Norwegian Jade 10/31/10 Pictoral Review

[elsplace2]

OMC....I just returned Monday from my cruise on The Pearl to the Eastern Caribbean. While onboard I put down a deposit on a cruise on the Epic -- Barcelona, Italy & back to Barcelona. I thought my daughter or sister would go for sure, but they say no, for various reasons. My question is that I find I may be doing this alone, as a single woman, or I'd lose my deposit, I think. I'm wondering if I do go alone & spend a couple days in Barcelona if you think this is safe enough to do as a single? Just wondering what your thoughts are. I've so enjoyed your review, thanks so much for posting this!

 

FYI, if you decided you really weren't comfortable going alone on that Epic cruise, you shouldn't lose your deposit. I'm sure it can be transferred to another cruise with NCL. Although I'm not sure how you made your deposit on a specific ship (unless they were doing an Epic promotion)....I didn't think they do bookings anymore on cruise ships and just sell you future cruise certificates for any ship. If it can only be the Epic...I believe it is coming back to Miami for the Caribbean cruises in October. That could be another consideration???

Of course if you are comfortable,I've heard of people enjoying cruising alone in the Western Med (or any ports) and really enjoyed it, without incident. Just be smart and aware of your surroundings!! Or as OMC stated, roll call is a great place to meet people.

[cabincop]

Joie I have cruised solo to Barcelona 3x's last one was on Jade home on Nov 1rst. Stayed pre cruise had no problems. On the cruise I met up with people from roll call, and it is true maybe you can meet with some before the cruise. Enjoy it is fun don't miss Montserrat, Maria

[sassy12]

Loved your review. I, too, have to plan all the details when we vacation with family so can truly understand your "sister" issues. But, I truly enjoyed the gift certificate for a massage she gave me as a thank you!

 

We'll be in Barcelona again in May for four nights post-cruise and will try Runnerbean tours.

 

Hope future family trips are better than this one!

[omc329]

Loved your review. I, too, have to plan all the details when we vacation with family so can truly understand your "sister" issues. But, I truly enjoyed the gift certificate for a massage she gave me as a thank you!

 

We'll be in Barcelona again in May for four nights post-cruise and will try Runnerbean tours.

 

Hope future family trips are better than this one!

 

I hope you enjoy the runnerbean tour as much as we did, but be certain to make adequate time allowance if you wish to do the Palau afterwards. ;)

 

I don't know about future vacations with sis. I think she and I have both decided we don't travel well together. No thank you's from her either. She does acknowledge that we had some good times though, "despite some very ugly times".

 

Nope. I don't think we travel well together. We are in complete agreement.

[kathynorth]

Once upstairs, we hit the bar for some drinks, wine, beer and soda, and sat down in the lobby. I took a few picts from the balcony just off the lobby.

 

 

Here's a pict of the aerobus stopping at the Placa.

 

And one of the many entertainers drawing a crowd.

 

As the rain began we all sat and drank and relaxed. The rain let up and sis and her gd showed up. We thought about heading out, but everyone was still jetlagged, sore and just beat. I think if there had been just a bit of enthusiasm I would have been up and out in a heartbeat. As it was, we were quite grateful for the lobby and drinks. We ended up spending the remainder of the day there and heading off to bed around 7:30PM. Of course....I woke up around 3AM....But I stayed in bed, refusing to give in this time. Yawwwwwwnnnn.

 

Thank you for all the great info, tips, etc! We're considering taking a cruise out of Barcelona and found your trip report to be very helpful. If you were to do this again would you stay at the Continental again? Regarding your Barcelona sightseeing, is there anything you'd do differently? Thanks again for all your help!

[omc329]

Thank you for all the great info, tips, etc! We're considering taking a cruise out of Barcelona and found your trip report to be very helpful. If you were to do this again would you stay at the Continental again? Regarding your Barcelona sightseeing, is there anything you'd do differently? Thanks again for all your help!

 

Of the 5 adults that stayed at the Continental, who would or would not return varies. Sis would not, primarily because of the beds. TXhubby would prefer not to because of fruit flies and the elevator incident, but because his wife loved it there, they would. Dh and I are mixed. The location can't be beat. The food was ok for a couple of days, but gets old fast and needs supplementing. The lobby area, with our group of 6, was wonderful for meeting up, lounging and taking it easy together, always with free refreshments available. It is old, a bit worn and cheaply furnished, but if you like hard beds, (and many in our group do), it was fine. Again, I would say maybe a 2 1/2* level.

