Stealthdog

We were rewarded with one pier runner, who was gracious enough to waive to everyone on the side who was cheering him on.  😎. We left shortly after, so it seems everyone made the ship!  Off to Georgetown!

I’ll try to get caught up with yesterday and today later tonight. 

Favorite Port Day activity - pier runner watching from the balcony!  All aboard was 2 minutes ago. 

Day 4 is Falmouth, Jamaica Day.  It has started off frustrating.  We are docking now (645-650 am). The buffet is open but MDR (and Great Outdoors) doesn’t open until 7am, so everyone is crammed in the buffet (some may be at Osheehans).  We have a 715 meetup time to be off the ship for the NCL excursion, but they don’t provide the towels until after 7am on the pool deck.  I feel rush, everything feels hectic, and everyone is bumping into each other.  We should have gone to Osheehans for a less crowded breakfast…but that won’t fix towels not being available until 7.  
 

It looks like we will be the only ship in port.  Carnival is in Ocho Rios.

The behind the scenes tour was a lot more laid back on the Jade than other ships, though more stairs.  We also had fewer stops we toured. For the Jade it was just the Galley, the Laundry Room, I-95, and the Theater.  On other ships they also take you to the Bridge and Engineering Room.  I was hoping for the engineers so I could ask the questions about the Azipods, what happened, how they fixed it, and what its current status…..but no chance to ask.

The lady from Cruise Next is the guide.  And noone from security escorts you like on other ships.  You just go to Cruise Next, get your sticker and off you go.

On the Jade there are 7 different galleys that support the various restaurants around the ship.  That’s why you may have something at one restaurant and it taste completely different than the same item at a different restaurant - different chefs in different galleys are making them. 
 

At the galley, one of the chefs walked us through their daily activities. 
 

After the galley, we headed to laundry…..which was hot!!!  Some of the laundry machines operate 24/7…..or near continuously, so requires constant supervision.  The operation on the jade is a lot smaller than the big ships, so it looked like it didn’t have the robotic folding of some of the items. 
 

The last stop of the tour was the theater.  The production manager brought us behind stage, through the changing rooms, and explained how the production shows operate, how the contracts work, and what acts were on board. 
 

The only acts on board are permanent residents of the ship under long term contracts - the production (singers and dancers), the illusionist, and the acrobats.  No temorary acts are on board.

if you have a chance to take the tours.  Do it.  They last about an hour and are free for platinum and above.  Be aware that the tour on the Jade does use a lot of stairs, so anyone with mobility issues should consider that before going. 

Day 3 - first sea day was packed full of things, so we had to skip some events we would normally do because we didn’t want to feel rushed.  Behind the Scenes Latitudes Tour, Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle, Latitudes Party, and Veterans Recognition event were all going on.  Bingo, Deal or No Deal, and the Art Auction were all major events happening across the ship.

We did the Behind the Scenes Tour and got to the Meet and Mingle late.  We skipped the Latitudes Party and the Veterans event - I don’t know why they schedule the Veterans event at 530pm.  We normally attend those because I’m retired Army and Eric is USPHS, but we had reservations at La Cucina.

We did do a trivia, Blazing Boots, and had another day in the Thermal Spa.

Day 3 Freestyle

3 hours ago, mking8288 said:

  Did you by any chance noticed ship's WiFi signals reaching the island while there (should've mentioned earlier & see if you can check it out, sorry about that) as cellular signal has been blocked from the island.  Years ago, we roam on Bahamas cellular signal ashore as the towers are there and we're able to take advantage of our data plans.  Now, it seemed they somehow managed to block it but oddly enough, ship's WiFi were usable (at least it was ... in 2022) - they probably used microwave relays to beam the signal ashore while tendering guests ashore for the day.  

I couldn’t access the ship Wi-Fi from the island.  We have T-mobile service, so we get data at just about every Caribbean location.  We turned off airplane mode (once we ran out of range to access the ship Wi-Fi) and just used our TMobile service while on the Island. Because we were able to access data, it seems like it might have reverted to your earlier experience where people can access data through cell service providers.  TMobile data service on the island was fairly good/fast.  I looked to see if there was any NCL island WiFi service and there wasn’t. 

On 7/23/2024 at 1:42 PM, Trishleighb said:

We are on this same cruise. Very excited! Do we know what shows or if there is a comedian on this ship? The last two cruises we did didn't have a comedian. Which we really enjoy. 🤞

There is no comedian currently on the Jade. We did the latitudes behind the scenes tour (will give me detail of that later) and the production manager told us they have the illusionist, acrobats, and production as permanent acts.  They have no temporary “fly in - fly out” acts. 

On Day 2 we ate at the main dining room.  Eric preordered his meal the night before. 
 

