NCL Jade questions? Just back from July British Isles

[x2tpd]

I am trying to work up the effort to write a full review but in the meantime if there are questions you all want answered I will gladly answer those. We cruised with a 16 year old daughter who was a part of the teen club also. We went to the spa three times and ate at all the speciality restaurants.

[conandrob240]

OOh! Thanks for the offer. Glad you had a great time.

Here are my questions:

 

- were free drinks still being offered in the casino to casino card guests?

- how was Cagney's fo rdinner?

- did they have 2 for 1 offers for speciality restaurants most nights? Were all included? (I saw on some dailies that Cagney's wer enever part of the offer)

- tell me about spa specials, weekly spa passes and/or suggestions for services.

- how was the food in the main dining room?

- any can't miss shows?

- last day of cruise, do they have some sort of luggage storage?

 

Thanks!

[stunnedinva]

I am trying to work up the effort to write a full review but in the meantime if there are questions you all want answered I will gladly answer those. We cruised with a 16 year old daughter who was a part of the teen club also. We went to the spa three times and ate at all the speciality restaurants.

 

That's the itinerary I'd love to do next summer, but I think they're only offering it once--on May 31st. Did they give you any information about 2009 cruises that listed any other departure dates for British Isles? Nothing else is listed yet online.

When you've recovered from jet lag, I'd like to know how far outside the city centers the ship docked. Were you ever able just to disembark and bop around without a bus or taxi ride into town?

Thanks! :)

[soccermommy]

What tours did you take? Which ports did you enjoy the most, or least?

Thanks in advance!

[insidecabin]

That's the itinerary I'd love to do next summer, but I think they're only offering it once--on May 31st. Did they give you any information about 2009 cruises that listed any other departure dates for British Isles? Nothing else is listed yet online.

When you've recovered from jet lag, I'd like to know how far outside the city centers the ship docked. Were you ever able just to disembark and bop around without a bus or taxi ride into town?

Thanks! :)

 

NCL I think will still only do the one trip next year, there is always Princess and celebrity that do them, we have done it 3 time now and we live here great cruise.

[Louise45]

Which side is best, port of starboard for balconies?

[stunnedinva]

NCL I think will still only do the one trip next year, there is always Princess and celebrity that do them, we have done it 3 time now and we live here great cruise.

 

I've looked at the Princess sailings--at least they have a form of freestyle. I've looked at HAL (sticker shock :eek: ). I'm trying to find the Celebrity ones. What's the departure port and ship? I really like NCL's itinerary because it visits Amsterdam and Brussels in addition to the British Isles and Le Havre. Plus we really enjoy Freestyle. :)

[x2tpd]

Here I go : )

 

FREE DRINKS IN THE CASINO

 

Only if you were a high dollar player and then only after you proved that you were going to be spending $$$ AND one night they had Monte Carlo night and it was free drinks no matter as long as you were playing.

 

CAGNEYS

AMAZING!!! One of the best meals that we had! We had the shrimp, the crab cakes, the rib eye and the new york strip, chocolate lava cake and bananas foster!!! YUMMY

 

2 for 1

Every night from 0530 to 0630 but ALWAYS EXCLUDED Cagneys & Sushi. It included the first seating ONLY at Teppanyaki.

 

LUGGAGE STORAGE LAST DAY

Not sure exactly what you are trying to find out.... you put the luggage out the night before with the colored tags and they had the luggage waiting for you in a big area when you disembarked. We picked up our luggage while there was several ours left of diembarkation so I am not sure what happens if you dont pick it up and leave it for awhile. If that doesnt answer the question let me know and I will try again ..

 

CAN'T MISS SHOWS

Well.... Can't miss?? Probably none really. There were some decent shows but this was the one place I felt lacked in comparision to our other cruises on NCL. The Moscow Magic Show was good and there was a comedian that was VERY funny! Didnt do Tonya and Tina's wedding as it was $25 and we dont eat spaghetti.

