Norwegian Jade – Eastern Mediterranean 2/14/10 Review – Courtyard Villa

[TwinCruiser]

Wonderful cruise and exceeded my expectations in all areas

 

Travelling was myself, 40’s, DW 40’s, twin DS’s 7 & 7 and MIL. This was my 2nd NCL cruise and I have done 4 Princess cruises. Was the 3rd cruise for the DS’s. We are from northern New Jersey

 

I booked this cruise the same week it opened in Dec 2008 as a stop in Egypt was our highest priority and this week worked with the kid’s school vacation schedule. We originally booked an aft facing AF mini suite for a really good price. Prior to the cruise, we received an upsell to a courtyard villa . This was very exciting as we had never done a “suite” before and I was determined to make the most of these additional benefits !

 

Expectations going in: Again, the primary reason for booking this cruise was to be driven to the great ports we wanted to see and also the significantly lower price that NCL was offering compared to competitors. We expected average to below average food quality and service. We also fully understood that the winter in Europe could be cold and rainy. After much research, I decided to book all excursions privately so that I could control the schedule and modify to fit the needs of children and also to avoid all shopping and long lunch stops. I wanted to concentrate our tours on the historical and cultural sights

 

Our flight to Barcelona was uneventful. I had arranged for all transports in Barcelona to be handled by Barcelona Day Tours and was very satisfied with them. We were met at the airport as promised by Juan who quickly got us to the very nice mini-bus which easily handled our 10 pieces of luggage and 5 people. We then proceeded immediately on our ½ day tour around Barcelona. Juan was great in answering questions and giving us information about the area even though he was not an “official” guide. We essentially had the use of the van/driver for 4 hours and could have given him any direction we wanted. As we were tired from the flight, we let him take us on the typically tourist route. He had great enthusiasm for Barcelona and we saw everything we expected to and a little more. At the end of the ½ day, he dropped us off at the Hilton Diagonal Mar which was a very nice hotel although not really near the Ramblas area. We shopped at the mall across the street for sodas and other supplies for the cruise and enjoyed free drinks and food in the above average executive lounge at the Hilton which is a nice perk about being Diamond with Hilton.

 

The following day, Barcelona Day Tours picked us up as promised at the hotel and drove us to port. Embarkation was efficient and being we were now in a suite, we were able to expedite our boarding. We received the notice about the Noro Virus that has plagued the previous few cruises but were aware of that ahead of time. We were on board by 12 and headed to our cabin excited to start our cruise

 

I am going to divide up the remainder of this review into the “NCL experience” section and then a longer description of what I did in each port.

 

NCL experiences

We were in Courtyard Villa 14512 and the first words out of our mouths when we opened the door were “Wow”. The room was great. A separate bedroom with a closing door for the kids. Giant bathroom area in the “master” suite area (with another sliding door) and an ample “living” area. I can see why people get addicted to the “suite” life. The enclosed courtyard area was great on chilly sea days and the little pool (maybe 6' x 10') was perfect for the kids.

 

We were paranoid about the noro-virus that had hit the previous cruises and came armed with a multiple cleaning products. The cabin was immaculately cleaned, but I was taking no chances and re-wiped every surface with a bleach based hand- wipe and the lysoled everything again to be sure

 

We met our butler Roland who was absolutely fantastic. Anytime we needed anything, we just picked up the phone and called and he jumped right on it. We had breakfast in our room most port days and some sea days and just wrote down exactly what we wanted regardless of whether it was on the room service menu or not. Usually fresh cooked eggs or the great crabcake eggs Benedict. Roland would show up at the scheduled time, set our table and bring us the food at our table which was sufficient for four people. When we were thirsty, we just dialed Roland to bring us a bucket of beer or whatever other beverage we wanted. If I wanted a midday snack, I just had Roland bring me menu for blue lagoon or Cagney’s while I was sitting on the balcony and then I ordered what I wanted. Occasionally, we did not want to actually go to Cagney’s and sit at the table, so we just ordered from the menu and had it delivered to the Courtyard area where Roland would set the table and bring everyone’s lunch . We could lounge in that area and use the pool until the food was ready. If you are fortunate enough to be in a suite with a butler, I highly recommend using them for every little thing you want as it never seemed like an imposition and the service was always presented with enthusiasm and a smile. It is great to be able to utilize a service like that and receive the pampered feeling

