Home

Cruise Lines

Ports of Call

Reviews

Answers

News

Photos

Spirit of Adventure Cruises | Holland America Cruises | Yachts of Seaborne Cruises | Voyages of Discovery Cruises | Other Cruise Lines

Very enjoyable cruise, don
Reviewed By: Smith, Poole on 25th Aug 2008
Cruise Line: NCL Cruises	Times cruised before: 0
Cruise Ship: Norwegian Jade	Sailed: August, 2008
Destination: Mediterranean	Age: 36-45

Having just returned from the Med Cruise on the Jade which set sail on the 9th August and having read reviews here before and after sailing, I would make a plea to others not to be put off by some of the more negative comments about this ship. As first time cruisers, we were apprehensive about some of the reviews which had been posted and were very pleasantly surprised. We chose this particular cruise because of the itinerary and because the idea of the freestyle cruising appealed to us. Our balcony cabin was spotless, spacious and practical and I have to say that the decor of the ship was much less gaudy in real life than it appears in the brochures and websites - the colours somehow work or at least appear toned down! We eat in all of the free restaurants and in addition visited the Italian, Cagney's Steakhouse, Teppanyaki and Paniolos at additional cost. Without exception, we found all of these restaurants were worth that little bit extra, particularly with the 2 for 1 deals available. We tended to eat breakfast in the Garden Cafe and although it was busy we always found a table and it was a good opportunity to chat with other guests. We took NCL excursions in Villefranche, Florence and Rome and although they were not cheap, they were all very efficiently organised with knowledgeable guides who enhanced the tour. In our opinion, we learned so much more by going on a tour but I accept that this is not ideal for everybody and we equally enjoyed making our own way in Malaga, Barcelona and Lisbon where we went on the hop-on hop-off buses. The highlights of our cruise were the Highlights of Nice and Monaco tour from Villefranche and our day in Rome. We chose the 'Rome on your Own' tour which was expensive at $119 per person and I was torn between this and making our own way there on the train. However, on return to the ship, we did hear that many did not manage to make the trip to Rome due to the volume of people trying to catch the train (5 large ships were in port that day and it was a Sunday) so in hindsight we made the correct decision and for us it was worth it to make the most of our day in Rome. In terms of entertainment, we tended to do our thing during the day and did avoid the pool area due to the noise and number of people there. There is an adult only pool and jacuzzi but as they were right next to the main pool it was just as noise. However, we booked a cruise during school holidays therefore I have no complaints there and not getting to the pool did not affect our enjoyment of the 'at sea' days as we always found loungers on other decks. In terms of the evening entertainment, we saw all three of the main shows and also purchased tickets for Tony and Tina's Wedding. Again, we thoroughly enjoyed all of these shows and also watched some of the entertainment in the Spinnaker lounge as well as participating in the Murder Mystery Dinner. I cannot comment on entertainment on other ships but we enjoyed what we saw and were always able to find something to our taste. There were a large number of families on board and, whilst we did not have children with us, this did not affect our cruise as, like any resort, you will always have a mixture of ages and the literature made it quite clear that children would be well catered for. Most families that we saw or spoke to appeared to be enjoying themselves and the activities available. That said, there were the usual minority of children who appeared to be left to their own devices to run around the ship with no manners or regard for other guests or the staff - but then again this small minority can be found in any resort. We did hear several complaints about the Spinnaker becoming an adults only venue after 11pm but there were other places available for children after 11pm and it is common practice in most hotels or resorts to make at least one venue child free after a certain time. One complaint we overheard was about where children could go to dance after 11pm while the child in question was practically falling asleep standing up while the parent's complained to the hard pressed reception staff! I can honestly say that the only complaint we had throughout the entire two weeks was the attitudes of other (mainly English) guests. When chatting to others over breakfast, I can entirely accept those that said they had tried the freestyle cruising but prefer the more traditional dining arrangements on other cruise lines - each to their own. What I found very difficult to accept was the constant line of complaints about minor issues - such as those who opt for buffet style eating over the set menu restaurants but then expect a free table to automatically appear in front of their eyes - the restaurant was busy but there were ample staff on hand to clear away dishes asap and tables were often cleared before you had a chance to put down your cutlery! We could not fault any of the service we received from the stewards, waiters, bar tenders, reception staff, etc but were apalled at the arrogance of some guests and the lack of basic courtesy showed to staff. We paid the service charge willingly in recognition of the service provided by all staff (whom we could never have tipped all on an individual basis) and even added additional tips in some restaurants on top of the 15% bar service charges. This was a hotly debated topic on board ship with some passengers determined before even embarking that they would be cancelling the service charge on the last day. It is clearly stated in the booking conditions that this charge is added to your account and I suspect that NCL (and others) may have to simply add this into the cost of the fare as the British do not accept this notion of tipping - yet we are happy to book with the lowest cost cruise lines and conveniently forget that there is no such thing as minimum wage for the majority of these staff. P&O and Royal Carribean had ships which sailed on the same day and had broadly similar itineraries yet there appeared to be many people on Board willing to testify how good the other lines were in comparison to NCL which begged the question why choose NCL and I suspect the cost had a lot to do with their selection. I was not surprised therefore to find a never ending queue of people at reception on the last day wanting to cancel their service charge and I did wonder how many of those had actually taken the time to raise issues of poor service with the reception as they occured or how many of those had tipped the table clearers in the restaurant, etc? Overall, we had a thoroughly enjoyable cruise and saw so many amazing places whilst having the comfort and service of a good quality hotel and I would urge others to remember that a holiday is what you make of it - so please remember that for every negative review there is probably an equally positive review out there.
Quality of Food

