Jade 3.26.16 review

[strykes]

We just returned from a week on the Jade and I thought I'd jot down my thoughts while they are still fresh in my mind. Feel free to ask any questions.

 

We were in an aft penthouse suite. We've previously sailed Haven 2-bedroom on the Breakaway and an interior on the Norwegian Sea, IIRC (15 yrs ago?). We've also done a Disney cruise.

 

Pre-cruise: We flew into IAH and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn by the airport. The shuttle was convenient. The hotel was fine for one night.

 

Debarkation: Very fast and smooth.

 

Ship: I was worried about the décor but it really was fine. I found I much preferred this size ship. Although we went over spring break, and the ship was full, the public spaces felt much less crowded than the Breakaway. I never would have guessed it was a full sailing.

 

Spa: This was my first time purchasing the thermal spa and it's now a must. I enjoyed a massage and facial while on board but while they were nice, I can't help but expect more than nice when paying their premium. I realized the pass provides great relaxation at a good price point. As I did on our last cruise, I noted "no sales, please" on the bottom of my intake form. Again, I received a sales pitch, but it ended once I stated I was not interested in purchasing anything.

 

Pool deck: While I didn't use the pools, I did walk by multiple times a day. It was much less crowded than the Breakaway. The pools had plenty of room and unlike the Breakaway, the lounge chairs weren't all lined up touching. I always saw at least a few available loungers, even on the main pool deck.

 

Bars: Wait was not an issue. I think the longest wait I had was at the Aloha/atrium bar; We wanted pop and coffee one morning and the coffee drinks can take a while to make. I will say the bartenders work very hard now. It seemed like they were always hopping to fill orders.

 

Restaurants: We had the UDP and Cagney's for breakfast and lunch. Unfortunately, the service for breakfast and dinner didn't come close to the service in the Breakaway's Haven. There were a couple of good servers, but others were downright bad. To contrast the two experiences, everyone knew our names in the Haven restaurant, and took amazing care of us; In my opinion, it was the same level of service one receives at a Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons. In Cagney's (for breakfast and lunch) it was often difficult to get more coffee or water and no one ever called us by name. We had the worst waiter again our last morning. I ordered eggs benedict, no bread; my standard order which I received correctly every other time. Instead, I received two poached eggs. When I asked for a side of hollandaise, he brought me cold hollandaise – the little silver cup was freezing. I did notice the poor servers did not work in Cagney's for dinner. I'm puzzled as to why they are assigned to Cagney's for breakfast and lunch.

 

We had two dinners at Cagney's and one Cagney's dinner in our suite. All were very good and included very good service.

 

We also ate multiple times at Moderno and Le Bistro. Those meals were also very good and the service for our first Le Bistro meal was stellar. Service was very good for the rest.

 

Excursion: At the last minute we booked Tulum through the ship. It was a very well organized tour and they got the large group of us off the ship, onto the ferry and then onto busses very smoothly. Minimal amount of time spent standing around. We had a great guide and were glad we booked.

 

I pre-booked Goff's Key in Belize through Exotic Eco Adventures. What can I say? It was the best excursion we have done. I want to go back for a week to do it again (and again!) and check out some other snorkeling spots and learn how to scuba. Everyone we came into contact with in Belize was super nice and friendly. The guides we had were fantastic and very safety conscious – multiple people watching us from the boat and multiple guides in the water. It was my 12-yr old's first time snorkeling off a boat and I was a worried mom. After we were in the water, one of the snorkel guides heard me tell my son we would need to hold hands the entire time. The guide, Roberto, said "We are going to handle this so mom can enjoy herself, too". He had a life vest strap secured to his wrist and then he had my son hold on to the vest and pulled him along, stopping to show us things along the way. Roberto was a great teacher and both my son and I had an amazing time! The water was crystal clear and the coral was amazing. It was really unbelievable. (F'ing amazing was the descriptive that kept going through my mind.) One thing to note: on the way to Goff's Key, don't sit in the front of the boat as it is a very rough ride. If you do, it helps to sit on a life vest. The ride back is smoother.

