Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

My daughter and I cruised March of 2016 and it was awesome. 7 days on the Jade was a dream. The ports were great and we couldn't have asked for a better time. Plenty of entertainment and fun for everyone. It was spring break and it could have gotten wild but the crew made it fun and controlled for every age cruising!!! I might not ever change cruise lines, I might be a NCL-er forever....

K

My sister and I loved the Jade.  All the Crew amd staff were very friendly and helpful.  The ship itself appeared to be in top notch condition.  All the meals were very good.  We ate in several different venues and were satisfied wth all of them.  The only complaint we had was all the noise during the last night of the cruise.  I assume they were doing repair work.  There seemed to be a lot of hammering and/or air gun work going on.  It was very loud and prevented much sleep.  All in all, though, we really enjoyed our cruise.

The food quality was "blau", nothing special. Anything special you had to pay extra for, even the classic surf and turf, or lobster nights that are included on other cruises were extra charge. Hardly any change in menu form one night to the next, menu was what I would describe as "staple food".

The forced freestyle is not for us !! I like to meet new people and share experiences with other passengers. We tried asking for shared tables and that never worker. Never got to build relationship with crew or other passengers.

Our room steward was rude, never acknowledged any of the women on floor until we complained. However once we did, there was a complete turn around.

There was not much to do on ship that was not a surcharge. 

The entertainment was very good, but unfortunately that alone is not enough to have me look at NCL again. Tried them 3 times - unsatisfied all 3 times. 3 strikes you are out !

Monica

Only thing I’ve left off mentioning is once we found out we weren’t locked into just one entrée, we REALLY enjoyed the dining. Even experienced some new items we normally would have skipped had it not been included. Also… O’Sheehan’s wings are our all-time fave 24 hour cruise food!!!

Great ship overall definitely money's worth. We got the Penthouse suite from Houston Texas, USA in 2016. (February) The suite provided priory boarding and Cagneys Stake House for breakfast and lunch. If you don't have a suite you can go to Cagneys for dinner for free! Pacific Dinning room is reccomeded for the last breakfast if you don't like the buffet. We went to Mexico, Roatan and Honduras. We arrived on time at every port. Room service was fast and great! Epic ship!

This was our first cruise and have nothing but compliments on it! What a great crew. I would highly recommend the drink package if you like to drink, well worth it!

Overall a great ship. Very relaxed and extremely friendly crew (washy washy). The balcony stateroom was great. The Dow of the ship was not quite as good as others we have been on but it was clean. Kids programs we also great.

Food in complimentary dining rooms was very bland. "poached pear' dessert was just glorified fruit cocktail.    Also wait staff the nights we were there were rather loud talking to each other.  Fine dining, it was not! Buffet Topside is the best comp one, but hot food is often cold.  Get the dining package!!

Getting tickets for the tender to go ashore is an ordeal.  If you did not book excursion with NCL you wait in line for a LONG time for tender ticket. Then long line to board .  NCL excursion folks do not fare any better.  Tickets could be dispersed the night before.  NCL staff did not seem to know how to handle the procedure either.  We were sent from one location to another. Outside 7th to 14th to 4th to 6th.  When asked staff were told by some "I don't know"

Time in ports seemed to be cut short, especially in Roatan, NCL Dawn was there when we arrived and still there when we left.  Made for a rushed time there 

Rude staff, and customer service. On multiple occasions disappointed with service.

As vegetarians, only option was to eat at buffet. Some of the restaurants would oblige and bring down food from the buffet! (in other words will not oblige). The Asian fusion restaurant does not have a single menu item that is vegetarian (will not oblige).  We had indicated our request, prior to boarding, on first day of boarding, repeated complaints but to no avail. Got sick of eating at same place similar food for 7 days.

Getting basic information on ports was difficult unless you take one of their tours.

Hefty corkage fee if you take your own wine (some cruise lines let them free) 

The movie theater was 55 inch TV screen on a bar!  Very few movies were played. 

The slide over the pool was not made for our daughter - a big disappointment. She had to push herself down.  As a consequence, I didn't see any one use the slide in my whole trip. In Disney, there was a line of kids waiting to take the slide... 

My wife suggested this trip only a week before we sailed. Although we have been on five previous cruises on Carnival, this was our first time on Norwegian. We were very impressed by the new Houston Cruise Terminal and the ease of getting on (and off) the ship. We got free parking because I am a disabled veteran. Our parking spot (not disabled) was right in front of the terminal! Norwegian has assigned arrival times and we were within our time frame. We were on the ship in half an hour. We were somewhat disappointed at the size and location of our stateroom - it looks out at a life boat. We were used to a bit larger rooms with a divan on Carnival but our room had one chair and a stool. However, we spent most of our time when we were in the cabin laying on the bed watching TV or reading. The cruise was great. I had never been to Roatan and my wife had never been to Belize.

