Embarkation – First and last time I will use cruise line ground transfer. My flight arrived in Houston a little after 10:30 am and it was after 2 pm by the time we were on board due to a series of missteps and delays. Others apparently waited more than we did and were stewing on the bus getting cranky. They were not happy. Lesson learned. Spend the extra $25 and make your own way. Once at the port things went smoothly.

First Impression – Liked the décor and layout of Jade. Simple to navigate. Bow, mid ship and aft stairs made it easy to get around. Ship flowed well. There was little congestion. I for one like the Hawaiian themed décor.

Cabin – I was in a mid ship oceanview on deck 8. Cabin was a good size with lots of storage and a good sized shower compared to newer ships like Getaway and Epic. Two issues I had were the lumpy bed and poor pillows which made for a lot of tossing and turning. I asked my steward if they could help and nothing was done despite him saying he would ask his supervisor. Room was kept nice and clean but my steward was pretty much invisible and not very engaging. They started hoisting tenders outside my room at 6 am in Roatan. Bit of a brutal way to wake up. They did leave a note warning of it. Read more