NCL Newbie-Feedback on NCL Jade

[calicruise74]

Hi,

Our family is considering taking the NCL Jade 14-day Med/Europe cruise in 2009 in either June or July. This will be our first NCL cruise and we really like this itinerary although are bouncing back between RCI and NCL. It also seems to be much cheaper to fly into London than Barcleona. Heres a few questions that I am hoping you can help with:

 

We are a family of 3-me and DH in mid-30's with a 16 year old daughter. Are there usually a lot of kids/teens aboard this itinerary/sailing? (this is important for her) Is it a pretty lively crowd for the most part?

 

We are trying to get a penthouse suite but for now, looks like only a mini-suite is available (other than courtyard). Can you still get dinner set up in your room without the butler service?

 

Did my research on the Freestyle dining...looks great. Overall, do you consider the food pretty good?

 

Thanks for any help!!

I've done the research on how Freestyle dining works

[calicruise74]

..and if anyone has any info on the Teen Center, that would be great too.

 

Thanks again

[Jiminkcmo]

Hi calicruise74:

 

Can't give you any kid stuff info as I don't have any kids.

 

However, I took the Jade in June for 14 days and it was great.

 

As to food, it was fine for me but then I tend NOT to prepare for GREAT and WONDERFUL EXPECTATIONS and set myself up for disappointment. But that's just me.

 

A suggestion for you:

 

I flew into Bristol, on the West coast instead of London, to avoid the crowds, spent a few days in Bristol, went to Bath and just "played tourist".

 

On cruise departure day, I took a train from Bristol to Southampton which is about 1 1/2 hours and very comfortable. Nice scenery and relaxing.

 

A cab from the train station to the dock was 5 pounds and about that many minutes.

 

Did the reverse on the way back home.

 

Worked out well for me. YMMV.

 

Have a super trip either which way.

 

Jim

[VoyageVirgin]

The summer months tend to have more children onboard any ship - so I would imagine there will be plenty for you daughter to hang with.

 

As for dining in room - without the butler service you would have to order from room service and they will deliver the food but not set up the table for you as a butler would.

Food is one of those subjective subjects - Our dining experience on the Jade was mostly good - to great - however we did have the "off" meal occasionally as well. The great thing about NCL is that if you do not care for your meal you can send it back and reorder something more to your liking. You will get many varying opinons on the food from one end of the spectrum to another.

[calicruise74]

jiminkcmo-Thanks for that info!....will look into flying into Bristol. I used to live in England as a child and it would be nice to show my family some other areas besides London.

 

I mirror your thoughts on expectations of food.....everywhere these days.

 

Any feedback on the overall crowd? Younger or older or mix? Lively or bit more laid back? We like to drink, dance, etc..so not looking for drunk parties but not looking to go to bed at 10pm either ;)

[calicruise74]

As for dining in room - without the butler service you would have to order from room service and they will deliver the food but not set up the table for you as a butler would

 

Thanks voyagevirgin, that helps.

 

I guess our main reason for trying to get a penthouse is for the butler service.....but how often is it really used? Is it worth it?

[lhall85917]

Thanks voyagevirgin, that helps.

 

I guess our main reason for trying to get a penthouse is for the butler service.....but how often is it really used? Is it worth it?

 

We had our first penthouse on the Jewel last summer and used the butler service very little. What we loved about the penthouse was the size of the room, being able to go to Cagney's for breakfast and lunch and priority disembarking with the concierge if we wanted it at each of the ports.

 

In fact, we ordered sandwiches from room service one night when we were tired and were shocked that the butler showed up with our order and set the table! Everyone says you never go back once you get one of these special rooms and it may be true. We've booked a regular balcony for our spring Caribbean trip but are considering a penthouse for a Jade Mediterranean trip next summer.

[meaclasact2]

We were on the Jade a few weeks ago - on the London to Barcelona cruise. It was wonderful - these are port intensive itineraries so bring very comfortable shoes.

 

We sailed at the very end of August/beginning of September. We had about 300 kids on our cruise. From what the staff told us, there were a lot more kids during the July/August trips.

 

If you are in a cabin AF mini to an Inside cabin, you can order standard room service for dinner (AE's and above are a completely different story - the can order from anywhere and have the butler deliver it to their suite). However standard room service has a fairly limited choice selection. The great thing about NCL is that you can go to eat anytime - you aren't confined to eating at a certain time. The Italian shorex's are long days - 10 hours. We would come back from a long day of touring, and we could leisurely get ready for dinner and then choose where we wanted to eat. I found the buffet at dinner to be fine - however the main restaurants are very nice as well. And we found that we could walk up to some of the specialty restaurants and get a seat right away (Cagney's) as they were not full. I can almost guarantee however, that that situation will never present itself if you want to visit Teppynaki - I've observed it to be the most popular on all 3 NCL cruises we've sailed.

 

Regarding the food - that's a subjective issue. I enjoyed almost every meal we had on the 13 day cruise - don't hesitate to order an entree as an appetizer if you do not see anything to your liking. On the whole I found the main dining rooms to be very good on the Jade. I found the buffet to be satisfactory. One thing I found to be terrific throughout the ship was the staff - we have never ever had one negative encounter with any of the staff. After 3 cruises, and feeling the same way about each crew, I don't think this is an issue of our being lucky - I truly believe they simply have great folks in their employ.

 

Regarding your question on how often one uses the butler? We were in an AB during our Jade cruise - some of our excursions left fairly early. With two exceptions, we used the butler for breakfast room service. You can order what you want - just write in what you'd like if it isn't listed. We had our food delivered at 645 am - this way we could continue to get ready and have our breakfast at the same time.

