Norwegian Jade...a review 7/13-26

[Flick]

Norwegian Jade----A review of the British Isles Cruise July 13-26.

 

We recently returned from a 13 night cruise on the Norwegian Jade cruise and I would like to share with you some impressions and some experiences we had aboard this ship.

 

The ship

My very first impression of the ship as I boarded was that it was strangely dark. As time went on I found the ship “lightening up” although there was a lot of dark wood on the ship. At no time did there appear to be overwhelming crowds waiting to get into one of the entertainment venues or dining rooms. The Hawaiian décor needs to go away as soon as possible, indeed it was even mentioned at the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet by some people who live in Europe as being “out of place”. Of course, it cost a lot of money to put it in so it will probably be awhile before it is removed. After awhile, I must admit, it began to represent a failure to operate successfully in Hawaii in my eyes.

 

Before I continue this review let me reassure you we had a wonderful time onboard the ship and would go on it again albeit a little bit wiser as to what to expect.

 

We did not find the half day tours to be a good value. Indeed one tour, in Honfluer was cut short by an hour so that the guide could participate in the Bastille Day festivities. Most of the half day tours we took needed another hour or half hour so that we could absorb all that we were seeing.

 

I thought the drink tabs on the chairs around the pool was a great idea and was disappointed that they were gone already.

 

I liked the Latitudes Lounge although my wife felt it was a bit elitest, that didn’t stop us from using it almost day. They stocked it with tea and coffee and either pastries during the day or cakes at night. It was a great place either to read, snooze (for some), or even to play games and the ship stocked a lot of games in the room for that purpose.

 

I’ve tried to rein in any negativism if at all possible but we did have two serious experiences that I need to share with you. We used NCL’s AIR/SEA package to fly to London. At the very start of the trip United Airlines decided at the Tampa airport that we could not make the connecting flight to London so they switched us to British Air in Washington DC. Very thoughtful of them but then I tried to call NCL Customer Service to inform them of the change. Now this was at 6:00pm on a Saturday night. All I heard from the service gal was “you have to call your travel agent”. Keep in mind the time and the day-not possible. I tried to give her my booking number and tell her that we were not going to arrive at the Terminal 2 that United uses but rather at Terminal 4. At that point she hung up on me without taking down the information. You guessed it, no one met us at the terminal! In fact the person responsible for meeting people at terminal 4 had already left for home since all her people had already arrived. The Crystal Cruise rep was still there and very helpful in calling our rep back! We arrived at the ship after muster and a half hour before we sailed. )Our luggage didn’t arrive until 5 days later, spending most of that time in Washington DC. Here is where the ship really came to our rescue.

 

They provided us with express overnight complementary laundry service, two t-shirts, an emergency case containing toothpaste, razor, etc., a $200.00 on-board credit and three nights in a row bottles of wine from various staff members. They also tracked our luggage and kept us informed on its progress. I don’t mean this as a complaint but the sundries dept in the shopping area was practically nil and was overrun with suntan products at that. Given our situation (no luggage) they didn’t have what we needed.

 

The ship was very generous in offering us a meet & greet complete with pastries, coffee, and tea on our first sea day. We had already had an informal meet and greet in another lounge the first day we were on the ship.

 

I mentioned earlier that our luggage as well as three other couples didn’t arrive with us. The bus they ordered for the four couples held 49 passengers normally but this time only us. The look on the stevedore’s faces when this big bus pulled up and before we even got off the bus the hold door was opened and they only saw three carry-ons and one backpack and then the 8 of us came off the bus….priceless!!

Oh one more thing………the beds were to die for. I rarely sleep thru the night without transferring from our bed to a recliner in the living room because of my arthritis. I didn’t get out of bed one night in the last two weeks!

 

I hope when you go on this ship you have the same WONDERFUL time we did!

[Boat_Drinks]

Hi Rick,

 

Nice review, I'm looking forward to the Jade ("loud" colors and all!). :D

 

It's terrible what happened with your air connections and luggage, I can't imagine going 5 days without my luggage! Unless I'm cruising out of my home area (Boston, which is not often) I always arrive at my embarking city at least 1 day early. It gives me a chance to see the city, but more importantly it gives me a day to address any problems with airlines and/or luggage.

 

You mentioned that you arrived about 30 minutes before the ship left port (Thank Goodness!). Would NCL have held the ship until you arrived since they booked the air? I'm just curious, I always book my own air but if NCL holds the ship it's something to think about in the future....

[betty11108]

I thought the drink tabs on the chairs around the pool was a great idea and was disappointed that they were gone already.