 

For us, it was overall a good value, and would probably stay there again, knowing not to expect the Ritz. If you want a balcony, be aware one of those rooms is just off the lobby and by the luggage room. April from our roll call stayed in that room one night and mentioned it wasn't the best location. I believe her exact words were something atune to, "yeah, that room was 'fun'". I don't know about the other balcony rooms. The balconies themselves are small, two seaters, but still nice enough to sit out and enjoy the ambiance of Las Ramblas. We used the balcony off the lobby several times.

 

Two things I messed up with in Barcelona. One was the timing between the Runnerbean tour and the Palau tour. The other was both losing Montserrat and not having a better backup plan worked out. It just didn't occur to me that they would have an unannounced strike. Should we return to Barcelona in the future, I would have a spare day's itinerary for backup, not just a general idea. I would also put Monterserrat before the cruise, using the time after the cruise as a backup. I was terribly disappointed to lose that daytrip.

 

The only other thing, is if I could manage it, I would have at least one more day in Barcelona. There was so very much we missed. We really would love to go back and spend a week there sometime.

[kathynorth]

Two things I messed up with in Barcelona. One was the timing between the Runnerbean tour and the Palau tour. The other was both losing Montserrat and not having a better backup plan worked out. It just didn't occur to me that they would have an unannounced strike. Should we return to Barcelona in the future, I would have a spare day's itinerary for backup, not just a general idea. I would also put Monterserrat before the cruise, using the time after the cruise as a backup. I was terribly disappointed to lose that daytrip.

 

The only other thing, is if I could manage it, I would have at least one more day in Barcelona. There was so very much we missed. We really would love to go back and spend a week there sometime.

 

 

Thanks again! Interestingly, my DH is trying to talk me into this cruise. It's usually the other way around! So, now I'm trying to negotiate 3 days pre-cruise instead of the 1-2 that he initially proposed. :D I can be sneaky when I want to be.

 

I didn't realize that the Runnerbean tours were based on tips only. When I first read your posting I thought, wow omc329's a big tipper! :o I guess I'll need to fit Monterserrat into the intinerary. I'm only just beginning my research, but find all the prep work to be almost as much fun as the actual trip. Thank you for your help!

[kathynorth]

Two things I messed up with in Barcelona. One was the timing between the Runnerbean tour and the Palau tour. The other was both losing Montserrat and not having a better backup plan worked out. It just didn't occur to me that they would have an unannounced strike. Should we return to Barcelona in the future, I would have a spare day's itinerary for backup, not just a general idea. I would also put Monterserrat before the cruise, using the time after the cruise as a backup. I was terribly disappointed to lose that daytrip.

 

The only other thing, is if I could manage it, I would have at least one more day in Barcelona. There was so very much we missed. We really would love to go back and spend a week there sometime.

 

 

Thanks again! Interestingly, my DH is trying to talk me into this cruise. It's usually the other way around! So, now I'm trying to negotiate 3 days pre-cruise instead of the 1-2 that he initially proposed. :D I can be sneaky when I want to be.

 

I didn't realize that the Runnerbean tours were based on tips only. When I first read your posting I thought, wow omc329's a big tipper! :o I guess I'll need to fit Monterserrat into the intinerary. I'm only just beginning my research, but find all the prep work to be almost as much fun as the actual trip. Thank you for your help!

[Betsybill]

Hi OMC, Great and funny review and pictures. Brought back a lot of memories. Had a great cruise on the Jade and enjoyed sailing with you.

Tell Mike that DW took his advice and bought a nice carved cane in Roatan, hopefully she won't need it in the near future. We're now planning our Hawaiian cruise, and hope it as good as the Jade. Take care.

[zazou]

What a wonderful review. I'm so happy to stumble on it. I'm bookmarking it because you add so many details that I'm sure I'm going to read it again later during my wait. The cruise in only in 1 year.

 

Boy, I was not sold on Barcelona but you really gave me the push that I needed to finish my cruise there.

 

thanks a lot!

[omc329]

What a wonderful review. I'm so happy to stumble on it. I'm bookmarking it because you add so many details that I'm sure I'm going to read it again later during my wait. The cruise in only in 1 year.

 

Boy, I was not sold on Barcelona but you really gave me the push that I needed to finish my cruise there.

 

thanks a lot!

 

I'm glad to know it is still being enjoyed and helping others along. I know when we were planning that cruise, I was reading everywhere to get a feel for odd things like taxi fares, meals, etc. The cruise has changed from Jade to Epic, but hopefully there are still plenty of useful tidbits in there.

 

And yes, someday I still hope to make it back to Barcelona and see all those things I missed, ESPECIALLY Montserrat!