Norwegian Jade March 1-11

[Pauser]

We are back from the 10-day Southern Caribbean cruise on the beautiful Jade and had a wonderful time! We really like the Jewel class ships. For us it's the right size with the right number of passengers. The crew was wonderful and very responsive.

 

Room: Cabin 9674, an aft balcony. So we had some interesting things happen in our room. It was really hard to lock our balcony door - the handle did not want to go in the "lock" position. But one night we came back to our cabin and went to sit out on the balcony and the handle locked when we closed the door, locking us out! I looked around to see whether anyone else was out, but they weren't. We had the NCL app on our phones and had the Wifi package, so we tried to contact Guest Services, but every time we did, the app crashed. My husband finally figured out that we had to purchase the texting/phone call service, which was $9.95. We were able to get guest services on the phone, and after lots of shouting and repeating our cabin number, they sent our cabin steward to free us about 10 minutes later. His supervisor came in and tried to duplicate the issue, but none of us could. Apparently this has never happened before. He said they would change the lock the next day just to be sure. We didn't have any further issues, although we were never quite comfortable just closing the door while we were out there. 

 

The next night our bed started violently shaking - it woke us out of a deep sleep about 1 a.m. It was just the bed - not the ship, not the room. We even spoke with people in the cabins below us and above us the next day, and no one else felt anything. Anyway, it lasted about three hours on and off - just when you would doze off, the bed started rocking. We were up most of the night after that. 

 

Another day we sent our laundry to be cleaned. My husband wrote down everything we sent. When the laundry came back the next day, one of his shirts was missing. We went to guest services and gave them a description. Our cabin steward told us he'd keep an eye out. When we got back to the cabin, it was in the drawer with my husband's clothes. Just then the head of laundry services came to the door to offer us reimbursement for the shirt. We were confused and told him the shirt was in the drawer. Neither he nor our cabin steward returned it to the room. I don't think they believed we sent it to be cleaned.

 

Later in the cruise we went up to the buffet for breakfast. When we returned, I took off 3 rings I was wearing and put them on a table. When we were ready to leave, one of the rings was missing. We searched everywhere, even my jewelry case and the trash cans in the room. No trace. Later that night we tore the room apart as well as all of our belongings as I really liked that ring. No trace. Two nights after we left the ship, my ring resurfaced in my jewelry case (we were on another cruise). I know for a fact it was not in my jewelry case as we literally emptied everything looking for it. I was just glad to have it back.

 

So that's the end of the weird happenings. Other than those issues, we really liked the room. It was spacious for 2 people, had great storage and lots of outlets and ports to charge electronics. I did have issues with the water temperature in the shower. It constantly went from scalding to icy throughout every shower. It didn't seem to matter what time I showered as it varied each day.

 

Food: We thought the food in the main dining rooms was good to very good. We ate dinner in Alizar twice and Grand Pacific twice. There were enough options that we could always find something to eat. I agree with others that the desserts aren't worth the calories. We generally stuck with ice cream and fruit. We also ate lunch in Grand Pacific several times. They have two lunch menus they rotate. The buffet was decent, although lunch was not as great as I remembered. All the prepared sandwiches were slathered in mayo - yuck! I generally stuck with soup and salad. Later in the afternoon (3ish) the buffet at the Great Outdoors was much more appealing. They still offer some type of scone, although they were served with whipped cream (?). We ate dinner twice in Cagney's and twice in Le Bistro. We enjoyed all our meals in both restaurants very much. The service was excellent, and the food and wine were delicious. 

 

We ate at O' Sheehan's three times, all for breakfast. The first time I ordered the express breakfast and thought it was pretty good. The second time I ordered the express breakfast again and neither the scrambled eggs nor the bacon was cooked. When I mentioned this to our server, he said "It's the express breakfast!" meaning, I guess, that if it's quick, of course it's not cooked. I sent it back and they burned my eggs but the bacon was still mostly raw. The last time we went, I ordered the french toast. It was so hard I was unable to even cut it with a knife. It was just inedible. I left and got fruit and cereal from the buffet. I don't think I'll ever visit O'Sheehan's again as this has mostly been my experience. It was never crowded and even at peak times had several people at best.

 

Ports:

 

San Juan: We were here from 3-10 p.m. We made dinner reservations at a newish international restaurant, Azabache. We took a cab from the port and had a wonderful, leisurely meal with delicious craft cocktails. It was a memorable evening.

 

St. Thomas: We grabbed a cab and did an island tour, which we haven't done in more than 10 years. We were surprised at the levels of damage still visible from the 2017 hurricanes. Many people don't have roofs, trees still down, etc. The higher up you went, the less damage there was. We had a great few hours with other tourists and then walked around Havensight.

