Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The ship was lovely.  The cabin was terrific -- I highly recommend upgrading to a mini suite if you can; the extra space and privacy really made our vacation.  Cabin service was wonderful and everything always spotless.  The food was strictly pedestrian. With very few menu changes.  With only a couple of exceptions, I can't say that anyone in our traveling party (6) enjoyed it at all.  And let's face it, the food is one of the pleasures of a cruise!  Service in the main dining rooms was almost always awful and terribly slow.  I believe staff overall was overworked.  Rarely were you greeted with a smile. The excursions were WAY overpriced; choose carefully.  Most weren't that good.  Headsets that didn't work properly; tour guides no one could understand.  I wish we had used an outside vendor as someone recommended.  However, some of the deadlines were tight and we know the ship won't wait for you if you're using an outside vendor so we elected not to.  We adjusted our tip at the end BIG TIME; something we don't usually do,  We left something for everyone then chose to parcel out our tip where we felt service was merited.  I would not do this tour again on Norwegian; maybe Celebrity.  I talked to some people from a Celebrity cruise that were doing the same tour and they were having so much fun.

My family and I really enjoyed this cruise.  We have not been on a cruise in 10 years and were worried that it wouldn't be family friendly initially and that we'd sepnd 7 days in cramped state room.  Instead, our balcony suite was perfect and we were pleasantly surprised that there was something for everyone.  This ship's cabins were more spacious than others I've seen.  Additionally, there were plenty of dining choices for my daughter who has a peanut allergy, I enjoyed the spa and evening entertainment, and we all liked the liveliness of the ship.  As for the ports and itinerary, I highly recommend that you book the shore excursions instead of trying to wing it on your own so that you can really see and enjoy each of the destinations.  I wish that Norwegian would add Athens to their itinerary without removing any of the other destinations.   Venice, Olympia, Santorini, Mykenos, and Corfu were each beautiful in a different way.  We will definitely take another cruise.

Background: This was my 4th cruise, first time with NCL. It was my second time on a Mediterranean cruise and my third time to Greece. For my fiance, this was his first cruise ever & first time to Greece.

I personally liked NCL a lot. I loved the open dining plan and also felt they had a lot of great on-board activities. I enjoyed: Zumba, abs class, salsa dance class, and the Elements dance show. We also had a free dinner in the La Cucina Italian specialty restaurant and enjoyed this. We payed for the Jasmine Garden Asian restaurant but didn't love it--my food was way too spicy, even though I asked for otherwise.

Things I disliked were that many on-board things still have an extra charge, such as yoga. We are already paying a lot to go on the cruise! I also had a hard time with the food. I eat a primarily vegan diet and had a hard time finding things. Pretty much every veg option is smothered in cheese or cream sauce. The menu is not very explanatory either... expect to find random items not described on the menu in the dish.

For the ports, I love Greece! As I said, this was my third visit, and I still think it's one of the most gorgeous countries I've seen. My fiance loved it as well! We did the excursion in Olympia and thought our guide was great. At the other ports we just did our own thing & had a wonderful time.

If I did another European cruise though, I would go in May like I did the first time I went. It was just way too hot & we just couldn't escape the sun or sunburn. I would advise others to do the same!

Our last cruise was 16 years ago so I  don't really have anything to compare this cruise to.  We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, the ship and the activities and all the ports of call(maybe not so much Olympia). The ship was very clean and the staff was exceptional. We had a balcony room which I would highly recommend.  The stateroom was plenty big with enough storage for the 2 of us.  We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants as we figured we could do that at home and we had already paid for food.  I would not recommend the buffet for dinner because it was not very good.  Breakfast and lunch were ok at the buffet but sometimes just so crowded.  We ate dinner every night at Alizar since you didn't have to dress up like you did for The Grand Pacific. The menu was basically the same except for the steak choice was different.  We both thought the food and service in Alizar were excellent.  The only excursion we purchased from the ship was the guided tour to Delos from Mykonos. We enjoyed that because we liked hearing about the history.  You can do it on your own for much cheaper but if you don't have a tour guide with you you are just looking at a bunch of rocks. I do wish we would have purchased the excursion to go to Oia in Santorini. The ship stops there at 1:30 and you have to tendor into shore.  If you purchased an excursion you get off first and that particular tour takes you to the other side of the island where you take the bus to the top.  Otherwise you tendor into shore and take the steps, ride the do keys or ride the cable car to the top.  Line was very long for the cable car so we purchased tickets at 25 euros to take us to the other side and rode the bus to the top  and over to Oia.  (Scarey ride to top). Once you reach Oia it is the most beautiful, picturesque place ever (white buildings with the blue domes like you see on the postcards) with the most spectacular view I've ever seen.  Sit at one of the cafes, have a beer or lunch and just take it all in. You will love it!

