Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The cruise was great. Being able to visit 6 ports in 10 days was incredible. Instead of wandering around airports and dealing with transport to-and-from airports, hotels, and toting luggage all around, we only had to hop on and off the ship. My wife and I were able to eat to our hearts' content. My only complaint was that the soft serve ice cream machine was shut down every day around 11 PM. When that's my only complaint, I have to give it a 5-star review.

The alcohol was generally reasonably priced (Seagrams 7 & Sprite for $6 is the same as a bar in the States!) but some wasn't ($14 for a margarita hurt).

The interior staterooms were more spacious than my wife expected. We were both very pleased and already looking forward to our next cruise.

Even though Norwegian Jade will be refurbished in 2016, the ship was in tip-top shape. Well kept ship thanks to the crew.

The Jade was a beautiful ship,very clean. Personnel were professional and helpful. The Speciality Restaurants were a highlight. The Garden Cafe is a zoo with people everywhere, lines waiting for food and a terrible shortage of seating! Shows in the evening were a highlight

 This was our 1st full scale cruise as a couple and our 2nd Cruise Line we had travelled on. Our previous experience was a simple 2 night cruise on the P&O Cruises Arcadia and we wanted something a little more flexible in terms of dining options and a more "casual" approach. The cruise was for my wives 40th Birthday 

Pre cruise booking & preparation Our booking was made with the Agency Iglu Cruises approx 8 months before the Cruise. This was a pain free process with excellent communication and paid what seemed like a very reasonable offer. We decided to go with a night's stay in Rome a night before just for peace of mind. After registering our booking with the Norwegian Cruise website we were a little taken back by the on board prices for drinks and so opted to pre pay the soft drinks package for us both. 

Embarkation & introductions to the ship This could not have been simpler and was quite simply a delight! Despite an embarkation time of 12:00 we arrived at 11:30 and had our luggage taken by the Porters straight away. The security process was a breeze (no more than 5 minutes) and we went straight to the desk attendant to check in. This took no more than 5 minutes to complete and we were ready to board straight away. On entering the ship we were welcomed by a ships' rep and a friendly Pirate. We were warned that our cabin may not be ready but nevertheless we went to check it out and to our delight  found it all there ready for us. Please see our separate review of the cabin. We opted to take a guided tour by one of the cruise staff of the main areas of the ship as well as a more dedicated tour of the spa. Both were very concise and informative 

Dining 

The best thing about dining on the Jade is you can pretty much eat however much you want when you want wherever you want and it's the flexible approach that attracted us to this cries line in the 1st place. The Garden Cafe was our 1st experience open for buffet as soon as we boarded. Initially the choice is so overwhelming with at least 3 - 4 main food stations in the main area. Hygiene is the 1st order of the day here and all the restaurants with the staff constantly reminding us in a friendly "washy washy happy happy" tone.  It takes a few minutes to take it all in but the variety is simply incredible. For those not opting for the soft drinks package there is plentiful choice of hot & cold drinks available on tap (water, iced tea, lemonade, fruit juice etc) though the cold drinks were VERY sweet! This restaurant is also the venue of choice for breakfast buffet and offers a wide choice of items hot & cold. You can also opt to eat "Al Fresco" in the aft section though it did mean the hot items did get colder much quicker though the plus side was there was always plenty of seating. Overall the availability of seating was easy throughout the cruise. Perhaps a little busier at peak times but nothing that caused too much concern. There was never a situation of not finding a table.

Our main gripe about the two main free dining restaurants Grand Pacific and Alizar was that their menus were identical. Surely there should be some kind of choice between the 2. The daily menus also appeared to be pretty similar every night. Having said that the quality of the food served is very good and well presented all bit it slightly small portions. (not really a serious problem though as we simply went upstairs later to the buffet if we were not filled up sufficiently!) the food was served reasonably hot and the restaurant staff were attentive, friendly and all too keen on pleasing you. I would say you do have to be clear when ordering. there was more than one occasion when I ordered my "regular pepsi" only to have diet brought to the table yuk! The other smaller cafe restaurant the Blue lagoon is probably our favourite service simply the most divine buffalo chicken wings. Again not much variety in the menu options but by far the best table service. Always tables free and available 24/7! There is also the option to have breakfast there but we found the level of replenishment on the buffet counter not very fast. Our only experience of the supplimentary restaurants was Teppenyaki at $25 a head extra. This was great fun with a a personal chef serving directly at our table providing the most entertaining session of cooking tricks as he prepared our food. They were simply excellent and the food tasted great. The let down for us with the whole experience was 1. the cleanliness of the floor (they hadn't cleaned up from the last session and the floor was simply disgusting) and 2. the time it took to seat us , take our orders and serve starters. It seemed about an hour before the personal chef came out to cook. As it was my wives birthday that night they added the nice touch of some personal tricks for her and a bonus free birthday cake brought to us at the end of the dining session which we took back to our room.

