Norwegian epic vs jade

[Trixie21]

Hi

Am trying to decide on next years cruise and have a future cruise credit with norwegian which needs used. We are thinking about norwegian jade out of Venice to the Greek Isles. I have been on epic and enjoyed the diversity of entertainment and food available. Can anyone who has been on both jade and epic give me their thoughts on one versus the other specifically in relation to cabins ( we stayed in a mini suite on epic) , food and entertainment - any other comments would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[TrumpyNor]

Hi

Am trying to decide on next years cruise and have a future cruise credit with norwegian which needs used. We are thinking about norwegian jade out of Venice to the Greek Isles. I have been on epic and enjoyed the diversity of entertainment and food available. Can anyone who has been on both jade and epic give me their thoughts on one versus the other specifically in relation to cabins ( we stayed in a mini suite on epic) , food and entertainment - any other comments would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

 

I have cruised on the Epic twice, and on the Jade three times - and I would pick the Jade over the Epic any time! In my opinion the quality of the food on the Jade is better than on the Epic - it might have something to do with size of ship/number of passengers.... The entertainment on the Jade was very good, as well - all though they don't have big headliners like the Blue Man Group, etc. The itinerary for the Jade I find much more interesting than the "standard Western Mediteranean" the Epic will be doing. If you have to choose between the Greek Islands-cruise and the Greece, Turkey & Adriatic-cruise - then I would suggest you go for the Greek Islands cruise (I have done them both). But the best option is of course to do both of them and stay on board for 2 cruises back-to-back.

[doghouse09]

I first encountered NCL Jade when I cruised the greek islands on a friends recommendation. We loved it so much we took a further two cruises with NCL on the Epic and will soon be sailing on the Jade around the eastern Med, cant wait the reviews are so good. I would definately go for the greek islands,my sister is going on my recommendation, so I would say go for it you wont be disappointed

[cocoabeachcruiser]

Hi

Am trying to decide on next years cruise and have a future cruise credit with norwegian which needs used. We are thinking about norwegian jade out of Venice to the Greek Isles. I have been on epic and enjoyed the diversity of entertainment and food available. Can anyone who has been on both jade and epic give me their thoughts on one versus the other specifically in relation to cabins ( we stayed in a mini suite on epic) , food and entertainment - any other comments would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

 

I have done the epic this past December and the 21 day Jade cruise 2 months ago. I have also done the Jewel twice and the Pearl.

 

I hated Epic. Too big and Nightly entertainment was lacking. The Jade had 2 bands everynight and 2 dance floors with a variety of Music and we were on for 21 days.

The cabins, we alsways get an Aft Balcony but our friends have had mini suites on both. I thought the cabins on Jade were better both aft and mini's. I do not like the contemporary layout. We eat at the buffet for all meals and there is a nice layout on Jade. I thought Epic was too large with that food court layout and the lines always were long on Epic.

[SuiteTraveler]

The Jade is truly a lovely medium sized ship. The ONLY issue is that the buffet is too small for all the people who want to eat there in the morning. We have always been in a suite on Jade - The Haven is a FANTASTIC experience. Once morning we had a very early tour - before the Suite breakfast opened (Cagney's back then) and we went to the buffet. They open up La Cucina for overflow dining. Still we had a hard time finding anyplace to sit - wound up far outside the buffet and my husband forgot to get a spoon for his yogurt and cereal. The food stations were so crowded with such long lines that morning that he didn't want to go back. He was annoyed by the experience. Not the best start to the day. After that, I always ordered room service breakfast from our butler if it was an early tour before the suite breakfast opened. Otherwise, the suite breakfast and lunch on Jade is pure bliss. The suite experience is absolutely amazing. We are spoiled for life! Just understand, where Epic is like being in a Las Vegas casino Hotel, the Jade is merely a mid-size cruise ship without all the fancy stuff. But in Europe - who cares? You are mostly off the ship anyway. I've seen all the different staterooms on the Jade and they are all very nice. The suites are FANTASTIC and were a real game changer for NCL back in the day. By todays standards, the suites are still FANTASTIC and well worth the extra expense.