Overall, I would highly recommend this cruise. 

Everyone ate at seperate tables so there was not much of a chance to make new friends  The dinners in the included restaurants were not as great as the meals of past cruises.  For those great meals, you had to go to the pay restaurants. There was a $20 transaction fee each time to exchange dollars for euros  and the exchange rate was far above the actual exchange rate. Comparing  Norwegian to Princess, Royal Carribean or Celebrety, Norwegan comes in fourth. We were celebrating our 48th wedding anniversary and according to the tickets, we were supposed to get an anniversay cake which never materialized.  It just wasn't the Norwegian Cruise that we have had in the past. The itenerery was good as far as the ports were concerned but the tours were overpriced. We did our own thing at each stop and had a great time.

This was a wonderful cruise which allowed us to visit Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, and Katalon. At every port we were greeted by the NCL crew and at the end of the day they were there also to welcome us back. There were plenty of acrtivities on board as well as well thoughtout excursions.

Very nice, no complaints. A bit crowded around the pool and jaccuzzi so I was not able to use any of it. 

People were very nice and helpful. Pillows in cabin not so great

The cruise itinerary was phenomenal.  The ship itself was very well maintained, clean, etc.  The food was so-so.  This is our first time with free-style and it will be our last.  The food in the restaurants was much better but I don't think we should have to pay for it.  Charges have a way of adding up quickly.  The main dining room only rotated one thing on the menu, so  it as kind of boring.  The excursion prices seemed expensive and we were shocked that we had to pay 22% tax in the shops. 

The evening shows were very good as were the parties in the Spinnaker club.  Staff was very friendly.  Joan, our washy, washy, happy, happy girl, was fantastic.  We didn't see much of our cabin steward. 

The Norwegian Jade was apparently designed for cruises to Hawaii. The crazed multi-colored decor looks llike it was designed by a drunken person who doesn't have much of a grip on reality and is stuck in the '70s. If we were wearing leisure suits, it woul dhave been fine. Our stateroom alone had wave-patterened multicolored blue carpet, one purple panel and the rest orange and green. The rest of the ship equally lacked tatse, including the massive glass flower design over the atruium that made me worry it would fall on my head. Most of the carpets I would call drunk carpets, meaning that isf someone up=chucked on them, no one wouild notice.

The food was lackluster, even in the specialty restaurants, (with the exception of Moderna, which was excellent). The menu was the same every night in the main dining room, with a couple of specials.  Steaks were overcooked and I actually rejected the "pork loin" one wngith which was one of those processed rolls. I've never done that before. Actually the greate4st variety was in the Garden Cafe, the buffet, including nightly Indian offerings. Alas, the buffet had absolutely no atmosphere.

Then there was the entertainment or lack thereof: The first night's teaser left us scrambling for the exit. The only bright spot was Elements, the dance, acrobatic act which was excellent. We walked out on the "American Idol" night, which was downright embarrasingly poor. I've heard better singins at high school musicals. Another bright spot was the guitarist who played several evenings in the Atrium bar.

Oh, and the pool: This is a ship that ccarries 2,400 passengers. There is one adult pool that is not much bigger than your average residential pool. This is totally inadequate. I can only guess they used the extra space for more specialty restaurants where they can make more money.

That's pretty much the bad stuff.

Here's the good stuff: The ship was exceptionally clean, staff attentive and service was far above average. The poor folks who were required to do the annoying "Happy Happy Wasshee Washee" hand sanitizing gig did so with good humor to the point where I felt real affection for them by the end of the cruise.

