Would we be happy with Jade?

We've previously sailed on Princess and RCI only. We are looking for a November '18 cruise with a 7 yo kiddo. Here is some more information on us:

We've been very happy with the family activities RCI offers, but became increasingly bored with the food offerings in MDR (the menu hadn't changed during our 4 cruises from 2009 to 2014). We will be going on Allure next year and we are looking forward to it very much, mostly because it's a "floating resort with tons of family activities".

We were very happy about the food on Princess, but unhappy about the lack of family activities onboard. Our kiddo doesn't do kid's club, so we would like to have something to do onboard that would include a 7 yo kid and be interesting. Let's say he wasn't interested in bingo or happy hour or cooking demonstrations on Princess. There is nothing else to do on Princess. Also, we are limited to school breaks and Princess keeps offering the same very boring destinations (read Falmouth, Jamaica and Cozumel) which we don't like anymore. We would still cruise on Royal or Regal Princess if the prices are right and the destinations are attractive.

I saw an interesting itinerary during a school break on Jade and it's cheaper than Princess or RCI during the same break. I have read several reviews about Jade on cc to familiarize myself with the ship offerings, but haven't quite formed an opinion on whether the ship itself would be the right fit for us.

Food is very subjective and half the reviews were fine with it, and half said it was blah. If we make a scale with the RCI's food being at the bottom and Princess food being at the top, where would you rate Jade's MDR food?

My DH needs a clean ship due to his respiratory allergies. Is Jade well taken care of in that regard?

I'd like to have family oriented activities with the kiddo outside of kid's club.

What do you think? Before I spend $2K on the cruise and more $$ on the flights...

I would say - Food better but its more an adult ship

It does depend on the Itin - which you haven't mentioned

NCL offers a better buffet and specialty dinning than RCI. (in our opinion) We don't find much difference in the main dining room offerings.

We sailed on Jade as well as sister ships Pearl and Gem. We really like these ships as they are less crowded. However I think they will not work for your little one if the kid's club is out. There really are not many activities for kids of that age outside of the club. In fact IIRC when we sailed Jade in March 2016 the ship didn't have a water slide. To be honest, after sailing Allure I think your kiddo will be very disappointed.

I would say - Food better but its more an adult ship

 

It does depend on the Itin - which you haven't mentioned

the itinerary is fun and long - most of the places we haven't been to before and all beach oriented - and that's what we are into:

EMBARK Miami (Florida); San Juan (Puerto Rico); St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands); Basseterre (St. Kitts); Bridgetown(Barbados); Castries (St. Lucia); Philipsburg (St. Maarten); DISEMBARK

10 DAYS

I like the itinerary quite a bit.

NCL offers a better buffet and specialty dinning than RCI. (in our opinion) We don't find much difference in the main dining room offerings.

 

We sailed on Jade as well as sister ships Pearl and Gem. We really like these ships as they are less crowded. However I think they will not work for your little one if the kid's club is out. There really are not many activities for kids of that age outside of the club. In fact IIRC when we sailed Jade in March 2016 the ship didn't have a water slide. To be honest, after sailing Allure I think your kiddo will be very disappointed.

thanks! We would be sailing on NCL Jade BEFORE the Allure. :) The other option for Thanksgiving is a 7 day cruise on Royal Princess, but inside cabins have not been available for several months now, so the price is quite a bit higher.

DS has already been on the Independence of the Seas, but doesn't remember much of it and has never been on a water slide before. DS is pretty happy with whatever as long as he has his tablet with him and as long as the ship has cookies and soft serve (which Jade does), but I want more family activities than Princess offers (which are pretty much NONE) and less time on electronic devices.

But I think Jade sailing wins because of the destinations. We once went on Caribbean Princess - it was pretty boring and rainy on sea days, but the ABC islands itinerary fully made up for the boredom on sea days.

As I said we loved the Jade. If you are sailing a port intensive itinerary perhaps onboard choices will not be as important. What ever you choose I hope you have a great vacation.