One final note on drinks. The prices are extremely expensive for drinks so we strongly advise to purchase the drinks packages. There is a cocktail of the day which if purchased is the best deal. If you can wait to later in the cruise they did sell some wines at half price which we took advantage of.

Service The majority of  ships staff are extremely friendly and offer a great atmosphere. They are all knowledgeable about their individual roles and clearly show a passion for what they do. What is strikingly good about the ship is the cleanliness. It looks immaculate and almost new throughout. Our steward is mentioned in the cabin review.

Entertainment Surprisingly We didn't see too much of the live entertainment other than the opening preview night in the Theatre, a high wire act mid way through and a broadway/west end song session. These acts were passable to while an evening away but were by no means spectacular. That being said there was a good variety of small singers/ quartets in the bar areas which were probably more entertaining than the headline theatre acts. We were somewhat surprised at the lack of an in house dance troupe. other activities such as the quizzes and gameshows were a lot more fun & entertaining for us. The quizzes were varied and provided a mix of challenges. A nice touch was the rewards system in place even if you didn't win the quiz. Enough signatures gathered at the end of the cruise from participation alone ensured the collection of fun ship based goodies including tee shirts mugs & pens etc. 

Excursions These although pricey were superb. we opted for 3 ship organised trips to Ancient Olympia, Ephesus and Istanbul. They were well organised, offered plenty of time for shopping and were all run by knowledgeable friendly guides & drivers. We never felt rushed or bored. A nice touch for the Turkish excursions was the free guides, gifts and postcards left on our seats. On this cruise we were disappointed not to have offered a tour to Ancient Corinth which as Christians was a must see activity when in docked in Athens. That being said we were again more than impressed with the speed of disembarkation if we chose to go it alone. The whole process of getting back on board was also a breeze wether going on organised excursions or touring alone. 

Disembarkation Again the process of getting off was simplicity. We simply chose a preferred time and got off at our leisure. We never felt pressurised to get off like we had with P&O Cruises. Our main gripe was more with the Port facilities at Rome CIVITAVECCHIA. Our transfer was unfortunately delayed by 2 hours which meant a lot of time sitting in the terminal. Facilities for departing passengers were we felt extremely poor with almost no seating, no change facilities and no cafes. The only food & beverage option was a rather tired & dirty looking vending machine located right next to some rather dirty toilets which attracted more port staff than passengers. A rather sour end to an extremely pleasurable trip.

Overall Norwegian cruises and the Jade provided just the flexible cruise we were looking for We never felt out of place not matter what attire we wore wether smart, casual, scruffed or dressed to the nines. We would defiantly make NCL our 1st choice for cruising again.

staffs are good

This ship was clean and well run.

We had a truly magical trip to places we longed to see. The ship was great with a good layout and plenty of dining options.

Just a wonderful cruise. The only thing is we don't get to sit together as there 12 of us when we dine.

A nice, not too Gaudy (or Gaudi!) ship

been on ship before, not the same.cruise was shortened by one stop.so ship had to make up the difference at sea, making cruising to 6 to 10 mph.sometimes we would just float in water ,so we would not get to ports early. last day was a mess people stuck on elevators fighting to get off to meet their connections.staff didn't know what to do,almost fighting broke out.what a mess,never again for me.

Someone told me - that because I had been to Italy - to expect to be underwhelmed by Greece.  I have to say - sadly - they were correct.  Greece is most certainly beautiful but I will not return.  Italy on the other hand ... I will continue to go and never get tired of it. Santorini and Mykonos were definitely the highlights of our trip.  Olympia was a tad boring and Corfu we never saw as there was a horrible storm.  

As far as NCL - it was our first time using them (have been on 4 previous cruises with other lines) and it will be our last.  Not impressed at all.  NCL is a cruise line for the 60+ crowd.  Boring food.  Boring entertainment.  Boring shops. Bugs in our stateroom. We suspect they were bed bugs.  Complained several times and to NCL'S defense they did what they had to do (remove bedding and thoroughly inspect the room).  

Onboard activities - well this ship is certainly not meant for anyone who doesn't go to bed at 9pm.  I remember walking around the ship and it being absolutely deserted at 10pm at night.  Most nights, we were the only people in the "DJ" room.  If you're looking to meet people, unwind by dancing and having a few drinks - this is not the cruise line for you.  We were utterly BORED the entire cruise upon return from our excursions.  No entertainment/music on at sea days and the asian band they had were absolutely HORRIFIC.  Every time they played they literally cleared out the room. 

