Jade or Star for kids?I am attempting to plan the Greek cruise for multiple families

Hello,

I am attempting to plan a Greek cruise for multiple families for next summer. I’m very unfamiliar with NCL and from what I see they do not look terribly kid friendly. However their itinerary seems to be the best for what my family would like to see. It looks like we are choosing between the Jade or the Star. Does anyone have any suggestions or opinions on which one of these would be more kid friendly, especially for water loving kids?

TIA

The kids pool area on the star was unimpressive and an overcrowded mess when the kids clubs close from 12-2 and 5-7. They’ve removed the water slides, so maybe someone has pictures of what it looks like after the renovation? The kids clubs themselves were excellent. If you are picky about food, you’ll need to buy an unlimited dining plan (and you’ll pay full price for your kids meals unless they order off the children’s menu). The food and service at the specialty restaurants was excellent. Unlimited dining might be a perk you can choose when booking. Overall our Baltic cruise on the star worked well for our family, since our son loves to travel and we expected very little from the ship (but were glad to discover that service was excellent everywhere except in the free dining rooms). In the med like the baltics the ship is normally less important than the itinerary, unless you’ll have unhappy kids on your hands.

Thank you for your quick reply!

Food is important but being able to grab quality food from the buffet is good enjough for us. I highly doubt most of the family will splurge for specialty dining .

As for water loving, one child has autism and swimming is his very favourite thing.

Does the kids club stay open all day on port days?

I am assuming you are discussing the Star 9 day and the Jade 10-11 day itineraries. We had the same delima, with the the Jade being cheaper for 10 days than the Star 9. One of the big perks for us was the Star cruised out of Venice vs. “Rome”. The sail away and the port city of Venice is far superior, which leads to a great start and end of your vacation. The Star and Jade are virtually the same ship, with the subtle difference being the Jade having a 2nd pool and the Star having the large atrium. Another benefit for us, was the Star visited ports in Montenegro as well as Croatia, while the Jade did Italy/Greece. Personally, I would book the cruise off of itenerary, as you will spend the majority of your time onshore. I second the dining plan, last time we cruised NCL the main dining room food was good, but specialty dining was far superior, and since we are foodies, we find the dining package to be a great option.

Thank you! Venice vs Rome was also one of my questions but I assumed it has been answered multiple times in CC, I just haven’t looked yet. We sailed out of Rome last year and I loved the city but the airport to hotel to port sure added up (we don’t do public transportation with kids and seniors 😄).

I didn’t realize Jade had 2 pools - that makes a bit of a difference.

My in laws are Greek, so the Greek ports are the only ones of interest to them.

Remember, the kids can go to the beaches at some of the ports so they can enjoy sea.

Keep in mind the jade itinerary might be changing due to the addition of the pearl to Europe. It has been chartered by the sixthman in August 2019. The new itineraries are to be released in the next few weeks. The pearl may also become an option in Italy.

Remember, the kids can go to the beaches at some of the ports so they can enjoy sea.

Yes, that is fine for some of the family, but unfortunately not for the one water-loving special needs child.

We are hoping some ports will leave the ship almost empty so the pool won’t be so crazy 😜

Keep in mind the jade itinerary might be changing due to the addition of the pearl to Europe. It has been chartered by the sixthman in August 2019. The new itineraries are to be released in the next few weeks. The pearl may also become an option in Italy.

Oh my! This is so overwhelming!:o We can only sail in July - the Pearl shouldn’t affect July sailings? How does NCL deposit work - can we move ships without losing the deposit?

Jade and Star are not sister ships. There are differences.

Jade has 2 pools, Star has one.

Jade has Great Outdoors aft, Star lacks one.

Jade has Spinnaker lounge on deck 13 forward with lovely views, Star has it on deck 7 aft with no or little views.

Star has a very few pros over Jade, but overall we prefer to go on the Jade over the Star.

Jade and Pearl ARE sisters.

Jade (Civitavecchia), Star (Venice) and Epic (Barcelona) are doing Med summer 2019, and Pearl (Amsterdam), Spirit (Southampton) and Getaway (Copenhagen) will do North Europe summer 2019. Pearl will pop down to the Med for a bit sometime during the summer.

Wait for the itineraries to come out.

The kids club hours are from port arrival time until 10:30 on port days. If you try enough food in the buffet, you can eventually find something good (the roast meat carving stations and ethnic food were generally the best).

Jade and Star are not sister ships. There are differences.

 

Jade has 2 pools, Star has one.

Jade has Great Outdoors aft, Star lacks one.

Jade has Spinnaker lounge on deck 13 forward with lovely views, Star has it on deck 7 aft with no or little views.

 

Star has a very few pros over Jade, but overall we prefer to go on the Jade over the Star.

 

Jade and Pearl ARE sisters.

 

Jade (Civitavecchia), Star (Venice) and Epic (Barcelona) are doing Med summer 2019, and Pearl (Amsterdam), Spirit (Southampton) and Getaway (Copenhagen) will do North Europe summer 2019. Pearl will pop down to the Med for a bit sometime during the summer.

 

Wait for the itineraries to come out.

I am on the Jade next June/July. Do you think they will change out this ship for the Pearl? I saw an article today about the Pearl and I wondered what may happen. If they do change it out will that happen soon?

Thanks for the replies!

I am on the Jade next June/July. Do you think they will change out this ship for the Pearl? I saw an article today about the Pearl and I wondered what may happen. If they do change it out will that happen soon?

 

Thanks for the replies!

No, I do not think Jade itineraries will change if Pearl goes down to the Med. Jade is set for the fantastic 10 and 11 day itineraries out of Rome while Star does 7 day ones out of Venice.

The Epic still does the 7 day West Med out of Barcelona.

We have been on the Jade for the 7 day Greek Isles out of Venice (fantastic) and on the Spirit for the 11 day Adriatic & Greece out of Rome (fantastic, too).

Looks like the Star already replaced Jade, and the Jade will replace Spirit next year.

Pearl - looks like she will do odd cruises - both charter and not.

The cabins on the Star are sooooooo small.

The cabins on the Star are sooooooo small.

I think that applies to all NCL ships except for the SUN.

Really, neither ship is geared for kids any longer.

The mega ships have cornered that market.

Yes, that is fine for some of the family, but unfortunately not for the one water-loving special needs child.

We are hoping some ports will leave the ship almost empty so the pool won’t be so crazy 😜

The kids club does not take children swimming. Guess liability is issue. We had our GD with us till after lunch so she could swim ,then went to kids club which she loved