Entertainment
Most enjoyable - Shout, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Tony and Tina's Wedding
Shore Excursions
Favourite - Highlights of Nice and Monaco Least Favourite - Leisurely Florence
Staff
Could not fault any of the staff
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities

Cabins

Overall Rating

Report this review

Email to a friend
or fellow cruiser

Bookmark this page What are these?

ASK A QUESTION

COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW

Opinion: Agree Comment by nobbs, crawley (28 Aug 08 20:58) about this REVIEW.

I was also on this cruise & have reviewed it but forgot to mention this i agree with the comment regarding other guests complaining all the time about trivial things & the way that the staff were treated was unfair & uncalled for. The staff were excellent in all areas & the gratuity that we paid at the end was worth every penny...

ASK A QUESTION

COMMENT

Report this comment

Opinion: Agree Question by WILSON, CHRISTCHURCH (26 Aug 08 18:33) about this REVIEW.

NO REVIEWS OF THE JADE HAS MENTIONED THE GYM ONBOARD AND HOW BUSY IT GETS ? I AM INTO FITNESS AND WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE AND SPINNING CLASSES THANKYOU DEBBIE.

ANSWER

Report this comment

Answer by Keogh, Peterborough (26 Aug 08 22:15) to a QUESTION by WILSON (26 Aug 08 18:33)

I used the gym regularly and found it adequate. The views out of the large windows were great and the equipment was similar to the equipment in the gym I attend. I cannot comment on the Spinning classes as I did not attend any. However they ran several times a week as did Stretching, Pilates and Aerobics classes. There were also 'healthy living' type sessions on offer.

ASK A QUESTION

COMMENT

Report this comment

Opinion: Agree Comment by WILSON, CHRISTCHURCH (26 Aug 08 18:29) about this REVIEW.

THANKYOU FOR PUTTING MY MIND TO REST . IWAS WORRIED SICK AS CRUISING ON JADE SOON. I SOMETIMES HATE BEING BRITISH AS A WE DO IS MOAN !! I NOW CANNOT WAIT TO GO CRUISING CHEERS DEBBIE.

ASK A QUESTION

COMMENT

Report this comment

Opinion: Agree Comment by Piper, London (25 Aug 08 22:36) about this REVIEW.

We were first time cruisers on this trip and agree with what you say. We paid our gratuities up front in with our final invoice and had thought this was a good idea.We were not aware at this point that people would be going to claim back their charges at the end of the cruise, and feel that this was very petty considering how good all the staff were.We even gave our cabin stewards an extra personal gratuity at the end of the cruise because we felt that they had really looked after us well.I will be writing a review shortly,and hope that it may be encouraging to future first time cruisers on the Jade.

ASK A QUESTION

COMMENT

Report this comment

Comment by Mordan, Looe (25 Aug 08 21:49) about this REVIEW.

Smith, your experience with reluctant gratuity payers is quite likely to be found right across the cruise lines - especially with British guests, I fear. We found the same to. Gratuities were not mentioned in our case until the standard notice given in the daily paper. Then it became the talk of the ship and eveyone talking about it had no intention of paying the pre-advised rates. The reasons they were all given, if they could only hear themselves, were unfounded out of pure greed and selfishness. Not one said they weren't paying due to bad service..... all things like 'I wish we could afford it but we can't' 'I'm not tipping the people pre-advised because it's not fair to the others' I had to walk away. I am really pleased you had a great time.Our inlaws went on the Jade earlier this year and they enjoyed themselves too. Also, thanks for accepting children. It costs us parents a lot more to stick with our principles of taking the children away only in school holiday times. It does annoy me greatly when others moan about the numbers of children (not about unrulyness, obviously that's not on) - there is bound to be many in the summer as we don't get many opportunities in the year to have two weeks away.

ASK A QUESTION

COMMENT

Report this comment