Quick review Jade 11 day NY to Miami

Embarkation outof NY was about an hour at 12:00pm. We got onboard and went to the Grand PacificDining Room for lunch. Rooms weren’t ready until after the Muster drill.

During thetime on board we ate at Moderno, La Cucina, Teppanyaki and LeBistro. The foodwas wonderful in each restaurant but service in La Cucina was HORRIBLE. We waitedalmost 45 minutes from appetizer to main course and it was not busy. The other nightswe ate in the Mining Dining room, Alizar. The food was fine here also, otherthan a one off dish. We had no real complaints, our server was over whelmedwith several tables he was covering – one night the couple next to us got upand left between appetizer and main course because they got tired of waiting – Ithink the only real draw back from the traditional sittings as compared to Norwegian’sfreestyle is that with traditional set times everything is organized anddelivered at the same time with freestyle the server is constantly walking backand forth to the kitchen getting dishes for other tables. Just our opinion and thoughtsbased on observation.

We hadbreakfasts and lunches in O’Sheehans – the chicken wings were always yummy. Weate in the buffet one day for lunch and although the food is fine – the peopleare crazy. It’s like a mad house up there – so loud. DH and I were sitting at atable and someone asked if they could sit with us, we said of course…then aftera few minutes we were slowing edged out of our table and it was taken over bythe family of the woman that asked to sit with us – very rude. We tried to sitout by the pool one day and enjoy the games and the Beer Fest but with everyonecamped out at their tables for the day or people playing cards or reading abook - there were no tables to be found – so we sit at the pool bar.

Onboard activitiesgot repeated over the course of the 5 sea days – we did the Canvas by UPainting, we shopped, I did the Spa specials twice, we napped, we drank…samething each day. The main thing we did was play trivia – we love it. Now I’m notsaying we are the smartest people or anything but we do pretty well, NORMALLY.One thing we noticed was a group or 2 that had sailed Norwegian many times (usonly once before on the Escape). Norwegian seems to use the same triviaquestions on every ship for all of their trivia so these few groups had all theanswers and by the 2nd and 3rd day of trivia is was getting very old thatthey seemed to find to it funny that they won every game – what’s the fun inthat? We do trivia for the challenge and to see if we know the answers not toOD on all the free crappy prizes.

(FYI, I have a collection of cheap Carnival Ships on Stick) but I don’t need 10more beer cozies or luggage handles.

We did 2 shipexcursions; Bonaire (Kayaking / Snorkeling – which we thought would be throughthe mangroves but ended up being just right next to the shipL) and in Jamaica (Horseback riding,this was great as we also rode through the surf) – in the other 3 ports we didour own tours from someone we found in the port area. In Curacao we found a $20pptour that took us to the Hato Caves and an island tour – great deal. In Arubawe took a taxi to the other side of the island and ate at Zee Rovers (we hadwatched many YouTube videos of this restaurant and it was well worth it.) PuntaCana is a boring port – we didn’t find anything worth doing, we got back on theship and I did a Spa visit.

Crew on theShip – Jose Gonzales was our cabin steward in Forward Balcony #8520 and he was great– we had SO MANY issues with our toilet not flushing correctly – like everyother day it didn’t want to work – he kept having to adjust the valve. Wecalled Customer service 3 times – the first time the girl tried to explain tome that ship toilets work differently than regular toilets… Renzo the Bartenderin the Bliss Lounge was fantastic – he did brain teasers. Always knew our namesand drinks I think he even had our card number memorized because he stoppedasking for our card. Sasa the head waiter in O’Sheehans and LeBistro waswonderful and funny. Dave at the Atrium Bar makes a great Mimosa and Peach Bellini.

TheEntertainment was hit or miss – the Production crew really only did 1 big showand that was Elements (which was great). The stars of the ship was the Russiancouple that did the Arial acts. Husband and Wife team and they were the bestthing I’ve ever seen on a ship. The Diva3 singing group was slow paced. TheComedian Julie was funny and the Magician and his partner were good enough. Wedidn’t go to the Magic/Comedian show so I can’t comment.

Commentsabout the cruise in general – this was one of the smaller ships we have done,it was convenient to find everything. The casino was located in an area that wedidn’t have to walk through most of the time (unlike Carnival) so that was aplus – we’d love to gamble but HATE the smell of cigarettes. Which brings tomind another issue – someone near us was smoking on their balcony at nightbecause it kept getting sucked into our room!? We would wake up in the middleof the night and smell it. All in all it was a good trip.

Glad that you had a good trip.

Thanks for your trip report.

Keith

Thanks for the great, straightforward review.

Glad you liked he Hato Caves on Curaçao--I lived on the island for some years and I think it's one of the coolest spots.

We are on Jade in December so nice to see your report. For the tour you did in Curacao, did you literally just walk off the ship and find the tour people hanging around the pier?

I know we did similar thing in Aruba last year so hoping this will be the same for Curacao.

Pete

We are on Jade in December so nice to see your report. For the tour you did in Curacao, did you literally just walk off the ship and find the tour people hanging around the pier?

 

I know we did similar thing in Aruba last year so hoping this will be the same for Curacao.

 

Pete

Yes (We went to the Island info booth - Tour tent it right behind there ask for someone that will go to the Caves as part of their tour) we were just going to hire a taxi to go to the caves - but they wanted $30 (each way for the taxi) the Tour was $20 per person - so we saved $20 and also got a little tour around the island - once you get to the Caves it's a $8 pp entrance fee.

Thanks for getting back to me...all the best

Pete

Thanks for the report! Were additional excusions added when you got onboard? Can you tell me anything about the lounge entertainers? Other than Elements the entertainment mentioned is underwhelming....We do like that Russian couple we've seen before, assuming it's the same couple but have had enough of magicians on any ship. Often we spend our time in the lounges. Was really hoping my favorite would be coming on the Jade but have recently found out he's going on the Epic.

Thanks for the review.