For appetizers we got bruschetta (Eric) French Onion soup, mixed green salad with avocado (Eric), and Caesar salad.  Eric loved the bruschetta, but the onion soup was a little disappointing.  It tasted like a watered down version you will get at a nicer restaurant. But, it wasn’t overly salty, so that was a positive.  We will check out the onion soup at Le bistro later in the cruise.  I won’t order the soup in the MDR again though.  Both of the salads were good.

For dinner Eric got a vegan Pad Thai with tofu and I got the NY Strip.  Eric really enjoyed the pad Thai and the NY Strip was good - Moderno obviously had better steaks there.  But for MDR, it was a food cut at the right temperature, so it’s a safe choice to order on the Jade. 
 

Liz joined us for dinner and she had the bourbon chicken, which she also enjoyed.

The deserts were not that great though.  Eric had some kind of tapioca pudding (chefs choice) that was flavorless.  The Carrot Cake was ok……the mint chocolate mousse was probably the best desert of the night. I was still tasting it a couple hours after dinner, but my breath was probably minty fresh!  We probably could have gone to the buffet after dinner for better deserts.  Something to keep in mind next time. 

For night 3 we will be eating in La Cucina, so will learn what NCLs new policy is for speciality dining and how many appetizers we can order with the package. 

The tender line on board starts at deck 7 mid.  You either need to get tender tickets or have loyalty status, though I didn’t see anyone checking tender tickets.  Once they start loading, we got down to the 6th deck and enter the top part of a two deck tender.  When arriving at GSC, you depart from the lower deck.  So, being in the lower deck going to the island and being in the top deck back to the ship will get you off the tender quickest.

There are no towels on the island.  You pick up (sign for) towels on the pool deck if the ship, and return them the same location.  They say you need cabin card and photo id to leave the ship.  

The tender sails around the side of the island and into a little protected cove area to dock and let off the passengers.  There were some light refreshments upon arrival.  Leaving the ship is just the reverse.  You go back to the tender spot and board at the same location. 
 

We walked to the far end of the beach area to where the path is blocked for private cove guests only.  Along the beach, there are loungers which are complimentary and palm (and other) trees which provide for decent shaded areas. 
 

There are no vehicle shuttles on the island, but we did see several wheelchairs with the big wheels that can operate on the sand.  So individuals with physical limitations may have to plan more. We also didn’t see any maps of the island anywhere.  That may be coming if they expand what they have built.
 

The ocean water is very clear and you can see all the way to the bottom.  There are some areas with rocks.  And we did see some fish and jellyfish.  So, be careful of the rocks and jellyfish. 
 

The island did feel congested compared to other private islands.  That’s probably because only a small portion of the island is complete, so there really isn’t anywhere to escape the masses.  On other islands we will normally go to the furthest beach from the ship because fewer people go there.  If you want a more secluded experience, the cabanas or private cove area may be an option. 
 

We like Coco Cay (RCL), Castaway Cay (Disney), and Ocean Cay (MSC) better because they feel more spread out and developed for a better experience.  But, NCL has a lot of potential with GSC once they complete the docks and build more of the island.  But GSC was a nice stop and we wouldn’t mind it on every sailing we go on. 

Views from the tenders and onboard the ship of Great Stirrup Cay and Coco Cay.  At Coco Cay, the Independence and Utopia of the Seas were docked.  NCL Sky was tendered at GSC with us.  There is a strong chance we will do a transatlantic Dec 2025 on the Sky so it was good seeing her. 
 

GSC is much larger than Coco Cay, but not as developed.  That means NCL has a lot more potential to build the island up.  I didn’t see any pier construction going on, so not really sure what part of the island it will be.  
 

When looking at GSC from the ship, you can see what has been built so far.  There is a long beach line facing the ship, with the large lighthouse building that has the zip lining. On the beach area you can watch the people zip lining above you. 
 

On the other side of the paved path that takes you down the beach are all the private cabanas.  They look like they can hold 6-8 comfortably.  They are little hut-like buildings that have open faces in the front.  There don’t have personal access to the beach or water, so you have to walk through the public beach area to get to the ocean.  At the far end there is a private beach area (a cove).  I haven’t looked into it, but I assume it’s another pay excursion for those who want a more  secluded experience on the Island.

There are several eateries (structure and food trucks) set up along the paved path.  It’s typical private island food - hotdogs, chicken, burgers, corn, salads, etc.  There are several bars along the way as well, and though we didn’t stop for drinks you can use your drink package on the island (or so we were told).

13 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Two recommendations:

 

Shane, bartender in the Martini bar. Best bartender we've ever had (and yes, that includes Chocolate Cowboy).

 

Daniel, piano player. He's actually part of the Duo that performs in the lounges. But if you can catch him playing solo in the Atrium, don't miss it.

 

I'll throw in a third recommendation. Stay out of the smoky casino.

