Norwegian Jade Back to Back Review

[Ewoodspark]

Keith, another question about Santorini regarding the tenders. Are there seperate tenders to the ports of Athinios and Fira ?. I am aware that passengers with a NCL excursion are tendered to Athinios to pick up a coach. Are there seperate tenders that simply take passengers to the port of Fira?

[KeithJenner]

Keith, another question about Santorini regarding the tenders. Are there seperate tenders to the ports of Athinios and Fira ?. I am aware that passengers with a NCL excursion are tendered to Athinios to pick up a coach. Are there seperate tenders that simply take passengers to the port of Fira?

 

 

Yes, the tenders go to Fira from one side of the ship, and the tenders for tours seemed to be on the other side. The two are totally separate.

[jbr888]

Hi Keith, thank you for the valuable inside track on the Adriatic. We'll be there end of September 2014. Couple of questions. Were Euros freely accepted in Croatia as in Turkey? Do you recall when the famous lobster night was on the MDR? I want to take your advice on booking specialty dining ahead. Cheers from San Francisco!

 

 

Send from device_name using Cruise Critic your_app_name App

[KeithJenner]

Hi Keith, thank you for the valuable inside track on the Adriatic. We'll be there end of September 2014. Couple of questions. Were Euros freely accepted in Croatia as in Turkey? Do you recall when the famous lobster night was on the MDR? I want to take your advice on booking specialty dining ahead. Cheers from San Francisco!

 

 

Send from device_name using Cruise Critic your_app_name App

 

 

Hi,

 

Sorry, but I can't be much help I'm afraid. We used local currency in Croatia and I'm not sure whether Euros would have been accepted. In Turkey, many places just had Euro prices shown, but in Croatia as they had prices shown in local currency we didn't look for Euro prices.

 

Having said that, in one shop in Dubrovnik, we did notice Euro prices, because on a couple if items the labels in local currency had fallen off. I don't know how common that is though.

 

As for the lobster, personally I don't really like it much, so don't look out for it. They did have a lobster pasta in the buffet one night which I believe from what I've read on here means that it isn't in the MDR. It certainly wasn't on any of the nights we went there.

 

Sorry I can't be more help.

[Hikini]

I've really enjoyed reading your review so far. Sounds like a great time!

 

I appreciate hearing your thoughts about the size of the Jade (and the other Jewel class ships) as compared to the newer ships. We have not yet been on the newer ships and I'm a little concerned that we might feel they are too big, as we are used to the Jewel class ships and feel quite comfortable with their size.

 

But that doesn't mean I wouldn't try one! :)

[KeithJenner]

I've really enjoyed reading your review so far. Sounds like a great time!

 

I appreciate hearing your thoughts about the size of the Jade (and the other Jewel class ships) as compared to the newer ships. We have not yet been on the newer ships and I'm a little concerned that we might feel they are too big, as we are used to the Jewel class ships and feel quite comfortable with their size.

 

But that doesn't mean I wouldn't try one! :)

 

Don't be put off trying the new ships.

 

I am firmly of the opinion that the most important thing is whether a ship offers the things you want, rather than just the size. That is the reason I prefer both smaller and larger ships to the Jewel class, and it is all just my preference that obviously may not be the same for others.

 

The only negative thing for me about the larger ships is I think it can be harder to strike up a relationship with some staff (barstaff for example) as they are dealing with more people. Not that it can't be done, but we find it easier on smaller ships.

 

We really enjoy the choices the big ships give you. From reading reviews, it seems some people prefer to be directed a bit more (different shows in the theatre every night rather than having to decide for yourself where to go) and for those people the new ships seem to be a problem.

[KeithJenner]

Split

 

We were always expecting to like the Croatian ports and overall I think they were probably our two favourites of the whole cruise. Easy to explore, lots to see and friendly people.

 

Split is simple to DIY, as the ship docks very close to Diocetian's Palace. We walked there in about 10 minutes and just headed through the first gate we came to to explore by ourselves.

