Norwegian Jade Review

Absolutely Fantastic Cruise

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Norwegian Jade
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TBurr
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jan 2015
Cabin: Mid-Ship Balcony

To set the stage, in the last 15 months I have sailed on: Costa Pacifica, Carnival Pride, Liberty of the Seas (RCCL) and now the Norwegian Jade. I had never sailed on NCL before and was a bit hesitant due to all the “Free Style” hype. I just finished a 10 day Eastern Med cruise on the Jade starting (January 14-24) in Rome, Greece, Turkey and back to Rome. I was traveling alone and had a balcony cabin. The passengers were from Europe, Asia, North America and some South Americans. I was surprised about my experience.

I will give the “con’s” first since there is so little I did not like. Some of my complaints for this cruise are the same for every cruise line: the internet was ridiculously expensive, the airport transfers were twice the price of Costa, the TV programming in the cabin was horrible, only one plug (I always carry a power strip). The lighting in the cabins was very poor. The salad bar at the buffet was weak. The gym was very small and the equipment was not only old but many pieces were broken. This gym would never make it out of US ports. The casino was very small. I was surprised that it was not full of people.

Now the “pro’s”: This list could go on forever. The ship was spotlessly clean. Embarkation and disembarkation were handled very well. The crew and staff gave 110% service. I was so impressed with how they handled the different languages. The entertainment was some of the best I have ever see on a cruise ship. The food was some of the best I have experienced in decades. The buffet had a huge selection. Some of the food there did not stay hot, but it was all fantastic. The food in the main dining room was excellent. I did not try the specialty restaurants (the food was so good in the buffet and dining room I did not need to pay extra, although the price was very reasonable). By the crowd in the specialty restaurants I presumed people enjoyed it. The idea of the “Free Styling Dining” did not appeal to me at first, but I grew to love it. Basically, you can go to any of the dining rooms at the time you want to, not a set early or late dining time. I never found that you had long waits for tables. I do think that the British and Americans ate between 5:30 and about 7:00 PM, then the Spaniards and Italians came to the dining room around 8:00 on, so it worked out very well. It was a bit different not having a set server each night, and I thought you would lose some of that sense of service. Not at all. The staff is so fantastic they treat you as if they have been serving you exclusively for a week. Being a solo traveler I really appreciated that I was not stuck as the odd man at the table as on a set dining time/table. I could eat at a single table if I desired, or joined people whom I had met during the cruise. I LOVED THE FREE STYLE DINING. I would find it hard to go back to the set times and tables.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Balcony

Cabin BA

Very well maintained cabin.

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