 

We will explore more and take a look at those.

So far the casino hasn’t been bad.  It has a persistent smoke smell, but it hasn’t been over smokey. I guess it depends on other passengers on board - we have only seen a handful of people smoking in there.  We just go to another area of the casino.  We prefer casinos that have separate rooms for smokers, but have been on alot worse than what we see on the Jade so far. 

3 hours ago, mking8288 said:

How is GSC ... do you see any construction progress with the new pier ?  

 

I didn’t see any construction.  I’ll take some pictures from the sun deck later this afternoon. Didn’t realize that GSC and Coco Cay were so close to each other. 

6 hours ago, jamin jul said:

How is the live music so far? What type of music was the Island Notes at the pool yesterday?

Im new to NCL- if I have 2 free specialty restaurants with my booking- do I just pick 2 and everything is included? Looks like a few are cover charge but others are a la cart🤔

We haven’t really sat for any of the music yet so really no comment on that until later.  We avoided the pool area yesterday, so not sure what type of music they were playing. We went to the Majority Rules game show last night - was a lot of fun. 
 

For specialty dining the dining package will cover appetizers, one entree, and deserts. NCL changes policies, so not sure what will be enforced on board yet.  I think the current policy is one app and one entree.  I’ll push it and see if we will be able to order multiple appetizers, one entree, and multiple deserts, but will let you know tomorrow night.  Using a dining package on Moderno or Teppanyaki will cover the whole meal.  Ala carte prices apply if you are eating in the restaurant without a package - you can always just buy what you want. 
 

We haven’t spent any time in Canaveral - what restaurants do you like at the port?

Day 2 Freestyle

We are pulling into Great Stirrup Cay at 21 knts, so it appears any lingering machines issues with steering has been resolved. We are scheduled to get in at 9am.  Looks like we will be sharing it with the NCL Sky.  Coco Cay is doubled up with two RCL ships and the Wish is at Castaway Cay, so looks like a busy day at the private islands today. 

For those interested in the fitness schedule, attached is the daily schedule for the Jade.  They have several pay classes and a few complimentary activities each day.  
 

Connected to the main gym area is a smaller room with spin bikes, mats, and I think another set of lower weight dumbbells.  The funniest part of this part of the gym is the window faces the ships pool, so while you are sweating on the bikes, you get to watch other passengers drinking in the pool.  I’m not sure if it’s a two-way window and they get to watch you work out while they are in the pool.  Hahahaha. 

One of the important stops of Day 1 for anyone with status is the Cruise Next desk - which is next to Shore excursions.

For platinum, we were able to reserve the complimentary Behind the Scenes ship tour (first sea day) and the complimentary Wine Tasting (last sea day).  They don’t provide priory tender tickets on the Jade.  The Cruise Next rep told us our cabin card would serve as the priority tender ticket.

For higher status levels you can book other events at Cruise Next, such as Dinner with the Officers.  Definitely check out Cruise Next on Day 1 if you are interested in the loyalty perks on board. 

A couple pics from the top decks while in port.  We were next to Carnival and RCL.  There was another Carnival ship further away at a different terminal area, so it looked like there were 4 ships in port yesterday.  That made getting into the terminal fairly easy without too much congestion. 
 

The sail away at Canaveral is nice - you will pass a row of restaurants on the right side of the ship and people will do the traditional waiving at the ship with all the cruise passengers on the balconies waiting back.  Sail aways are one of my favorites parts of cruising.

I think we were the last to leave port.  The only thing we missed was hearing a Disney ships horn as they were leaving because Disney wasn’t in port yesterday.

Dinner night 1 - Moderno

The Moderno on the Jade is smaller than the bigger NCL ships.  For those unfamiliar, Moderno is NCLs version of a land-based Brazilian Steakhouse.  
 

The salad bar station was a lot smaller than the version on the Escape, which means a lot fewer options.  It still had several different types of vegetables (normal salad, beets, asparagus, etc), cheeses (mozzarella, baked provolone), and small meat slices (prosciutto, salami, etc).  If you are going to Moderno just for the salad bar, just be aware that the options are fewer.

The star is definitely the meat variety.  Even on the Jade, there were about 8-10 types of meat the severs brought out - 2 chicken types, filet mignon, pork belly, another pork option, lamb, sausage link, and a couple other steak options.  They also had the baked pineapple with cinnamon. The sever will bring out a tray of side for the table - sautéed mushrooms, white rice, mashed potatoes, and yuca.  The sides were ok.

One thing we like about NCLs version of the Brazilian steakhouse is the meats are not overly salted like land based versions (Fogo, Texas de Brazil, etc).  And that was the case on the Jade as well.  Most of the cuts were coming out overcooked, so we just had to tell the server what temperature we preferred.  For steaks and lamb we like medium rare and they were all coming out medium well to well.  Once they knew, they brought out everything at the our preferred temperature.

