Cruise Reviews | NCL Norwegian Jade Mini cruise| Cruises.co.uk

Thursday 28th August 2008

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NCL Norwegian Jade Mini cruise
Reviewed By: Walters, Solihull on 29th Jun 2008
Cruise Line: NCL Cruises	Times cruised before: 3-5
Cruise Ship: Norwegian Jade	Sailed: June, 2008
Destination: Mini Cruises	Age: 36-45

Norwegian Jade Mini cruise 27th June 2008 from Sothampton. Queue, queue and more queues!. We drove from Bimingham to Southampton in less time it took to board! over 1 3/4 hours queing through X-ray, then through check in and finally on the gangway to board. Not a good start. NCL need to improve embarkation procedures. We welcome tighter security and baggage checking but other cruise operators seem to know how to do it better & quicker. Then you queue for food in the garden restaurant. Despite over 11 places to eat most open in the evening. After everyone had queued to get on tempers were frayed and it was like a rugby match! Ship is spotlessly clean, cabins fantastic, showers excellent, beds are large and very comfortable. Drinks are very overpriced (even considering they are in dollars) and the bar service is the worst we have experienced on any cruise. Jade supposedly has a passenger/crew ratio of 2.8 but considering the extremely slow service and lack of clean tables in the bars some of the staff must have jumped ship as there didnt appear to be many staff around! We watched 2 bar staff in the 'Aloha' cafe bar as 6 tables were left dirty and full of glasses etc. People just walked on by as the place looked a little dirty, no one wants to sit at a table full of empty glasses and plates trying to order a drink. Bad for revenue generation for NCL though! Stardust theatre is a 'cram em all in' place, not somewhere to relax and watch a show with a drink. Queue again to get in & out. The show 'Shout' was a real dissappontment, not a show at all just a medley of songs.....very poor. Food was plentiful and good. Excellent choice only spoilt by contantly searching for somewhere to sit and eat it. Overall opinion: Clean ship but service is slow, expensive when on board, NCL contantly trying to sell bingo tickets etc tannoid announcements made it feel like a butlins on sea campus. Tipping: 15% automatically added to all bar bills as well as a $10.00 automatic tip per person per day. Considering the poor service this wasnt appreciated by most passengers! I think tipping should be to reward good service, tipping like this essentially curtails good service as the staff know its guarranted and this seems to reflect in overall standard of service, staff dont seem to be as attentitive as other cruise lines. Will we go on NCL again?? Definately no, dissapponted really. Final insult: my wife spent her last night with food poisoning and has been ill for 12 hours.
Quality of Food
Garden restaurant was like a cattle market...... Grand Pacific restuarant at night was lovely and staff were good, excellent menu. Pianiola resturant was smaller ,more intimate and chioce of mexican or spanish food, very good
Entertainment
Show called 'Shout' was a real dissapointment. Not a show just a medley of songs, girls did thee best
Shore Excursions	n/a

Staff	n/a

Children's Facilities
We didnt have any children with us but it looked good for kids, plenty to do, they even had there own self service area in the Garden restaurant and seating area.
Onboard Activities
Casino was ok but got smoky!
Cabins
Best we been in, spacious, great beds, fantastic washroom with a generous sized shower. Couldnt fault the cabin.
Overall Rating

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Opinion: Agree Comment by Lindsay, Newport on Tay (29 Jun 08 20:07) about this REVIEW.

Also just back from the same mini cruise my wife also ill on the last night and this morning - wholly agree with your reveiw, will post a reveiw shortly.

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by Pells, Ramsgate (29 Jun 08 20:41) about a COMMENT by Lindsay (29 Jun 08 20:07)

We have just returned from this cruise too and one of our party was ill in the night and today - which was not much fun during the three hour car journey back home!

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by Bates, Chippenham (02 Jul 08 19:18) about a COMMENT by Pells (29 Jun 08 20:41)

Hi, My wife and I were on this Mini-Cruise also. We survived the actual cruise and couldn't agree more about the excellent Cabin. BUT Sunday afternoon I was violenly sick and 'the other end' - diagnosis food poisoning! Something eaten in previous 12/24 hours on Jade. (Thankfully not Norovirus!) Most of the ship was colourful but very 'average' at best. I don't how anyone can say the food in the Garden Restaurant was good - nothing was hot; and runny, undercooked scrambled egg or an undercooked pink in the middle beefburger (neither of which were eaten once mistake realised) are prime suspects. I am still 'laid out' with the debilitating after-effects of this illness, but I will write to NCL as I feel they should know. I haven't written a review, but perhaps I'll publish their reply if I get one. I think all of us who were ill should let them know, there's a problem somewhere.

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by parfitt, pontypool (29 Jun 08 23:35) about a COMMENT by Pells (29 Jun 08 20:41)

Same here two of our friends sick also, we think from eating food at the pool buffett!!!

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