Embarkation - This was not a factor as we were already on board the ship. We had planned to spend the day enjoying the sights of Barcelona however fate took a hand in this when we received word the day before that NCL was offering us an upgrade to a balcony stateroom. We spent the morning packing up all our things, lugging our suitcases up two flights and unpacking again. The NCL staff person who had offered us the balcony said our cabin stewards would move us, however, we are old hands at cruising. We know how terribly busy a turnaround day can be and figured we would just move ourselves up to the new stateroom as all the stewards had more than enough work that day. Stateroom - Our new accommodations on the 10th deck were larger, with an additional small sofa but had less actual storage space. Personally I preferred the storage in our old room however Dave does love a balcony and he spends quite a lot of time out there, reading and taking pictures as we passed different locations. And it is lovely to be able to get some fresh air without going to an open deck. For the first time on any cruise with NCL we had very poor service from our cabin stewards. We had to ask for towels in the room, asked for facecloths several times and finally had to call housekeeping at 11 that night to have facecloths sent up so we could wash before retiring. It was after one in the afternoon before our cabin was ever made up and it was as though it was the end of shift, they were tired, and the service was slap-dash. We frequently had to ask for items that should have been stocked - tissues, soap. This is the first and only time we have ever experienced something like this with NCL and it was quite a shock to us. To be honest - we longed for our old stewards who had looked after us so well.  Ship Appearance - As I stated in my earlier review of the Jade, the ship was immaculate as far as cleaning of public areas was concerned. It is just that the colors and decorations from the ship's previous life in Hawaii have never been changed and it looks tacky. All a matter of personal taste - some people liked it. I just felt it looked more like Wal-Mart gone mad than a cruise ship. Dining - Once again we enjoyed meals at both specialty and Grand Pacific dining. We ate at Papa's and I still feel there should not be a service charge for that restaurant and that the food there was better before the change in menu a year ago. We did not go to Cagney's this time since the 2 for 1 option has been dropped for that restaurant. As far as we are concerned the beef in Bistro is every bit as good as the beef in Cagney's and Bistro still maintains the 2 for 1 service charge option on port days. We dined at Bistro three times on this cruise (once on a port day) and always found the food to be delicious and the service excellent. We went to the Jasmine Garden again - always love the food and the friendly service there. We often had breakfasts in Blue Lagoon or popped in there for a snack. Dining room service was good in all the restaurants. Activities - I shall repeat here what I said in my review of the first part of the cruise. We like to cruise to relax and recharge our batteries as much as for the ports of call. We enjoy the Trivia competitions but otherwise prefer a game of cards or scrabble or a good book. We packed a bunch of pocketbooks but actually the ship library is very well stocked and there is no need to take any along. They offer a pocketbook exchange if you have brought 'plane reading material' along and want to change it for the trip home. There is a lot on offer by staff to keep people busy if they want an active time on ship. Children's Activities - There were quite a few children on the ship and we rarely saw them so I would say the children's activity staff does their job very well.  Service - The service everywhere on ship was excellent - with the exception of our cabin. Staff is friendly and helpful all over the ship. The only incident with staff, when there was a distinct urge to kill, was at dinner on the last night of the cruise. A group of us who had done several tours together met up to all have a last dinner together. We were seated in the annex part of the Grand Pacific dining room. I say this to explain that we could not see where the noise was coming from. And noise is the only thing I can describe it as. It started off by some male stating that he wanted to congratulate some couple on their 30th wedding anniversary. Fine. I am of the school that believes that people singing and clapping for a birthday is fine when it is a child's birthday and that an anniversary is a personal thing. I was brought up with the attitude that one does not disturb other people - it is simply common courtesy. Well obviously this male - whether he was the cruise staff or not we don't know - he had the microphone and was blasting throughout the dining room and possibly the whole ship - then started singing at full volume. Also he could not carry a tune in a paper bag. This bloody noise went on and on and on for about 5 minutes. At this point I had a splitting headache and several others at our table said the same thing. We had the misfortune to be seated right under one of the speakers. I don't know who allowed this to happen but it was a terrible end to an otherwise excellent dining experience. I sincerely hope something like this is never allowed to happen again. In my personal opinion - the man who inflicted this on the passengers either had no manners or had partaken too much of the wine.  Entertainment - We were very happy with the entertainment provided on the ship - both in shows and in the lounges. The show ensemble has great voices and a lot of talent. We enjoy the guest tenor Lawrence Robinson and went to his shows again. As stated before - we love the music of Jose Manuel Rodriguez - love to listen to him and love to dance to him. We danced on the carpet in the Martini Bar just to be able to dance to him. Our main complaint is that when Pepe is moved to a lounge with a good dance floor for one night - it has been scheduled after a port day when people are doing a lot of walking and are tired out. The evening of a sea day would be ideal - people can then dance all evening to his wonderful music. We were thrilled with the dancing of Los Mulero - that trio was absolutely fabulous. I went again to see them a second time - if they had danced every night I would have been there clapping every night! There is something in entertainment for everyone - from comedians to magic shows to late night 'let your hair down' events. We found the caliber of entertainment on the Jade was a definite step up from some of the other NCL ships. Well done, Jade! Ports and Shore Excursions - We had some fabulous ports of call on this cruise which was why we chose it.  