Norwegian Jade to Iceland - Sort of live report

[KeithJenner]

A few people have asked if I will be doing a live report from our cruise on the Jade starting this weekend. After one of those "why do I bother" exchanges on here yesterday I was inclined not to do one but now, as I tidy up the final few things before leaving tomorrow, I have made the decision that I will start a thread and report anything useful from the ports as there does seem to be a real lack on info on some of these places.

 

How much I do post will depend on a few factors, so we will see how it goes.

 

I probably won't post too much about the ship itself. The Jade has been recently refurbished and there have been quite a few photos etc posted recently. I would recommend to anyone who is sailing on the Jade soon to read BermudaBound's great live report from last week, which does have a lot of info about the ship.

 

Of course, if anyone has any questions then I will try to answer them if I can. As usual, I will point out that some subjects (mainly those related to eating and drinking) will be more likely to get answered than others (like the spa or gym).

 

This will be our second trip on the Jade, having done a B2B in 2014 from Venice. I had a quick read through my report from that cruise a little while ago and I was quite surprised that at the time I didn't rate the ship as high as I'd remembered. It wasn't that I didn't like it, but I did mention that it was probably my least favourite of the ships I'd been on. This surprised me as my memory was of really enjoying it. Perhaps the thing I thought it was missing last time was a "go to" bar, as we usually find a favourite bar to hang out, and didn't really do so on the Jade. Perhaps the addition of o'Sheehans will help with that.

 

We are in the same cabin again, an aft mini suite, which we really liked last time. As we booked very early, we have a six meal promo SDP (as well as the UBP obviously), which means that we will be using the speciality restaurants quite a bit, once you add on the two Platinum meals. Our son has requested a few visits to his favourites (Moderno and Teppenyaki), but we will be visiting most places during the two weeks.

 

Anyway, on to the itinerary. This is a 15 day cruise visiting Bergen and Alesund in Norway before heading, via the Shetland Islands to Reykjavik where we overnight before going on to Akureyri and then back to Scotland where we visit the Orkneys, Invergordon and Edinburgh before stopping at Newcastle and returning to Southampton.

 

That's quite a mix for us. We have long wanted to visit Iceland, and there are a couple of places in the Orkneys which I have wanted to go to for many years. On the other side, Newcastle is only a couple of hours drive from here, and we have visited Edinburgh many times.

 

Anyone who has followed any of my previous reports will know that we tend to do our own thing, rather than join excursions (whether through the ship or privately booked). We have booked a hire car in 5 of the ports, so will be heading out on our own quite a bit. We have also booked a couple of boat trips as well.

 

Unfortunately, issues with the tendering process mean we probably won't leave the ship in Edinburgh, but we've got a fairly busy schedule other than that.

 

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll report back in the next couple of days as we head towards Southampton. We used to like very close to Southampton, and are taking this opportunity to spend a couple of days going to some places like Stonehenge and Portsmouth, which we haven't been to for a few years. These are quite popular places to visit when sailing from Southampton, so I'm sure I'll make some comments about them too.

[mygreyhound66]

Greetings, I will be eagerly awaiting your posts! I, personally enjoy your contributions and I have benefited from them many times, so please don't let a few of the negative nellies dissuade you!

 

Many thanks.......

[BlueJai]

We have really enjoyed your previous threads and have learned so much from your posts. We have followed you on different ships so it always exciting to read your reviews. We are heading on the Jade later this year and look forward to hearing about your adventures. Eagerly following along and wishing you safe travels.:)

Jai

[cabincop]

Enjoy. I'm doing a TA on Jade next year similar ports. Subscribed

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[gosport11]

We are on the 14 nite cruise in September,look forward to reading your port reports be interested in the tendering situation in Edinburgh and Lerwick :),we were in Kirkwall a few weeks ago and was pleasantly:) pleased with the island

[littlelulu01]

Thanks so much for doing this. Will be following along.

 

Really interested in how the car rental goes for the various ports and what you do for touring on these car rental days. We also have many car rental days for our September cruise.

 

Enjoy your vacation! I know I'm in the minority but I think I'll miss the Hawaiian theme. The stateroom refurb look really good though. Good luck finding a favorite bar. If I was some type of mega star or had some clout with NCL I'd have called ahead and told them to make sure to give aft mini suite Keith who helps everyone on cc a bunch of extra love.

[jm485]

Keith - thanks for what I'm sure will be another interesting and informative review. I have an aft minisuite booked on Jade for a North Cape trip next June, so looking forward to your thoughts.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[elainemasey61]

Looking forward to your review

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[biker@sea]

Is Snorkling the continental divide in Iceland Doable ?? :)

 

 

Like this = https://expertvagabond.com/snorkeling-silfra/

[All-ready2cruise]

Keith, thanks so much for doing this review. ;) I know you'll provide so much interesting information for those of us doing a similar, if not, identical cruise later on. Have a wonderful cruise and am so looking forward to your information, especially for Iceland since we too will be visiting this port and ours is an overnight.

 

Have a wonderful cruise with your family and looking forward to any little tidmits of information you'll provide.

 

Thanks for doing this,

Safe sails, cheers :ship::beer-mug:

[spleenstomper]

Following!

[KeithJenner]

Is Snorkling the continental divide in Iceland Doable ?? :)

 

 

 

Maybe, but certainly not by me. :)

 

Thanks for the comments everyone. I think I'm just about ready to set off in the morning now. We're doing a brewery tour tomorrow afternoon, so you may not hear from me for a while. :)

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Keith, I'm very much looking forward to your review! I'm on a similar, if not the same, itinerary in May. I sailed the Jade in the fall of 2014 for my first NCL cruise, and I'm looking forward to sailing her again.

