NCL Jade March 6 - 17 - Overall Good 4.5 - 5 star for sure

[Lady Anna & Sir Troy]

Not sure how long it will take to post my review so here it is. Please feel free to ask any questions and I will try to answer.

 

We were on the Jade March 6 – 17, 2013. It was a good cruise and I enjoyed it thoroughly, but there is room for improvement.

 

Ship: The Jade is the sister ship to Pearl, Gem, and Jewel. The overall flow inside of the ship is excellent, absorbing crowds easily with the exception of the Garden Buffet. The Hawaiian theme is pretty if a bit out of place on a European ship. Personally I would replace more of the decor since it continues to be used more in Europe. The ship was completely sold out with many of the third and fourth berths used for a group, so keep that in mind during this review.

 

Cabin: We had Cabin 9150, a handicapped balcony because of injuries I had sustained in a car accident, and I was in a wheelchair for part of the cruise. The cabin is the largest we have ever been in and we loved it! The bed was comfortable, but not great, linens were very nice. We only got two bathroom towels though, and it would have been nice to have a third. Other than that the stateroom steward, Charles, was incredible, always saying hello and sneaking into our room to tidy up where we weren't there. He even taught me to make a mouse from a washcloth.

 

The sofa was across from the bed and I really liked that arrangement. The color of the sofa – purplish pink was wonderful. There were three large drawers for clothes by the desk. I noted that in addition to 4 clothes sized cubby holes inside the closet they had 6 clothes sized cubby holes outside of the closet immediately next to the bathroom door, and 6 bookshelf size cubby holes all from floor to 6’ high. We had no problem finding room for all of our stuff. In a chair I could reach almost all the shelves.

 

The bathroom was well thought out with the small glass shelves for toiletries from about 1’ from the floor to 4’ high. Perfect if you are in a chair or not. The shower was small as we found the curtain (no doors) would often hit your legs while you were standing or sitting down to take a shower.

One nice feature of this cabin is the door to the balcony was automatic and you could fit a wheelchair through the door and onto the balcony. I couldn’t have been happier!!

Dining: We went to the main dining room, Moderno’s, Garden Buffet, Cagney’s, and Sushi.

Main Dining Room: Beautiful and elegant, we found all of our entrees to be good and salmon was excellent. We almost always went with the specials which seemed to be the best. Favorites were – Salmon, Chicken Kabobs, Spring Rolls, Raspberry Sorbet, Lemon Sorbet, Bread Pudding and Lobster. First day was slow and after that we had excellent service.

Garden Buffet – Enjoyed breakfast here with waffles, eggs, sausage and juice. Not as much variety as they often repeated the same items at different stations and had the same selection every day. Lunch had good vegan indian food, otherwise was often repeated grill fare that I do not care for. Really missed the cold soups!! Loved the crepe station, choices were strawberries, nutella, blueberries, apple, whipped cream.

Moderno’s – Plenty of meat, soup was outstanding.

Cagney’s – As always filet mignon was excellent and accompaniments were good.

 

Sushi – Liked the seaweed salad and edamame. Didn’t care for the sushi.

 

Husband’s biggest complaint was not having juice or milk or something other than ice tea later in the day. Most lines at least have lemonade. Overall this is the least amount of variety we’ve ever seen on a ship and we were on it for 10 days, could really use an improvement here.

Entertainment/Activities:

Main Stage shows ranged from mediocre to excellent. We enjoyed graffiti, Angels (the aerialists), and Elements (aerialists, dancers, escape artist). Could have skipped Showdown as ending was disappointing as the last two don’t show down but sing together. Puppeteers were very talented but out of place.

 

Many of us grumbled that all the stuff we wanted to do was in the evening, there was little to do during the day and we had 3 sea days!! We read and enjoyed the spa, a lot.

Movies should be in a darker location, hard to see.

The guitarist, piano player, and band were fantastic. Easily my favorite part on the ship. It was so nice to hear good singing music and not the Caribbean blare.

Suite and Lattitude Cocktail Parties: Another of my favorites. Silvio, Orlando, and Misrod all chatted with us at the different parties and it was worth it to come on the ship just to hang out with them. They are so interesting, professional, courteous, and caring.

Spa: I enjoyed my spa time as best as I could. This was my biggest disappointment. They had the thalassotherapy pool jets set to 8 minutes, so by the time I was able to hobble onto the loungers I would get about 2 minutes of bubbles. Not well thought out. There was no conditioner, a huge draw back for me that I didn’t anticipate. The sauna was kept at 82 degrees – I checked every day, and the heated tile loungers felt cooler. I liked seeing the same people each day but it was impossible to relax as everybody wanted to chat it up like it was a lounge area. All in all I would go again though as I love being able to soak in a private hot tub without kids and cool down with their ice shower (about 60 degrees). They also personally wheeled me to/from the spa during the first few days so my husband could do his own thing and that was a huge benefit for us.

Embarkation/Disembarkation – Embarkation was crazy, had a difficult time getting a wheelchair to get onboard. Disembarkation was a breeze.

Lastly the weather was beautiful for 7 of the 10 days, and miserable and raining for the other 3, 2 of which were sea days so not a big deal. Given a choice I would have done the March 27th cruise, but hubby couldn’t be gone from work at the end of the month. Ports – See individual forums for ports. I summed up briefly below.

Ports – I summed up briefly. If I get a chance I will put more in the port forums.

 

Katakolon – Only visited the town and really enjoyed that. We tried some different food and it was delicious. We spent an hour sitting in one of the cafes facing the sea (and the boat) outside under a warming pilar and awning in case it rained. I loved just sitting and taking in the ambiance. I couldn’t walk far yet and it was less than a block from the ship. Do go to the bakery just behind the main street and get some of the delicious chocolate baklava.