 

A little while later, we met our Monica, our concierge. Monica was absolutely fantastic and really made the entire trip feel special. Although Monica introduced herself when we checked in, you have to engage with her to really get the full value. If you do not ask, you will not know what she can do. Monica was great at making our dinner reservations which were often split with me and DW going to a specialty restraint and the kids going with MIL to the main dining room. We were constantly changing and revising our schedule and Monica did not miss a beat. We could call her with the changes or just mention them to her if we saw her in the hall and she got it correct, every time. She was always warm with greetings when we saw her in the morning. She was excellent as whisking us off the ship at the port stops so we could get a head start on the day. She brought us our passports in Egypt, got us VIP luggage tags for disembarkation. I’m sure anything we wanted or asked for would be provided.

 

Dining: I was pleasantly surprised by my overall dining experience. I did not expect anything great, but I do not cruise for fine dining. Primarily, we ate in the Grand Pacific. I prefer to be dressed nicely and enjoy the “grand dining hall” feel to the place. The staff was more server then waiter but that was OK. They were always pleasant and worked hard. I usually found something to eat and the quality was perfectly acceptable. Occasionally , there would be some pacing issues and sometimes had trouble making the early show on time even if we sat down prior to 6pm. I ate with DW in Le Bistro, Jasmine and Tapiola. In all cases the food was good (Jasmine being the best value on price vs. taste) and had far more taste then what was being served in the main dining room. I did not feel “nickled and dimed” as no one forced me to dine there and I knew going in it was a choice. I would highly recommend budgeting some money to eat in the specialty restraints as it is a nice change of pace. We ate breakfast and lunch via Cagney’s or ordered from Cagney’s via room service. I only went to the buffet twice. It was crowded of course , but the food selection and quality was fine

 

Entertainment: The shows were better than I expected. My last couple of cruises I usually skipped them altogether. The staff production singers were very good and the shows entertaining. However, after a while, that was all there was (no comedian / magician / variety acts) and I stopped going to the shows as I had my fill of all song and dance. The last thing I needed after a 2 day tour to Cairo was a 40 song long “Smokey Joe’s café”. Granted, the crowd did give the performance huge applause.

 

Other activities: I did not participate in too many organized activities, choosing to lounge on the courtyard deck or on my balcony. We would go to the Star Bar which was a nice quiet place to get a late night drink. The beer selection was very good (Guinness, Bass, Becks were all available). The Kids used the kids club occasionally and generally enjoyed it there. On the last sea day, they didn’t want to leave and spent most of their time there. We used the Karaoke room and Wii room once each and that was a lot of fun.

 

General Service: I found the service on the ship to be very good. Everyone I ran into said hello and was generally pleasing. I think there was some relief with the crew that the virus situation seemed to finally be over. The captain and officers were always about and were very friendly. My only negative experience came with the assistance cruise director Gabby Moreno who I had a very negative interaction with. She is not very nice. I spoke with some other cruisers who also validated the negative impression. It was upsetting enough that I wrote a note to Jill the cruise director and got no response. However, the reception desk was alert enough to notify Monica of the issue and she tracked me down to make sure everything was OK. The incident was soon forgotten and we got back to having a good time

 

Overall, I found the NCL experience to exceed my expectations and was happy. I think the key is that you need to have the proper expectations going in.

 

Port commentary:

 

Rome: I had booked a private tour with Rome in Limo for the 5 of us and they did not disappoint. It was overcast and rainy in Rome that day, but that did not hamper our enjoyment. Rolando was waiting for us when we got off the ship and we were on our way to Rome before the NCL busses even started to fill up. Given there were 5 of us, we had a large mini bus that could probably fit 10 easily. It was great to be able to spread out. Rolando has been a guide for 25 years and was really charming, enthusiastic and a great guide. Our first stop was the Vatican museum where we had arranged for a Vatican guide who also works with RIL. Our guide was Breadan (probably misspelled). She was our best guide anywhere on the entire cruise. She is a trained art historian and you can tell that was her passion. We let her pick which items in the museum where worth seeing and she did not disappoint in the 1 ½ hours we could budget to the Vatican and St Peters. She pointed out very interesting things that others where just walking by. For example, certain tapestries had a different perspective depending on which side of them you were on. As you walked by one tapestry containing Jesus and looked directly into his eyes, they gave the illusion that they were actually following you as you walked by. Breadan did a good job of highlighting the different artistic methods and what mad them special (tapestry, mosaic, fresco, sculpture, etc). However, what really mad this stand out was that she also directed her communication to our 7 year old children. She spoke to them in a way that helped them fully understand what they were seeing. She made a point to emphasize 2 or 3 art history concepts that the kids could understand and kept going back to them as we proceeded through the museum. My kid’s have now totally internalized how to tell the difference between Greek and Roman sculptures along with how to identify St. Peter in paintings. If you are going here with children, I highly recommend you request her as a guide. I believe she works primary with RomeInLimo.