We've traveled on Holland America, where the food was far better, but the clientel much older. That;'s why we chose Norwegiian, thinking we'd get a little more stimulation. I dont' think we'll sign on for another cruise with Norwegiian.

We have wonderful service on the Jade.  The cruise staff was exceptional.  The entertainment was top notch!  Would  definately cruise with Norweigan and on this boat again!

I was very impressed! This was the best cruiseline I've ever been on. Great quality of food, plenty of options, the shows were really great...I loved all of it. Definitely considering booking our next cruise with them.

We had cruised Norweign before and were not happy to repeat the experience however we had no choice as they had the dates and times that worked with our schedule.

From the moment we boarded the Jade and found our Mini-Suite NOTHING went wrong !!Our cabin was perfect, the cruise itinery was great, the staff were helpful,friendly and always wanted to go that extra mile and the food was beyond expectation. During our 7 days on board we could find NOTHING to complain about which was the complete opposite to our previous experience with this Cruise Line.

So pleased we decided to try Norweign again - we will definately sail with them in the future.

We took a 7-day cruise to the Greek Isles on the Norwegian Jade in May of 2014.  The ship and our stateroom were both clean, though we didn't spend much time in our room.  We got the thermal suite package for the spa and spent time there every day.  We loved sitting in the heated chairs and taking in the fabulous view.

We opted for the Ultimate Dining Package and were glad that we did.  The food at the buffet was so-so, but the specialty restaurants provided a much better experience.  We particularly enjoyed several dinners at Cagney's (the steakhouse).  We found the Freestyle Dining that Norwegian offers to be great - we liked having the flexibility to eat when we wanted, where we wanted.

While we didn't attend all of the nightly shows (sometimes we were tired from our shore excursions!), we did see several and all were very good.  We would consider them a step above the shows that we saw on past Disney cruises, as they were targeted for more of an adult audience.

We thoroughly enjoyed Corfu, Santorini, and Mykonos.  We could have completely skipped Katakolon and didn't feel like we would have missed anything.  In Corfu we took a 4x4 excursion, which was a great opportunity to see more of the island.  We saw several small towns and saw some great views.  Santorini was fantastic!  We hiked the volcano and enjoyed the narrative that our guide provided.  This excursion is not for those who are out of shape (and for heaven's sake - don't wear flip flops), but was well worth the hike to get some wonderful views of the caldera.  We thoroughly enjoyed riding the donkeys up to Fira town - we couldn't stop laughing, we were having so much fun.  We enjoyed walking through the streets and a bit of shopping.  We stayed until the sun set, and got some great pics.  We weren't able to make it to Oia due to time constraints, but maybe next time ;-) .  We enjoyed the shops in Mykonos best.  We thought the prices there were better than Santorini.  It was a cute place, though the streets are definitely confusing.  We saw many things a couple of times as were were wandering around - but that's part of the fun, right?

We had only cruised on Disney previously, but would definitely consider another Norwegian cruise in the future.

It was a truly wonderful experience - I was impressed most by Corfu and Katakalon (Olympia) and very disappointed with Santorini, it was not what we had seen in teh pictures, but an experience none the less.

Staff were wonderful an accomodating - the cruise director has a personality to match the ship, and a sense of humour to go along with it... who said Canadians had stiff upper lip type personalities? :)

I only encountered 1 unpleasant experience in the Spa and that put us off a bit, as I expected much better. There was one redeeming factor why we kept going back and her name is Sophie Gill, she is one of the staff in Mandera Spa, and she was the reason why my daughter and I returned. I found it a bit pricey, but it was a cruise so you pay for convenience. If you watch the nightly cruise news delivered to your room, there are some very good daily specials that are available at the spa.

The other shocker - 6 bottles of 1 liter water - $25.00 USD, and soft drinks (soda only) was $ 55.00 USD for the week, but no once consumes that much soft drinks.

A word to travelers from the North America - DO NOT OVER PACK - and no need to bring your best clothes - this is a very casual laid back ship and there were two events that required a bit less casual dressing.

Otherwise a wonderful experience.

