Cruise Reviews | Norwegian Jade Mini-Cruise

Thursday 28th August 2008

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Norwegian Jade Mini-Cruise
Reviewed By: Payne, West Bridgford Nottingham on 30th Jun 2008
Cruise Line: NCL Cruises	Times cruised before: 6-10
Cruise Ship: Norwegian Jade	Sailed: June, 2008
Destination: Northern Europe	Age: 46-55

There were 10 of us in our party (inc 2 children) We have only ever cruised with Royal Caribbean International before so thought this mini cruise to France would give us a feel for NCL (and also persuade our friends that cruising is a great way to spend a holiday!) The price was great and NCL upgraded us all to BB balcony staterooms (no complaints there) Arrived at the port at around 11.00 and was on the ship within 1 hour (everything very easy at Southampton, parked the car in the official car park- 10 minutes walk from the terminal) Complimentary champagne was a nice touch on entering the ship (have to pay on RCI) Read other reviews and took lunch in Grand Pacific dining room - fairly swift service but portions were very small! As there were 10 of us asked if we could have a large table or 2 pushed together - they refused and we had to eat on 2 separate tables (not the end of the world but nevertheless would have been nice to sit together) Then made reservations for theTeppanyaki later that day and Carney’s Saturday night all no problem Staterooms-all very nice and comfortable (although much smaller than RCI) Expected fresh fruit and robes as advertised (not available on this cruise- neither was room service) Entertainment- Cruise Director and staff fairly non-existent (sail away "party" consisted of a small group and singer and a handful of staff dancing to a couple of songs) 2 shows in theatre (only saw "shout" which was excellent, but again no warm up by entertainment staff and CD only spoke for a couple of minutes afterwards (to advertise the casino!) Staff- it became apparent that the ship was vastly understaffed (had a lot of them been given time off for the 2 days?) It was very difficult to get drinks in the theatre (there was more staff selling scratch cards) and lounges. Facilities- kids club closed! Lounges all very clean although very garish (Hawaiian theme) When around the pool no glasses or plates collected all day and no white wine or wine glasses available!! Guest Relations- Never smiled, no-one knew where to queue (did not have a roped off queuing system) We had to visit them 5 times re problems with our key cards and had to queue on each occasion. When we asked for a feedback form they gave us a blank sheet of paper! (I wonder why they do not want any feedback?) Food- Teppanyaki and Cagneys -excellent no complaints. Buffet- food very nice. Breakfast total nightmare. On the first day had breakfast in the Blue Lagoon, there was a long line managed to get a table in appx 20 minutes. The waitress was quite off and immediately said the breakfast would take a while (shortage of staff?) Was very rude when we asked for our toast etc etc. On the final day (before disembarkation) it was bedlam- queue for main dining room was about 1 hour wait (only the outside tables were being used in the dining room (lack of staff?) Buffet was like a war zone nowhere to sit- no coffee available in some of the machines, no glasses, or fruit juices For the money I suppose "you get what you pay for" However I would have thought NCL would have pulled out all the stops as the majority of guests were taking the cruise as a "taster" The staff just did not seem interested (unless they were in the "cover charge" restaurants, or serving you drinks-15 % gratuity automatically added) All in all we did enjoy the weekend (mainly because of the friends we were with) Will we cruise NCL again? No! Would we recommend NCL? No!!
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Opinion: Disagree Comment by O'Brien, Southampton (30 Jun 08 22:45) about this REVIEW.

We cruised NCL in the Caribbean in 1998 on the Norwegian Sea, and like you we would not cruise with them again and would not recommend them either. Not only because of the 15% service charge on wine and spirits etc, but also because of the food. They kept advertising it as "the best food at sea" In the whole two weeks cruise, the vegetables consisted mainly of squashes and a concoction one day they called cauliflower cake. During that cruise we never saw many green veg or carrots etc. So not the best food at sea in our opinion. At least the itinary made up for everything else, which is why we went in the first place.

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by Barnes, Bradford on Avon (13 Jul 08 19:23) about a COMMENT by O'Brien (30 Jun 08 22:45)

10 years ago?? Everything has changed since then. Even Cunard add 15% to the drinks bills. I wouldn't base anything on that time lapse.

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by Cutting, Farnham (30 Jun 08 22:41) about this REVIEW.

My wife and I were on this NCL cruise but reading Mr Payne's review we wonder if he was on the same cruise or even the same ship! We found NONE of the problems he encountered. We found the staff courteous and helpful, the food great and we didn't queue for food at all even breakfast in fact we ate in The Blue Lagoon on Sat morning, we walked straight in were served immediately and with great courtesy. We found no scrum for the breakfast buffet on Sunday and found an inside table with no trouble in fact there were many empty seats! We were well pleased with all aspects of our weekend on Norwegian Jade and we didn't even have the benefit of a cabin upgrade! C Cutting.

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