Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Embarkation went smoothly. We arrived to the terminal at about 11:30AM. The lobby was packed and we thought it would take a long time to board. To our surprise, things moved fast and we were on board by Noon. Our luggage did not arrive until about 7:00PM, but we didn't mind since we were busy exploring the ship. We had an obstructed oceanview stateroom (8062). The room was nice and clean for the most part. We usually purchase an inside stateroom, but we chose an oceanview because of a promotion that included a free ultimate beverage and ultimate dining package for about $100 more. It was well worth it. We dined at most of the restaurants and really enjoyed them. Our favorite restaurant was La Cucina(Italian). Our steaks at La Cucina were actually better than the steaks we had at Cagney's steakhouse on the ship. We also enjoyed the Teppanyaki restaurant. Our Chef (Christopher) was very entertaining. We also dined at the Main Dining Rooms a couple of times and they were decent. The only poor dining venue is the Moderno restaurant. The place is supposed to be a Brazilian Churrascaria similar to the land based restaurant Fogo De Chao. The service was extremely slow and the meat was sub-par. It was very disappointing. I will say that the wait staff were very friendly, but the place appeared to be short staffed and we saw several people walk out after not being served for a long time. We usually had breakfast at the buffet and it was good for buffet food. The omelet chefs are very good. We usually had lunch in the Grand Pacific dining room which was good. There was no shortage on entertainment. Every day and night, there were live music acts all over the ship. The Reggae band was phenomenal. We only attended one show in the theater(stand up comedy). The comedian was hilarious. We spent most of our time in the casino and had a blast. There are many games to choose from and we did pretty well. We had three ports: Cozumel, Belize City, and Roatan. Cozumel was gorgeous. We opted for an all inclusive day pass at the Hotel Cozumel resort. It was only $35 per person and it included food, beverages, snorkeling. We snorkeled most of the day and saw all kinds of fish. In Belize, my wife was not feeling well so we stayed on the ship. I hit up the bars that day to take advantage of my beverage package. In Roatan we had to tender because there were too many ships scheduled. The tender ride was fast. We booked a monkey interaction tour with Bodden tours. It was really fun. On the way back to Houston, we were told that the ship would arrive a day early to avoid forecasted fog but we would still be able to stay on the ship until our scheduled debarkation. The biggest downside was that we had to pay port taxes on any purchases made. However, it was nice to know that we would debark timely and the ship was not rocking back and forth as we were docked. Debarkation was a breeze and well organized. This was our third Norwegian Cruise and we enjoyed it immensely. We will definitely continue to cruise Norwegian. We only cruise with NCL and Carnival because of the laid back and casual atmosphere. I have to wear a suit to work everyday, so I like to dress casual while on vacation. The Jade is a nice ship and the layout is almost identical to the Jewel. We feel that it was well worth what we spent. The crew members are very courteous as well.

This was my first time on this line.  The price of the package was good and the staff was pleasant when approached.  The stateroom accommodations were good.  I found the organizing of the activities and eating areas were lacking in service.  The fact that we could not make reservations for the Specialty dining meant that we stand in line over an hour to get in  and be able to attend another activity. Once we got in the staff was unwelcoming and had a very

ridged, business like attitude.  One we got the food no one came to see if we were ok or needed anything. During the cruise, three persons fell, the main dining room floor was slippery, we had to place the yellow WET sign, bring it to the staffs attention.  The T-Shirt sale was very disorganized, the area was very small and was very difficult for guests to look at the merchandise.  There was not enough activities on the "at sea" days.  The list is quite long and I will stop now.  I will mention that there were a handful of staff that were very friendly , helpful and welcoming.

Would I use this line again, not likely.  Safety is a big issue and welcoming attitude.

cABIN VERY SMALL! dINING ROOM SEEMED TO BE SHORT OF STAFF. very FEW TIMES STAFF BRINGING DRINKS FROM BARS--MOST BARS CLOSED ALL DAY. cRUISE dIRECTOR DID A GOOD JOB PLANNING SHOWS DURING SEA DAYS AND MOVIES ON PORT DAYS. CAPTIAN DID A GREAT JOB TRAINING STAFF--OFFICERS VERY VISIBLE EVERY DAY! ENTERTAINMENT WAS VARIED AND VERY ENJOYABLE--GREAT COMEDIAN!! EXPECTED TO GO TO NEW BELIZE PORT BUT DIDN'T. 