 

We had no fixed plan and hadn't done all that much research, but decided to go into the cathedral, which was worth it. We paid the extra for the bell tower, and I would recommend that as long as it isn't too busy. They closed the tower for 30 minutes just after we had gone in due to congestion and it took quite a while to get to the top. It is worth the effort as you get a great view over the town. Whilst it isn't too high some may not like the climb which is up a metal staircase around the edge of the tower. The congestion means that you may get stuck up there for a while as there are some points where traffic can only travel one way and we were a little concerned about gridlock at one point as so many people were coming up with nowhere for them to go.

 

I'd recommend going up, but try to beat the crowds and go early.

 

Other than that, we just walked around the old town and waterfront for a while and stopped at a bar for a drink (or two). Like Dubrovnik, I thought it was just a great place to be, without feeling the need to do too much. You can see lots with very little effort by just walking around.

 

Back on the ship, you get some nice views back to the town.

 

As I said, I really liked both Croatian ports, and look forward to going back soon.

[KeithJenner]

Summary of the first week

 

This was the itinerary which most appealed to me before we went, and I think it has a perfect combination of two sea days, two very easy ports (Dubrovnik and Split) and two that involve more effort (Athens and Kusadasi). As we didn't go to Ephesus it made the middle two days easy for us, and I can imagine that if you do those two ports fully then you will really need the sea day to follow.

 

I would very much recommend this itinerary, as one of the best that I have done.

[KeithJenner]

Venice

 

There were two significant benefits to doing this cruise as a B2B. Firstly, and obviously, it is a longer cruise and you can smile to yourself when you see everyone elses bags outside their doors on the Friday night.

 

The other huge benefit is that you can treat Venice as a port of call, negating the need to haul your bags around the city to a hotel. Of course you don't have as much time as those who spend a couple of days pre or post cruise, but you can see a lot of Venice in one day.

 

I have been there a couple of times before (many years ago) and we will be back again next year, so one day was fine for us this time. We let the crowds pass and left the ship at about 9.30 to head to the People Mover.

 

There was quite a queue for the People Mover so we decided to walk instead. You just follow the road signs to Venice and it is actually a very short walk (probably about half a mile). Not easy if you had luggage, but for us it was very easy.

 

You need a bit of patience when walking around Venice as the signage is quite random and the footpaths don't always go where you expect. You can't just follow a canal along. Just work with it, be prepared to turn back occasionally, follow the signs when they are there and eventually you will get where you want.

 

We went to the obvious places (St Marks, Bridge of Sighs, Rialto Bridge etc), with plenty of photo opportunities on the way. We did hope to see the Norwegian Spirit as it passed St Marks, but got there a bit early and didn't fancy hanging around for over an hour to see them.

 

We stopped for lunch near Rialto Bridge, which was reasonably priced and good quality considering the location.

 

Like many of these ports, there are plenty of water fountains around to refill water bottles which is very useful with the heat.

 

When returning to the ship, the People Mover wasn't too busy so we used that. There was some excitement on our return to the ship as a car was on fire outside the terminal, which resulted in them closing it down for a while. This was obviously more of an issue for those with bags etc than it was for us, but still a nuisance.

 

Luckily, they got it open and us onboard before the thunder storm which is a regular occurrence in Venice.

 

We got to enjoy the sail away through Venice for a second time (with sparking wine again due to our extra latitudes benefits), and once again we were off.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Summary of the first week

 

This was the itinerary which most appealed to me before we went, and I think it has a perfect combination of two sea days, two very easy ports (Dubrovnik and Split) and two that involve more effort (Athens and Kusadasi). As we didn't go to Ephesus it made the middle two days easy for us, and I can imagine that if you do those two ports fully then you will really need the sea day to follow.

 

I would very much recommend this itinerary, as one of the best that I have done.

 

Keith, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I'll be cruising this itinerary in October and am looking even more forward to it after reading your review.

 

I also appreciated your comments about the larger ships. I've been hesitant about booking the Epic--though the studio cabins appeal to me since DD can't always travel with me--simply because of her size. My concerns are far less about the on-board experience as about so many people in port at once and the process of debarking and returning to the ship. I'll have to see how this experience goes (my first solo and first on NCL) to see if I can handle an inside cabin as I usually book balcony cabins and use the balcony a lot. If it goes well, I may have to try one of the studios on one of NCL's larger ships.

 

Thanks!