 

St. Kitts: We booked the segway tour thru NCL. There were 6 of us, 3 couples. We had an orientation for about 10 minutes and then set off. We stayed on the main road from the port and went across to the other side, where we could still see the ship. We stopped at a charming inn, Palm Court Gardens. They had beautiful gardens filled with local plants, a guest house, a beautiful pool, restaurant, and bar. Altogether our tour lasted about 2.5 hours. It was lots of fun, and I would definitely recommend it. By the time we got back to port, it was hot and we wanted to shower. We did later go out and do some shopping in the port. For smokers - this is the port to buy your cigarettes. We bought 4 cartons of Pall Malls for $80 total for a neighbor who was watching our house while we were gone. She said they're about $60 each here, so that was a good deal!

 

Barbados: We took a cab to Nidhe Israel Synagogue and Museum and spent our morning wandering around the cemetery before visiting the museum and synagogue. It was very interesting and we finished around noon. We meandered around downtown for awhile before getting a cab back to port. We've visited Barbados a few times before. If you've never been here, get away from Bridgetown and see other parts of the island. There are farms, nature reserves, beautiful beaches, charming villages, and interesting restaurants. We talked to several passengers who visited the port area and were turned off and returned to the ship. I would say this port area is probably one of the least inviting I've visited, but Barbados is beautiful. 

 

St. Lucia: We reserved a day pass at Bay Gardens Resort. For $95 per person, they provided transportation to and from the port, a resort room, access to beach chairs and umbrellas, access to the pool, a two-course lunch in either of their restaurants, 4 drinks of your choice (alcoholic or non), and either a beach massage, access to their water-based playground (an inflatable water park really for kids) or non-motorized water sports equipment. It was a great deal and really a relaxing day. The resort was beautiful and the water was gorgeous. The public has access to the beach, so there were hawkers selling their wares, but a firm "no thanks" worked fine. We really enjoyed this day and felt rested and recharged.

 

St. Maarten/St. Martin: We reserved a private ATV tour thru Island Marketing, which we've done before. They picked us up just outside the port, and we went on a 4.5 hour tour and beach stop with our guide, Michael. St. Martin is still in bad shape from the hurricanes. Many residents left and have not returned. We rode all over the island and saw lots of people living in houses with no windows or roofs or water, lots of trees gone, random cars and large trailers smashed into the side of a hill, collapsed wooden buildings, decks on a hill with no houses attached, abandoned resorts and houses, etc. Our guide was still so traumatized from the experience; it was so sad. They really need tourist dollars, so if you visit St. Martin, try to get off the ship and do something to help the local economy. 

 

Random Thoughts: There were a few kids on this cruise, although not too many as it's a 10-day. There was a pre-teen turning somersaults on the floor in LeBistro, with her parents just beaming at her athletic prowess. 

 

It seemed everyone had the drink package, which seemed to make it easier. Drink service was quick no matter where we went. In LeBistro and Cagney's, they had open bottles and refilled your glass regularly. 

 

Weather was great, although we had a few random showers a couple of days. They never lasted very long and didn't interfere with anything. 

 

I'm happy to answer any questions. I highly recommend the 10-day cruises - 7 days is too short!!

[TPgal]

But one night we came back to our cabin and went to sit out on the balcony and the handle locked when we closed the door, locking us out!

 

How terrifying!  Glad you kept a calm head and worked the problem rather than waiting for a neighbor to pop out onto their balcony. 

[njkate]

LOL, either you were a tad confused about rings and laundry, it happens when in vacation mode, or your cabin was haunted, lol

Glad you had a nice cruise

[LinnieRed]

17 hours ago, Pauser said:

There was a pre-teen turning somersaults on the floor in LeBistro, with her parents just beaming at her athletic prowess. 

Best line in a Trip review ever! 

 

I’m a firm believer in the paranormal, having grown up in a house with a ghost (we even know who she is!). Sounds like you got a real trickster! Glad all of your stuff was returned. 

 

Thanks for this review. Thoroughly enjoyable read. And glad you had a great trip. 

[VirginiaIsForCruisers]

I was on the Jade in January, in 9648. I had no problems with my balcony door, but the cabin door gave me fits. On the first day, it wouldn't open, even though the green light was flashing. I had trouble with it sticking several times until the fourth day, when I came back to the cabin after breakfast. Then, the door wouldn't close.  I called guest services, who sent the head of housekeeping, who sent up a maintenance man. He ended up calling for help, they had to actually take the door off the hinges and re-hang it. Once they did that, it worked like a charm. I couldn't believe how heavy the door must have been, it took the two maintenance men plus the steward, who was a fairly brawny guy, to lift and move the door.