 

Rolando was waiting for us when we were completed and we continued on our journey. We went to the Parthenon, Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, Circus Maximus, various plazas’ and Coliseum/Forum. The best part is that we would just drive right up to the site, get out and stay as long or as short as we wanted and then we would just drive to the next sight. Given it was a rainy, cold day, this really beat walking through the streets. I had requested that Rolando drive me to the La casa de Habana in Rome so that I could pick up some authentic Cuban cigars and he had no problem navigating through the narrow alleys to get me there in the middle of our other stops. We did not want time to shop or linger over lunch, but we did let him drive us to a very good gelato stand for a snack.

 

Our last stop was at the Coliseum where we had plenty of time to wander around inside (we paid for the admittance). There was still time after that to wander the Forum if we wanted to , but we skipped that as it was getting rainier and the kids had enough. We then drove back to the cruise ship and arrived in plenty of time and were confident that we totally maximized our time in Rome. The entire cost, including Vatican guide, for the 5 of us was 600 Euro (not including tip). The closest ship tour that did all that we did was close to double that amount.

 

Athens: After a relaxing day at sea and a picturesque passage through the straits of Messina (and Mt Etna), we arrived in the port for Athens. The weather was great. Mid 70’s and sunny. This is certainly a stop that you can “do on your own”, but as I did not want to play the part of guide for our small group , I arranged with Athens Taxi to provide a driver and a guide for the day. They were waiting as we walked off the ship and were shortly on our way to the Acropolis. I love Greek history and was excited to finally see some of the sites that I had read about. I do need to go back for a week or two to see the rest. Our guide, Pepe , was good and was highly trained. We took our time working our way up the Acropolis and would let her explain what we were seeing and to point out items of interest or special artistic merit. We had enough time on the Acropolis site to take it all in. As we were finishing up at the Parthenon, the NCL busses had just arrived . It was great to have been able to see everything before the crowds showed up.

 

Instead of walking back down the hill the way we came up, we walked down the “back side” of the hill through the ancient Agora (market) which was very interesting and worthwhile. At the end of that trail there are multiple outdoor restaurants and we got a quick bite to eat before continuing with the rest of the tour. Our driver was great at driving through the Greek traffic with all the scooters and motorcycles and occasional protestors. We went to the temple of Zeus, up to the top of the Hill of Lycabettous with a great view of the entire city, the Olympic stadium and the national palace where we stayed for the changing of the guard.

 

We decided to skip lunch/shopping in the Plaka so we could spend more time in the Acropolis museum. This new museum right under the hill of the Acropolis is an architectural wonder in and of itself. The glass walkways cover an excavation of ancient Greek community. Having the guide in the museum was a great benefit so that we could emphasize the more important works and understand better how they fit into the entire Greek narrative. We returned to the ship in plenty of time after this long day. The total cost for the 5 of us in the mini-bus was 530 Euro (180 of which was the guide) not including tips. The entrance fees ran a total of about 20 euro per adult

 

Izmir (Ephesus): The next day we landed in Izmir and it was another bright warm day. We had arranged our tour with Ekol travel and included a driver and guide. Our guide, Bruland was excellent. He was an archeologist and had worked on the Ephesus excavations for years. He experience showed and we felt lucky to have him that day.

 

 

Our first stop was at the Virgin Mary house. We got there ahead of the busses so it was peaceful trip and certainly worth it if you are religious. Most of the actual house has been reconstructed but there is an indication of what is original and what is not. Coming down the mountain, Bruland noted that there are many new excavations starting up in that area including what they believe is the burial place of St Luke.