 

Roatan: We got off to a late start this morning and were on the ship about an hour longer than I had originally planned (I think we headed for the tender around 9ish). We had reservations at Little French Key. It was a bit chaotic and we had to ask several people how to find the drivers, but it helped that there were other people from another cruise ship heading to LFK. Our driver was a great tour guide and we had a very informative trip. We got the $98 package because we wanted to snorkel again. I very well might have had a better experience here if we had been on the first tender but we just didn't have enough time on the island. When we arrived we were greeted and taken on a short tour. It was during the tour the snorkeling was explained to us. There is a little chalkboard near the snorkeling shack with the departure times. There was only one time that would work for our return trip to the ship. The island was packed. There were no loungers available so the person showing us around sat us at a table with a palapa near the horses and said he would return with loungers. That didn't happen and he never came back to get our lunch order as promised. My hubby went to get a short massage while my son and I went to eat. It took a while to get the food, so we only had a few minutes to get in the water before we had to head to the snorkeling. These guys were nowhere as safety conscious as the guys at Goff's Key. We noticed they had half empty beer bottles on the boat. When we got around the island, we pulled up near where several other groups (Carnival or private?) were snorkeling. They then asked if everyone was a strong swimmer because while we could snorkel where we were, the really good snorkeling is out past the reef/break and the seas were rough. I expressed concern because of my son, but others wanted to go out, so out we went. My son was fine, although we made him hold onto my husband's hand the entire time. While there was one guide in the water with us, who we were supposed to stay close to, people were allowed to go way off. Safety really seemed to be an afterthought with these guys. Life vests not required. At Goff's Key, everyone had to have a life vest with them, although we were given a couple alternative ways to wear/use them. That was in calm water.

 

By the time we returned from snorkeling, we were supposed to have about half an hour before we had to leave for the ship. (Last tender at 3, so they wanted us to leave at 1:30.) I headed to the bar to order some drinks. And waited, and waited. My husband passed me as he went to change. I'm still waiting, all the while standing next to an employee who was also waiting for drinks and telling me they would be coming any minute. They announced that people on our ship needed to be off the island at 1:30 and that meant we had one minute. I told the employee I had to go and he again reassured me the drinks were coming and I'd be fine. He finally got his drinks and I left a second after him. Looking back, I think they really pushed the time forward. There were so many people waiting to leave, we had to wait for the third boat. When we got back to the other side, there was a wait as they split everyone up for the return bus ride. I think it was 1:30 when we actually started driving towards the port. I feel like we basically paid $300 to snorkel and for my son and I to have lunch. My husband never had time to eat and we never got our drinks. My impression is LFK has really gotten popular and they just aren't able to keep up. I would not do this excursion again.

 

Concierge/Butler: Omar was the concierge and Pedro was our butler. Omar seemed very fun and engaging. Lots of smiles and laughs. I made dinner reservations in advance but asked to have several of them tweaked and he did so without issue. The priority tendering was a great perk. Again, I feel like I'm nitpicking, but Omar never learned our names. Anoop, our conceirge on the Breakaway was more reserved but he knew our names pretty much on the first day. Also, we didn't see much of Omar. He never once sought us out after checking in with our son the first day (I was in the spa and dad was indisposed).

 

Pedro did what we asked of him. He seemed nice, but very reserved and not talkative. A substitute butler delivered my son's dinner one night and he seemed like the great butlers I read about.

 

Jun was our room steward and was a gem. Our neighbor commented to us that Jun was always smiling, which he was.

 

Staff in general: This was the first cruise where I heard multiple staff singing as they worked. I thought that was a good indication.

 

Kids' Club: My son really enjoyed it. The counselors were great – one was a teacher in her home country. They learned the kids' names immediately and really made sure the kids had fun. This was my son's best kids' club experience, including our Disney cruise.

Entertainment: We saw Soul Duo, the comedian, and Elements. All were very good. The comedian had us in stitches. We stumbled upon Carlos in the lounge outside Le Bistro the first night and really enjoyed him. I think we heard him 5 nights.

 

Disembarkation: Pretty smooth. Omar walked us to the ship's exit and said goodbye. Once we got down the gang plank, we were held and told to line up and wait while the terminal emptied. We happened to debark with a Garden Villa party. Omar came out and walked them (and us) down to our luggage. He commandeered the porters for them, so we walked to the other end and waved someone over. The custom's line was short but slow. The porter told us he heard they were having problems with the computer system. Our cab driver told us someone on the boat was going to be arrested when they debarked so that was slowing things down as they tried to make sure they didn't miss him. Who knows. All in all, Houston isn't the most attractive port, but it seemed very efficient to me.

 

Other cruisers: I'm guessing the majority of cruisers were from Texas, with a good number from bordering states and the midwest. The Texans were so friendly and pleasant! It seemed someone was always striking up a conversation. I really enjoyed the friendliness and would sale out of TX again just to experience sailing with Texans again.

 

There were a lot of kids on the ship but they were fine. Only once did I see a teenager swinging on the stairs. Yes, there was some congregating/blocking of the stairs, but they moved as soon as you approached and apologized. I thought it was funny to observe the teens – once they got to meet others they started hanging out in groups and you could find large groups of them in the Garden Café or La Cucina. Kids were being kids but even my 12-yr old remarked at how well-behaved all the kids he came across were.