We've previously sailed on Princess and RCI only. We are looking for a November '18 cruise with a 7 yo kiddo. Here is some more information on us:

 

We've been very happy with the family activities RCI offers, but became increasingly bored with the food offerings in MDR (the menu hadn't changed during our 4 cruises from 2009 to 2014). We will be going on Allure next year and we are looking forward to it very much, mostly because it's a "floating resort with tons of family activities".

 

We were very happy about the food on Princess, but unhappy about the lack of family activities onboard. Our kiddo doesn't do kid's club, so we would like to have something to do onboard that would include a 7 yo kid and be interesting. Let's say he wasn't interested in bingo or happy hour or cooking demonstrations on Princess. There is nothing else to do on Princess. Also, we are limited to school breaks and Princess keeps offering the same very boring destinations (read Falmouth, Jamaica and Cozumel) which we don't like anymore. We would still cruise on Royal or Regal Princess if the prices are right and the destinations are attractive.

 

I saw an interesting itinerary during a school break on Jade and it's cheaper than Princess or RCI during the same break. I have read several reviews about Jade on cc to familiarize myself with the ship offerings, but haven't quite formed an opinion on whether the ship itself would be the right fit for us.

 

Food is very subjective and half the reviews were fine with it, and half said it was blah. If we make a scale with the RCI's food being at the bottom and Princess food being at the top, where would you rate Jade's MDR food?

 

My DH needs a clean ship due to his respiratory allergies. Is Jade well taken care of in that regard?

 

I'd like to have family oriented activities with the kiddo outside of kid's club.

 

What do you think? Before I spend $2K on the cruise and more $$ on the flights...

If the scale is 1-10 rccl being 1 and princess being 10, I'd say NCL main dining rooms will be about a 5. Specialty dining is an 8 mostly. Since the Jade does not have a Haven dining room, they do offer one of the specialties for breakfast and lunch if you are in suite, which then would rate an 8.

I don't like rccl food and haven't sailed the line since 2012 so they might have gotten better maybe they hit a 2 by now.

Princess food is not a 10, but much better than NCL overall.

A few water slides but very little else for kids if she doesn't go into the kid groups. Mini golf, there is the huge chess set and of course the arcade.

I know on the away ships, they usually have in the atrium kids playing video game dance offs and other family games. I believe they did those on the Gem also.

I don't take young kids with me but I would probably not choose this class ship if I did. I would stick with the away class ships.

For your husband's allergies, the casino on the Jade is not in the main area you have to walk thru, so it's better than the away ships. Smoking is allowed on the pool deck and in the casino. I have found sailing anytime in Winter you need to prepare that there will be people with the flu/colds on the ship. Wash your hands, don't touch railings, door handles and elevator buttons

They seem to take good care of the Gem class ships, but I am basing this on the Gem. We like the class but I would not take my 6 yr old grandsons on this particular ship. I'd definitely go for the bigger ships. In fact, we will sail rccl because of that. We plan on going on the harmony or symphony with our grandsons in late 2019/early 2020.

Food is never a top choice when it comes to fun with my grandsons. It's always about where will they be having fun. So for me, if Disney is where they are happy, I can deal with a week of Disney waffles that come along with characters. Which is why we will be going on rccl. All the fun stuff they can do, the week of poor to so-so food won't be what we make our memories of.

But...what do I think? I think you should always do what you think might be fun and approach each new opportunity to travel and spend time with your family as an adventure and a way to make memories.

So what if the food isn't so great? What difference does it really make if it's not the newest and bestest ship out there? Will you enjoy hanging out together and going to the islands?

Every trip belongs on your memory wall. Some for the reasons that while you are on the journey might be the oh, why did I pick this vacation and others because oh, wow I'm so glad I picked this vacation.

That's the fun part of life :)

Have you thought about a Disney?

Thank you, MaryZ and Paul!