 

 

Next, we were on our way to the Roman ruins of Ephesus. It is a great walk down the hill through the Roman town. You get a great feel for the layout of the town, much more so then anywhere in Rome. Ephesus is similar to Pompeii in that respect. Of course, the library and amphitheatre were highlights. The kids liked the Roman “bathroom” of course. Bruland was interesting and entertaining in his presentation of the ruins. The Terrace House are great to see and pretty amazing. This alone is worth going with a private tour and not a large group. I did notice that there was a ticket booth at the entrance, but not sure if you could buy them there or in what currency. If you are planning on doing an NCL tour, I would recommend researching this a little bit as you walk right past them and you could easily break off from your group , see the terrace houses on your own, and then rejoin during the groups “free time” of wandering around the library.

 

 

We also added another quick stop to this tour to see the Temple of Artemis which was only a short drive away from Ephesus. There is only 1 column left standing and mostly it is just rubble, but it is interesting to be at one of the sites of the original ancient wonders of the world.

 

 

We were having such a good time that I did not realize that Bruland talked me into going for “refreshments and souvenirs” which was really the dreaded carpet factory I had promised myself we would skip. By the time I realized we were there, it was too late, and we spend an annoying 30 minutes watching the sales pitch until I put a stop to it and left. We politely declined further trips to the leather factory and jewel factory. Not a big deal and it didn’t detract from the overall day.

 

If you do a private tour, you should be very specific up front with your guide that you do not want to do any shopping stops (unless you are in the market for a Turkish carpet). You can get “cheap” souvenirs from the numerous shops at the end of the Ephesus trail. Another tip for those taking private tours. The guide/driver were not amenable to doing anything outside the prescribed program, so if you are also interested in any other sites around Ephesus/ Izmir or a drive around the cities, make sure you set that up in advance. Once you remove the shopping and lunch stops from the tour, you actually had plenty of time for Mary’s house / Ephesus / Terrace Houses / Artemis and could probably fit some other sites in for a quick visit or have the guide go slower through Ephesus.. This may not be the case in the summer when the crowds will be much worse. Our total cost for the trip, including all entrace fees and terrace hourse was $280 before tip

 

Alexandria / Cairo: Another hot bright day as we arrived in Alexandria. We had made arrangements with Ramses Tours for a private overnight tour. When we left the ship, there was a supervisor there who was coordinating the various groups. It appeared there must have been 20-30 groups using Ramses. Some of the other tour companies were also there (Memphis, blue nile) waiting for their people. Each company works with the same group of licensed tour guides so it probably does not matter much which company you go with although it was nice that Ramses had a couple of “office” people there to make sure everyone was taken care of.

 

Our guide was Mohammed who was good, but not great. He was very friendly and always obliging to take a picture and answer our questions. He was a trained Egyptologist as I’m sure all the guides were. He was young (only his 4th year as a guide) and his accent was a bit sharp which made it difficult to understand what he was saying some times . Not a big deal. Our driver was an oasis of calm on the crazy roads of Egypt and went a long way in making us feel safe. The van was a bit tight and there was no wood “step” available for MIL to get in and out of the van with, but the van was par for the course for Egypt.

 

After the 3 hour ride to Giza, we enjoyed time at the Pyramids and our guide was very obliging in taking our pictures. We requested some additional time to walk between the pyramids and the guide was obliging in that request. We drove up to the “scenic overlook” for some more pictures and a camel ride which our guide arranged with one of the numerous vendors in that area. The camel ride was fun and the kids enjoyed it. It was $15 per person paid to the Ramses guide.

 

Next, we went down to the Sphinx area where we had some more time for pictures and cheap souvenir shopping. Generally speaking, the vendor/hawkers were not very bothersome and if you simply do not engage them or show interest, they won’t bother you. Their numbers were not overwhelming. I feel more harassed in Times Square, New York then I did at the pyramids. Once you show your intention to buy something from one of them and start haggling, then your fair game and they will follow you around trying to close the deal.

