Love/hate reviews of Jade?

[vunico]

There are MANY factors to take into consideration when writing/reading reviews. Pay attention to the itinerary, the length of cruise, the time of cruise, the cabin category and location (if shown), the "traveler status" (couples, small children, seniors, etc), and the overall "tone" of the review. Other factors MIGHT include where people live, age, first-time cruisers vs. experienced cruisers, how far they had to travel (and spend) to get on the ship, and are health/physical ability considerations an issue.

 

Overall, one incident could throw-off the balance of a cruise.

With that in mind, we try to concentrate on the reviews that have "average" ratings, since they tend to reflect the most honest/balanced opinions!

 

I agree...that prompted my post.Doesn't seem to much middle ground on Jade,though these responses have encouraged me.

[canadianeh934]

I was on a back to back Cruise in Jan and I thought that the Jade was great. The staff were friendly and drink service was very good. Our room steward Mario was outstanding.

[vunico]

Here's a link to my review of our mid-January cruise on the Jade. I tried to be as fair and honest as possible.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2306351

 

Thanks...very entertaining!

[pspercy]

Thank you for your thoughts. Was wondering what floor your mini-suite was on? Heading out Sat in 11030 and was hoping for a great steward.

 

We were in 11016 in December, steward was good:D

[Oakman58]

Thanks...very entertaining!

 

Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it.

 

My wife and I spent 14 Days on the Star (Panama Canal), 7 days on the Dawn (Western Carib.), and of course the 7 day cruise on the Jade. Our favorite ship of the three is the Jade, hands down.

[Iluvcruising2]

We sailed on the Jade in late 2014 and had a very good time. This was after several cruises on Royal.

 

I enjoyed the poolside party - paella!

[YOUTUBE]j2wqHjUlLiM[/YOUTUBE]

 

I found the dinner buffet to be pretty good. Loved the nutella crepes. (see 5:10 of this video). Not sure if they still do this.

[YOUTUBE]ic9vxaMs48M[/YOUTUBE]

Edited March 8, 2016 by Iluvcruising2

[vunico]

 

Thanks to all for your comments !

[Sotermarler]

We are going to be on her in November. I made the mistake of booking the first cruise out of Tampa when she comes back to the US. I'm hoping it goes smoother than what happened this year when she returned to Houston. Also we may we one of the first cruises to Harvest Caye which I think will be great if we don't have to Tender. Crossing my fingers!

 

 

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[hawk1972]

We have sailed on the Jade twice -- in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean -- and we had a perfectly good time on both cruises. I think a lot depends on one's attitude. At dinner one night in the MDR, we overheard a woman at the next table making a big deal about something to do with a reservation for their table. Maybe it was important, but to me it sounded like a big to do about nothing. I thought the whole idea behind Freestyle Cruising was not having to worry about reservations. We go with the flow and are very happy.

[jeanneful]

Out of the 25 cruises we have been on, our Jan sailing on the Jade was our favorite!!!

[TaDaaa!]

We are going to be on her in November. I made the mistake of booking the first cruise out of Tampa when she comes back to the US. I'm hoping it goes smoother than what happened this year when she returned to Houston. Also we may we one of the first cruises to Harvest Caye which I think will be great if we don't have to Tender. Crossing my fingers!

 

 

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From the pics I have seen, Harvest Caye will have a dock so no tendering. :)

 

I'll be right behind you on the second cruise out of Tampa so please keep her in good shape for me. ;)

[lexanna02]

Here's a link to my review of our mid-January cruise on the Jade. I tried to be as fair and honest as possible.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2306351

 

 

Oh maaaan! I only saw through Cozumel morning posted! Can you tell me where I can find the rest of your awesome review?

[lexanna02]

I'm loving your review! Can you tell me where to find the rest of it?

 

I don't think you're a grumpy old man...simply one who has an opinion and shares it beautifully! Thanks for the review so far!