 

:D

[jbr888]

Keith, thanks for your reply. You've been a big help. :D

[andmad]

We arrived at Marco Polo three hours early and waited around a long time in the crowded lounges. The lines in the airport to check in and go through security were short and efficient. Our flight was at 11:00am.

[KeithJenner]

Corfu

 

Corfu was the port which we had planned for the least. I struggled to raise much enthusiasm for it beforehand.

 

A friend spent a week there not long before we left and told us that Corfu Town was a nice place to visit, so we decided that we would make our way there and see what happened.

 

There is a port shuttle bus which takes you to the port entrance, but it is worth noting that it is only a very short walk anyway, and some people were walking. We took the bus as it was there but it certainly didn't seem to be necessary.

 

We hadn't even investigated the options to get to Corfu Town, but the walk didn't look too long so we decided to just head off and see what we found. I'm not sure what the options were for shuttles I'm afraid. RCI were in port and had a shuttle bus, and there was another bus running which could have been for NCL but I'm afraid we didn't check. Sorry for not being more helpful.

 

The walk itself was fairly easy, as it is flat but it was obviously quite hot. If you are walking in the morning then I'd recommend crossing the road as there was more shade that side.

 

We reached the Old Port square fairly easily and then headed into the town.

 

This is where my review really isn't going to be much help for others, I'm afraid. We were there on August 11th, which it seems is a special day in Corfu with parades through the town. It was fun to see, but obviously means that our experience was very difficult to what others will find. The town was extremely crowded as well, so it was difficult to move around.

 

We considered the options for returning to the ship but decided to walk back again.

 

The sail away was quite pleasant, especially as we passed Corfu Town and the fort. Worth staying out for.

 

Overall, Corfu looked quite nice, but I feel that it is somewhere that is much better suited to a longer stay than what you get on a cruise.

[fabnfortysomething]

hi

enjoying your review and it was great to meet you and your family

we got home yesterday after doing back to back in reverse to yours-plan to do a review when get washing done and mosquito bites on my hands from Venice yesterday subside and allow easier typing!

[KeithJenner]

hi

enjoying your review and it was great to meet you and your family

we got home yesterday after doing back to back in reverse to yours-plan to do a review when get washing done and mosquito bites on my hands from Venice yesterday subside and allow easier typing!

 

Good to meet you two as well. I hope you had a great time last week. We're pretty well caught up with things now, so I'm now trying to get this review finished. Unfortunately, when you return from holiday it's difficult to find time for a review isn't it.

 

The weather forecast in Venice didn't look very good on Saturday. I noticed it and thought of you. Hope you got back to the airport without getting too wet.

[fabnfortysomething]

Good to meet you two as well. I hope you had a great time last week. We're pretty well caught up with things now, so I'm now trying to get this review finished. Unfortunately, when you return from holiday it's difficult to find time for a review isn't it.

 

The weather forecast in Venice didn't look very good on Saturday. I noticed it and thought of you. Hope you got back to the airport without getting too wet.

 

fortunately we were staying an extra day in Venice and flying back Sunday so apart from the drizzle on the walk from ship to Alilaguna and plans for an afternoon by the hotel pool being cancelled with heavy rain by that point we managed to stay dry by chilling out in the hotel

 

the evening got out fine and Sunday started overcast but got out to be a beautiful day-that's the difference being abroad isn't it-in the UK if it rains in the morning it'll rain all day!

[KeithJenner]

Santorini

 

I honestly knew nothing of Santorini before booking the cruise. I had seen pictures of the blue domes but didn't know where they were from.

 

Again, we hadn't done much research (are you spotting a theme here), but knew enough before we left to be aware that Oia is the place to go for the best views, but that the tender takes you to Fira. We considered an excursion to Oia, but decided against it and instead decided to go with the tender/cable car and see what happened.

 

As I have stated earlier in this thread, it seemed that the tenders to Oia taking those on excursions left from one side of the ship whilst those to Fira for the rest of us left from the other side, so the two were kept separate.

 

Tender tickets were given out in advance during the morning, and I understand that the queue for them formed very early. As we are platinum we had priority tendering. We received a ticket in our room, which didn't have any details. I asked and was informed that it allowed us to join the first group. We had to join the queue with them but it negated the need to queue for a tender ticket in the morning.