It wasnt a horrible vacation, but when everyone is cheering to be off, and the easy walk off option takes over an hour to get off the ship enough said. It just was not what we anticipated. 

My background, we have only been on 1 Disney cruise. To compare, I thought the food on Disney was bad, but the service,staff, rooms, ship were awesome. I do get sea sickness. 

The good: The food had many options, it didnt get old till maybe day 5. Variety and different veggie options for the rest of my family. The entertainment specifically the Magic shows were awesome. Umm, I think thats the highlights. 

The Bad: We left the port delayed out of Houston, the Captain tried to make up time and that ship the Jade is either too small, or has issues in somewhat rough seas because even people that normally dont get sea sick were sick. They had the white cleanup stuff on the carpets all through out from accidental yacking. I had the patch this time, didnt help, so I tried the sea sickness band with Dramamine and forcing myself to eat and it really worked this time. Although first day adjustment was horrible - I was able to fight through it. We were in room 9110 and the room in any sort of seas when the waves where a bit rough 2-3ft+ waves would cause areas in our room to sound like someone is knocking every couple of minutes. Really ruined our sleep and kids so bad. I notified multiple people and it was never resolved. The room was ok otherwise. If you are used to grand ships like the Disney Dream, dont get on the Jade, the atrium and ship decor is kinda old and outdated and small. The service was horrible at the sit downs and buffets. We ordered drinks and majority of times only to recieve them after our meals were done, several times even though we ordered dessert we never got them so we just left. They ran out of chicken wings and while not a big deal it was funny because on the menu if you ordered chicken wings they gave you one marinated chicken leg, I didnt have my camera or would post the picture it was a laughing moment for many people in the restraunt. If you are looking to get off the ship, I would be wary. Belize and Roaton you had to tender, I didnt really understand the concept but here is a quick run down. Get your butt up super early get in line for the tenders which is basically saying you will take a boat to the port city. Belize we didnt get tenders and got off by 12:30 - which we didnt mind since we didnt do anything but get off get some stuff get back on. Roaton was a different story - we were the first ship there, excursions were sold out 2 days prior so we were like I'll wake up and get in line by 6:30 so we get off on one of the first ships. There was already a super long line, I was on tender boat #9 which using there life boats took forever and we didnt actually get off at the port till 12pm, there were people who didnt even go who had tender numbers in the 20's. Roaton is beautiful, the sad part was is everyone had to be on the ship by 3pm, so that left us basically 2 hours to find a company to  take us to the local west beach (awesome) snorkel, then get back on. It was a fraction of the cost of NCL's excursion to do almost the same thing. It was just upsetting because we look forward to the ports to get off. Other ships werent leaving till 6-8pm. So we got back on the ship then the captain bascially went super slow and told us we will be there early. Which was fine, I just would have appreciated more time in Roaton. BTW - Cozumel we had a dock walked off, so nice, so much time. Disney everywhere we got off they had a dock. So keep that in mind on any cruise you book and if they have tenders, such a waste of time. Also, sometimes they tell you they take reservations, etc with out party of 10, we never were able to get reservations. Then on top of that most of the times they would split us into 2 seperate tables, while when other big families requested to move they moved them, we never had such luck. The managers at some of the restraunts, would stop by each table and ask how are you all doing. Even when we wanted to tell them whats going on they would just walk off. The buffets, only the washy washy guy was awesome, everyone else looked so update, so much confusion. We actually saw employees/cook staff argue multiple times. I still left the tips which I didnt think was worth it, to give you a perspective on Disney, I paid more then the suggested amounts because they earned it. Most staff on this cruise never seemed happy and all knew they would get regular pay which may or may not be good for them. They seemed way understaffed. You also cant hear the intercom in your rooms so have to run to hear that in the hallways. The pool was so so. Kids pool was about 5 feet deep though. Kids club was not good for us because one child was 5.5 other was 7 and 9. They would not let our 5 year old be with the 7/9 year old. They have freeplay which is an hour around 9-10 or 2-3 most days for only 1 hour. Otherwise you have to pay 6$ per hour and $4 addtional child for freeplay from 10:30 on. The casino was small with card games/craps. Drink people never came around, I had to leave the casino walk out to the bar outside in order to get a drink in a reasonable amount of time. We had the ultimate beverage package - the bar orders were just SLOW all around. Sometimes the waiters would take drink orders, othertimes they had a person to take all the drink orders - it was just a bad setup/system. If you do it, sit down in the restraunt (first wait), then go out and get your drinks from the nearest bar and then go back. Sorry, probably could right more. Maybe I'm snobby but I would rather pay $500+ more to be on a grander ship with better service. Oh wait forgot - The easy walk off option, I have never seen or heard of this, but seemed like everyone was ready to get off the ship. They had the line wrapped around deck 7, we went down to deck 7 around 7:20am keep in mind they start to let people off around 8 and it took forever to get off. Even the Houston port people were like werent expecting this. I guess its what your expectations are. If you want great service, great ship, great crew I would be careful picking the Jade. Just another FYI, My parents took the Jade internationaly, they warned us about the ship and were hesitant to go again with us. I doubted them, but never again ;) good luck hope this review helps someone. 

