desk acted like I was being silly. To top it all off, my husband woke up at 3m on Wed to go to the restroom and stepped into 2 inches of water. Of course the worst thoughts go through your head. We called the front desk and were told it was a pipe that had burst and to stay in our rooms. Water was getting deeper so we opened the door to have rushing scalding hot water coming into our room. My husband got his feet burned slightly. I have anxiety issues and the room was now filling with steam and we couldn't breathe. We called the front desk again and the man acted like I was just too upset so he was going to send someone. My husband and I weren't going to wait on him. We couldn't breathe it was like a sauna in there. We have video of all of this too. We decided to throw on our shoes and run for it in our pjs! We took off and were told to turn around, the hot water was coming from that way. We turned around and ran down the halls and to the stairs, down the stairs to the foyer where guest services are. The man t the desk was a s calm as could be. I was hyperventilating and crying by this point. I have an auto immune disease and all of this stress and running caused great pain and anxiety for me. I asked for water since the man was doing nothing for us. When the water was delivered by staff the man at the desk kept it and I finally went up to get it. He wasn't going to be helpful at all. Others trickled down in their pjs. All unbelieving of what was going on and the lack of attention brought to us. We waited in the foyer for 3 hours before someone walked by and my husband asked for pillows so we could at least lay our heads down. We were finally given a room by Nelson at about 6:30am. Our new room was 3 floors lower and as far aft as you could go, right next to the anchor and engine. Super awesome, NOT!!! As soon as we layed our heads down the anchor was pulled up (which makes A LOT of noise!)to go to the pier to get everyone off of ship since water was turned off for everyone due to pipe exploding. Start to doze off again and the engines start to leave pier and vibrate our room greatly and loud again. We go out to tendering position and drop the anchor!!! F$%*&^!!! Finally fell asleep but had to cancel our excursion and our spa time due to no sleep and in pain now.

We were offered $400 onboard credit and we said no that wasn't going to cut it for how much we paid and the nightmare we had experienced. Sayeed and Nelson came to our room to apologize and offer us 2 dinners at the nice restaurants to try to salvage some fun left on the trip. We accepted but not as compensation for what we had been through. We came back from the second night of the nice dinner at Cagneys (and it was VERY good!) but only to find our cabin had been turned down and the door was left open for all to come in. So pissed! Our cameras, our wallets, everything was in there. Thank goodness nobody stole anything. So, cabin 5508 door doesn't close all the way if you happen to get that room. They ended up giving us the $400 onboard credit even though we asked them not to. We had taken the Jewel last year and had the most wonderful experience which is why we took the same cruise again. We heard that they had taken all the seasoned staff off and put them on Norwegians' 2 new mega ships to get them going. Maybe that is what happened. We don't know but we met at least 40 other people who said it was the worst cruise they had ever had too and were going home to complain )some had complained on ship) and a couple newbies who said they would never cruise again. Very sad as cruising can be a blast. Will be interesting to see how Norwegian makes this up to all of us. Will let you know when we know.

This was our first cruise.  We enjoyed pretty much all of our experiences while on board.  With that many people aboard and the duration of the trip it would be impossible that all would be perfect, never-the-less we have nothing to complain about.  The room and the ship throughout was clean and very presentable.  The food was very good and we especially loved the Garden Palace. It was fun drinking coffee while sitting on the aft for 12th deck especially at sunset.

We met no one who wasn't at least pleasant and considerate.  The room-steward was always very considerate, thorough and cordial.

I (Jerry), and one other from our party of eleven must have eaten something Friday morning from the buffet on the 12th deck that gave us an upset stomach Friday evening and night. On Saturday morning we were both fine.

The stage show provided by comedian David Naster was very enjoyable.  We laughed through every show.  The magician and the acrobatic shows were good.  The other shows and games didn't interest us.

Our room was quiet and we were never disturbed by noise from the hall or rooms next door.

In comparing our experience with Norwegian Cruise with that of others from other cruise liners, well, we made the right choice.

NCL has definitely lowered its standards! Food was always cold! service was poor! 

room service was also poor! It felt like the entire ship was in a chaos all the time! Won't cruise with them again! 

FOOD VERY POOR !!  WILL NOT SAIL WITH NCL AGAIN. HAD SAILED PREVIOUS ON EPIC AND VERY SATISFIED, BUT JADE WAS HORIABLE !!  WHAT MORE CAN I SAY DO NOT BOOK ON THE JADE ...

Food was terrible.  They crushed my luggage, lost multiple items.  The service was non existent.  The last day of our cruise in port at Roatan was rushed so we could return - we arrive in Houston at 4pm on 12/11 and was not allowed to depart the ship until the next day.  This was not a good experience for my first cruise.  Not sure I will ever take NCL again, was not impressed with their operations.  I voiced my complaints to the customer service and they were just like "well I hate to hear that, but this is free style" apparently free style is equal to free from customer service.