 

We had a great week and I think our next cruise will be on a jewel class ship.

[Lorey2007]

Thanks for a great review!

[Clarea]

Well written, detailed review, thank-you.:)

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your review and glad you enjoyed the cruise.

 

Keith

[Billym1507]

I really enjoyed your review. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Did you enjoy your aft suite ?

The reason I ask is we are in 10166 in August which is an aft suite.

Thanks again.

Billy.

[IsanTom]

Thanks for the review! You didn't happen to see Jose the Butler?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[strykes]

I really enjoyed your review. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Did you enjoy your aft suite ?

The reason I ask is we are in 10166 in August which is an aft suite.

Thanks again.

Billy.

 

Thanks, all, for your kind words.

 

Yes, I did enjoy the aft suite. The room itself reminded me of a Disney stateroom; It was nice and comfortable, but not a huge "wow". The balcony was superior to any we've had previously. The balconies on 10 are deep enough to fit a lounger facing the sea. I thought I would spend a lot of time out there reading, but the wake and sound of the ocean were too mesmerizing. The sound of the wake also covered the noise from our neighbors, and the dividers seemed to extend further to the railing, making the balcony feel very private. (However, if you were standing at the rail, people above could look down on you.) When we boarded, our balcony had one lounger, one chair and one side table. I asked our butler to bring another lounger on our first port day and he obliged. There was still plenty of room and having a lounger next to each divider offered more shade.

 

If we hadn't done the two-bedroom Haven on the Breakaway, I probably would have been more wowed with this suite and experience. I absolutely loved the bathrooms in the 2-bedroom and only recently realized the courtyard penthouses on the jewel class ships have the same bathrooms. I think that will be the next suite we try.

 

Location to other areas was fine, but we enjoy walking. Cagney's was mid-ship and three decks up. Two decks up in the aft was the Great Outdoors bar, making it very convenient to grab a drink. The spa was two decks up and forward, walking through the buffet and pool area.

 

I just looked to see where the Jade will be in August and see you'll be in the Med. I think this suite and balcony will be perfect for that type of cruise. Have a great time!

[strykes]

Thanks for the review! You didn't happen to see Jose the Butler?

 

No, I'm afraid not.

[Cruise-mom]

Great report, thanks for sharing :)

[Billym1507]

Thanks, all, for your kind words.

 

Yes, I did enjoy the aft suite. The room itself reminded me of a Disney stateroom; It was nice and comfortable, but not a huge "wow". The balcony was superior to any we've had previously. The balconies on 10 are deep enough to fit a lounger facing the sea. I thought I would spend a lot of time out there reading, but the wake and sound of the ocean were too mesmerizing. The sound of the wake also covered the noise from our neighbors, and the dividers seemed to extend further to the railing, making the balcony feel very private. (However, if you were standing at the rail, people above could look down on you.) When we boarded, our balcony had one lounger, one chair and one side table. I asked our butler to bring another lounger on our first port day and he obliged. There was still plenty of room and having a lounger next to each divider offered more shade.

 

If we hadn't done the two-bedroom Haven on the Breakaway, I probably would have been more wowed with this suite and experience. I absolutely loved the bathrooms in the 2-bedroom and only recently realized the courtyard penthouses on the jewel class ships have the same bathrooms. I think that will be the next suite we try.

 

Location to other areas was fine, but we enjoy walking. Cagney's was mid-ship and three decks up. Two decks up in the aft was the Great Outdoors bar, making it very convenient to grab a drink. The spa was two decks up and forward, walking through the buffet and pool area.

 

I just looked to see where the Jade will be in August and see you'll be in the Med. I think this suite and balcony will be perfect for that type of cruise. Have a great time!

 

Thanks again. You are correct we are sailing out of Venice, that should be a great view from our balcony. We are doing 2 weeks so that's 14 hangovers lol. Thanks again.

Billy.

[cruise.freak]

I have booked the thermal spa package for our cruise leaving Saturday, were there robes in the spa area for use or what do people wear in the thermal suites area?

[strykes]

I have booked the thermal spa package for our cruise leaving Saturday, were there robes in the spa area for use or what do people wear in the thermal suites area?

 

Yes, there are robes and towels in the changing room area. I think most people wore their swimsuits and coverups to the spa area and then changed the coverup for a robe. In some cases, I and others, arrived in clothes, but brought a suit to change into. Much more convenient to arrive in swimsuit.

 

ETA: the cold plunge pool is great for sunburn. It was quite the popular place after everyone was sunburned!

Edited April 5, 2016 by strykes