Would we be disappointed with Jade?

We have only been on NCL’s mega ships (Escape 2x, Getaway and Epic). We really like the Escape but since it’s moving to New York we won’t be going on her again anytime soon. I have a booking for the Bliss so I can’t wait to read reviews once she is out.

We were thinking about cruising out of Tampa and see that the Jade will be there. I have seen she’s been fully refurbished and looks very nice. My DH and I are pretty easy going but my DS (14) is very active. We just got off the Escape and he spent most of his time on the basketball court or at Entourage. He did do the ropes course but not as much as our first time. Would the Jade be good for him? Not having a basketball court or really any other free type activities is why I’m hesitant about the Bliss. I don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars more just for him to be occupied. Again will wait to see how NCL handles the go karts and laser tag.

Thanks for any advice you can give

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Seems like when you cruise will be a lot more important than what you cruise on. Pick a week with lots of kids out of school and should be fine.

I prefer a large ship, but you didn’t really give any reasons why you prefer one. From what I’ve seen teenagers will find something to do and if there’s a hot tub that seems where they spend their days/evenings no matter how big the ships are.

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Thanks for your response. We have preferred the bigger ships because of more dining options and all the different type of bars. What we don’t like is the pool deck area. Way too small for the amount of people.

We usually cruise Thanksgiving and/or spring break because of school so there always seems to be lots of kids onboard.

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... We have preferred the bigger ships because of more dining options and all the different type of bars. W..

The Jade has LOTS of bar options. It has a decent amount of dining options, but not as great as the big ships. Many folks think the Jade (Jewel class) is just the right size.

Hard to say what is important to you.

Are you sure the Jade doesn't have a basketball court? There is certainly something just up the stairs from the Great Outdoors, above the buffet. It's not the sort of thing that interests me, so I didn't really pay much attention, but I think it is something like that.

Edit: sorry, I think I misread your post as you say that the Bliss hasn’t got a basketball court. I’ll leave this here though in case you didn’t realise the Jade has one.

I love the Jade. We have been on the away ships more often but we really enjoy The Jade. lots for teens. They have basketball,golf, volleyball,giant chess boards and more. They also have Entourage. The pool areas are awesome. Give it a try.

I don’t think you will be disappointed. All else equal I will almost always book a breakaway class ship, but if something tipped me towards Jade (ie price) I would sail it again. We went on Jade before dry dock and thought it was great so I don’t imagine we would be less satisfied post dry dock.

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I find the inside cabins in the Jade,the Sun and the Star bigger than the megasized Escape, there is hardly any closet space and drawers in the Escape so much so that life preserves are not kept in the room, we spent 15 days on the Jade from Barcelona to Tampa and had no complaints about the ship, I wish we could say the same about last week 7 day cruise on the Escape where the list is long from the repeated shows in the Theater to the slippery pool area floor when wet

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Was just on the Dec 7th - 18th cruise. Honestly it's a great ship for older adults, but doesn't offer much for active kids. Yes it does have a basketball hoop, gym, arcade, golf driving net but those can quickly get old. While it's advertised as offering a lot of restaurants and bars, the specialty restaurants didn't open until after 530pm. You could only get sushi at night which made no sense because it's a perfect size snack and lunch and the sushi chef was always in there. Bourbon and beer selection was extremely limited and there wasn't one IPA to be found on the ship. Other than that the ship itself is very nice and offers a variety of daily activities (trivia, bingo, casino, etc) that we enjoyed, but I'm going to choose a bigger ship next time.

Never been on Jade, but get the impression that many extras on megaships are of more attraction to the kids - stuff like flo-rider, ropes courses, water parks etc. Not so much of that on the Jade but DW and I more interested in the gym, pools, dining, shows, restaurants and excursions.

Plus you don't need a taxi to get from one end of the ship to the other!