The restaurant was fairly empty, so it doesn’t look like it is one of the more popular restaurants on the Jade.  Because we always have so many specialty dining options - this time 2 for Free at Sea and 2 for Platinum - we like to try as many as we can.  If you have several specialty dining vouchers/meals, the Moderno on the Jade is a good option and probably a good value to use.  It wasn’t busy, so the food was quick and the server was always there.  The variety was pretty good, even for a smaller version.  And, the quality of the cuts was good.  Definitely recommend checking out Moderno on the Jade if you like Brazilian steakhouses.

Attached are the Moderno menu and the Wine bottle options for the latitudes dining voucher.  I didn’t take the desert desert menu - it was an option of 3-4 standard deserts. 

Pics of the room - Club Balcony (MA) 11th deck.  The balcony is really large - so big it feels like it is missing some furniture to take the space.  Hahahaha.

Bathroom has a separate toilet space, sink area, and shower tub.  The layout is nice because multiple people can use it at the same time.  Some people prefer the shower tub - we would be ok with just a walk in shower.

The storage space in the bathroom is limited and there appears to be no outlets in there.  Above the mirror at the sink there is an outlet that says razors only.  We aren’t chancing it.

The whole side paneling next to the closet in the cabin is all shelving though - so lots of space for clothes.  And they are deep drawers that can store almost anything.  Lots of ships have narrow shelves that really limit how you can use it.  
 

There is a long hallway from the entrance to the bed area with another shelf system and you could place bags and suitcases there.

Across the sofa to the left of the TV is another set of shelving for more storage and the safe.  The mini fridge is beneath that with several drawers to the right.  The tabletop is really narrow and it looks like it would barely fit a laptop.  
 

2 outlets at the tabletop beneath the TV and 1 USB station.  Both sides of the bed have a USB station under the lights. 

Overall - lots of space, with some limitations (shelving and outlets in bathroom) and table space for large devices.  We are pleased with the room - one of the better ones we have been in a balcony+ category.

First impressions of the ship….and these may change over the 7 days.  
 

Seems we are at full capacity because the public spaces were all packed.  It may also be that the rooms aren’t available and people are lingering on deck 7 (where we board).

The spa and thermal suite look really nice.  We got our sticker to put on room card for the weekly pass.  We will probably be using it daily (after today because they are doing tours until dinner).  The gym is small.  It’s a row of treadmills facing out the window for views off the ship (watching carnival leaving now). There is a second row of bikes and ellipticals.   There are a handful of machine weights and one free weight Dumbbell station.  I’ll take a few pics and post later when there is no one else in here.  We will see how busy it gets with what appears to be a full ship.

The casino seems ok for the size of the ship.  There are no smoking signs as you enter, but it does have the smell of persistent smoke inside.  I’m ok with the smell, but heavy smoke dries my eyes because I wear contacts.  We will probably spend time in there every night.

The Spinnaker Lounge and Great Outdoors will probably be my 2 favorite places on board.  Both overlook the front (lounge) and aft (outdoors) of the ship. 
 

The rest of the ship I haven’t really checked out because the congestion.

Tonight we are eating at Moderno and will check out some of the entertainment before heading to the casino (opens late because of late departure) and end at Osheehans and late night eats.

We were able to get into the cabins around the 3pm and got to the luggage around 345pm. 
 

The staff seems happy and pleasant, which is really important for a good cruise experience.  We had some old voicemail messages on our stateroom phone from the previous cruise, which was a little annoying because I had to listen through each individually to delete them and get the red light to stop flashing on the phone.

The MA room feels really big (compared to other ships/lines of similar categories).  Lots of drawers for clothes and space to hand clothes.  I’ll post cabin photos later. 
 

Day 1 Freestyle.

Got on board about 1115 - after Haven and guests with Special needs.  They directed us to head to the muster immediately, so checked in right away.  
 

We could not access the ship wifi from inside the pier (and even after boarding was getting error messages), so not on WiFi yet.  
 

Cruise next isnt open until 1230, so first stop was Shore Excursions - we were able to get the 2nd ticket for the Blue Hole and Tubing.  
 

At restaurant reservations there is a lady  who will preorder meals for any dietary restrictions for the next day.  On future days, she can be found in Jasmine Garden to preorder the following day meals.  She was really good with going through the menu and describing how she can modify menus for specific needs.  
 

We got our room cards updated with the thermal suite pass sticker and Eric already booked his first spa appointment. 
 

The buffet was already packed.  First impression of the buffet offering was Meh….but we just did a quick walk through.  We probably won’t be using it much since we can pre-order Eric’s breakfast and dinner meals in MDR and specialty restaurants.
 

First drink on board - traditional mimosa!