I tend to get motion sick, so I armed myself with patches behind my ear, wrist straps and a ginger inhaler. I used the patch and it worked well. The water was incredibly smooth - just one evening with a bit of a roll. The mini-suite was great, and we sat outside for our morning coffee. We elected to have contintnetal breakfast delivered to the room in the morning. It was a bit cool leaving Houston in January, so next time we would book later probably April. However, by the time we got to Cozumel the weather was warm and sunny.The meal upgrades were well worth it. The food was excellent. My wife had lobster and chanpagne every night.

The price was good. We have never had  to pay extra for certain  entrées  in the main dining room.  Cabin was small but ample room for luggage. The entertainment was outstanding.  The  service  in dining  room  could  have  been  better.  We would  have  liked  an earlier  notice about dress up  eve. As we had not gone back in our room and found hand written note later that eve. We had dress clothes  along  .we  had a good time  with  our friends. We found it very low key and relaxing.

Just returned from Houston on NCL's Cozumel, Belize, Roatan itinerary. I think overall the experience was good, but nothing outstanding.  Some comments:

Good:  room service, entertainment (in particular David Nastor), workout facilities and specialty restaurants (particularly La Cuchina). My wife enjoyed the spa.

Not so good; restaurant service was inconsistent; in my view, the staff looked worn out and were not consistent in being attentive to customer needs.  Food outside the specialty restaurants was sub-par in my view.  The coffee was terrible.

Also, if the drinks were more reasonably priced, I would have bought more.  Two drinks with the mandatory 18% was a disincentive for my wife and I.  Two beers and you're almost at $20.  Wireless should be free.

This was my 3rd cruise on NCL.

It’s a smaller ship and it’s more laid back then Carnival.

Lets start off with the good! The shows were above average! The room was clean! , Mr Happy Happy, Washy Washy! That is really about it.

The Bad - The service was very lack luster, Could never find a server, had to get my own drinks. The crew look over worked and far under staffed! I almost felt bad for them. I have cruised on other cruise lines and never had the issues I had on this one. Drinks were $2-$5 higher then other cruise lines,  Food was below par! Ship was outdated and not very easy to get around in.

I have tried to get my "service charges" reduced to no avail as well. Customer Service is horrible, wait, I have yet to hear back from them, so who knows if they really one!

NCL lost me as a future cruiser!

Loved the cruise, the ship and the crew members we interacted with. Our room had two balconies which made the cruise even better. The food was well above average in every restaurant we ate in. The crew were always smiling and helpful. Our only regret is that Norwegian does not sail out of Houston anymore. That was an easy port to drive to and they had the embarkation down to a fine science.

I saw so many complaints about this ship and crew that I was a bit worried, but we had an amazing cruise! Entertainers were really awesome, the food was NOT bland as some reviews stated! We enjoyed the balcony, our shower wasn't small, and I am a big guy!

The only complaint I could even make is when they had the $10 sale they had it in the Jasmine restaurant and it was a bit crowded! 

The crew was great, our steward was very friendly and made sure we had everything we needed! The wait staff was very attentive and friendly, the officers were very good at making sure things were done properly and timely! 

The spa and casino were great.

Everything  was great..nothing to complain about but we had alot of bites on our bodies in room 10597. Come to find  out  later that it was bedbugs attacking us.

Bayport Cruise Terminal is modern and clean, and getting in and out is very efficient.

Decor on the ship feels unusually dated for a ship that is only about ten years old. All the public areas were really clean, however, and everything was well maintained.

Our cabin was clean and functional. A lot of thought went into making the most out of the limited space. I loved having lots of cubbies to store stuff. Our cabin steward was fantastic.

Food is good throughout the ship. Service was consistently good everywhere we ate. I especially liked Le Bistro. The food is excellent and the quiet ambience is a nice retreat.

A low point was the lacking daily activities. Many times during the day I was bored; it felt like there was never quite enough to do. And no, I don't consider a watch seminar or spa tours to be activities.

The entertainment was outstanding. Please don't assume that I'm overstating myself; my already high expectations were exceeded. All of the nightly shows are top-notch. The singers and dancers were all wonderful. The jazz/showband was superb. There were also a male vocal quartet, a magician, and acrobatic and comedy/juggling shows. All around, the Jade outdid itself in the entertainment department.

The ports (Cozumel, Belize City, and Roatan) were all as expected. You can read about them anywhere.

Don't believe the poor reviews for the Jade out of Houston. I had a fun.

Was a little hard to navigate the ship at first but once you are used to it wasnt bad. The ship was very clean and the staff was great.