Cruise Reviews

N C heL
Reviewed By: hayton, London on 17th Aug 2008
Cruise Line: NCL Cruises Times cruised before: 3-5
Cruise Ship: Norwegian Jade Sailed: July, 2008
Destination: Mediterranean Age: 26-35
Myself, partner and sons had been looking forward to our holiday with great anticipation; we are not fussy holiday makers, just a young family hoping to make the most out of a stunning itinerary and a bit of luxury.

Unfortunately for us the whole trip was a nightmare from start to finish.

Upon arriving at Southampton, the valet parking was good and the complimentary glass of champagne was a nice touch, but within 5 mins of being on board and exploring the ship we thought that the ship was massively overcrowded. The outside decks were crammed - the inside restaurants were crammed. The bars were crammed. The lifts were crammed. The stairs were crammed. We quite literally could not find a spare seat on board. Hopefully this will not last all cruise we think "maybe it's just because it's disembarkation" ..no chance. NCL had in my opinion vastly overbooked this ship and I think there were quite simply too many people on it.

Our cabin was comfortable but small, however good use of mirrors allowed you to think it was bigger. The balcony was nice and clean. Overall it was pleasant, fine for out 14 nights. We have now been on board for about an hour, time to see if those crowds have gone. No they have not. In fact they have swelled and to make it worse the 'crowd mentality 'has set in. All over the ship there is pushing and shoving, queue jumping and overall rudeness mostly from British passengers. I am born and bred British, have lived in London all my life, but the behaviour of several snooty, 'Daily Mail' reading passengers was an absolute disgrace and made me ashamed to be British.

This behaviour of fellow passengers continued throughout the cruise. Some passengers simply had no manners but most were fighting their corner simply because the ship was so over-crowded. Many had a real problem with kids being on board, although to be fair there were many groups of very young kids swarming all over the ship their parents seemingly having a holiday from parenting. Parts of the ship were also designated 'no kids' areas, the Spinnaker Lounge for example was no kids after 11pm which was fine considering it kept out the unsupervised ones but was a shame for the kids that actually could behave themselves. This resulted in kids who were not in the kids club having nowhere to go so they hung around stairwells and played with the lifts.

There are 13 restaurants on board. The handbook in our cabin says, a few restaurants may have a cover charge. Upon exploring we'd change that to the MAJORITY. There were only FOUR 'free' restaurants, all the others have a cover charge ranging from $10 to $25 per head. Out of the four free restaurants (that of course always felt overcrowded to me) two served the same menu (the Alizar and the Grand Pacific) one was a buffet (the Garden Caf) and one served American 'junk' food (The Blue Lagoon). Of course the ones with a cover charge served nice food however anyone considering travelling with the NCL on the Jade should be under no illusion; EATING IS NOT FREE if you want even a half decent meal in my opinion. Furthermore the 'Freestyle' concept is just nonsense in my opinion. The overcrowding makes it impossible to eat 'whenever '. The staff are only too aware of this and rush customers through like cattle, on one occasion we were served all three courses together!

I would say at least 70% of the staff was from the Philippines, of course this was not a problem, most were smart, polite and well mannered, however there was a huge issue with the language barrier. Many of the staff had a very poor grasp of English and on a daily basis communication was an issue. Furthermore many showed signs of inexperience. One night of the cruise there was a power cut on some decks (!) the ship had to stop mid sea in the middle of night and the only assistance was one poor reception girl who could not speak English fluently at all. Most shockingly some members of staff were extremely rude towards some passengers on a variety of occassions. On the final night I registered two formal complaints against two members of staff before we left.

The entertainment blew hot and cold. Two comedians were good, a lovely piano player and a couple of good magic shows was the 'hot'. The 'cold' was the absolutely dire in my view 'Second City' cabaret act, which unfortunately for us was on nearly every night, this in tandem with the very cheesy master of ceremonies was possibly the most vomit inducing tripe I had ever seen.