We had a group of 9 kids and 15 adults. The Thanksgiving cruise was perfect to get friends and family together. The Jade had plenty of activities to keep everyone busy and enjoying the cruise. Cripton the Magician is a must see show. All the shows were really good and you should make plans on seeing them all. 

This was my first cruise, so I don't have anything to compare.  I enjoyed the cruise, but had expected better service, particularly in the dining realm.

Pros:

-Nice stateroom.  We booked the smallest room possible but were still quite comfortable.

-Great excursions.  The dolphin swim in Cozumel and the Mayan ruin in Belize City were fantastic.

-Great housekeeping staff.  Loved the towel animals and room was always clean.

-They had a gym on board.

-The comedian, juggling, and Elements shows were all worth seeing!

Cons:

-Staff was a mixed bag. While housekeeping staff was friendly, the dining staff members were usually not.  Guest services staff were not at all helpful.

-The lines.  I felt like I was always standing in line for something.  This is probably my biggest gripe.  There was a line for every meal, tendering was a 3+ hour process, and nothing seemed very efficient. Staff was not helpful here at all.  Dinner reservations were useless.

-Too many kids.  I went during Thanksgiving week, so not much the cruise could do; but the kids were always running around and screaming which wasn't great for relaxing.

-The food was average at best.  Plentiful but not particularly delicious.

Overall, a fun week but I had expected to be dazzled by the cruise

Read Reviews don't waste your money Carnival much better food price service staff activities never NCL again if all ships as bad as this one take it out of Houston gives us a bad name 

Our suite was quite nice and the butler (Benny) was great. This is the good part,.

Majority of the staff was NOT helpful. When asking information about shore tours they didn't understand what you were asking. FOOD was boring, everything was the same day in and day out no matter what restaurant you went to, from Cagney's to the Grand Pacific Main Dining Room.

Did not see our Concierge (Bruno Dentone) getting abroad and disembarkation.

Would try another NCL ship but not the Jade.

The length was perfect after a 14 days on land tour of Croatia & Venice. The two specialty restaurants that we were able to book on our Ultimate dining was very good and the food was prepared with taste. The main dining room and cafe, food was average in taste. My priority on cruises are conveniences of being taken care of on the cruise from beginning to end, next is quality of food, excursion quality based on interest and allowance of time at each port.

just returned from a 7 night greek islands cruise on the norwegian jade and although there was a positive points the negative ones outway the good and would stop me booking NCL again. Firstly the pool had a 4ft11 sign on one end of the pool and a 5ft 9 sign on the other end but my husband who is 6ft 2 warned me as he had got in first that he could only just touch the bottom and even then the water covered his mouth and nose and that was in all ends of the pool i couldnt touch the bottom at all as im only 5ft 5 and it was the same even in the kids pool . I contacted NCL and they said they dont encourage non swimmers to go in the pool which i find quite strange as ive never been to a pool where all the people had to be constantly swimming ? I can swim but would like to be able to put my feet down at some point . I also purchased 2 watch gift sets priced at $85 dollars each only to find when i got home they didnt work when we opened the backs of the watches we found they had cheap insides and dummy buttons on the side so the little dials on the front of the watches was fake we again contacted NCL only to be told that it wasnt anything to do with them as they just sell them and we would have to contact the makers of the watch which was not helpful as i thought NCL would take more care of their passengers and not sell cheap fakes you expect maybe to have that problem if you buy from some street vendor but you should be able to trust the quality onboard  so BUYERS BEWARE !!. The running track which was on the best deck to see the views was not really big enough to have runners and also people walking at the same time maybe off season but not when it has full capicity of 3000 people .Its a shame because i couldnt fault some of their staff onboard as our room was very clean and the food was great . The entertainment was really good but what should of been the adult party night was full of children running about even though they announced that no under 18s were allowed. I love children but also like some grown up times too and the kids had there own party lounge . I have been on other cruise lines such as princess cruises and never had these problems.