 

We had no interest in stopping to eat as we had brought granola bars from home and muffins/pastries from the ship so we headed next to Memphis to see the Ramses II statue and then to the step pyramid. This trip took us through the “poverty” tour of Giza which was both shocking and sad. However, it was not a bad as I thought it would be as I have seen much worse in India, and parts of Central and South America. Later, I overheard someone on the ship mention that they complained to the shore excursion desk that they were forced to witness those conditions. I held my tongue but wondered how that could be in any way NCL’s problem as there is no way to avoid those sections. Sometimes it is a good reminder on how fortunate we are when we actually witness how billions of other people live worldwide

 

After Memphis and the step pyramid, we were tired and done for the day. It was about 4pm at this time. We had no interest in the light show or Nile River dinner cruise so decided to call it a day at that point. We had made our own reservations at the Marriott in Cairo using points (rates for good hotels in Cairo are very cheap) and our driver took us there through the brutal traffic. The hotel was on a beautiful compound with Nile River views and had several good restaurants. It was good place to decompress. Try to get on the executive floors as the lounge had good free food and drinks if you are thinking about this. Note that there are other good hotels that are right on the Nile . We saw the Sofitel, Hyatt (with hard rock cafe) and four seasons all in prime locations.

 

The next day, we got off to a quick start since we were already in Cairo and went to the Citadel and Alabaster Mosque. All very interesting. Next up was the Egyptian museum. Being in a small group really helped here as we were able to quickly move through the throngs of the larger groups. The museum was great and I only wish we had more time to see this. The kids just had to see the mummy room. It was 100 LE ($17) for adults and 60 LE ($10) for kids. The guide exchanged our dollars for LE so we could enter. There are about 10 mummies to see and we were through pretty quick, but it was interesting as these were the people who’s statues/tombs we saw previously.

 

Once done at the museum, we had the driver take us to the Hard Rock café for souvenirs. Our lunch would have been there anyway but we skipped that and instead went on a Felucca ride which was right next door. That was nice and finished up our day at now 12:30. We started the long drive back to Alexandria. It took us about 45 minutes to get through Cairo and back to the main highway. That ride was traffic free, but when we entered Alexandria, there was some major traffic jams. At one point, while we were on a busy road with 4 lanes of cars (maybe 2 actual lanes on the road), we saw a horse drawn carriage actually successfully merge into the traffic and proceed along. We had to laugh. We made it back to the ship by 4:30 . We were there prior to most of the NCL busses as they had to go through the same delays we did as there is only 1 way back to the port. All in all, a great but exhausting 2 days that fully met our expectation. Our cost with Ramses was $200 per adult and $100 per kid before tips. This included all entry fees except the mummy room. The price was reduced since we made our own (free) hotel arrangements.

 

Note: NCL did add a new tour for Cairo in which you were flown to Luxor from Alexandria to see the Valley of the kings and then flow back to Cairo for the pyramids/museum the next day and then driven back to Alexandria. We talked to someone who went on this and they said it was wonderful. That tour did not get back until 6:45 and of course, the boat waited for them.

 

Malta: After a sunny, warm and relaxing day at sea, we arrived at Malta. The entry into the harbor was beautiful and you should see it from both sides of the boat. This is the one stop where our private tour was significantly more money than the NCL more leisurely tours, but I had some specific things that I wished to see, so arranged a tour with Chris at Touringmalta which turned out to be great.

 

Our driver and wonderful guide Flora were waiting for us as we walked off the boat and we got on the go. We spent the first couple of hours doing a scenic driving tour through Valletta, then getting out and walking through town as Flora explained the history, architecture and general life of the Maltese. We had plenty of time in the Cathedral and the guide really helped here.

 

Next we were off to the archaeology part of the tour which is what I really wanted to do. We drove to the Haghir Qim temples which was well preserved and as old as the great pyramids. A quick stop at the overhang over the blue grotto for a picture and then to our appointment at the Hypogeum. Since this site only allows 10 people to visit per hour, it was good to know that the tour company would procure the tickets for us the day they were released. This site is an ancient burial site for the Neolithic civilization on Malta that has been excavated over the last 100 years and only recently opened in the last few years to the public. This is truly a unique site. Next we went to see the Tarxien temples and finished the day with some scenic views of the harbor from both sides.

 

This tour really highlighted Malta’s unique position. It is less than 100 miles from multiple Italian islands but was not part of Italy’s culture. The country is 98% Roman Catholic but their unique language sounds more like Arabic then European. I also got a good sense of the economic challenges facing this island with no beaches and will be rooting for the Maltese to succeed.

 

If you are at all interested in archaeology or these ancient sites, then I highly recommend maximizing your time via a custom tour. If not, you are probably best off just being dropped off in town and walking around.

