Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Love the varied Itinerary.  This was our first trip to Greece and Turkey.  My husband was skeptical of Turkey but ended up loving it.  We loved, loved Ephesus and were so impressed with Kusadashi as a port.  The overnight in Istanbul allows for a more relaxed experience.  Previously we took a Mediterranean cruise that visited 5 ports in 7 days.  Very exhausting and up early everyday for the excursions as most of the ports were an hour from the places you wanted to be.  This was much more relaxing as the ports were convenient to shopping and the sights.  Entertainment on NCL ships have proven to be very good and the food is also noteworthy.  We dine in the regular dining rooms, not the upcharge dining.  All the staff were extremely friendly and accommodating.     Truly a wonderful vacation.

1) felt like my pocket was constantly being "picked" for added charges...eg..bottle of water?!, transportation to the cities visited, pay for coffee outside of "restaurant" venues.

2) food quality was terrible...I can understand sub standard quality at the buffet, but I had biscuits and gravy in Alizar dining room...HORRIBLE.  Biscuit was stale and gravy tasteless..I would NEVER serve that to my family.  At the Blue Moon I had a brownie that could sub as a hockey puck.  Had dinner at the Brazilian restaurant all the meat was overcooked and dry.  Had dinner at the French restaurant, what was supposed to be a "lobster" tail was actually about 5 pieces of overcooked lobster in a burned shell with some artichokes.  And tor this an extra $10?  Cagney's steak house was ok, but my NY strip had a "mealie" texture. Best meal was breakfast at the Blue Moon....bacon (have to ask for it crisp) and eggs.

3) Service in some places was awful:  visited Medusa lounge nearly every evening with friends (10) and as the week progressed, service went down hill.  apparently the servers expected tips in addition to the 15% charge included on the bill.  It was like they were doing us a big favor.  One night at the Spinnaker, I had to hunt down a waiter to serve drinks, i found him happily spinning his tray and wandering aimlessly. And...don't ever get to the buffet within 10 minutes of closing...they'll practically grab the food right out of your hand...it was a race to the salad bar (I lost) and I won the chocolate pie tug o war.  Some of the "greeters" at individual restaurants were really cranky...I must say that ALL of thw waiters at Blue Moon were friendly and attentive...great group of fellows. Our cabin Steward was very nice and did a great job..friendly and attentive, but not pushy.

4) Entertainment:  Cruise workers put on a fabulous afternoon show..kudos to them.  But 50+ year old singers in the lounge?  Magic tricks?  aghghhg. hokey and felt like shows for OLD people. Smoking in the casino? Schmaltzy and amateurish

5 Miscellaneous:  And then $12/person daily service charges?  You pay your employees...I'll tip who I want to.  and finally...diembarking at the end of the cruise: AWFUL!!  disorganized, felt like being in a cattle car, arguments all over, people pushing, jumping line and being rude.  So...It felt like you were done with us...had made as much $$ at that point as you could and let's get these money machines off the boat and get some new ones on asap

ADDITIONAL CHARGES, FEES, SHOULD ALL BE CHARGED UP FRONT..NOT AT THE END OF THE CRUISE.

I'd suggest that you have somebody from a successful entertainment company advise you on how to do things right.  I've spent hours in queue lines at Disney and never realized it took so long, You want good food?  Get a good Director of Food services and a real chef to oversee your operations.  ...I would never recommend your line to anyone.

Although the itinerary of ports was great, there were many disappointments with this cruise.  The organization, or lack thereof, for getting people off the ship for the particular day tours was horrible.  Most people did not know what to do or where to go.  Also, the fact that there is no assigned seating for the dinning rooms is an unpleasant experience for a solo traveler, particularly the first few days until "friends" are made.  The room:  noise from a trombone practicing on a daily basis was disturbing; no lotion, no pen to write out the Room Service order; no pad of paper to jot down a note; queen bed had a crack down the middle for days until I complained; room service arrived 10 min. after the requested window, which made me late for assembly time for day tour; etc.  Back to the day tours:  most of the time there were no headsets, so only a few people were able to hear the guide.  Several times the guide did not have a proper "lolly pop" which caused people to lose sight of guide.  In Barcelona several elderly people were very distraught at being lost.  I happened to be "lost" as well and managed to get us all back to our tour guide.  I do not have pleasant thoughts when I think of Barcelona.  What a shame.  In Valencia our guide's English was so poor we gave up and tried to at least enjoy the beautiful scenery.  She should never be hired again.