Pros: freestyle eating, entertainment, cleanliness, staff, comfortable beds

Cons: restaurant service, food was better than average but not great, no compensation on lost beverage package when we returned to port a day early due to weather, hidden service charges

Did not participate in ship activities although there were plenty of options

Great cruise. Staff was awesome. My only slight negative is that service in most all restaurants was a bit slow. Tea and coffee was not refilled often if at all and it seemed there was more than usual lag time between courses. 

Again, not that big a deal but was noticed. Other than that I would give a 5 star rating.

The ship was well taken care of. The balcony room was a little small compared to others, but still very comfortable. Belize and Honduras were very crowded and locals will bug you like crazy to buy there stuff. I will get a taxi next time and leave the port area. I was not impressed with the port area at all. The food was so-so. The bartenders at the Atrium Bar were fantastic!

I have cruised NCL before and was always happy with ship and crew. but this one really dropped the ball.  The service from the crew was horrible overall.  The dining room staff could not get us served in under 2 hours and sometimes more.  We were traveling with 4 cabins of children and grandchildren and wanted service and table for 12.  They could not get this done without making us feel like we were the problem.  The food was ok, but not to my earlier NCL experience.   Room service never met my expectations as rooms were not arranged as requested for children and it went downhill from there.  Had to ask for Ice continously.  The office crew notified us of a credit card that was not reading and we went ot desk and they promised it would be taken care of.  While disembarking we had to go back and address the problem again.  And it was not of our doing, but the ships.  The staff did not know the rules and regulations posted in writing and on signs and were not pleasant.  Overall I will probably never travel NCL again or reccomend it to our friends,   My family traveling with us had all cruised before and basicly feel the same. 

Overall, the cabin, food, and drink quality were decent.  However, the customer service was fairly poor.  The captain made the decision on day 5 to bring the ship in early to avoid foggy conditions on Day 7 (which never occurred, I might add).  However, neither he nor the staff did an adequate job of informing the guests what was going on, and how the schedule for the ship would be affected.  We were told at first that the ship's stores and bars would be closing at 7pm on Day 6.  Other staff told us 5pm, and yet others said 3pm.  We were surprised when everything shut down at 2:20pm without so much as an announcement or warning.  We were unable to complete our onboard shopping, and because we were now in Texas waters, could not order the premium drinks that we had signed up for with the Ultimate Beverage Package.  After being passed from customer service person to customer service person, and speaking with 2 managers about our problems, it was obvious that they weren't willing to admit any screw-ups, or do anything to help make up for the poor communication.  Other cruise lines are quick to keep their guests happy, but Norwegian doesn't really care.

Also, on Day 6, our room steward left our stateroom door unlocked and open after cleaning it.  Luckily, we returned quickly after he left, and nothing was stolen.  We spoke to the cleaning manager about this, and only received a forced apology.

Having been on 3 other cruise lines, the customer service on Norwegian is definitely the worst of the 4.  The food and beverages were decent, but the customer service and corporate policies need to change before we will considering sailing with them again.

So much fun! We did not expected so many activities to do on the ship. The best part was the dancing classes. All personnel were so friendly. Art auctions were incredible. We loved cruising!

We only spent two nights onboard, but all was great, even the hospital staff! Loved the roomy cabin, crew, etc. Husband had sudden heart problem which caused us to disembark in Cozumel. Thank goodness for the insurance, but be aware that the foreign countries want all their money up front. We had Medicare, but it  doesn't cover outside of the US. wHopefully, NCL will handle their part of the insurance reimbursement promptly as they maxed out my credit card on file to pay part of their hospital cost, which was $11,996.00 USD (like 2 nights in an ICU). Wish we could have stayed onboard longer to enjoy what was looking light a first class experience at a great price!

Never again will I sail with Norwegian.  This was easily the worst cruise of the 15+ cruises I have taken.  Here are the specifics:

*  Balcony room extreamly small.  Had to sit on the commode with my legs outside the door to accommodate.

*  Breakfast room service did not include any fresh fruit, yogurt, bagels, eggs.  Only coffee and a few pastries offered.

*  Cruise was totally understaffed.  Waited 20 minutes at bar for a drink.  Saw bartenders arguing with each other.

*  Overall staff rude and not friendly.

*  Food in main dining room marginal at best.

*  At the "Martini Bar" they had few martini glasses.  Served Martini's in water glasses.  After dinner drinks such as Gran Marnier also served in water glasses.

*  Was not given final bill at the end of the cruise.  Had to specifically ask for it after cruise.

*  Dirty pool towels removed by cabin staff and not replaced.  Towel service by pool would not provide additional towels.

*  Departure unorganized with passengers arguing with staff.

In speaking with other passengers, we found out we were not alone with our dissatisfaction. Long time Norwegian passengers said it was the worst cruise they had ever been on with Norwegian.

Having been on over 50 cruises this ship had the worst food. We ate every night at the specialty restaurants. service was ok but the food the worst. out of the four of us traveling together none of us ever finished the food and 2 got sick. The shows were good and our suites very nice. Our butler went out of his way to help us when we got sick. The concierge was most helpful on the whole trip. The shops were not well stocked unless you liked cheap watches or perfume. WE went the week after Thanksgiving yet there were so many kids in the pools and hot tubs we never could use them .