 

FOOD IN THE MAIN DINING ROOM

Food was excellent. Not Cagneys quality but certainly above Chilis or TGI Fridays quality. There was a bit of a repeat on the menu I felt but that was perhaps because it was a 14 day cruise? We did order the grilled chicken and the sirloin several nights because there was nothing special on the menu. I thought that there was a bit more "eating light" and fish dishes then I remember before but I could be wrong. My mom is a vegetarian (no chicken or fish either) and she had a hard time finding anything that she enjoyed.

 

SPA

I think I have the menu still and will look for it. There were some great specials that were sent out with the dailies. $79 for the travellers tension special which was a 45 minute massage including hot oil on your scalp. Spa passes were $75 a week or $20 a day or $10 on a day that you also had a previously booked spa service.

 

2009 BRITISH ISLES ITINERARY

None mentioned. We asked about late 2009 itineraries for Mexico and were told they had not formally determined any ships itinerary past spring 2009. I do see cruises being offered past that on their site so I was not sure exactly how that works but got the idea they were planning some moving and that not everything was permanently in place as of right now.

[x2tpd]

Which side is best, port of starboard for balconies?

 

On this itinerary it varied. My husband was sure it was port at first but as soon as we started paying attention it seemed it switched back and forth! We think may be port but just a bit.

[x2tpd]

What tours did you take? Which ports did you enjoy the most, or least?

Thanks in advance!

 

We used NCL to do :

 

Paris on your own - worth it because it is so far to go that in our minds the potential for a problem arising and you being delayed getting back to the ship was bigger.

 

Loch Ness and Castle Urquhart - The Castle is only partial entact but it is pretty. You do not get to do anything on the Loch with this tour and there is no extra stop there. You only see the Loch from the bus and from the Castle stop. Its ok. Probably could do a private tour with no problem and save some money.

 

Panaramic London and Airport Transfer - Last day after disembarkation! This was a fantastic tour!! Airport transfers are $80 and this was $108 so for $28 you got the tour. It lasted from 0830 am until 0200 pm. It was AWESOME!! We saw so much. All the top sights plus lots more. Afew highlights: London Bridge, London Eye, Tower of London, Big Ben, Downing Street, caught some of the Changing of the Guards (30 minute stop), Harrods, Buckingham Palace and lots more. We had a one hour stop also at the Tower of London.

 

Giants Causeway - Also a long ride but not as long as Paris. It was a nice drive and their is a tour guide who did a enterataining commentary en route. There are three gift shops and a same tearoom at the sight. Transportation via shuttle to the bottom or a 10 minute walk (easy going down- difficult coming up). Its an amazing place to see.

 

These were all the ships tours we did.....

[x2tpd]

What tours did you take? Which ports did you enjoy the most, or least?

Thanks in advance!

 

We did the hop on hop off buses in Edinburgh and Dublin. We booked them with viator and saved a little money doing that. We loved the hop off hop on buses! It was a great way to see a lot of the sights in a convenient way for a very little cost. We also did the Guiness Brewery tour. It was ok. It was not exactly what I thought. It was more like a musuem then a working brewery. It was nice to see Dublin from the top glass area but it was VERY crowded.

 

We did the hop on hop off canal boat in Amsterdam and it was also a good idea. You definately need to get the prepurchased tickets for the Anne Frank house online if you are going to visit there. The line was over 2 hours long and we walked right past it and walked inside.

 

In Brugges, Cork/Cobh and Edinburgh we got into the main town ourselves using public train transportation and it was always less then 6 Euros or GBPs and VERY easy, convenient and a huge money saver. For example in Bruges the ships transfer for the ride only was $89 and we paid 5 Euros roundtrip for the public transportation/train.

 

FAVORITE PORT

Edinburgh, London, France and Brugges ---

 

LEAST FAVORITE

Amsterdam --- Too dirty (trash all over)

[cruisinlibrarian]

That's the itinerary I'd love to do next summer, but I think they're only offering it once--on May 31st. Did they give you any information about 2009 cruises that listed any other departure dates for British Isles? Nothing else is listed yet online.

 

When you've recovered from jet lag, I'd like to know how far outside the city centers the ship docked. Were you ever able just to disembark and bop around without a bus or taxi ride into town?