 

Soon after we arrived, groups 1 to 3 were called and we queued up in Bar central to go sown the midship stairs to deck 4. As was becoming a regular occurrence, once the queue started moving a number of other people appeared from various directions and just joined the people going down the stairs. Some people are in real need of lessons in the art of queueing.

 

Anyway, we were on the second or third tender and when we arrived on the island it was still quite quiet. There was only us and one other, quite small, ship there that day so the cable car never seemed to get too busy. I imagine when other ships are there it can get quite busy.

 

Our intention (as is usually the case for us) was to get ashore, explore and return to the ship in plenty of time. Obviously this was made easier by getting an early tender as we only had a very short wait for the cable car (€5 each way I believe).

 

I have to admit to being a little disappointed by Fira. Perhaps it was just where we went, but there were lots of gift shops and such like. I know that Oia is supposed to be nicer, but I was expecting more from Fira. The views over the Caldera are very nice, and there are some other nice shops, but overall it was below my expectations.

 

After exploring the town for a while we found a bar overlooking the Caldera and enjoyed the view for a while before heading back towards the cable car. Our son was keen to walk down the path that the donkeys use and, as we found ourselves at the top of it, we decided to try it. It was certainly an experience.

 

There is obviously a certain fragrance along there, and the occasional stampede of donkeys (they really shift as they are heading down). On one occasion we found the path blocked by some unattended donkeys, but managed to negotiate them. At this point there were quite a few people making their way up the hill, so at least we were going the easy way.

 

I would warn those who walk down the hill that on the bends it can be very slippery. It is important to walk round the outside of the bends and both myself and my wife slipped on the way down. I have no idea how the donkeys stay on their feet.

 

I actually preferred Santorini from on the ship. The view back to Fira was very nice, and as the sun set the cliffs turned red. I'm sure the sunset is nicer from the town, but it looked very nice from the ship as well. We watched as the town lit up and then enjoyed the sail away in the dark was also great.

 

One of the highlights of the whole cruise happened as we were sailing away. We were looking back to Fira from our balcony as the full moon rose over the town. There were quite a few people out on the aft balconies and there was one of those collective moments as everyone saw the moon appearing. It was a moment I will always remember.

[jolgro]

For the Greek Islands part of your cruise, what do you think is the best view starbord or portside?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[KeithJenner]

For the Greek Islands part of your cruise, what do you think is the best view starbord or portside?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

 

From our experience I'd say starboard as you have the land on your side as you sail away from Corfu and Santorini. The starboard side was also facing Fira when we were at Santorini, but I don't know if that is always the case.

[KeithJenner]

Mykanos

 

Another port where we hadn't done much research. This is the third port on this itinerary which we will also be visiting next year on the Spirit and, as it was part of a four day run of ports we weren't even sure that we would get off the ship this year.

 

However, we decided that we would go in search of a beach for our son.

 

It seems to be fairly random as to whether you dock or tender at this port. However, it doesn't make much difference. We docked but still had to use a shuttle bus which dropped us off at the same location that Royal Caribbean were tendering to. I imagine that tendering may have actually been a little quicker than using the bus, but can't see that it makes much difference either way.

 

The town was fairly compact and it was a very easy stroll to a small beach near the shuttle drop off where we relaxed for an hour or so. Afterwards we had a stroll towards the windmills and through Little Venice which was all very pleasant. My wife did a bit of shopping, and found herself a new bag to replace the one I had managed to spill wine over.

 

Another relaxing stop in the second week of the cruise. As I had expected this week was turning out to be a lot easier than the first, even if the ports didn't hold the same interest to us that those in the first week had. That would change a little the next day though.

[KeithJenner]

Katakolon

 

For me, this was the highlight of the week. As I stated earlier, I have long had an interest in Olympic history and whilst I am mainly interested in the modern games, the opportunity to go to Ancient Olympia was too good to miss.

 

I had heard that you can get to Olympia from Katakolon by train and this had been our intention. However, a couple of months out, I read a few reports that the train was unreliable and getting on it for the return journey could be difficult, so we decided not to risk it.

 

We did speak to someone on the first week of the cruise who reported that they had used the train with no problems, so it does seem to be an option.