We were disappointed in the overall service (lack there of) on the ship as well as the quality of food and beverages.  We had to flag down waiters to get drinks and we also experienced very slow and not-so-friendly service in the specialty restaurants.  The onboard entertainment at the pool was poor!!  It should be a party atmosphere but the live music was not conducive to such.  The ports of call were AMAZING - especially Croatia and Turkey.  I would recommend this itinerary but not this ship. 

I love NCL and have always been devoted to strictly cruising their ships and no others for my cruise needs.  However, this trip has made me rethink that plan and consider other cruise lines in the future.  This is not a reflection of any issues with Norwegian overall, but rather the experience of this particular cruise, including the people and the activities offered on the ship.  I do not have kids, but traveled with my mother and younger sister.  During this cruise, all of us were at our wit's end with the kids on board because so many of them were so badly behaved.  This was likely due to the fact they were tired and/or bored, given the destination of the cruise.  It appeared that many parents were interested in the destinations, but their children were not factored into the decision, leaving us and other cruise goers at the mercy of their children.  This, of course, is out of NCL's hands.  However, this could have been counteracted by offering more adult activities or providing more restrictions regarding children for activities.  For example, the evening events at the Spinnaker Lounge, such as with DJ Freddie should have been limited to adults.  For shows in the Stardust Theater, rather than just the farewell show, children should not have been allowed in the first few rows.  On one night, a family with a small child was seated in the first row and the small child was often in the way during the show and had to be told by staff to be seated.

I would have like to have seen the cruise director's staff more involved in the night events in the Spinnaker Lounge, since often people were too shy to get out on the dance floor or did not like the music.  DJ Freddie did not vary his music and often failed to notice when his poor music choices resulted in many people leaving the dance floor.  If the cruise director's staff could have pointed DJ Freddie toward better music and engaged the people in the lounge more, the experience would have been greatly improved. Since this was essentially the only night activity, we were at the mercy of DJ Freddie if we wanted to attend anything at night.

I would have liked there to have been slightly better options available in the afternoon for food.  On our days at sea, we slept in and many places would be closed in the afternoon when we went to get lunch.  We avoided the buffets to diminish the chance of getting sick, leaving almost no other options.  Blue Lagoon and Moderno had mostly terrible food and few food choices.  Even something as simple as chicken fingers were not very good.  Room service was also an option, but with the $7.95 fee each time room service was ordered, it did not make sense to order room service.  I wish there had been better food options available to not make you feel penalized for wanting to sleep in.  At a minimum, more food options should have been available on the days we were at sea, when people are most likely to sleep in.

A new offering, or at least something offered since my last cruise several years ago is a tour of the ship from the inside.  It gives you a chance to see the inner workings of the ship. I was curious how it all comes together and interested in taking this tour.  However, NCL overcharges for this tour. It charged people $79.95 per person for this tour! A tour that has no overhead at all since whomever is doing the tour is already paid by the cruise line and no additional costs are incurred to show people around.  While this is unlikely to be specific to the Jade, it just also tainted the experience.

Overall, I loved the ports and liked the cruise generally, but there was definitely room for improvement in several areas.

The speaker system with announcements difficult to understander

The staff was amazing, (from the hotel directors to the cruise directors/ staff to the photographers, stewards and waiters), the ports of call historical and beautiful, the ship was clean with many amenities, activities and shows to please everyone.

We just came back home last week end (May 16, 2015) for our 7 Night Adriatic/Greece/Turkey with a happy smile. Norwegian Jade is very clean, all the crews will greet you whenever you meet them, the service is very good. The activities for adults and kids were fantastic you will never get bored. Don't forget the shore excursion -highly recommended.

Everything went well from the embarkation in Venice right through for the next 7 days. Flew into Venice and took the NCL transfer  bus to the port at only £9.00 pp each way. Boarded at around 12.30pm after only about an hour of getting checked in. Went straight to the buffet which was very nice. Cabin then ready and then had a few drinks awaiting the sailaway which was wonderful looking out at St Marks square. First day was sea day and weather was good albeit a little breezy on the top deck. We had taken advantage of the Inclusive drinks package which was a real bonus. Not available at time of booking but a little persuasion to NCL got them to cancel and re-book to include the drinks package.

