Jade in Asia, thoughts?

[debshomespun]

We have not cruised on NCL for several years.   We would be Platinum in their latitudes for our next cruise, whenever we go.

 

We have come across a great 20 night sailing on the Jade 2/27/20 sailing from Singapore to Dubai.   I can't find much info about the Jade.  This sailing has a very unique itinerary.   There is an overnight in Phuket, along with 2 stops in Malaysia, then sails to Male, Maldives, then over to Victoria, Seychelles, making its way to 2 stops in Oman, then a day in Aubi Dhabi, and finishes in Dubai.   We have been to Singapore (spent almost 2 weeks here), Langkawi (1 day from cruise stop) and Phuket (5 day land trip).   Definitely on my bucket list are the Maldives and Seychelles.  

 

Has anyone been on the Asian cruises either on the Jade or any of the other ships?   How was the cruise experience?    We have sailed Celebrity & Royal Caribbean in Asia in the past. We know the passenger will be a great mix of cultures and looking forward to this experience.   Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.

 

I looked for a roll call, and was only 1 person.

TIA. 

[4774Papa]

We did Singapore to Dubai in 2015 on the Celebrity Century.  It was a very nice cruise.  Not one of our favorites, but not at the bottom either.

 

 

Our cruise went to India, your cruise skips India (?????) and goes to islands to the south.

 

I would probably not take this cruise.  We loved Singapore and liked Malaysia, Oman and Dubai, but wouldn't care about the islands to the south.

[deefer]

We did Singapore to Hong Kong on the NCL Jewel last March.   LOVED this cruise....we did truly private tours at each port (just my husband and I) and had priority disembarkation, that along with exotic ports is what I think made it amazing.  

 

I did a live review on this board, not sure if you would be interested in it as our only common stop is Singapore.  But if you are, just search for it, sorry don’t know how to cut and paste the link on my iPad 🥴

[mugtech]

Also did the Jewel Singapore to Hong Kong, it was an excellent cruise.  The Jade is a sister ship of the Jewel, so it should do well in the ports listed.  The biggest problem Jewel had was tender ports, left Thailand 2 hours late.  I would like the idea of not stopping in India, since a separate visa is required which must be procured in the USA by sending your passport to a third party as suggested by the Indian embassy.  Dubai is a great stop, we spent extra time there before boarding a ship, was an enjoyable 3 days.  The Indian Ocean islands would be a worthwhile stops to us.

[Ronin23]

If the Maldives and Seychelles are on your bucket list, you won’t get anywhere near the best experience seeing them for a day on a cruise ship. With regards to Male, it’s not that nice or exciting and it’s the islands and atolls that make the Maldives what it is.

[Huntingdon1701]

I've not been to Asia, sadly, but have been on the Jade several times - she's my favourite ship. Big enough to have most of the features and dining options you expect, but small enough to not feel crowded. She's a great ship to sail on. 

[havenfan]

The Star did a similar itinerary in the winter of 2016/17, i.e., sail east from the Mediterranean, cruise Southeast Asia and Australia/NZ, before sailing west back to Europe.  We were on the Singapore-Hong Kong leg just after it arrived from Dubai.  We spoke with several people who were doing a B2B Dubai-Singapore-Hong Kong cruise.  Reviews of the Dubai-Singapore leg were mixed.  Some of the people I spoke with felt that the disembarkation/embarkation procedures were very inefficient and that the NCL excursions weren't very well curated or organized, perhaps because that was the first time a NCL ship had been in that part of the world for over 20 years so NCL were not familiar with the ports and tour operators.  They singled out the experiences at the Indian ports as being particularly poor, but I guess that's not relevant for your cruise.

 

The Star is very similar to the Jade with the biggest differences being that it doesn't have a Haven on Deck 14 and that on Deck 12 the Spinnaker Lounge was replaced with suites.

 

At any rate, here is one review of the Dubai-Singapore cruise, one review of the Singapore-Dubai cruise, and some other reviews that you might find useful.

Edited April 29, 2019 by havenfan

[MadManOfBethesda]

On 4/27/2019 at 10:36 AM, debshomespun said:

 

We have not cruised on NCL for several years.   We would be Platinum in their latitudes for our next cruise, whenever we go.

 

We have come across a great 20 night sailing on the Jade 2/27/20 sailing from Singapore to Dubai.   I can't find much info about the Jade.  This sailing has a very unique itinerary.   There is an overnight in Phuket, along with 2 stops in Malaysia, then sails to Male, Maldives, then over to Victoria, Seychelles, making its way to 2 stops in Oman, then a day in Aubi Dhabi, and finishes in Dubai.   We have been to Singapore (spent almost 2 weeks here), Langkawi (1 day from cruise stop) and Phuket (5 day land trip).   Definitely on my bucket list are the Maldives and Seychelles.  

 

Has anyone been on the Asian cruises either on the Jade or any of the other ships?   How was the cruise experience?    We have sailed Celebrity & Royal Caribbean in Asia in the past. We know the passenger will be a great mix of cultures and looking forward to this experience.   Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.

 

I looked for a roll call, and was only 1 person.

TIA. 

 

Funny finding you here. 😃

 

I haven't sailed NCL in about 25 years (last cruise was on the Norway, lol!) and also came to this board looking for info on NCL and Jade in general, and this cruise in particular.

Edited April 29, 2019 by MadManOfBethesda