[totalee]

I sailed on the Jade the second week of Feb and had a great time. I am puzzled by the reviews I read from folks on the same boat. I thought there was very little complaining onboard the ship everyone seemed to have a good time. I had the unlimited drinks package and never had a problem or long wait to get a drink. Most of the Cruise staff was good, but a few running events had very poor English and were hard to understand. The Eastern Carib ports are not the best to sail too, but the ship and its crew seemed to do a good job overall.

[travelerblue]

We are going to be on her in November. I made the mistake of booking the first cruise out of Tampa when she comes back to the US. I'm hoping it goes smoother than what happened this year when she returned to Houston. Also we may we one of the first cruises to Harvest Caye which I think will be great if we don't have to Tender. Crossing my fingers!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Just booked this week so we will be sailing with you. We have been on many NCL ships, but never the Jade so we are really looking forward to it. What happened when she returned to Houston? I didn't even realize when I booked it that it was the first cruise out of Tampa. We just wanted to cruise one more time this year and that time worked. I will probably regret it because November and December are always crunch time getting ready for the holidays. I am going to try not to worry about it.

[MichRN]

We have a few cruises under our belt. Having cruised Royal Caribbean (platinum) and Celebrity primarily. Also have experienced Holland America, Disney and Carnival as well. So that is the background that I am coming from and what I have in comparing NCL to other lines. We took our first NCL cruise on the Jade last month 2/13/16. I also didn't know what to expect going into this cruise. I had read the not so good reviews (primarily from November when this ship came back to the Caribbean) with some good reviews sprinkled in as well. I am a "go with the flow" type of person and enjoy taking a break from the daily grind/cooking/cleaning/work that a cruise provides me. When we booked this cruise, it was due to price and promotions offered. We couldn't beat it. We had two inside cabins on this cruise (we are a family of 5). We had the unlimited beverage package and 4 speciality dining credits for one cabin and the soda package and 250 minutes of wi fi in the other cabin. We had a great time! Staff was great. I thought the food was pretty good too. I especially noted the wide variety in the buffet for breakfast and lunch. We enjoyed all of the speciality restaurants with the exception of Le Bistro and Jasmine Garden (didn't dine at these) and Moderno (food here just didn't wow us). The main dining rooms were good as well. Didn't have a problem getting drinks, though the one takeaway that I had with the beverage package on NCL was that I couldn't believe that bottled water and speciality coffee were not included. Not a huge issue. We brought on a case of water knowing this and since it was a perk that we chose, we didn't have to pay anything for the beverage package except for the gratuity on it. With that said, for what they are charging, I think that bottled water and speciality coffee should also be included. It was on Celebrity. I also loved the live band at the pool. Especially on sea days. It seems like the last few cruises that we had been on, the bands were not out as much and piped in music was just being played. The tendering could have been better in Belize. Having to get in line for tendering tickets was a drag. Be mindful of this if you book an excursion on your own in Belize. It can take a while to get off the ship. We also tendered in Roatan but it wasn't as bad since we were using the ship's tenders. It moved much quicker. Shows were quite good and we enjoyed them. Leaving out of Houston was a bit different for us as the majority of our cruises have been out of Florida. The port and the airport are not super close so transportation can be an expense, especially for a family of 5 when shuttle or cruise transfers are $50 per person each way and a cab can run over $100 one way from George Bush International so take that into account when pricing plane tickets. All in all, we would sail on NCL again. We even bought a future cruise certificate while onboard so I guess that means that we enjoyed ourselves! It's not one of the bigger ships with all of the bells and whistles but was very well maintained and had a great staff. Oh, and we are definitely fans of the casual, freestyle type of dining. Loved not being locked in to a set time to dine. I did make our 4 speciality dining reservations online before we left but left the rest open to what we felt like doing. All in all, a great cruise for us.

[Oakman58]

Oh maaaan! I only saw through Cozumel morning posted! Can you tell me where I can find the rest of your awesome review?

 

 

That link should have the entire review. Just keep following the page numbers. Because of the photos I included there are times when pages load slowly.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Oakman58