I will not be traveling on Norwegian again, even if it were with another person. I will go back to the other cruise lines I have been on in years past.

I waited my whole life to visit Greece, and I loved the excursions I took.  I also loved my experience aboard the Norwegian Jade :)  I traveled alone, and met wonderful crew and guests that made my trip extra enjoyable.  There were just a couple things that I didn't realize until the end of the trip, so it didn't get my excellent rating.  I did not realize you could bring your alcohol to dinner with you until the last night of the cruise.  I had bought two bottles of wine delivered to my room, but was under the impression that I had to drink it in my room.  I would have saved a little money if I had known that I could bring it with me.  I also had a problem with the coffee pot in my room, and had issues for three days.   At that point I offered to buy a new coffeepot onshore for the room.  It was then replaced.  Other than that, my cabin steward was awesome, and I contacted Norwegian directly regarding the wonderful service. I loved having a balcony, and a mini-suite, although in the future I would probably skip the balcony and go for more room space, especially if I am traveling with another person. 

Wasn't sure what to expect...but Norwegian exceeded all our expectations...great atmosphere onboard, great facilities, inc very spacious spa and gym. (VIP full package only price seemed a bit unfair perhaps) Food was excellent at times, with the only complaint being perhaps a bit more variety needed in the "inclusive" venues. Staff were genuinely friendly and helpful. Our only previous experiences have been with Cunard, so this was very different, but almost as enjoyable.  I don't think it was as relaxing a cruise as previous ones...on Cunard you have quiet places and have to go somewhere to find some "noise". On Jade it was salsa music and action all round the ship and you had to search for that quiet area to get away from it all.

Entertainment on the whole was very good, with the odd mediocre performance.

Not sure if I'd be that keen to sail out of Venice again...all a bit of a palaver. 

I need my Cunard fix next, but will definitely try NCL again in the future

Our captain brilliantly dodged any bad weather and Venice and Greece,well...wow!!

Food and entertainment were good and fellow passengers were very personable and

interesting.The all-day vaporetto pass with rides to Murano and Burano following cruise

were spectacular. Corfu was wonderful, Santorini a postcard at every turn, and we took

the bus to Paradise in Mykonos (they asked if we wanted a round-trip ticket!!?).

Crusie itinerary was great and ports of call where wonderful.  SHip was OK but service on board was terrible.  This was our first experience on Norweigen and likely our last.  Have sailed numeous times on Royal Carribean and the service level far exceeds what we experienced on this cruise.

Excellent itinerary with fantastic ports. Embarkation and disembarkation process extremely efficient. Ship a bit older but well maintained and clean. Crew looks happy working there and greets you with a happy smile. Food overall is a notch below that of Princess and Celebrity but main dining is quite good. We would have gone to a specialty restaurant if we did not find anything we liked in the main dining. But we did find something every night and we are glad that we stayed with the main dining. Breakfast is exactly the same everyday and it wasn't that great. Lunch buffet was so so, nothing to be excited about. We travel with a three year old and we love the freestyle. Some ports can be visited on your own. But the shore excursions we joined were quite worthwhile. Entertainment was exceptional. Magic and aerial shows were great. The Elements show was exceptional. 

We enjoyed the cruise very much. We enjoyed the shore excursions even though there was too much to see/do in the limited amount of time. We felt pressed to get off the bus and then back on. The cruise was enjoyable, but we could tell that this was a "training" cruise for the majority of the crew members. Service wasn't as refined as we have had on other cruises. Announcements and the Freestyle Daily would provide certain information and then when it was to happen different details were given. Dining rooms did not have enough staff compared to  other cruises. We always had a head waiter, an assistant, beverage person and separate busing people. And then there was the hand washing advisory (clean hands!), but crew members who worked the dining rooms and buffet cleaned AROUND the condiments on the table instead of moving everything and wiping all surfaces clean.

We had a great time, but NCL needs to pay attention to details.

With the exception the Cagney's steak special dining facility, the other special dining food was definitely not worth attending.  Cagney's on the other hand was top rated.

