I'll start this review by stating that for a triple celebration last year we booked a cruise with Queen Mary 2. This was our third cruise with the preceding 3 being with Holland America and Queen Elizabeth. It was the most awful experience of any holiday ever with appalling food, arrogant surly staff and areas of the ship smelling like a sewer. We were compensated with $200 on board credit with a future cruise with them but nothing would get me to cruise with Cunard again. In fact we were seriously put off cruising until our son saw an advert for this 10 night Eastern Mediterranean cruise on NCL Jade for a quarter of the price that we had paid for the Queen Mary Cruise. Our expectations were very limited but we thought for what we were paying we'd give it a go.
Embarkation was efficient and very very friendly with lots of smiles. The friendliness and the smiling faces were consistent throughout the holiday from the management to the room stewards. Our mini-suite was a bargain with the extra space making a huge difference. I had read on this site that the mini suite really isn't that bigger than a normal room but I would disagree. The bathroom was plenty big enough and the sliding doors to add privacy was very welcome. As was the bath as the cruise had some very cold weather with blizzards in Istanbul. The coffee maker was a very nice addition, the TV was a new slim line one, the storage was more than ample, the full length settee, large desk, lighting in wardrobe, design of the room (so that there passage into the room was wide and not narrow by the wardrobe doors opening) were all excellent.
The dining was excellent - my son who has cruised on this boat before said that there had been an improvement in the food. On the Queen Mary the food was appalling - we would not have paid for any of the meals if we had been in a mainland restaurant but each meal in the Grand Pacific was good to excellent. If I had a criticism it was that the portions were a little large. I think the difference between the two styles of catering is that on the Queen Mary they are trying to provide fine dining to a mass market. It doest work. On the Jade they didn't try to do that. They just tried to provide normal food. If you want anything fancier then there are the speciality restaurants. We tried Tappanyaki ($25 cover charge) which was simply excellent and a wonderful experience. The Bistro was not quite so good with service being notably slower than in the main dining rooms. Also my husband's steak was a little tough but the restaurant manager dealt with the complaint in a very efficient and fair manner. It was our 25th wedding anniversary and a cake was brought to the table and the staff sang to us. A very sweet gesture. I have read criticisms about the cover charges i the alternative dining but do not agree with them. While the food in the 'free' dining is of such a good quality I do not see the harm in having to pay for the smaller speciality dining. I am a restaurant owner of 30 years experience and was more than happy with the food. The buffet groaned a bit under the pressure as is always the case at peak times but the staff maintained cheerfulness and efficiency.
We are light sleepers and the noise from above always starting at about 3.00a.m. (as they presumably cleaned the pool deck) did disturb us. I did complain one morning and it was noticeably quieter therefater but we were still disturbed. Work has to be done though when the guests are not around so next time I would choose more carefully.