 

We had one last chilly sea day before arriving back into Barcelona. Juan from BarcelonaDayTours was back to pick us up at the port at 7am. We made it to the airport with no problem and after some concerns with the east coast snow storm, managed to make it back home to New Jersey by 6pm

 

Overall, a wonderful vacation

 

Happy to answer any questions. I saved most of the freestyle dailies and other items

[goldmom]

Thank you for the wonderful review. We've been thinking/dreaming about this trip and hope to do it in the near future. You really gave me a lot to think about. Glad you had a great time!

[hbe]

thanks for a great review, would you recommend port or starboard for this cruise?

[TwinCruiser]

thanks for a great review, would you recommend port or starboard for this cruise?

 

Mt Etna was on starboard. I thought the port side was better for Valletta . Other then that , I do not think it made much difference

[cruisin' judi]

Mt Etna was on starboard. I thought the port side was better for Valletta . Other then that , I do not think it made much difference

 

What a great review!!! Now, I can't wait to go on our Eastern Mediterranean cruise in May!!!!

 

Judi

[jannandjohn]

oops wrong thread

[Educators2]

Loved your review. It helped relive memories of our Jade cruise in March 2009!

[Turtles06]

For Malta, I think you really want to be up on deck taking in as much as you can from every side, as this is one really unique place and there is civilization and tons to see on both sides of the harbor.

 

When we docked in Valletta, the Jade pulled in to the harbor with her starboard side facing the dock, then turned around and tied up on the port side.

[DonMar]

Thanks so much for the great review. We will be on the same itinerary on March 28th. Thanks for sharing.

 

Sorry that you had to return to snow -we too are from northern NJ:)

[AuntieBarb]

Enjoyed your review, thank you! Now my anxiousness is growing by the moment.

[catnanny]

Thanks for your wonderful review! A friend and I would love to do this itinerary, but she is in a wheelchair. Is there any way that would work, especially seeing the pyramids and sphinx? Thanks for any input.

[jgooden1]

After so many bad post regarding the Jade it was so refreshing to read your review. We sail in a Courtyard Villa on the Jade on March 19th. This will be our 1st NCL cruise (we have sailed several other lines but seems to have stuck on HAL recently) and I was really starting to worry that I had made the wrong decision. Between your review and the updates we got from Whenismynextcruise I am feeling much more positive about my cruise! Thank you!!

[hamrag]

After so many bad post regarding the Jade it was so refreshing to read your review. We sail in a Courtyard Villa on the Jade on March 19th. This will be our 1st NCL cruise (we have sailed several other lines but seems to have stuck on HAL recently) and I was really starting to worry that I had made the wrong decision. Between your review and the updates we got from Whenismynextcruise I am feeling much more positive about my cruise! Thank you!!

 

We were on one of the cruises many complained about. Much of the frustration was around the hand sanitation efforts and the fact that in the Garden Cafe (buffet) eveything was served by crew members which, inevitably, slowed down the whole process. For us there was no problem, much more important to stay healthy, but many whinged and some of the stuff that crew members had to tolerate was unacceptable behaviour.

 

The ship experience, for us, and the cruise itself was very good despite the extra efforts being made to contain norovirus, which was successfully achieved by the 14 Feb cruise. Especially in a CY Villa, your experience will be awesome.....enjoy!

[sunshine nana]

Thanks for a great review and for including what the tours cost. One question: for Ekol in Izmir,did you mean to list the cost in dollars or was it 280 Eros?

[TwinCruiser]

Thanks for a great review and for including what the tours cost. One question: for Ekol in Izmir,did you mean to list the cost in dollars or was it 280 Eros?

 

that cost was in US dollars which is what they wanted payment in

[Turtles06]

Thanks for a great review and for including what the tours cost. One question: for Ekol in Izmir,did you mean to list the cost in dollars or was it 280 Eros?

 

I can't speak to anyone else's tour with Ekol, but we toured Ephesus with them last month (from Izmir), and they were happy to accept payment in USD, Euros, or Turkish Lira, cash or credit card. Of all the private tour operators we did shore excursions with, they were the most flexible that way. (Everyone else insisted on cash.) (And their guide was fantastic. It was the single most enjoyable day of our 12-day Med cruise, same itinerary as the OP. I highly recommend them.)