 

Whatever you decide, have a wonderful trip.

[calicruise74]

That was the main draw for us...the size of the room. The butler service, etc was like the icing.

 

This will be a whole different experience for us as we have mainly sailed Carnival, and although we have no complaints, this will be a very special trip for us and we wanted a bit more amenities such as the dining and better suites.

 

With Carnival, the room service is very limited....so if its anything more than a BLT Sandwich, thats exciting to us! :D

 

You all have been super helpful....

 

At this time, it seems that only a Mini-Suite is available for us :( With Carnival, I have gotten lucky at times by checking back around the time that the final payment is due for cancellations.

[lhall85917]

That was the main draw for us...the size of the room. The butler service, etc was like the icing.

 

This will be a whole different experience for us as we have mainly sailed Carnival, and although we have no complaints, this will be a very special trip for us and we wanted a bit more amenities such as the dining and better suites.

 

With Carnival, the room service is very limited....so if its anything more than a BLT Sandwich, thats exciting to us! :D

 

You all have been super helpful....

 

At this time, it seems that only a Mini-Suite is available for us :( With Carnival, I have gotten lucky at times by checking back around the time that the final payment is due for cancellations.

 

What date(s) are you looking at? We are looking at July 12 and see several penthouses available. In fact, if we decide quickly there is an AE aft cabin on deck 9 that we might grab. The price for it is about $700/pp higher than a balcony but for 14 nights it doesn't seem to be too bad of a deal. Plus next year is our 30th anniversary and it seems like it might be a good time to go for it! Our previous experience with the penthouse was due to an upsell the week before we sailed and it was $1100 to go from the BA to an AA.

[calicruise74]

What date(s) are you looking at? We are looking at July 12 and see several penthouses available. In fact, if we decide quickly there is an AE aft cabin on deck 9 that we might grab. The price for it is about $700/pp higher than a balcony but for 14 nights it doesn't seem to be too bad of a deal. Plus next year is our 30th anniversary and it seems like it might be a good time to go for it! Our previous experience with the penthouse was due to an upsell the week before we sailed and it was $1100 to go from the BA to an AA.

 

We prefer the June 28th sailing, but I am at NCL.com right now looking at the July 12 for 3 people and it gives me an AF as the best cabin available (other than OV's and insides). Am I looking at this wrong? Is an AF a Penthouse or mini-suite? Sorry...for all the ?'s..still learning the NCL lingo. :)

[derekthesailor]

We did the London (Southampton) western Med. cruise this year. In early August there were lots of kids (over 700) and they seemed to have a good time.

The cruise was a nice balance of ports and sea days. After consecutive days for Florence and Rome, a quiet sea day was needed !!!!

See my signature for a link to my review (diary) for our cruise

[meaclasact2]

We prefer the June 28th sailing, but I am at NCL.com right now looking at the July 12 for 3 people and it gives me an AF as the best cabin available (other than OV's and insides). Am I looking at this wrong? Is an AF a Penthouse or mini-suite? Sorry...for all the ?'s..still learning the NCL lingo. :)

 

The AF is a minisuite - it doesn't have the perks that you would get with an AE and above (AE is the first level of penthouse). I really think a better description would be "deluxe balcony" and only because the cabin and the balcony are larger than the other balcony cabins. However, that said, I stayed in the AB and while it was really really nice (the master bathroom is outrageous!), I also like the AF - it's fine for us - I love the size of the balcony - it's perfect. In fact I've already booked for next year and have taken an AF.

 

The AB is a very nice set up for a family because there are two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. The sitting/dining area is a common space. The second bedroom is similar to an inside cabin but it's well lit, has sufficient storage areas and affords privacy for all concerned The bathroom is accessed within the bedroom area.

 

Hope this helps.

[calicruise74]

Its very helpful...thanks!

I went back to the search feature on NCL.com, and as posted earlier, when I enter in 3 passengers, it gives me the AF as the best cabin. However, when I enter in 2 passengers (for kicks) a whole host of penthouse-class suites opens up! And it says max occupancy is 2? Is this true? I would have thought that these would have more occupancy..?

 

derek-looking forward to reading your diary...

[garycarla]

The AF is an slightly larger balcony. Somebody will have to sleep on a not so comfortable sleeper sofa. Space will be tight. It is one room and one bathroom. It is NOT a suite.

[meaclasact2]

Its very helpful...thanks!

I went back to the search feature on NCL.com, and as posted earlier, when I enter in 3 passengers, it gives me the AF as the best cabin. However, when I enter in 2 passengers (for kicks) a whole host of penthouse-class suites opens up! And it says max occupancy is 2? Is this true? I would have thought that these would have more occupancy..?

 

derek-looking forward to reading your diary...

 

The AF can fit three because there is a couch that opens into a bed. The other penthouses, other than the AB or higher, are for two. The AF also has a heavy curtain that can be pulled to shut off the couch bed from the regular bed. When we were in an AF last year, I used to watch TV or read at night and would pull that curtain so as to not disturb my DH while he slept.

[calicruise74]

Bummer....ok, so AF has a sleeper sofa (did someone comment that is kind of uncomfortable?) and then AB and above can accomodate 3.

 

Well, I think the best thing I think I should do is call NCL and since we are super flexible on our booking dates for June-July 2009, just ask which sailings have the particular suites/penthouses for 3.

 

Everyone here has been great..very helpful.