Atlgator

In regards to the other cruise lines pushing me to prefer NCL. I will start off with the worse to a close 2nd. I refer to Carnival as the "Wal-Mart" crowd. Usually younger power drinkers, unruly children, poorly maintained ships, and drink package is extra and limited to 15 drinks. Pluses for Carnival are that they usually have great entertainment and cruise directors and good itineraries. Royal Caribbean have great ships, but are more pricey fares, purchasing the drink package is very pricey, and usually more children on board. Celebrity has great food. The food in their MDR is better than specialty restaurants on other ships. They have specials to include drink packages at times, if you can catch one of those specials. However, the ship is dead by 10pm. I am 61 and I was a kid on my cruises. Much more laid back and more for your older crowd that just want to sit and read a book all day and go to bed after dinner. I have never been on MSC, but have talked to enough people who have given many negative reviews, so I will not try them out. Also, I have never been on Princess for the same reasoning. Now, these are my opinions, and also many opinions of my customers that I book for. I still sell cruises on RCCL and Celebrity, but for some of the reasons that I mentioned above. For me, I will stick with NCL for their drink package and specialty dinners. NCL has some short comings as well with some of their cut backs that has effected all of the cruise lines post covid. However, the cruise industry has grown immensely over the past 2 years, and now the cruise lines are just getting greedy and not reinstating their cutbacks, especially in the area of service and entertainment. Sorry to be long winded, but I was trying to answer your question the best I could.

Where to begin with a constructive response....First you mentioned continually that the both of ya'll did not feel well throughout most of your cruise. Not feeling well will make food not taste the best as well as put a damper on having a great time drinking and hanging out on the ship. You also mentioned that this was your first cruise as an "adult", that tells me that you have not cruised post covid. A lot of things have changed among ALL of the cruise lines. Good luck finding a better cruise line than NCL. Does NCL have it's short comings? YES!! But all of the cruise lines have cut back on everything from entertainment, food, and extra luxuries. I have been on 5 other cruise lines, but I continually sale with NCL. I have close to 20 cruises with NCL. Also, the Jade is a smaller class ship and I would suggest trying a larger ship like the EPIC, or Breakaway, or Getaway and see how ya'll like those ships. Either way, good luck on your search of cruise lines.

We bring the premade mimosa bottles on board with us and we have them while getting dressed in the morning before ever leaving the cabin.

There is a current promotion that you can use 2 CNC for a total of a $500.00 deposit for any reservation cabin balcony and above.

I will be in SJU in May, I would like to hear your ideas. I have been to San Juan several times, but always open to new ideas.

Thank you for a great review. My group are doing a 9-day out of Canaveral on the Jade. I have done 16 cruises on NCL but have not been on the Jade yet. I prefer the larger ships, but this ship had a great itinerary and was out of Canaveral. I live in Daytona. I am looking forward to the down scale size and comparing the differences from the other ships. It is funny listening to people complain all the time about the food or entertainment. A cruise is what you make out of it. There are going to be down times on food, entertainment, or service, but I always remember that I am on vacation and a cruise is always better than sitting at home.

Thanks for all the responses. I normally sail on NCL, have only been on Celebrity once before, a while ago, so I am used to the hurry up and wait approach on NCL. I know it is a change of subject, but since I am the OP it is ok. How early can you get tender tickets? I have an early excursion in Belize and the tour company wants us off as quickly as we can. Since I don't have any seniority with Celebrity, do you just request tender tickets from Guest Operations?

OK, you just show up early and stand in line?

I apologize in advance if this has been discussed many, many times, but I have a simple question about Entertainment Reservations. How does Celebrity handle making reservations for their various shows? Do you go somewhere once on board and reserve times then or what? Thank you in advance . Dan

Just booked the EPIC yesterday out of Port Canaveral for the Western Caribbean.

Sorry about your misadventure. I will be on the Getaway in a couple weeks, and I was curious if ya'll did dock at OSJ? I had heard rumors about the Pan Am Pier, but no one knows for sure which pier we will be docked at? I usually just do my own walking tour of OSJ. Stay at your leisure and see what YOU want to see, not a tour guide.

We saw the show on the Prima and we both loved it. I would definitely recommend attending the show.

I am surprised that NCL is now using Amber Cove as their port for the D.R. ? The Getaway has been changed from Puerto Plata To Amber Cove in May as well.

I had the same such trouble before where I used Priceline to make the reservation, and I "thought" payment also through Priceline. But when arriving at the hotel up in Helen, GA, the hotel did not show any payment. After going through priceline customer service, I was sent to booking.com customer service, where NO ONE speaks English!! Long story short, the hotel got their money from booking.com and I will NEVER use Priceline again!!

We just got off the Freedom on 12/1 after a short 4 day trip down to the Bahamas, and I can easily say that this was the worse food we have ever had on a cruise ship. The Lido Buffet was not that good and had short serving hours. Only bright spot was the Mongolian Wok and the Deli. We ate in the MDR 1 night, and that was enough. We had a chicken breast that was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand and was so dry and tough you could barely cut it. The best meal on board was the steak house. The meal and service were excellent !! It is a shame that you have to pay $100 to get good food on board. On a bright spot, the bar tenders were awesome, especially Larry in the Sports Bar and Zara in the Alchemy Bar. I was shocked at how some people spoke to the staff on board. Very rude to the employees. Just made me tip these hard working people even more, and they were very appreciative. I realize that there are people that live and die with Carnival and I will continue to cruise with them sometime in the future, but it will be a 7 or more night cruise and on the Mardi Gras. For now, I have 2 future cruises on Norwegian and will see how they perform post covid.