Food - not up to par.  After the 2nd night we stopped dining in the main dining area's and stuck to the buffet area's.  The food was bland, undercooked or overcooked.  Menu's were not very descriptive of what you were getting.  The 2 nights we did eat in the main dining area our waiter was a bit of a douche. Couldn't/wouldn't go into more detail about our food and didn't really have much information on drinks either.  

Staff - our cabin attendant was superb.  Aside from him - we were underimpressed with other staff.  From the main dining hall to bartenders, NCL staff leave little to be desired.  I actually witnessed a bartender pick his nose as he was pouring someone a drink.  Disgusting. 

Room service breakfast was great.  Arrived on time and hot.  I think they were the only meals we really enjoyed. 

Excursions - we enjoyed thoroughly EXCEPT for the Corfu but that was because of the weather.  I can't believe NCL allowed passengers to go into the tender boats in a storm.  People almost fell overboard and the last tender to arrive back at the ship was stuck as it was too rocky to get people out of it.  Unreal! The Olympia excursion was pretty boring.  

A seven night cruise cruise spoilt by noisy plumbing at all times of the day. 

The room, well both rooms suffered from the sound of water sloshing about in tanks/pipes and the sound pipes banging. Staff were aware but were reluctant acknowledge my complaints. 

NCL staff solution was to hand me 2 sets of foam ear plugs one evening when I was complaining. 

Otherwise the ship itself was clean and tidy. Food was good, although the buffet area serving breakfast and launch was busy. 

Shows on board were superb. 

At the price point we paid it was worth it. 

Overall, the cruise ship is very nice. Plenty of maps around to get you where you need to be. Plenty of areas to walk outside, lots of chairs and tables near the pool and friendly crew.

Great overall impression

It was perfect! I never forget the rib eye steak taste.. the best i had in my life! And the crew was very funny and kind, they give red wine complementary as my wedding gift. Thanks! It's really touch my heart ♥️

Have sailed on NCL before and have been very happy with all their ships

That what gonna happen to you when you cruise with NCL

it was 3 AM and I didn't sleep after

I'd like to share my experience with NCL on this linkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEYw90fHalY

Being an avid cruiser and a Latitudes Silver member, I will admit that my last three cruises have been with Norwegian.  Unfortunately, for them, my experiences allow me to say with clarity that the freestyle approach has resulted in very poor performance by most employees on our ships.  Don't get me wrong; I am on vacation and very little will ever ruin my rest and relaxation. However I choose to sail with popular and long standing companies because I believe that I can depend upon the staff to provide me with consistent information that is accurate, as well as a variety of activities that will provide opportunities for fun.  My recent sailing offered very little of these experiences.  Staff are less than eager to perform beyond minimal expectations. Perhaps it is because they believe that families want to be left alone or that their incentives have been eliminated with the automatic gratuity charge that most staff share from a large pool (FYI you can visit the desk and refuse the daily charge so that you can "take care" of those who do go out of their way to make your vacation memorable). Serving staff bringing hot chocolate when you ask for a glass of chocolate milk, not being able to bring your main course as you like is( sauce on the side was impossible to understand), failing to adhere to the confusing posted dress code, deciding when the no shorts rule would be followed during dinner, and then being defensive when you call them on it is unacceptable.  Excursion information was never accurate- staff were unsure of who or where were the best places to exchange currency, tender use was a nightmare because they force you to miss evening activities or wake up god early to stand on lines to get tender tickets to enjoy your day at port, and then disregard the order when announcing the tender use forcing everyone to rush the stairwell.Naturally if you booked an NCL excursion, you are taken care of but if you enjoy the port on your own, good luck being helped.

It is unfortunate that a popular line with a long history of excellence has declined in service for so long.  Our child loved the camp and the staff but as parents, they changed the location for his age group on a regular basis resulting in kids being dropped off late and missing activities. I hear that other major lines will begin to experiment with a degree of freestyle as well. There may be some benefits but I caution them to abandon the traditional cruise experience entirely.

NCL is there to cater to a distinct population of clients. In my opinion, this population is the "fly by the seat of your pants, last minute planning, who cares about the rules" type of passenger. That's fine if this is who you are. However, if you want to eat in a dining room with people who are dressed appropriately, not have to pay larger than ever fees to try food that used to be on the main dining menu but are only in the specialty restaurants now, enjoy music poolside, or count on critical information being accurate, then head my warning- NCL isnt for you.

I doubt that I will sail with them again.  What I give up for the freestyle experience is not worth it.

again too many children and too many rude adults

It was a great cruise, we were expecting to have more activities but in general it was a great cruise we had a good time, the staff were super nice. Thecruise director Rico Dubreil was very nice with my kids and also he recognize my wife on her birthday.

the route is super recomended, Dubrovnik is beatiful and what to say about Venice is breathtaking.