 

The issue with the shirt and jewelry is definitely interesting. I wonder if you had a poltergeist.

 

I'm glad you had a nice trip!

[snirpville]

I was on this cruise! I was also on Deck 9 but in an interior room (solo). No issues with ghosts or the temperature of the water like you but I could hear water running all the time! It was so weird. It was a great cruise and my first time on a 10 day one.

[Oakman58]

The issue with the laundry and the jewelry is either your husband messing with your mind or perhaps it was the UBP messing with your mind.  😁

[realcindylouwho]

We have been locked out on the balcony of our aft suite on Jewel class ships before also. Luckily we had neighbors enjoying their balcony as well and they were able to get the steward to lend us a hand.

Although I have no way to explain it, I've had items go missing and they ended up right where they should be. There have been stories about certain NCL ships being "haunted" 👻 but I can't recall the ships or the deck area. Maybe someone else can chime in with a link?

Edited March 20, 2019 by realcindylouwho

[TPgal]

7 minutes ago, realcindylouwho said:

We have been locked out on the balcony of our aft suite on Jewel class ships before also. Luckily we had neighbors enjoying their balcony as well and they were able to get the steward to lend us a hand.

Although I have no way to explain it, I've had items go missing and they ended up right where they should be. There have been stories about certain NCL ships being "haunted" 👻 but I can't recall the ships or the deck area. Maybe someone else can chime in with a link?

Google says it's the Dawn that is haunted, also this thread - but it degrades to pure speculation pretty quickly. 

 

 

[realcindylouwho]

13 minutes ago, TPgal said:

Google says it's the Dawn that is haunted, also this thread - but it degrades to pure speculation pretty quickly. 

 

 

Excellent! Hubby and I will be doing a B2B on her staying on deck 10 and then 9 in late April-May. We will have to do some snooping around. We were on the Dawn Thanksgiving of 2017 in the port-side Garden Villa and there were no ghostly experiences during our stay. There were some strange things that happened, but they were all done by tipsy humans!

[tugtraveller]

We have a 11-day Panama Canal cruise on the Jade in April, our first time on Norwegian.  From what I have read on these boards there are no formal nights right?  Hubby can wear a sweater, not a jacket?  And I can wear slacks & a pretty top, like I was going out to dinner at a nice restaurant, right?  I also read no formal nights, no lobsters on Norwegian unless you pay for them.  True?

 

Thanks for posting all this great info.  We will be in a 9th floor balcony on the Jade, but closer to the front of the ship.  I will be very careful about ALL the doors!. Finger crossed that we do not have a bed that goes bump in the night!

 

--- Rene

 

 

 

[Sauer-kraut]

7 minutes ago, tugtraveller said:

We have a 11-day Panama Canal cruise on the Jade in April, our first time on Norwegian.  From what I have read on these boards there are no formal nights right?  Hubby can wear a sweater, not a jacket?  And I can wear slacks & a pretty top, like I was going out to dinner at a nice restaurant, right?  I also read no formal nights, no lobsters on Norwegian unless you pay for them.  True?

 

Thanks for posting all this great info.  We will be in a 9th floor balcony on the Jade, but closer to the front of the ship.  I will be very careful about ALL the doors!. Finger crossed that we do not have a bed that goes bump in the night!

 

--- Rene

 

 

 

 

You can wear shorts and a t-shirt if you wish. No sweaters, jackets etc.  Capri pants are fine as well.  Only 2 restaurants will require gentlemen to wear trousers (no shorts) that would be Le Bistro and the aft main dining room. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by Sauer-kraut

[TPgal]

25 minutes ago, tugtraveller said:

We have a 11-day Panama Canal cruise on the Jade in April, our first time on Norwegian.  From what I have read on these boards there are no formal nights right?  Hubby can wear a sweater, not a jacket?  And I can wear slacks & a pretty top, like I was going out to dinner at a nice restaurant, right?  I also read no formal nights, no lobsters on Norwegian unless you pay for them.  True?

 

Thanks for posting all this great info.  We will be in a 9th floor balcony on the Jade, but closer to the front of the ship.  I will be very careful about ALL the doors!. Finger crossed that we do not have a bed that goes bump in the night!

 

--- Rene

 

 

 

Are you on the April 1st sailing?  If so, come on over to the Roll Call. We're less than 2 weeks away and it's too quiet.

[tugtraveller]

5 minutes ago, TPgal said:

Are you on the April 1st sailing?  If so, come on over to the Roll Call. We're less than 2 weeks away and it's too quiet.

We are.  Yes, it is a quiet roll call now that Mike from NZ has already headed out.  I will head back over there and make another post to see if we can stir up some conversation with our fellow cruisers.   ---- Rene