The weather wasn't the greatest for the first two days, 1st day at sea was cold and overcast and the second day stop at Corfu rained very very hard all day with water 2" deep rolling down the small streets.

Santorini did have one highlight which was the antiquity dig which was done by an extremely well trained guide and to see a 3000-4000 BC dig with underground sewage was incredible.

The other two stops were ok with Olympia being done by an extremely well trained archeologist with 26 years of experience.

The day at sea returning had good weather and was the best day of the cruise. 

While I'm glad I saw it and the ship and crew were good....I see no reason to ever return.

Overall our group had a great time on this cruise. The ship was clean and well taken care of, as we were by the staff. The itinerary was great with only one rainy day in Corfu. Our inside cabin 5697 was small but well designed with plenty of storage for 2 and a better than average bathroom.  Our cabin steward took great care of us and our few special requests. The food in the dining rooms was very good and came very close to the best we have had on a cruise ship. The food in the buffet was pretty good.

The entertainment was just average although the onboard singers were pretty good. In general the sound systems in the theatre and in the lounges was over amplified which took away from the experience. 

My only issue with NCL is that they let people get on board and immediately touch food and utensils in the buffet.  Having been on a sick ship (NOT an NCL ship) before.  I wish they would serve food for the first 48 hours as on some other lines (Princess & HAL) in order to prevent the transmission of problems. The simple medical sheet and hand sanitizer can not prevent a problem.  

With a little paint and some simple decor changed NCL could tone down the Hawaiian theme.

I have been on at least 5 NCL curises, the last a wonderful cruise in the Baltic.  This cruise ship, food, preparation, service was NOT up to par with the other NCL cruises I have taken.  I hope this is just a fluke and not a sign of the coming future with NCL!  Equipment was broken, service was not good, attitudes were bad, food in main dining rooms were a BIG disappointment, entertainment was so-so, even a couple of the tours were poorly handled!   A LARGE number of customers were expressing the same thoughts and are questioning NCL for future cruises.  We will give them one more try but everything will hinge on that.  

starting with the embarkation process. That went very smooth. Less then 30 minutes we were on the ship. Finding our cabin was easy. People on board to help. Relied on my own experience as well. New how sips were laid out.  Cabin steward also present to help. Cabin was nice, deck 5 mid ship, outside.

Bed very comfortable. Steward very helpful.  Food ship average. Good selection. Dinning rooms, food was average. Sometimes service cold have been better. Slow to refill drinks. Bring out food. To much time between courses. No fun or very little interaction between waiter staff and people dinning. We we're served our meal but, didn't feel special. Different waiter staff everynight. On board entertainment was average. On two the seven shows I saw on a pervious cruise, same show, same entertainers, same material. The show "elements" had the same material, with different entertainers.I feel asleep during the show. The ports of call were good, better then expected. Except for Olympia. very average, not a lot to see. Big pile of rocks. Overall the ship was clean,but in need of repair. Seats in theather were broke.

Shore excursions were pricey. Corfu is the only excursion I would recommend. All of the others can be done on your own, or for a better price. Many other options are available on shore or on your own.Recommend looking before you buy, ship won't tell you everything. Ask staff sometimes they will tell you.Overall I think the cruise was over priced. Ask about the tipping process. The so call tips are not spread as one might assume. I spoke to our cabin steward he told me that he ws not paid any tips from the $24.00 paid daily. I don't know if that was true or not,but I made an adjustment. I paid him myself. I completed a form requesting the money not be taken automatically. I don't know if the waiter staff receive any of the money paid as tips.  Be careful when ordering a drink. You are charged a 15 percent tip on top of the price of the drink,each and every time you buy a drink. I ordered a beer at a lunch counter. Picked up.myself and took it to my table. The waiter,just opened the bottle and gave it to me.,almost $1.00 tip, for a $5.00 beer. Bring your own on board it's less expensive.Don't forget your water, $25.00 for 6 large bottles of water, purchased on shore for around 3 to $4.00 dollars.  Over we had a good time. We are experienced cruisers. Cruising in Europe is very different from the U.S. Food is different,prices are higher and service is reflected by he staff. 