There was some good to the cruise (thankfully), the excursions were very good (pricey but worth it), we really enjoyed Pisa, Rome and Villefranche. Our son loved the Kids club and the staff that ran the club were very nice and worked really hard with the kids. Also the young man who cleaned/maintained our cabin was lovely. The positives really do end there.

We thought the 'days at sea' were a nightmare, the decks were completely packed there was no space at all around the pool (incidentally we'd say the pool is about the size of a postage stamp), there was not a sun bed going spare on the entire ship one afternoon, needless to say 60% of the sun beds were taken up by towels (and Daily Mails). And of course the pushing and shoving and bad manners of fellow passengers continued.

Throughout the cruise we felt nothing more than walking dollar signs, AND, they charge a $10 per day per head service charge to your onboard account 'for your convenience' (!!!!!!), needless to say the queue on the final day for reception was huge. At least Dick Turpin wore a mask!

Overall, overcrowding, some rude staff, some rude passengers, food not good enough for us, and what we thought was dire entertainment made for a very, very disappointing and frustrating holiday. We will never, ever travel with NCL again and I implore anyone considering doing so to think again.
Quality of Food1
You got what you paid for - literally.
Entertainment1
Bring a bucket to be sick into...
Shore Excursions3
Expensive but worth it IMO.
Staff2
On the whole staff were nice but the language barrier and the odd bit of rudeness spoiled things.
Children's Facilities3
Good.
Onboard Activities1
Cabins3
Overall Rating1
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW
Opinion: Disagree Comment by Barnes, Bradford on Avon (19 Aug 08 12:01) about this REVIEW.
Not our experience albeit on the cruise to Norway. I assume you have completed your online survey from NCL and are in negotiation for the compensation?
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT
Opinion: Disagree Comment by Welch, Workington (19 Aug 08 07:32) about this REVIEW.
It seems as though your family and my family were on totally different ships! But we weren't. My family and I totally enjoyed this cruise and had a great 14 nights on board. We are in no way ashamed of the other British passengers who cruised with us and we did not come across a single rude passenger. The lifts were not in my opinon overcrowed and second city were a very funny act! The Blue Lagoon served fish and chips (not very american!) which I had one night for my tea! I agree that the pool areas were crowed on sea days - BUT so would a hotel pool be in any med resort in July. So, to all others reading these reviews - there are 2 sides to every story!! By the way I read the Mail.
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT
Question by jones, southport (19 Aug 08 15:13) about a COMMENT by Welch (19 Aug 08 07:32)
we have booked on the same ship for august 2008,we are a party of 10,4 adults and 6 children,1 passenger disabled,after reading cruise from hell we have become very worried,and are thinking of cancelling,loosing our deposit,was there anything negative that you can tell us about your holiday,we are worried it is blackpool on sea,not that there is anything wrong with blackpool as i have visited many times,but would not want to pay thousands to stay,i also read the mail,whats his problem with that,
ANSWER
Answer by Welch, Workington (19 Aug 08 20:56) to a QUESTION by jones (19 Aug 08 15:13)
This was our first cruise and so I can not compare - which is probably a good thing - with other cruise lines. Lets not forget the Jade is a four star rated ship (not a five star cunard liner) which also offered free child places for our particular cruise. We took up this offer and so did many others which is why there were lots of children on board. We too read the reviews of passengers before we did our cruise and I summarised from those that if you had cruised before you didn't enjoy NCL and if you had not cruised before you did! Go with an open mind and you will have a great time. Enjoy your holiday.
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT
Answer by Kincaid, Derry (19 Aug 08 18:53) to a QUESTION by jones (19 Aug 08 15:13)
