Would we be happy with Jade?

Yes there is plenty of seafood, but just not the selection we have gotten on Princess nor was it as good as Princess seafood. that was our favorite part of cruising Princess.

gotcha. Food and seafood are the reasons we stuck with Princess. But I don't ever want to go to Cozumel and Falmouth again, even if the seafood is great. :)

Can anyone comment on the accommodation comparisons between NCL Haven balcony on Jade and a Suite on RCCL? I love the smaller ship even on RCCL Jewel- my fav- but NCL suite room looks very small but it's so hard to tell in pics. Looks beautifully appointed. thanks!

We sailed with Jade in October 2013 to Western Mediterranean. European cruise is all about ports and sightseeing. Lobster was served on the first dinner. I remembered refusing the third lobster since I couldn't eat more than two. Food was better than my recent Caribbean cruise with RCI in April 2018.

We’re booked on the Norwegian Jade Nov 16, 10 day cruise. We are so excited and are looking forward to it since NCL is our favorite cruise line. It is by far the best bang for your buck. The Gem class ships are beautiful and very nice since their recent refurbishments. We love the great outdoors and really wish they would reconsider bringing back this feature on their future breakaway class ships. The waterfront is really nice on the breakaway ships but the great outdoors would be another great feature too have also. The food is always great on NCL. The buffet is wonderful. We traditionally dine in the specialty dinning restaurants most of the nights because we find its a great bargain to purchase the specialty dinning packages for so cheep and have wonderful dinning experiences every night. Our favorite is cagneys. The ship’s rooms I find are nice and have great bathrooms. The atriums and ship interior are very small compared to other ships that are obviously much larger in size but we find the amount of people on the gem size ships are usually much less due to its size. However we were on the NCL Pearl last year for New Years out of New Orleans (awesome cruise which was sold out) thereby making it feel a little cramped at times. So heads up since this iternary during Thanksgiving may feel the same considering most of the rooms are sold out as of now.

dang. Filled out all the info, hit "book" and got "500 - Internal Server Error"

ETA: checked the website, and it's booked! Yay!

I'm not a Disney person either, and I've realized I'm actually not that into the big ships. We're going on the Sun next month and I can't wait to go back to the great service you get when there are so many fewer people on board!

The fact is that the Jade isn't any more or less kid friendly than any other NCL ship. It is a family friendly cruise line and there will always be kids and things for kids to do on all NCL ships, especially with a Caribbean itinerary during a national school break in the USA. There are just ships that are more popular with the kind of people (of all ages) who love the newest, biggest thing and like having all the bells and whistles. To me, it doesn't sound like that is your son's personality. There are definitely family events every day on the Jade, stuff like circus school and scavenger hunts that are for adults and kids to do together.

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I just returned from the Jade Norwegian Fjord sailing and instantly rebooked next year on the Jade to the Greek Isles. In my opinion, the Jade food and entertainment is MUCH better than either RCCL or Princess --- and I was a travel agent for about 10 years. The Jade specialty dining is outstanding. When you book, you often get a few nights of specialty dining free and you also have a few choices of restaurants like Sports Bar and Jasmine that are totally free. The buffet at night was better than most I have experienced. The only issue we had was a little it of haphazard service in the main dining rooms (which we rarely went into) but this is due to the convenience of being able to walk in any time you want. We also rarely go in to watch "drab" cruise entertainment and I can say the Jade show "Elements" is the best I have seen on any ship. Our last 5 cruises have been NCL and this will continue.

I would go for it because of the itinerary.

I personally think the food is better on NCL than Princess. The only time I have ever sent a dish back was on Princess.

I just returned from the Jade Norwegian Fjord sailing and instantly rebooked next year on the Jade to the Greek Isles. In my opinion, the Jade food and entertainment is MUCH better than either RCCL or Princess --- and I was a travel agent for about 10 years. The Jade specialty dining is outstanding. When you book, you often get a few nights of specialty dining free and you also have a few choices of restaurants like Sports Bar and Jasmine that are totally free. The buffet at night was better than most I have experienced. The only issue we had was a little it of haphazard service in the main dining rooms (which we rarely went into) but this is due to the convenience of being able to walk in any time you want. We also rarely go in to watch "drab" cruise entertainment and I can say the Jade show "Elements" is the best I have seen on any ship. Our last 5 cruises have been NCL and this will continue.

Thanks, love2cruise!

We don't do specialty dining.

Are you comparing Jade's MDR and buffet food to Regal and Royal Princesses' MDR and buffet food?

I will get to compare them myself in about 50 days, but I do believe that Regal and Royal Princesses are superior in terms of food even compared to other Princess ships. Definitely better than MDR and buffet food on RCI ships. Someone on cc told me that Norwegian is right in the middle of the scale between RCI (lowest quality) and Princess (highest quality).

P.S. I am very excited to go on this cruise! Can't wait!

Thanks, love2cruise!

We don't do specialty dining.

 

Are you comparing Jade's MDR and buffet food to Regal and Royal Princesses' MDR and buffet food?

 

I will get to compare them myself in about 50 days, but I do believe that Regal and Royal Princesses are superior in terms of food even compared to other Princess ships. Definitely better than MDR and buffet food on RCI ships. Someone on cc told me that Norwegian is right in the middle of the scale between RCI (lowest quality) and Princess (highest quality).

 

P.S. I am very excited to go on this cruise! Can't wait!

The two reasons we prefer NCL is Specialty Dining and Entertainment. I probably cannot speak much for the MDR. ALSO, you can go into a really nice dining room in blue jeans -- which makes my husband very happy. I find everyone just has their own preferences. We met people on our last cruise that liked NCL way better than Princess and a few that said the reverse. Good luck choosing.

We’re booked on the Norwegian Jade Nov 16, 10 day cruise. We are so excited and are looking forward to it since NCL is our favorite cruise line. It is by far the best bang for your buck. The Gem class ships are beautiful and very nice since their recent refurbishments. We love the great outdoors and really wish they would reconsider bringing back this feature on their future breakaway class ships. The waterfront is really nice on the breakaway ships but the great outdoors would be another great feature too have also. The food is always great on NCL. The buffet is wonderful. We traditionally dine in the specialty dinning restaurants most of the nights because we find its a great bargain to purchase the specialty dinning packages for so cheep and have wonderful dinning experiences every night. Our favorite is cagneys. The ship’s rooms I find are nice and have great bathrooms. The atriums and ship interior are very small compared to other ships that are obviously much larger in size but we find the amount of people on the gem size ships are usually much less due to its size. However we were on the NCL Pearl last year for New Years out of New Orleans (awesome cruise which was sold out) thereby making it feel a little cramped at times. So heads up since this iternary during Thanksgiving may feel the same considering most of the rooms are sold out as of now.

I just have to reply to this about the NCL Jade bathrooms. Since the renovation in 2017, the bathroom we had in our standard balcony cabin, was the nicest, most roomy bathroom we have had on any ship. I just cannot compliment the renovations enough.