I was very excited about the Greek Isles for many years and was also very interested on how the NCL Jade would be compared to the Dawn which we sailed on a couple of years back.  The Jade was a very different ship then I am use to.  There was the lack of a grand atrium lobby which was quite odd at this day and age.  It was really a no frills kind of ship.  The main Pacific dining room was very well staffed and the food was quite good on most nights.  The second main dining room was not so upscale and lacked in service as well as presentation of food.  The buffets were average and served basically the same offerings daily.  The specialty restaurants we not crowded but it seems crazy that there are so many of them to choose from.  I believe that the Cruise industry is really pushing to the specialty dining venues and in some cases the meals included in your cruise suffers.  If that is the case then why not just go all in and add the specialty meals to the price and forget the main dining rooms.  The specialty dinning venues on most ships are taking up a ton of space as it is.  The Staff on the Jade was very good and there were no complaints in that area.  Our room was a Mid Shp Mini Suite and I highly recommend the mini suite as opposed to a basic balcony.  My wife and I both bought the thermal spa package for $199 per couple and used the spa quite often and never found it overcrowded as they only sell 40 packages.  The Gym was perfect to help fend off the unwanted extra cruise pounds and the staff was quite helpful.   The staff in the spa was also very pleasant although the massage packages we purchaced were only about average for the price.    Embarkation and debarkation were as painless as could be and went very smoothly.  Now for the Greek Isles.  Strange but true, our favorite Island was Corfu... Yes Corfu !  We did not and seldom book tours and rather venture out on our own.  This worked perfect on Corfu.  We exited the ship and wandered down the main street until we came upon a very large fortress wall that of course we said, " I wonder if we can sneak in there ?"  we walked around the outer wall and followed a small street and staircase up to a chain link fence.  To the left was a tunnel, we heard voices in the tunnel and then saw people from the island exit almost like they used it as a short cut to this side of the island.  Of course we had to know so we walked through the long semi dark tunnel.  To our surprise we did exit on the other side of the island and smack in the middle of an open air produce and fish market.  We walked through the market and viewed the sights and smells !  Our journey dropped us then in the new city or should I say the modern city.  We walked around a bit and found it was quite a lagre area, we shopped, had coffee and walked some more.  We then decieded as we neared the open market once again that we should venture back to the port side of the island.  Once again we walked through the tunnel.  After exiting the tunnel we decieded to walk through the open gates of a lower courtyard of the fortress.  There was another tunnel there as well.  And of course we just had to enter.  Once again we were surprised to find that this tunnel gave us complete entry to the fortress and we were able to gain access to the whole compound inside and out.  It was awesome and not very crowded.. I think only about 6 other couples had found it !  We had views of the entire island and just soaked it all in.  OK enought about Corfu, Now onto the biggest Island in Hyped up history..Santorini.  I have waited years to see this island.. and after the Kardashians went there and Chloe said she saw this island and could now die peacefully because of its beauty.. I just had to go..

(Mind you I don't always watch the Kardashians nor do I value thier opinions)  Well I have to tell you, yes it was beautiful from the sea and yes I was impressed with the beauty.. Can I die now ?  No way..