[Trixie21]

The Jade is truly a lovely medium sized ship. The ONLY issue is that the buffet is too small for all the people who want to eat there in the morning. We have always been in a suite on Jade - The Haven is a FANTASTIC experience. Once morning we had a very early tour - before the Suite breakfast opened (Cagney's back then) and we went to the buffet. They open up La Cucina for overflow dining. Still we had a hard time finding anyplace to sit - wound up far outside the buffet and my husband forgot to get a spoon for his yogurt and cereal. The food stations were so crowded with such long lines that morning that he didn't want to go back. He was annoyed by the experience. Not the best start to the day. After that, I always ordered room service breakfast from our butler if it was an early tour before the suite breakfast opened. Otherwise, the suite breakfast and lunch on Jade is pure bliss. The suite experience is absolutely amazing. We are spoiled for life! Just understand, where Epic is like being in a Las Vegas casino Hotel, the Jade is merely a mid-size cruise ship without all the fancy stuff. But in Europe - who cares? You are mostly off the ship anyway. I've seen all the different staterooms on the Jade and they are all very nice. The suites are FANTASTIC and were a real game changer for NCL back in the day. By todays standards, the suites are still FANTASTIC and well worth the extra expense.

 

Hi suitetraveler

Thanks for your reply. I was actually considering trying the haven but wasn't sure about doing it on jade as it is an older ship so your experience of it is very useful and very tempting! Is there a haven restaurant on jade?

[Trixie21]

I have done the epic this past December and the 21 day Jade cruise 2 months ago. I have also done the Jewel twice and the Pearl.

 

I hated Epic. Too big and Nightly entertainment was lacking. The Jade had 2 bands everynight and 2 dance floors with a variety of Music and we were on for 21 days.

The cabins, we alsways get an Aft Balcony but our friends have had mini suites on both. I thought the cabins on Jade were better both aft and mini's. I do not like the contemporary layout. We eat at the buffet for all meals and there is a nice layout on Jade. I thought Epic was too large with that food court layout and the lines always were long on Epic.

 

Hi cocoabeachcruiser

Interesting about the mini suites. I was considering them but when I looked at the deck plans they are below some of the restaurants so am a bit worried about noise ( perhaps needlessly?). For that reason was thinking about the haven. Could you feel much motion on the aft balconys?

[Trixie21]

I have cruised on the Epic twice, and on the Jade three times - and I would pick the Jade over the Epic any time! In my opinion the quality of the food on the Jade is better than on the Epic - it might have something to do with size of ship/number of passengers.... The entertainment on the Jade was very good, as well - all though they don't have big headliners like the Blue Man Group, etc. The itinerary for the Jade I find much more interesting than the "standard Western Mediteranean" the Epic will be doing. If you have to choose between the Greek Islands-cruise and the Greece, Turkey & Adriatic-cruise - then I would suggest you go for the Greek Islands cruise (I have done them both). But the best option is of course to do both of them and stay on board for 2 cruises back-to-back.

 

Hi trumpynor

Thanks for your reply. It's definitely the Greek Islands itinerary I would go for. Any suggestions as to the ports , excursions etc? The general consensus seems to be that everyone likes the jade better than epic and since I liked epic I will probably be ok!

[TrumpyNor]

Hi trumpynor

Thanks for your reply. It's definitely the Greek Islands itinerary I would go for. Any suggestions as to the ports , excursions etc? The general consensus seems to be that everyone likes the jade better than epic and since I liked epic I will probably be ok!

 

Both the Corfu island and Mykonos island are easy and nice to do on your own, just by walking around. No need for any excursions there, in my opinion. In Santorini we booked a ship excursion to the village of Ola, and that was very nice. When we were back in the "main town", everybody on the excursion received a ticket for the funicular down to the sealevel, and we were free to return individually whenever we wanted to. In Santorini, don't think about walking the stairs up instead of taking the funicular - it is a veeeeery hard walk. And I wouldn't consider a donkey-transportation up, they stink.....! At Katakolon (Olympia), we didn't book any excursion. We just sat for a couple of hours at one of the restaurants by the sea (in Katakolon, in short walking distance from the ship), it is a very small village and actually not much to see there.

 

We usually book hotel in Venice both pre- and post cruise, just to take advantage of being in this beautiful city. But be prepared, hotels in Venice are very expensive. A couple of times we have therefore booked nice hotels at the island of Lido (situated in the Venice Lagoon), it is only 10 minutes with the waterbus (vaporetto) from St.Marks and the hotel prices are almost half of Venice prices. Lido is a "vacation island" - and it even has a long and sandy beach....

[kandpsmom]

We went on the Jade in December and absolutely loved it!

[cocoabeachcruiser]

Hi cocoabeachcruiser

Interesting about the mini suites. I was considering them but when I looked at the deck plans they are below some of the restaurants so am a bit worried about noise ( perhaps needlessly?). For that reason was thinking about the haven. Could you feel much motion on the aft balconys?

 

We feel little motion but keep in mind that is also based on the seas and wind. We felt vibration mostly but that was when we were docking only. The mini suites are only a hair bigger and have a curtain and additional bath ammenities but I thought the difference in price our friends paid was too much for so little extra.

 

Steve