 

Anyway, our choice was between an NCL tour (which we only rarely use), a private tour or taxi, or hiring a car). I decided that I preferred the freedom of having our own transport so made the decision to rent a car. This decision was made easier for us by the fact that we are only one hire short of getting a free upgrade on our next Avis hire, so a short and cheap hire here may save us some money when we hire a car for a week next year in the States.

 

The Avis office in Katakolon has a limited number of cars available for half day hire, but we were too late to get one of them (I'm not sure that would have worked for our future upgrade plan, so I wasn't too fussed anyway). Instead, we had to book one through the main Avis site. The cost, after taking everything into account was just under £100 (about $150) for the day. Maybe not the cheapest way of doing it but it worked well for us.

 

I believe that if we had been able to get one of the half day rentals then it would have cost a little more than half of that amount.

 

It is really easy to find the car rental places. Just walk off the ship and you can see the signs as you exit the docks. Katakolon has just one main road so you can't get lost. You just need to beware of other cruisers who wander around in the road, without thinking that the car heading towards them may not be driven by a local, but by someone trying to get used to driving an unfamiliar car.

 

To get to Olympia, you drive to some traffic lights, turn left, right at the next set and then just follow the road signs when you get to Olympia. If forget exactly how long it takes to get there, about 30 minutes maybe.

 

We ended up parking on the road a little way from the site. As well as the site itself there are a number of museums. You can get a ticket to the ancient site and the archeological museum, which is what we did.

 

I had heard that there was little to see at the ancient site itself, but in fact there is a lot to see. Most is at ground level, as the buildings themselves have largely now gone, but you can see the floor plan quite clearly and there are the occasional parts which are more intact. We spent quite a while exploring.

 

The archeological museum is very interesting (and I do have little interest in Greek history). We spent so long in these two places that we decided not to go to the other museums. Instead, after quickly visiting the modern town for some souvenirs, we headed back towards Katakolon, via a beach which we had been directed to at the car hire place. Out son enjoyed another hour cooling down in the sea before heading back to the ship.

 

Overall, an excellent day, and I was very pleased we did it the way we did.

[KeithJenner]

Summary of the second week

 

We always expected this to be a more relaxing week, and so it proved to be. Of the ports we visited this week, Olympia was the only one that I think I would have chosen to go to outside of a cruise.

 

We cruise for a variety of reasons. We like to see places but also just like to relax on the ship, or wander around near the port. The second week was certainly more of the latter, but was extremely enjoyable for it.

 

I know many people have places like Santorini on their holiday wish list, and this itinerary is more likely to appeal to them than it did to us. Given our limited interest in the ports, I have to say that we enjoyed every one of them. I would recommend this itinerary.

 

Of course, what I would really recommend is doing the Back to Back. There is so much included, 9 different ports (including Venice), relaxing places, beaches, ancient sites, history, hot weather, and a fantastic ship to go back to every night.

 

Overall, this was right up there with our favourite holidays.

[Mercury]

Keith, thank-you so much for your very informative review.

 

We cruise the Jade in October and we are now even more excited!

[AF-1]

Summary of the second week

 

We always expected this to be a more relaxing week, and so it proved to be. Of the ports we visited this week, Olympia was the only one that I think I would have chosen to go to outside of a cruise.

 

We cruise for a variety of reasons. We like to see places but also just like to relax on the ship, or wander around near the port. The second week was certainly more of the latter, but was extremely enjoyable for it.

 

I know many people have places like Santorini on their holiday wish list, and this itinerary is more likely to appeal to them than it did to us. Given our limited interest in the ports, I have to say that we enjoyed every one of them. I would recommend this itinerary.

 

Of course, what I would really recommend is doing the Back to Back. There is so much included, 9 different ports (including Venice), relaxing places, beaches, ancient sites, history, hot weather, and a fantastic ship to go back to every night.

 

Overall, this was right up there with our favourite holidays.

 

Keith, I want to thank you again for putting out this review. We will be doing B2B next May and look forward to all the good things you mentioned. All the ports, relaxing on the ship and not having to rush to do anything. Cheers

[T.O.cruisers]

The Jade is supposed to arrive in Santorini at 10am. What time is the first tender group called to get off?