Once up on top of Fira after a quick Cable Car ride I intantly found out that we were in the biggest tourist trap ever... Not to mention it was rather cool for mid May and the Island itself was so high we were in the clouds most of the day.  Thank god I didn't go to Oia, it was even higher up and looked like a rain forest !!!  The view from Fira was nice but not always available depending on which narrow street (walkway) you were on.  The shops were expensive in comparison to Corfu for the same products.  I would suggest that if you want to visit Santorini, you do so on a cruise... I put it simply to my wife.. As a young boy I always wanted to visit the Alamo.. One year my dad had business in Texas and asked if I wanted to go with him and visit the Alamo.  I said yes and off we went.. As you may recall, the pictures in History books show a huge building with giant walls and sprawling landscape etc.. Yeah, leave it to history books to screw that up too.  We arrived at the Alamo to find that I could actually step over the little walls surrounding the small building that I waited so long to visit.  "That is what Santorini was in my eyes, all hype but then again beautiful."  Now off to Mykonos... Much like Santorini in beauty but more of a relaxed island that was not so pushy on the tourists.  I was very impressed with Mykonos for the shops and friendliness of its people.  The final island of our cruise was Olympia.. The home of the very first Olympic games !! This was nice to see from the temple of Zeus and the ruins to the very tiny olympic stadium that you could venture out on.. The stadium brough that Alamo comparison back to me but I had to take into context of where we were, who was at those games and the events they probably competed in.  I was impressed with the islands history and its archeological sites.. I would highly recommend a visit to Olympias ruins.  Other than that the island had a main tourist shopping area located near the pier and it was filled with knock off goods from purses to Beats head phones as well as many other items.. I had fun there, I love a deal and I love to barter!  The island as a whole was rather dirty with trash piled up everywhere but in all fairness we heard that the trash men were on strike.. But who knows maybe thats what they always tell people.  All in all the cruise was definitely worth the price.. Venice was nice to see as well but if you don't get lost and go off the beaten path.. it is just tourits and people trying to sell you anything and everything from Fake purses to Roses... "Get lost and have fun in Venice !"  Just as a side note we then went by train to Florence and Rome and I will tell you, both of those cities were unbelievable.. Even though Rome had its share of the pushy salesman and the streets were loaded with Tourists.. We loved it !!  And our Hotel (Colesseo #9) and our host Melina were the best part of our trip.. We had a room directly across from the Colosseum with a lagre open window.. Not even Julius Caesar had a view like this !    One last point if you are in Venice and you are staying near the airport.. Bus #5 is 1.3 euro to the last stop in Venice smack in the middle of the city.. We were able to take 3 bags on the bus without any problem and its a 20 minute ride from the Best Western Titan INN to the center of Venice.. A cab or shuttle will run you 40 Euro.. "Take the bus and enjoy the sites and people of Venice !"   Hope this helps with anything you may want to know.. Have a great time wherever you go and whatever you do because it sure beats working !!!!

I am now a loyal customer of Norwegian because of the wonderful experience I had on the Jade. The ship was one of the older ships but not at all tacky. Totally a fun ship with a great staff. I have been on a cruise before with RC and was treated like I didn't pay to be onboard. I don't know what it is but my age, sometimes employees treat me like crap. But on Norwegian, everyone treated me right, the way I wanted to be treated after spending that kind of money on a cruise. My room steward was super cool and thoughtful, even though he had so many other rooms to tend to, he made me feel special, and that is hard to do. I had an aft facing balcony, it was worth the price. I have read so many people complain about things on cruises and they sound so petty. Really? You have a good time if you are a fun person or you go into it having fun. I hear people complain about coffee costing 5 cents in certain rooms or that there are cover charges for specialty dining and what not. They should look at the cost of the cruise and add on those extra things before they make a decision on a cruise. You can't please people who are going to be unhappy either way, their lives are just unhappy. But for people who want to have a good time and let themselves go, they will enjoy it and make it fun. 

The food in the main dining was good, and the food in the specialty dining was AWESOME. So splurge a little, you are still saving by not cruising with crazy priced cruises only for the super rich. Norwegian does it well, for those who aren't snobby and for those who don't always find something to complain about. 

I will cruise Norwegian again, in fact, as soon as I got home I booked my next one and I am not super rich, but splurged. Let's see if they are consistent. :) 

Pluses

There's plenty to do on this cruise, the ports come fast and furious...there's a lot of walking involved

The suites are roomy, services great, pampered feel

Plenty of restaurants to chiose from, social and fun

Cons

The spa is doesn't make you feel good, it makes you feel used and fleeced avoid it

The suites complementary party is terrible, an opportunity for selling pics, unfriendly crew, no mingeling,  stingy captain, poor drink and food service. Other ships far superior.

Very, very poorly trained staff, worst for any ship I've been on for dietary concerns. I'm gluten free and buffet could not be used. Staff don't understand the word gluten except in specialty rooms, ALL staff don't understand you and hand you off up to 6 times, extremely annoying. Who ever trains the staff needs to do a huge amount of work here. I was restricted except for specialty restaurants. So, there is plenty of food, but I couldn't eat it from lack of information. Other ships are not like this.