 

And thanks to the OP for the review; I feel as though I've re-lived the good parts of our trip. (Putting aside here the extensive Noro outbreak, the ship being held up for half a day in Egypt, etc.)

[bhcruise]

TwinCruiser,

Thanks so much for the review! We will be doing this same cruise 1/2/2011 with a 7 and a 4 year old. Was the main pool heated at all, we are currently booked in an AB but I have thought about upgrading to a courtyard villa so the kids will have a place to swim. Do you think it is worth it for the courtyard area? We already get all the other suite perks with the AB and it is the exact same cabin so I would be paying the extra money just for the courtyard. I have read several reviews of the courtyard, but not many from people with children so it is hard to tell if it is really worth it. Thanks in advance for your help!

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Hi!

I very much enjoyed reading your review - and it was fun bumping into you and your family just about everywhere we went. The boys couldn't have been cuter and were always so well behaved. Like you, we had a great cruise and really enjoyed life at the top of the ship! We found the service and attention from Roland and Monica to be outstanding.

 

Maybe we will run into you again someday. We are on the Epic in July with my son, his wife and their 3 year old boy. Not ready to even think about it, but I'm sure we will be ready to go by then!

 

Cathy

[TwinCruiser]

TwinCruiser,

Thanks so much for the review! We will be doing this same cruise 1/2/2011 with a 7 and a 4 year old. Was the main pool heated at all, we are currently booked in an AB but I have thought about upgrading to a courtyard villa so the kids will have a place to swim. Do you think it is worth it for the courtyard area? We already get all the other suite perks with the AB and it is the exact same cabin so I would be paying the extra money just for the courtyard. I have read several reviews of the courtyard, but not many from people with children so it is hard to tell if it is really worth it. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

the main pool was not heated. There was probably only 1 sea day that I saw adults in the main pool. A couple of other days, kids would brave the cold. the water was not that cold. just the air and wind. Also , on this cruise we had better weather then the last several so any day you can get in the pool was a bonus.

 

Only you can decide if its worth paying more to have some pool access for the 5 sea days you are likely to use it. Keep in mind, the pool is very small and there is not room for multiple groups of people to use it at the same time. 2-3 kids max. We did not notice a lot of use during the day and if others came in that looked like they wanted to use it (dressed in swim gear), we would pull the kids out if they had been in a while.

 

I only saw others on the private sundeck maybe 1 day because it was so windy. We went a few other days but we bundled up and sat against the far wall to block the wind

[rjowais]

Thanks for sharing such a great review of cruises. I am pretty new to forum and want to learn about cruises :)

[jmv3162]

Twin Cruiser - your review is very informative and therefore extremely helpful. I am investigating Ekol travel and trying to find a tour guide in Athens that won't be on strike when we arrive the end of March. Did you have a problem using a credit card to charge for the tours ahead of time?

or did you bring currency for each country in advance? Did you bring a lot of US cash with you? I have additional questions but don't know how often you check this site and we leave in 2 weeks. If anyone reading this has taken private tours in Turkey, Athens, and Cairo please post a comment - I'd like toget educated about my options. I am new to cruisecritic and can't seem to figure out how to search for Jade excursions Feb-March 2010 (I get thousands of comments but they are for every ship that NCL has and I'm only interested in the Jade!) jmv3162

[Turtles06]

Twin Cruiser - your review is very informative and therefore extremely helpful. I am investigating Ekol travel and trying to find a tour guide in Athens that won't be on strike when we arrive the end of March. Did you have a problem using a credit card to charge for the tours ahead of time?

or did you bring currency for each country in advance? Did you bring a lot of US cash with you? I have additional questions but don't know how often you check this site and we leave in 2 weeks. If anyone reading this has taken private tours in Turkey, Athens, and Cairo please post a comment - I'd like toget educated about my options. I am new to cruisecritic and can't seem to figure out how to search for Jade excursions Feb-March 2010 (I get thousands of comments but they are for every ship that NCL has and I'm only interested in the Jade!) jmv3162

 

Your best bet for learning more about private tour operators is to go on the Ports of Call area of this board, click on the relevant ports, and do a search. You'll find tons of reviews. Since you are looking for private tour operators, you needn't limit yourself to Jade cruises. Do searches by port and by tour company, not by ship.