We (2 adults and 2 teens) had a different experience, but everyone is entitled to an opinion. Unfortunately, I cannot compare our recent cruise with other cruises like Ms Haydon's can. NCL is cheaper than other ships. Its probably not the best but overall I felt it delivered on what it charged. The ship can be likened to Blackpool in some places, especially by the Pool! But other parts are very pleasant, the Star Bar was very nice and always empty. She does have a good point regarding overcrowding, as a lot of children shared cabins with their parents, therefore increasing the ships passenger capacity, instead of two to a cabin, there could be four. We had no problem with booking restaurants and only had to wait twice for Alizar and Grand Pacific but that was to be expected and wasnt a problem. No waiting for the restarants with extra charge, you were able to phone during the day to book a table - no prob. We were awful worried too before we left, but we had a great time and I felt it delivered on what we paid. Go to Grand Pacific on arrival and you should have a nice relaxing lunch, food is fine and the service was good. We loved it, if overcrowding annoys you - there is quiet places on the ship, even on sea days. If you read all the reviews, you should get an even balance and pick up a few tips. And yes, they're out to get as much money out of you as they can when on ship - try not to let this annoy you, ignore it, its business. Its your choice what you spend. Good Luck.
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT
Comment by haydon, london (19 Aug 08 13:02) about a COMMENT by Welch (19 Aug 08 07:32)
...I should add that far from being a one off this site has many reviews on it that are less than positive about this ship. At the end of the day this was a very, very average cruise on a very very average ship. Are you seriously telling me you have not been on better?
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT
Comment by tom, london (19 Aug 08 12:53) about a COMMENT by Welch (19 Aug 08 07:32)
We obviously have *very* different interpretations of what a holiday is!
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT
Comment by Wilba, N (18 Aug 08 22:18) about this REVIEW.
Hi! Your comments about the ship being overbooked made me smile. Were there people in sleeping bags on the open decks? The fact is cruise ships go out full most times of the year. They don't run around with empty cabins just to keep the numbers down, so how can they be overbooked? That said, I'm no great fan of NCL so you do have my sympathies. Regards
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT
Comment by haydon, london (18 Aug 08 23:09) about a COMMENT by Wilba (18 Aug 08 22:18)
Thank you for your sympathy! When I say overbooked I mean overcrowded - this is when taking into consideration the facilities and space on board to the ratio of the number of passengers. The bottom line is that the ship could simply not cater for the number of people on board in my opinion; it did not have adequate facilities, space, amenities, sun loungers (!) or chairs in general for the huge number of passengers. Like I said in my original review on the Jade they cram you in like cattle.
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT
Opinion: Disagree Comment by Kincaid, Derry (18 Aug 08 16:21) about this REVIEW.
Oh, this certainly wasnt the cruise for you. I do feel you are a little harsh and unfair. I wonder why you picked NCL in the first place as you're an experienced cruiser. We made the mistake of not reseaching this ship ourselves, and only checked the reviews after we booked and we were extremely aprehensive. So our expectations werent very high, maybe thats what helped us and we had a very pleasant time, our kids loved it but they were also of an age to appreciate their experience and they did not run unsupervised throughout the ship. I agree with the standard of food, you got what you paid for, and the entertainment wasnt great. I do not agree with your view on tipping, what about the people behind the scenes. I understand RCL do it this way also, although I feel it should be part of your initial cost. But as I've said before, £75 pp per day and £5 for tipping is not daylight robbery, how you can say it is, shocks me, and you live in London!!! We had great service, no language problems. The pool was far too small. We didnt find any problems with children, considering the number on board, I didnt meet many rude people but there was some, but there was 2800 people on board! But I agree with you, there is no excuse for bad manners. The Grand Pacific was empty on departure day - only 12 tables occupied - you would've like that! Hope you have better luck next time.
ASK A QUESTION
COMMENT

Add a COMMENT about     Ask a QUESTION about     ANSWER  Question

Agree with Review?            

Publish a Review
  • cruise awards
  • Berlitz Cruise Guide
  • Cruises from Southampton
  • Cruises from Barcelona
  • Cruises from Venice
  • 2010 World Cruises
  • Mini Cruises
  • Cruises from Rome
  • cruise from New York
  • Cruises from Harwich
  • Cruises from Dover
  • alan titchmarsh