 

Thanks! :)

We just returned from the same cruise and had a marvelous time. We did pick up information regarding NCL European cruises for 2009, and the only one listed with this itinerary is May 31, 2009. Perhaps NCL will add more in 2010 if there is sufficient interest next year, too. We'd love to do it again since there's so much to see at each port and so little time.

 

As far as docking and access to city centers, I'll do my best to answer based on our experiences.

LeHavre - did ship's tour to Landing Beaches of Normandy (excellent); port provided shuttle bus service to center of LeHavre.

Falmouth - tender into town and dock right at town area; local volunteers provided bus to give you a short guided tour of the area and drop off in center of town; also shuttle (fee based I think) to Pendennis Castle.

Cobh - train into Cork right at dock once you disembark; Cobh is lovely town and easily accessible from dock.

Dublin - port provided shuttle buses into center of Dublin; dock area is quite a distance from city (commercial port area).

Belfast - did ship's tour to Giant's Causeway (quite interesting); port provided shuttle buses into center of city.

Greenock - nice town in which to walk around; train station within walking distance or taxi if walking is difficult; local volunteers run free tours of area but you need to get tickets early in the day since they are popular and fill up quickly - located right inside the cruise terminal - also good source for ideas to tour area on your own. Did ship's tour (Panoramic Scottish Lochs) which was quite scenic and took you into the Highlands; didn't stop at all the lochs - just Loch Lomond.

Invergordon - another nice town in which to walk around; bus line on main street runs to Inverness. Took ship's tour to Shinn Falls and Dornoch (Scenic Moorland Drive & Dornoch) - beautiful scenery & wonderfully scenic, old town.

South Queensferry/Edinburgh - tender into S. Queensferry; small town for walking on your own; train to Edinburgh available(@150 steep steps up hill & long walk along path to Delmaney train station - good price 7 pounds round trip (total) for two of us); shuttles also provided (5 pounds one way I believe) into Edinburgh.

Amsterdam - short walk into center of city; took CanalBus (HOHO) and loved the experience - did two circuits (red and green) and saw variety of locations - running commentary in English - blue circuit goes to cruise terminal area.

Brugges - did ship's tour (Romantic Brugges) and loved it - combo walking tour and canal boat ride; port provided shuttle into city center of Blankenberge and to train station.

 

All in all, it was a memorable cruise. We just got our 240 photos back today and they didn't begin to capture all the amazing things we saw. Our favorite place was Scotland - warm, friendly people; stunning views and scenery; great weather (no rain, sunny, warm, upper 70's).

 

Hope this helps. Writing this makes me want to go back very soon:)

[micro yaya]

Do You Remember When The Jade Offered Fill The Bag Laundry Special .thanks

[Judy Finn]

I am travelling with my two daughters aged 25 and 22 and I am wondering if this is worthwhile. The cost for the card is $6.25 per day and you must pay for the entire cruise. Were there any "martini tasting parties" or deals on liquor/beer?

 

Judy

[x2tpd]

Do You Remember When The Jade Offered Fill The Bag Laundry Special .thanks

 

It was offered on day eight and took two days to come back!! It was $19.99 for all you could put in the bag. It said wash and fold no press.

[x2tpd]

I am travelling with my two daughters aged 25 and 22 and I am wondering if this is worthwhile. The cost for the card is $6.25 per day and you must pay for the entire cruise. Were there any "martini tasting parties" or deals on liquor/beer?

 

Judy

 

There were several "clinics" that were tastings .. I was told that each allowed for a participant to get 5 full size drinks. There was one for martini's. There was also a wine, beer, whiskey and margarita clinic.

 

There was a daily drink special but it was by no means discounted.

 

I am a religious soda drinker and went without the soda card this cruise because I didnt want to spend the money. I was fine drinking tea but it should be noted that the tea was not regular ice tea it was kind of spicy tasting and my husband who drinks nothing but tea would not drink it.

 

I did see lemonade, oj and fruit punch at times in the buffet but if you were dining else where you would be stuck paying, drinking tea or water.

[4 cruisers]

I wish I had brought my large "sippy cup" to make reg. iced tea in (they had really good tea bags!). I would make little ones, but to big iced tea drinkers, it is a bit of a bother! It sure tastes better than the tea concentrate they use.