 

But I will add that we were on the Jade's 12-night Med cruise (R/T Barcelona) in January, and we did private tours in all three places you've inquired about. So to answer your questions:

 

In Turkey, we had a fantastic tour of Ephesus with Ekol Tours. Our guide was extraordinary. In fact, it was the single most enjoyable day of our cruise. Do a search for Ekol on the Ports of Call area/Europe/Other Med Ports, and you'll find lots of raves about them. (Indeed, that's why we decided to use them.) Ekol asks for payment at the end of the tour, in cash or by credit card, USD, Euros, or Turkish lira. They were the most flexible of all the tour operators we used in terms of method of payment.

 

In Athens, again based on reviews on this board, we hired Paul, who runs Athens Taxi. (Do a Google search for "Athens Taxi Paul" and you'll get his web site and contact info.) His son, Jimmy, did a great job showing us the city. In fact, the ship was late getting into port, and Jimmy waited around for hours in Piraeus for us until the ship docked, and crammed as much as anyone humanly could into the time we had. I doubt anyone could have seen more than we did that day. Paul takes payment in cash only, Euros. I highly recommend Paul.

 

In Egypt, we used Ramses Tours for an overnight tour to Cairo. Again, you will find many raves about them on this board, our reason for picking them. Our own experience with them was mixed. On the plus side, our guide did a great job juggling the itinerary after Egyptian authorities delayed the ship's clearance by five hours to do a health inspection (our sailing was one of the ones with an extensive Norovirus outbreak). We lost half a day in Egypt and did miss some things, but that was not Ramses' fault. We felt very safe the whole time, our guide kept us from being harassed by beggars, answered questions when we had them, and took us to good places to eat.

 

But his English was not the best, he spoke too fast, and we could not always understand everything he said. Also, he hardly spoke to us during the 3-hour drive from Alexandria to Cairo, when he could have been using that time (as I've read other guides do) to tell us about what we were seeing and would be seeing. Our time in Egypt was an incredible adventure, but I think it could have been even more incredible. Just the luck of the draw on the guide, and that can happen I think on any tour with any tour operator. As I said, many others have raved about Ramses. But do read up, there are other options. (Ramses took payment only in cash, USD.)

 

I hope this is helpful. Have a great cruise!

[Dipsylee]

I am scheduled to go on this cruise in March of 2011. However, I did tour Turkey a couple of years ago and just have one tip to give. Before you leave on your cruise notify your credit card company of your itinerary. I neglected to do that and my credit card company denied my charges while in Turkey, because there is so much credit card fraud there. Luckily my daughter's credit card company wasn't so touchy, so she covered my purchases till I got home and could pay her back. If I had made one simple phone call before departure it would've saved me a lot of grief while traveling!

[ballawana13]

We will be on some of the same ports of call for our Mediterranean cruise this fall. I am also curious about payment for private tours.

 

As you prepare for these excursions, are you carrying around loads of cash or travelers checks to cover the tours or are you relying on credit cards? I will be appropriately prepared in advance (including calling my credit card companies to warn them I will be in Europe) and have cash and travelers checks as needed but I would like to charge as much as possible for convenience, better exchange rates and not having to carry lots of cash.

 

Also, how much research time is expected to select the right spots for your itinerary to maximize the visit and minimize any unnecessary shopping or eating stops?

[TwinCruiser]

We will be on some of the same ports of call for our Mediterranean cruise this fall. I am also curious about payment for private tours.

 

As you prepare for these excursions, are you carrying around loads of cash or travelers checks to cover the tours or are you relying on credit cards? I will be appropriately prepared in advance (including calling my credit card companies to warn them I will be in Europe) and have cash and travelers checks as needed but I would like to charge as much as possible for convenience, better exchange rates and not having to carry lots of cash.

 

Also, how much research time is expected to select the right spots for your itinerary to maximize the visit and minimize any unnecessary shopping or eating stops?

 

Most of the private tour groups I dealt with insisted on cash. I did not push as I'm sure they may have charged a surcharge for charging. What I did was just bring enough Euro's (ordered from my bank) and US dollars with me to cover everything including tips. I carried it in a PacSafe money belt on the plane and then just kept it in the safe on the ship except for what I needed for that particular tour. I put aside the tour cost plus tip in the money belt and just got it out at the end of the tour, while I put a little bit of spending money in my neck wallet for use when walking around