It's all about compromising, and so far I think this particular sailing on Jade would be a good fit for us. Fun and new places to go, good food, acceptable price - it all balances out to create a positive experience.

Coming from someone looking to go the other way (was on the Getaway twice, first time was my first cruise and I was amazed by everything, second time I wanted to find a smaller ship), we were booked on the Gem for last November (sister ship to the Jade) mainly because it was a little smaller, I liked the idea of the great outdoors...

Unfortunately, our cruise was cancelled at the last minute due to azipod issues. We quickly were able to book on an absolutely FANTASTIC deal w/ the Coral Princess to Panama Canal and.... we loved the itinerary but it felt like it went too far the other way. No kids, filled with old people, ship was sleepy after 8 PM....

I understand what you're going through though. I'd love to have a smaller ship w/ some of the amenities of the bigger ships (rope course, we did fall in love with Movies Under the Stars on Princess..., mini golf) but go to more interesting destinations.

I don't think any of this actually helps you but maybe will provide some additional color.

Have you thought about a Disney?

Can't afford that. We can sail on 2-3 cruises on Princess, RCI or NCL for the price of one Disney cruise.

We are very frugal. Plus, kiddo doesn't care for Disney all that much anyway. Neither do we, to be honest.

Coming from someone looking to go the other way (was on the Getaway twice, first time was my first cruise and I was amazed by everything, second time I wanted to find a smaller ship), we were booked on the Gem for last November (sister ship to the Jade) mainly because it was a little smaller, I liked the idea of the great outdoors...

 

Unfortunately, our cruise was cancelled at the last minute due to azipod issues. We quickly were able to book on an absolutely FANTASTIC deal w/ the Coral Princess to Panama Canal and.... we loved the itinerary but it felt like it went too far the other way. No kids, filled with old people, ship was sleepy after 8 PM....

 

I understand what you're going through though. I'd love to have a smaller ship w/ some of the amenities of the bigger ships (rope course, we did fall in love with Movies Under the Stars on Princess..., mini golf) but go to more interesting destinations.

 

I don't think any of this actually helps you but maybe will provide some additional color.

had to google azipod issues. :) I thought it was an infection of some sort. LOL.

Caribbean Princess also experienced propulsion issues, as a matter of fact.

The size of the ship doesn't really matter to us, as much as a combination of price, food, destinations and age of the ship.

It is nice to have RCI type of activities onboard? Oh, yes.

Or the fabulous FREE on demand movie program Regal Princess has? Yes.

Does that alone overthrow the rest of the factors? Nope.

P.S. Since we can only sail during school breaks, there are always hundreds of kids onboard. In November of 2016 we were unable to join our friends on Regal Princess, because Regal Princess was no longer taking any passengers between the ages of 4 and 8. So, we very unexpectedly found ourselves sailing on Caribbean Princess, which is a smaller, older ship, but like I said above - we absolutely, head over hills, fell in love with Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. And that totally made up for any shortcomings an older, smaller ship may have.

Just curious why doesn’t your kiddo do kid clubs? We were not impressed with RCI kid club years ago but DD loved kid club on NCL (granted she is older now , she is 6).

Does Princess offer kid clubs?

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Just curious why doesn’t your kiddo do kid clubs? We were not impressed with RCI kid club years ago but DD loved kid club on NCL (granted she is older now , she is 6).

Does Princess offer kid clubs?

Princess has WONDERFUL kid's clubs, but our DS has a bit of a stranger and separation anxiety, which is getting better with age.

He didn't even want to stay in the kid's club with our friends' kids, who are his friends as well. They, on the other hand, absolutely love Princess kid's club and find it to be the best.

Oh, well, we make the best of it. :)

I don't travel with kids, but the Jade is my favorite ship. She was just in dry dock, so she's been refreshed recently, it's easy to find your way around, and it can give you the feeling of being on a ship as opposed to a hotel that floats (this can be good or bad.) We have been on longer itineraries on the Jade and there was always something to do, even if it was just watching the ocean go by.