 

Athens – We took the bus to the metro to Acropolis, walked to the Agora, enjoyed delicious solvakia, gyro, and cappucinno and took the bus/metro back. There is a lift at the Acropolis for handicapped, but I was starting to walk some again by then. We liked the Agora section the best.

 

Izmir – Pre-arranged a tour and went to Ephesus and Sirince with Semyeli. Absolutely excellent tour – we loved the Terrace Houses seeing vivid fescoes and mosaics and complete houses from many years ago still intact, and Sirince was so charming with the old streets, shopping, and food made right in front of you in brick ovens. Do be firm about not going to Leather and Carpet shops, they will say it is a stop for lunch and it isn’t.

 

Istanbul -. Loved the Hamam, Basilica, Sah Restaurant and other food, Suleymaniye, and Hagia Sophia. The Spice Bazaar which was one of my favorites was much more haggling then before. I was not pleased.

 

Naples – Weather was horrible this day, but we did our best to stay warm and visited Pompeii and the National Archealogical Museum. Husband’s favorite day by far. It was fascinating to walk through this big city, and even more so when we saw the frescoes, secret room, and large scale mode at the NAM.

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation – Embarkation was crazy, had a difficult time getting a wheelchair to get onboard. Disembarkation was a breeze.

Lastly the weather was beautiful for 7 of the 10 days, and miserable and raining for the other 3, 2 of which were sea days so not a big deal. Given a choice I would have done the March 27th cruise, but hubby couldn’t be gone from work at the end of the month.

I also want to say what made our trip special was the large group that we chatted with on the forums before hand. Getting to chat with such intelligent wonderful people throughout the cruise was great.

Any questions??

[Seago2]

Sounds lovely so far. Welcome home.

[jdvmd]

Sounds like an amazing trip! Glad you had a wonderful time!

[xenagurl]

Thanks for the write up. :)

[Lady Anna & Sir Troy]

You're all very welcome!!

 

Please let me know if you have questions or my review helps you. :D

 

L.A.S.T.

[ATL Michelle]

We are hoping to visit a Hamam in Istanbul when we sail on the Jade in November. Where did you go? And do you recommend that one?

[Lady Anna & Sir Troy]

I would recommend Cemberlitas, which is where I went. The first time you go there I would get the full service (have them do the washing/scrub), so they will show you what you need to know. I prefer self service but you would be lost doing self service if you hadn't already been there.

 

Suleymaniye Hamam is also very good if you would like the service together.

 

L.A.S.T.

[lettienets]

...........Athens – We took the bus to the metro to Acropolis, walked to the Agora, enjoyed delicious solvakia, gyro, and cappucinno and took the bus/metro back. There is a lift at the Acropolis for handicapped, but I was starting to walk some again by then. We liked the Agora section the best.

...........

I am looking at doing this itinerary in 2014 between Jan - Mar. Looks like you had fairly good weather. I just got off Jade Mar 6 after Israel, Cyprus ...11 day.

Is it that easy to get to Athens from the port? Sounds great.

I enjoyed the Jade very much. Did find the Garden Cafe pretty busy all the time, esp night of chocolate buffet, couldn't get near it for pictures.

Overall I was satisfied with the cruise. I like the ship, yes it would be nice if they got rid of the Hawaiin decor.:rolleyes:

[Lady Anna & Sir Troy]

I am looking at doing this itinerary in 2014 between Jan - Mar. Looks like you had fairly good weather. I just got off Jade Mar 6 after Israel, Cyprus ...11 day.

Is it that easy to get to Athens from the port? Sounds great.

I enjoyed the Jade very much. Did find the Garden Cafe pretty busy all the time, esp night of chocolate buffet, couldn't get near it for pictures.

Overall I was satisfied with the cruise. I like the ship, yes it would be nice if they got rid of the Hawaiin decor.:rolleyes:

 

It was very easy to get to/from Athens from the port on your own. There are two great inexpensive options: 1)Bus/Metro, or 2)Hop on Hop Off Bus

 

Those who did hop on hop off used it like a glorified taxi. They hoped off near the Acropolis, saw that, walked down to the Plaka/Roma Agora, and then hoped back on.

 

We did the bus route and they wouldn't sell us tickets so we just got on the bus and got off by the metro. The bus driver knew we were all buying tickets at the metro, so we weren't ripping anyone off. On the way back the metro ticket is good for the bus, so you already have the ticket in hand. =)

 

I took some pics to help people with this route.

[lettienets]

It was very easy to get to/from Athens from the port on your own. There are two great inexpensive options: 1)Bus/Metro, or 2)Hop on Hop Off Bus

 

............

It looks like you walk out of the port or is there a bus that gets you to the port gate and then you get this city bus? So the bus that takes you to the metro doesn't sell the ticket, but you get one at the metro. I wonder why the bus doesn't sell the ticket.

Thanks for the info. Haven't been to Athens in many years but would like to see the acropolis again.

[trenamarina]

Could you post some pictures of your cabin if you took any? We will be in 9150 this fall!

 

Thanks!

[deb63]

We are looking at this route & time frame for 2015.

 

You mentioned having bad weather in Naples. Was that the only place?

 

We are looking at March as the historic weather charts show it as being cooler than the summer months, but less rain than the winter months. My DH hates, hates, hates heat - so would rather deal with cold/rain. And several travel books report smaller crowds this time of year.

 

I was curious what your experience was in this regards - weather/crowds.

 

Thank you for anything you can share.