 

Thanks in advance!

[kitkat343]

Have a great trip!

[KeithJenner]

Just a quick update.

 

I won't say much about the brewery tour, as it isn't really something that is applicable to this forum (it is quite a way from any cruise port), other to mention to any readers from the UK that the Wychwood brewery tour in Witney is worth doing, with plenty of samples to go round. I'll also mention to any visitors that Hobgoblin beer (brewed there) has long been one of my favourites and you should really try it if you visit the UK. :)

 

Anyway, today we visited Stonehenge. Like many British people I've driven past it many times, but have only stopped there a couple of times, the last time over a decade ago. It's changed quite a bit in that time, as they have moved the visitor centre about a mile down the road. This means you need to get a shuttle bus to the stones, but I think that the area around the stones themselves is a lot better now.

 

We got there nice and early, which is always advised as it gets really busy. We were there for a couple of hours.

 

Stonehenge is a popular place to visit when people are sailing from Southampton, and I can see why. It is a fascinating place. For many it is a "must see", and I can't argue with that. Tomorrow, we are going to Portsmouth dockyard, which is full day out, and I would argue a better visit even if it doesn't have the same draw that Stonehenge does. I'll report back when I get chance, although I've got a game of cricket to watch in the evening, so it may be a while before I get chance.

[seeriteR]

Looking forward to your review

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

So am I!

 

 

Sent from my LG-M210 using Forums mobile app

[BermudaBound2014]

I'm following too! I wish you an amazing journey. I have that itinerary on my radar so I'll be very interested in your take on both the ports and ship.

 

In the meantime- I'm not sure what you have planned for Norway but let me just say that you are in for a

Real treat. I think you have been to these ports before? If not, I do highly recommend Rodnes trip from Bergen to Monostrum ($65). We also did the trools tour from norwayexcursions.

Didn't thing I would like that 8 hour bus ride but it ended up being a fabulous day with a great host. To wet your whistle here are a few from

The trools tour:

 

 

 

Bergen fjord tour (rodnes)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jaja]

Have a GREAT cruise...enjoy every minute....always love your posts !

[Kagan_rc]

Following this to ( not literally ) as were on the same cruise lol... so interesting to read about it when we are back..

[mumluv2cruz]

Looking forward to your review. I was on the Jade a few years ago and will be interested in your current views of her

[KeithJenner]

Enjoying a sea day, so got some time to catch up.

 

As I said earlier, we went to Portsmouth on Friday to visit the historic dockyard. This was somewhere we used to visit often when we lived nearby, but haven't been for a while.

 

It was very busy. Probably a combination of summer holidays and the fact that the HMS Queen Elizabeth (Britains new aircraft carrier) was in port. The harbour tour takes you right past it, and it's an impressive sight.

 

We also went on the HMS Victory and Mary Rose, which are both very much worth a visit. Overall, it's still a great day out.

 

In the evening, we watched the cricket from our hotel balcony (which overlooks Hampshire's ground. The less said about the game the better. :(

 

Anyway, yesterday set of fairly early to the port. I had booked onsite parking. A couple of days ago we were notified that the actual parking would be at City Terminal and there would be a shuttle to QE2. Not ideal, but the service was fairly efficient.

 

Other than that, the day mainly consisted of trying the bars out.

 

I have to say that I was disappointed by o'Sheehans. This tends to be our main bar on ships that have one. but the bar area on the Jade has very limited seating. It is much more a restaurant than a bar. I'm sure we will use it for a few meals, but not for a drink.

 

The Great Outdoors was good for sail away, even though it's been very windy. We spent the evening in Tankards.

 

Overall, the ship looks very good. Our aft mini suite is as good as we remembered it, although I won't be able to use the balcony as much as we did in the Med.

 

The wind is moving the ship around quite a bit, even though the sea is fairly calm. It sounds as though we will have very mixed weather throughout the next couple of weeks.

[KeithJenner]

This morning (a sea day), we did the behind the scenes tour before the CC meet and great, and my son has had me in the pool for a while.

 

When there are a couple of thousand people onboard and you are one of 5 people in the pool, it's quite clear that the weather isn't ideal for it. It was cold, and the ships movement gave an effect like a wave machine.

 

So far we have just eaten in the buffet, but tonight it is Le Bistro. We hit Norway tomorrow with a day in Bergen. No great plans there, but we will probably just walk round town for a while.

 

We've met a few people from CC onboard so far. We know singlecruiser from previous cruises, and have also bumped into thecruisers6, who I see is also reporting from onboard. Some good company.

[jaja]

So glad it is going well !!! Enjoy....

 

Sailing Jade for 1st time in October....so interested in any staff (changes by October ?) and restaurants info...

[spleenstomper]

In case you are looking for northern lights at some point: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast

 

NOAA 30 minute forecast. Check often.

[KeithJenner]

We had no particular plans for Bergen, but it was a really enjoyable port.

 

In the morning we walked round the town and did some souvenir shopping. It's a really attractive city to walk through.

 

As I had expected, there was quite a queue for the funicular up Mount Floien. As anyone who read me report from the Spirit will know, I enjoy a hike up a hill, so I set off up there on foot instead.

 

It's quite an easy route to follow. You just head up the steps behind the funicular station and then just keep on heading up the winding paths up the hill. There are some signs but it's easy to follow anyway.

 

There is a steady stream of people walking down, and a few less people going up. It's about two and a half miles each way. A really nice walk, and I came back a different route.

 

The views up there are fantastic. Certainly worth going up, however you do it.

 

We're going to Moderno tonight after a very enjoyable visit to Le Bistro yesterday. I also spent some time in Spinnaker Lounge in the evening, leaving at about 1am. Very quiet in there though.