You probably only have a couple of sea days in that itinerary (it does sound nice), in which case you'll be in ports more than wondering what to do onboard.

thanks, xriva!

There are 3 sea days and 6 port days on that itinerary, as opposed to Getaway, sailing at the same time for 7 days, also with 3 sea days, for more $$$.

I think I am starting to seriously like this Jade sailing. I'll be making my decision in a couple of days - waiting for Princess to drop their prices drastically after final payment day, or Jade it is. :)

Princess has WONDERFUL kid's clubs, but our DS has a bit of a stranger and separation anxiety, which is getting better with age.

 

He didn't even want to stay in the kid's club with our friends' kids, who are his friends as well. They, on the other hand, absolutely love Princess kid's club and find it to be the best.

 

 

 

Oh, well, we make the best of it. :)

Thank you:)

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Hi. I know we've posted in the other Bliss Vs Jade thread, but I thought I would add here that, based on your posts here, it sounds like the itinerary would outweigh just about any other areas where NCL or the Jade would otherwise fall short of your expectations.

Which ports would be new to you? I've been to San Juan, St Thomas, and St Maarten. They are probably my three favourite Caribbean ports to date, with only Havana topping them. The other "Saints" on the sailing will be new to us.

The ports were one of the biggest factors in why we cancelled the Bliss in favour of the Jade. As you can see from my signature, we are also ready for new places!!

P.S. My daughter does the kids programme, but would also be happy to play with your son outside of camp.

By the way, we also considered Harmony of the Seas, but the value of the 10 day sailing for significantly less money appealed to my bargain hunting side.

We've previously sailed on Princess and RCI only. We are looking for a November '18 cruise with a 7 yo kiddo. Here is some more information on us:

 

We've been very happy with the family activities RCI offers, but became increasingly bored with the food offerings in MDR (the menu hadn't changed during our 4 cruises from 2009 to 2014). We will be going on Allure next year and we are looking forward to it very much, mostly because it's a "floating resort with tons of family activities".

 

We were very happy about the food on Princess, but unhappy about the lack of family activities onboard. Our kiddo doesn't do kid's club, so we would like to have something to do onboard that would include a 7 yo kid and be interesting. Let's say he wasn't interested in bingo or happy hour or cooking demonstrations on Princess. There is nothing else to do on Princess. Also, we are limited to school breaks and Princess keeps offering the same very boring destinations (read Falmouth, Jamaica and Cozumel) which we don't like anymore. We would still cruise on Royal or Regal Princess if the prices are right and the destinations are attractive.

 

I saw an interesting itinerary during a school break on Jade and it's cheaper than Princess or RCI during the same break. I have read several reviews about Jade on cc to familiarize myself with the ship offerings, but haven't quite formed an opinion on whether the ship itself would be the right fit for us.

 

Food is very subjective and half the reviews were fine with it, and half said it was blah. If we make a scale with the RCI's food being at the bottom and Princess food being at the top, where would you rate Jade's MDR food?

 

My DH needs a clean ship due to his respiratory allergies. Is Jade well taken care of in that regard?

 

I'd like to have family oriented activities with the kiddo outside of kid's club.

 

What do you think? Before I spend $2K on the cruise and more $$ on the flights...

NCL cruises are always an older crowd especially one of 10 days.

The ship is great but if your child doesn't do the kid club, I can't remember anything centered around family activities since they got rid of Sponge Bob.

I don't think they have water slides just 2 pools mid ship and a kiddy pool which is for toddlers.

Still a great cruise and excellent value.

NCL is our cheap get away

We've previously sailed on Princess and RCI only. We are looking for a November '18 cruise with a 7 yo kiddo. Here is some more information on us:

 

We've been very happy with the family activities RCI offers, but became increasingly bored with the food offerings in MDR (the menu hadn't changed during our 4 cruises from 2009 to 2014). We will be going on Allure next year and we are looking forward to it very much, mostly because it's a "floating resort with tons of family activities".