I must say that the staff was wonderful on the cruise. That being said the food was horrible in the dining room chicken looked boiled, the beef brisket looked and tasted like tofu. We ended up eating in the buffet each night for dinner. My daughter and I got bit 6 times by what we think was a spider. They did come in with blue light checking for bed bugs, we told them many times its not bed bugs but they were at least thorough, however we still continued to get bit each night in our cabin. The music was awful, a group called sound bytes ruined every song they sung and every person I spoke to complained about their music. The fact that the ship did not sell duty free alcohol or tobacco is unheard of. Adding 22% sales tax to any jewelry they sold and telling us that we would have to try to get it back at the airport. There were no "fun" things to do by the pool side, it was just music being played over the loud speaker for most of the days. There were a couple of things but that was it. The excursions except for Corfu, which was a rained out disaster were exceptional. Corfu was pretty much a monsoon. We were made to walk through the rain and even with an umbrella we got drenched my feet were squishing then we were made to sit in our wet clothing to watch dancing and eat delicious food but who could enjoy it when we were so uncomfortable cold and wet, this was the excursion Best of Corfu, and we did not get to see all of the items promised on the excursion because of the rain. Our money should have been refunded even though it says rain or shine, it was so bad that the tenders could not dock against the boat, and ended up being quite dangerous for everyone attempting to get back on the ship from the tender.

When debarking from the ship and going to a hotel in Venice, we waited over 40 minutes for a taxi to take us to a tender who took us to the hotel. This too was poorly planned. I/we will never ever sail Norwegian again.

Greek Isles were fantastic, i wish we had more time on land. The ship was clean and the food was good, but not great. The staff was attentive, and the pushing of drinks and games was almost nonexistent, which is refreshing. The excursions were great and the logistics worked like a charm. I am getting a little bored with cruising though and wish for a more. A taste of the Greek Isles was great but I want to experience the Islands more.

We were very impressed with the Green Isle Cruise.  I have to admit, even though we had cruised Norwegian before I was a little apprehensive after reading some of the reviews/posts on Cruise Critic. I know that some are a little more picky than others and that proved to be true.  The food was very good, cabin great (except of some noise....will explain later), the entertainment was wonderful and the itenerery fabulous. Now...about the noise. We started calling customer almost immediately about our neighbors SLAMMING their door...EVERY day, morning (before we got up, of course this woke us up so we had no choice but to get up), afternoon (while trying to rest), and night (while TRYING to go to sleep). And I don't mean once, it would happen three or four times at once like maybe everyone in the room was leaving at the same time, then maybe two minutes later another three or four times. We stopped by the customer service desk several times, etc. We were called but when I called back they acted like WE should stand in the hall and wait for these people to slam the door????????????????? NOT!!!! It did put a damper on our time.  It just seemed like no one cared at all. SO...if anyone expects Norweigian to fix a problem with neighbors, it won't happen.  My husband works very hard and this was a long awaited trip. He doesn't sleep well anyway and to TRY to sleep with someone slamming doors it's unexceptable. This was very disappointing and it seemed like Norweigian totally ignored our complaint.

The cruise was a great experience.  There were alot of activities to fit everyone's preference.  The food was good.  Because the ship had over 50 nationalities, the cruiseline did a good job accommodating the language differences by having multiple announcements in the predominate languages.

Ship was nice. Good service, food was OK to Good ! Reasonable amenities, although we were on a Royal cruise that had 2 surf rider body board wave simulators, 2 rock climbing walls, and a golf simulator!! We would recommend this ship and itinerary. Dubrovnik and Kusadasi were fantastic! Split was nice and Athens is a big dirty city with the Acropolis in the middle of all of it. We were under whelmed in Athens and over whelmed in Dubrovnik and Kusadasi !

We booked this cruise almost a year ago.  There were four couples.  The cruise ship is great!  We truly enjoyed the ship and the free style cruising.  This worked very well for our group.  We really enjoyed the trivia games.  The tennis was fun.  A lot of our group used the exercise equipment and the spinning classes.  Our mini suite was the best cabin we've ever had.  Very much worth the extra money.  Also the 11th deck was close to the action  and the cafeteria.

Best cruise ever. Service, facilities, room, entertainment, absolutely perfect. Can't think of one negative comment. Go on this cruise. The sights you see are incredible.