We had booked first night in MDR to ensure we were not kept in a queue which allowed us to walk straight in.

Meals all week both in the MDR, buffet and Chinese were excellent We had no need to pay any surcharge for the speciality restaurants.

The steward looked after us and provided the usual towel animals each night. A BA cabin on deck 10 was ideal and very near to the lifts and stairs. Made a point though of never using the lifts all week and took the stairs every time. 

The ports were good and took the NCL tour to Oia as it got us off the ship early without waiting for a tender.

All the crew were very friendly and attentive.

Did not try any of the shows and just went to the cocktail bars in the evening. Disembarkation was easy and back to Venice airport was easy.

There are several food choices but we ate mostly in the main dining room for no extra charge mainly because we kept forgetting to make reservations in the other restaurants in advance. The dinners in the dining room were excellent. I did not like both pools being on the main pool deck. If you wanted to relax and take some time away from the 'action' you had to go to a sun deck away from the pool and hot tubs. I also think the spa is too expensive. A person should not have to pay for the indoor hot tub on a nice cruise.

Cruise met all our expectations. The crew stepped it up a notch with their friendliness and were eager to accommodate. Food was top notch. In fact everything exceeded our expectations. 

The only negative was that there we're 2 "at sea" days, when they clearly could have added another port. Starting in Rome, and spending a day at sea before our first stop in Naples didn't make much sense, being as Naples is about a 2 hour drive from Rome. We were joking that they could've paddled there and still arrived ahead of time.

Outside of that, I would highly recommend this cruise, and the Norwegian Jade. A real class act!

I sailed on this ship over 3 years ago now, but still felt I should write a review. Although the Jade is a slightly smaller ship it was still impressive! we cruised with ages from 10-70 and everyone loved it. Shows were excellent and dinner was superb. we had 11 fantastic days and great ports! kids always found something to do and the pools were great. Recommend the Jade!

This was my 2nd cruise on NCL and will probably be my last one.  I am pro-Princess for many reasons. #1 NCL does not have washers available to passengers and you have to stuff what you can in a small bag for $22.00 service.  #2  NCL really needs to update their beds....out of 4 rooms with my group only 1 bed was not dipping in the center.  They have made the problem worst with a piece of foam and topper pads. I did remove the linens and sprayed/turned what was on the bed, so I am not guessing about the bedding. The mattress was clean but just over used by heavy folks who left dip in the center.  My roommate had to have the cabin cleaner add something to hers because it was really bad.  NCL does not used fitted sheets, so the flat sheet is doubled and then it cannot be tucked.  The bed was very uncomfortable because of this.....finally I asked the cabin cleaner to unfold it and just tuck it completely around the twin mattress.....this worked and the linen was tucked throughout the night.  #3 entertainment can stand some improvements....maybe 3 shows were worth the time. They should bring in professionals more than 3 times on an 11 day cruise. Phillipinos just cannot do "Motown Hits"  what a disaster that night.  Many people complained and said it was a waste of their time.  The night of "Elements" was spectacular and really professionally done, everyone enjoyed this show.

Now for the good.....#1 the cabin is not bad for size and the bathroom was spacious.  #2 the dining room food was good and hot if get there for first seating at 5:30 or 6:00pm....service very slow after this time.  I had only ONE BAD MEAL....I decided to order something that had been on the menu the day before....well this was a mistake.  They brought the meat out to me "cold" and I do mean "cold" from the refrigerator....no heat.  I sent it back and it was "warm in some area", finally I decided it was a mistake to order something that they were not prepared for from the menu.  This was the only bad experience in 10 days.  The breakfast in the dining room was good and hot.  I am not a fan of the buffet and did not eat there unless returned from tours hungry and unable to wait until 5:30. People are just "nasty" and do not know how to handle food at buffets.....so I just don't go.

My last cruise on NCL Star the bed was more comfortable and the food was worst than the Jade.  I did enjoy the cruise overall and would recommend the itinerary for sure.  If the Itinerary is done by another cruise line....it may be good to try another one if you are picky about your food and bedding.

I do not have plans to return on NCL for another cruise....unless it is a brand new ship.