 

We were very happy about the food on Princess, but unhappy about the lack of family activities onboard. Our kiddo doesn't do kid's club, so we would like to have something to do onboard that would include a 7 yo kid and be interesting. Let's say he wasn't interested in bingo or happy hour or cooking demonstrations on Princess. There is nothing else to do on Princess. Also, we are limited to school breaks and Princess keeps offering the same very boring destinations (read Falmouth, Jamaica and Cozumel) which we don't like anymore. We would still cruise on Royal or Regal Princess if the prices are right and the destinations are attractive.

 

I saw an interesting itinerary during a school break on Jade and it's cheaper than Princess or RCI during the same break. I have read several reviews about Jade on cc to familiarize myself with the ship offerings, but haven't quite formed an opinion on whether the ship itself would be the right fit for us.

 

Food is very subjective and half the reviews were fine with it, and half said it was blah. If we make a scale with the RCI's food being at the bottom and Princess food being at the top, where would you rate Jade's MDR food?

 

My DH needs a clean ship due to his respiratory allergies. Is Jade well taken care of in that regard?

 

I'd like to have family oriented activities with the kiddo outside of kid's club.

 

What do you think? Before I spend $2K on the cruise and more $$ on the flights...

You probably are not going to find quite as many kids activities on NCL as on RCI without depending on the kids program. it is too bad he will not take part. NCL has a wonderful reputation for running a super good kids camp.

As for cleanliness, NCL ships almost always get high marks from the CDC so you can feel safe about that

Foodwise, we actually enjoy NCL's food as well if not better than Princess except for the missing sea food. NCL has so many options as to where to eat. It is especially good for kids. I am sure your son would enjoy O'Sheehan's for lunch.

So, in a nut shell, it will probably work for you, but remember NCL is not Disney, so without using the kids program I don't know how much there will be for him to do. I am sure with the amount of time you will spend just sight seeing he will be fine. I can remember a couple of cruises with grand kids where they did have a great time without depending on the kids program and those were on NCL> You may want to see if you can get him to try the kids program.

I will add, I disagree with people who say the Jade is more an adult ship, than a kids ship. It is no more adult than any mass marketed ship. The longer the cruise the fewer kids you will see, but this is true about all cruise lines.

Which ports would be new to you?

all but St Thomas and St Maarten

As you can see from my signature, we are also ready for new places!!

your signature is very impressive. :)

Foodwise, we actually enjoy NCL's food as well if not better than Princess except for the missing sea food.

So, in a nut shell, it will probably work for you, but remember NCL is not Disney

oh, I realized that. :) We don't care that much for Disney anyway. It's a plus, right?

Thanks, newmexico, I think all three of us will like this cruise a lot. I am going to buy it shortly.

The longer the cruise the fewer kids you will see, but this is true about all cruise lines.

well, this one is running over the Thanksgiving school break, so I am pretty sure it'll have a lot of kids. :)

By the way, we also considered Harmony of the Seas, but the value of the 10 day sailing for significantly less money appealed to my bargain hunting side.

I hit a terrific sale on the 4th of July with Kids Sail Free and got a spring break on Allure for $1,600 for the 3 of us (inside cabin). The price has been at least $2,880 since then for the same cruise, even with Kids Sail Free which is running on right now as well.

But Harmony is unreasonably expensive...

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

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

all but St Thomas and St Maarten

 

your signature is very impressive. :)

 

no seafood at all? That's a bummer. That's all I usually opt for on cruises. I don't care for lobster, but shrimp is life. :)

 

 

 

oh, I realized that. :) We don't care that much for Disney anyway. It's a plus, right?

Thanks, newmexico, I think all three of us will like this cruise a lot. I am going to buy it shortly.

 

 

well, this one is running over the Thanksgiving school break, so I am pretty sure it'll have a lot of kids. :)

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.