Our 10-day Mediterranean cruise was a wonderful trip.  The sites visited, Olympia, Ephesus, Athens and the Acropolis, Istanbul, Pompeii and the Amalfi coast were interesting places of history, and we were able to spend time in Rome before the ship sailed too.  Some of our land tours were secured through NCL, but not all.  Except for having tour guides who used headsets and radios while walking the sites, there wasn't much difference.  Personally, Ephesus is the site most memorable, and shouldn't be missed if you're planning this cruise and need to be selective.  With some research and independence, you can probably see everything in Istanbul without a guide, because there are many modes of transportation to get your around.  We paid extra for a penthouse cabin, and the extra amenities that came with that were totally worth it, expecially being able to have breakfast and lunch at Cagney's every day.      

I would rate the Food a c-.  It was always load in the dinning room. The table was always set different, short always on something (salt and pepper, silverware or glasses ect).  Food was always the same thing and with no taste. We sat with other couples every night and they also agree with us.  We drank water and had to ask for it all the time.  In the bars we also drank water and it was hard to get someone to wait on us.  Food in the buffett was the same all the time.  Chocolate night was a big let down.  Norwegian Jade needs to hire someone new with new ideas.  I can do better at home.

Acitivities at night NOT.  Nothing to do.  Shows were BAD in the Stardust all but the one couple the one night.  Other guests we met also agree with us on the shows. Bingo game you would have more people playing with it didn't cost so much.  The singing contest, the guy from Russia should not have won.  He is on all the cruises and wins.  He sings all over.  His  personality is all wrong and a plain in

the butt the whole cruise.   His family and friends talked the whole time the others were singing.

The Jade is out dated.  Nothing to dress up for.  White night music was fun and people of all ages were dancing until the raper guy got in and did his music.  Then the dance floor changed with only young high schoolers.  What were you thinking when you invited them on a cruise of older people.

We are 55, right in the middle of the old people and the young people.  We don't want rap and we don't want slow music for the 80 year olds.

No we will not go on another Norwegian Cruise,  we like the Princess Cruise Line.  I guess we will continue to cruise with them.

Our stateroom was fine and always cleaned.

We stayed in Rome the night before our cruise and took train from Termini station to Civitavecchia port where we met the Norwegian Jade. The train cost is about 6 euros.  The ship was large but was easy to get around and to locate different places of interest. We signed up and took a shore excursion thru the ship at most ports. The stop in Livorno,Italy- we took the tour to Florence & Pisa that included a meal. This was fun and it was a four course meal.  Next stop was in Monte Carlo,Monaco and took tour to see Nice,Eze and Monte Carlo. Very good tour and the cities were clean and everything expensive. People watching in Monte Carlo is the thing to do at the sidewalk cafes. Next stop was in Toulon, France and we just walked the city, no tour taken. Next port was in Barcelona, Spain and took the Barcelona and Montserral tour. This tour was very good and worth the money. Next port was Valencia, Spain and took the Sagunto and StJoseph caves. This was an ok tour but not enough time to explore.  Next port was to  Palma de Majorca,Spain. Didn't take a tour and just walked the city on our own. Walked up the aprox. 500 steps to the Belliver Castle which has a great view of the city. Only walk if your health is good. Next port was at Cagliari, Italy. Took the Nora-A walk thru Ancient Times. You will see some  old Roman remains which are very interesting. Also on the drive, you will see some pink flamingos.  Next stop was in Palermo,Sicily Italy. Took the Agrigento Temple Valley tour. Tour drive takes about 2 1/2 hrs. You will see Greek temples and ruins built 510BC. These were very impressive.  Next stop was at Naples, Italy.  Took the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii tour.  The Amalfi coast was amazing. The bus driver earns his pay on driving this coast road. The view is breathtaking.  The stop in Pompeii is outstanding but lots of people. Wish we had more time in Pompeii.  The port stops made on this cruise were excellent.  Enjoyed this cruise. Food was pretty good. We only ate at the places that were included with the cost of the trip.  You can upgrade your food choose at an additional cost.  We also stayed on deck 10 in an inside cabin which was ok with us as we were not in the cabin unless we were sleeping. The only thing a didn't like was that they didnt have self service laundry.  They have a special, which cost about $25.00 for a bag full of laundry. That's not very special to me.Otherwise,I would recommend this cruise. Happy sailing.