 

I liked the Latitudes Lounge although my wife felt it was a bit elitest, that didn’t stop us from using it almost day. They stocked it with tea and coffee and either pastries during the day or cakes at night. It was a great place either to read, snooze (for some), or even to play games and the ship stocked a lot of games in the room for that purpose.

 

Hi Great review, can I ask a couple of questions re the above. when you say drink tabs on the chairs what is this?

Latitudes lounge what is this?? I am traveling with my family 1st cruise my father is also with us and is a latitude member does this mean we get something because of this?

[betty11108]

I thought the drink tabs on the chairs around the pool was a great idea and was disappointed that they were gone already.

 

I liked the Latitudes Lounge although my wife felt it was a bit elitest, that didn’t stop us from using it almost day. They stocked it with tea and coffee and either pastries during the day or cakes at night. It was a great place either to read, snooze (for some), or even to play games and the ship stocked a lot of games in the room for that purpose.

 

Hi Great review, can I ask a couple of questions re the above. when you say drink tabs on the chairs what is this?

Latitudes lounge what is this?? I am traveling with my family 1st cruise my father is also with us and is a latitude member does this mean we get something because of this?

[newmexicoNita]

thanks for a great review: sounds like you made the best of everything and that helps to make for a great vacation experiences. Yes, things do go wrong, we had transfer problems on the Star last year. Thank goodness we all kept our heads and still enjoyed our cruise. What could have been a disaster ended up being a very funny story....

 

Nita

[4 cruisers]

"Hi Great review, can I ask a couple of questions re the above. when you say drink tabs on the chairs what is this?"

 

Hi Betty. Hope this helps...

 

This was a system 2.0 came up with...little flags at each lounge chair that you could raise when you wanted a drink. They didn't make them very sturdy and they were broken off and blown all over the place:o .

 

"Latitudes lounge what is this??"

 

I actually never got there (so many other places to go!). It is for people who have sailed with NCL before. With your lovely suite, you won't need an extra place to go!;)

 

" I am traveling with my family 1st cruise my father is also with us and is a latitude member does this mean we get something because of this?

"

 

You will get to go to Cagney's (the specialty steak house in the evenings) for a special "suite menu" for breakfast and lunch since you're in an AB. There is no extra charge for breakfast or lunch but still is for dinner. The concierge is there each morning to see if there's anything she can help you with (it was Ruth on our cruise in June).

 

Nanette

[Flick]

Regarding the Latitudes Lounge all you have to do is have your father sign in everytime you use the lounge.

[Flick]

Hi Rick,

 

Nice review, I'm looking forward to the Jade ("loud" colors and all!). :D

 

It's terrible what happened with your air connections and luggage, I can't imagine going 5 days without my luggage! Unless I'm cruising out of my home area (Boston, which is not often) I always arrive at my embarking city at least 1 day early. It gives me a chance to see the city, but more importantly it gives me a day to address any problems with airlines and/or luggage.

 

You mentioned that you arrived about 30 minutes before the ship left port (Thank Goodness!). Would NCL have held the ship until you arrived since they booked the air? I'm just curious, I always book my own air but if NCL holds the ship it's something to think about in the future....

 

We booked this cruise a year in advance and just plain never gave a thought to going a day earlier-DUH! As far as missing the luggage for 5 days goes our troubles really started on the sixth day when we had to decide what to wear!LOL

[Flick]

Forgot to answer your other question. Yes the ship would wait. We had an experience in Panama where we were in a traffic jam that caused us to be an hour and a half late getting back to the ship. Thank goodness it was a ship sponsored excursion and the ship waited.

[newmexicoNita]

We booked this cruise a year in advance and just plain never gave a thought to going a day earlier-DUH! As far as missing the luggage for 5 days goes our troubles really started on the sixth day when we had to decide what to wear!LOL

Did you think about wearing nothing but your birthday suit, there are no rules about wearing nothing in the dining room, just about shorts and things like that....

 

Nita

[danrad]

hi there,

I am the Jade in a week - tommorow on saturday! I am in a mini-suite, have you seen these, are they nice? etc

 

Any tips for a better cruise experience and how as the kids facilities?

 

Thanks :p

[Boat_Drinks]

We had an experience in Panama where we were in a traffic jam that caused us to be an hour and a half late getting back to the ship. Thank goodness it was a ship sponsored excursion and the ship waited.

 

Yep, I know they will on ship sponsored excursions (same thing happened to me a couple of years ago, the ship had to leave the dock but did wait in the harbor a couple of hours for us and we were tendered out to her). But I wonder about the ship starting the cruise and leaving the dock on time if passengers for whom NCL booked the air are delayed. It would seem to fall under the same category as the ship sponsored excursion, but maybe not (they can only wait for SO long before they have to get underway).