Rome - This was the only rainy day on this cruise and as I was still nursing my sprained ankle (see review of previous cruise for an explanation of that) we decided that we would stay on ship. We have been to Rome twice before and had the weather been better would have ventured forth. We spent a lovely relaxing day on the ship - after all, our holiday - our way!Athens - We had decided to do Athens on our own and when we left the ship were approached by another couple from Ontario who asked if they could tag along. We said of course and the four of us had a lovely day. In the cruise terminal we are greeted by signs saying a taxi to the Acropolis costs 9 Euros. We figured if that was the official price we might as well get to the Acropolis that way. Outside we were approached by taxi drivers who wanted to give us a 4 hour tour of Athens for 150 Euros. We said no and next one said 4 hrs for 100 Euros. We kept saying we wanted to go to the Acropolis and the taxi drivers kept refusing. There was a fellow in charge and he said he would get a taxi for us. We got in and said 'Acropolis' and the driver took off and after a block said - it better for you - you go bus. We said no and he was determined to take us and drop us at a bus station. At that point Dave said - either Acropolis or Metro - NO BUS. So we wound up at the Metro station (after paying that cab driver 5 euros -needless to say the meter had not been running). Had we the time to waste I would have called a cop over but it was not worth the effort. We bought metro round trip tickets to the Acropolis for 4 euros each. We took the Green line until it crossed the Red line and switched trains there to go directly to the Acropolis station. Very easy to get around on the Metro as station names are all in Greek and English - it is well marked and easy to understand. We spent as much time as we could at the Acropolis and it was all wonderful. Then we headed down to watch the changing of the guard after a stop for lunch at a lovely local restaurant. We tried a little of everything and washed it down with a glass of Ouzo - wonderful. We walked to Syntagma Square and watched the changing of the guards and then went to the nearest Metro station for the trip back to Piraeus and a short taxi ride to the ship. We definitely want to return someday and see more of Athens but this was a wonderful taste of it. Izmir - We had a private tour to take us to Ephesus. We could happily have spent a week there - it was simply fabulous and we were so lucky to have a wonderful guide who could really bring all the buildings to life again. We even had the chance to go in and explore houses that were in the process of being reconstructed and see the experts piecing together the tiles to recreate the gorgeous floors. We had a lovely lunch of specialties of the area as well as more of the delicious apple tea and some Raki, which is very similar to Ouzo. Our guide then gave us the choice of a visit to a Turkish carpet maker or a ceramic studio and we opted for the later. I had fun trying to 'throw a pot' on the wheel - without much success I might add and then we watched the intricate painting being done and when we visited the shop brought home a lovely plate with an old Turkish scene on it as a wonderful souvenir of the day. We really want to return to Turkey and spend more time in Ephesus and see a lot more of the country. Istanbul is on our 'bucket list'. Egypt - We had a two day private tour with Temo Tours for a group of 10 of us. We had a three hours drive through the Sahara to Giza and saw the great Pyramid of Cheops and many other pyramids, the bent one, the red one, the step one. We saw the Sphinx, the Sun boat of Cheops and some of our group even got to go down in one of the tombs (my ankle prevented negotiating the ladder). We were booked in to Le Meridian hotel there in Giza and it was gorgeous. We just had time to drop off our luggage and it was time to be taken to see the sound and light show at the Pyramids (disappointing as it has not kept up with technology and appeared very amateurish). We then went to a boat on the Nile for a dinner cruise and show with musicians, belly dancer and several other Egyptian dancers/performers. The meal was lovely and we enjoyed this very much - total relaxation after the desert heat of the day. The next morning I woke up Dave before 6 so we could watch the sun come up over the Pyramids. We stood out on our hotel room balcony and saw a sight we will always remember. After a lovely breakfast we were off to Cairo and the Museum there for a real feast for the eyes - the treasures of Tutankhamen. Breath-taking and awe inspiring would be an understatement. I wish we could have spent the day in the museum but there was just not enough time. The next stop was the Citadel built by Saladin (Crusades and Richard the Lion-hearted's respected opponent). I was unaware that he had built the magnificent citadel overlooking Cairo. Within the citadel we visited the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. Our last stop was a chance to visit a bazaar and Dave and I had a ball exploring little shops and bartering. We came home with a couple of souvenirs for friends and some little 'treasures' to remind us of our wonderful visit to Egypt. We found the whole experience fascinating and enjoyed it all and definitely would love to return again in the future. I have read reviews that complained about begging or aggressive sellers or being nervous about their safety. We have seen more begging in the streets of London and more aggressive sellers in the Caribbean and certainly felt a lot safer in Egypt than we ever did in Jamaica. Visit and enjoy as a traveller rather than a tourist and you will truly enjoy the ancient and new wonders of Egypt. We shall definitely return someday.... Malta - This was our last port of call at the city of Valetta. It truly enjoys its reputation as a beautiful port. We got a local taxi and had a tour around the area and visited a lovely garden that had been visited in the past by Queen Victoria. We looked around a bit and then headed off to the silent city of Mdina. We spent an hour or so walking around that beautiful old city and enjoying the gorgeous weather. We headed through pretty countryside to Valetta and decided to do the rest of our touring on foot and headed into the center of the old city and found ourselves a nice little cafe to have lunch. Then we headed over to the Co-Cathedral of St. John and spent a fascinating hour there. It was the church of the Knights of St. John and the wealth and decoration there was amazing. Dave was so happy that we got to see the two Caravaggio paintings on display there - one of St. Jerome and the other the masterpiece of the collection - the Beheading of St. John. After leaving the cathedral we headed up to the Bastion for a magnificent view over the city and harbor and then started to wend our way back to the ship. Disembarkation - We opted to take our own luggage off and leave early as we had an early plane. This was smooth and easy for us. Going through the terminal we noted that the luggage was well organized by color and it would be very easy for passengers to find their own luggage. There has been a marked improvement in luggage handling since the last time we debarked in Barcelona two years previously. Special Thanks - We always carry our laptop computer with us when we travel and the hard drive died just after we left Rome. The Assistant Hotel Director of the Jade very kindly loaned his personal computer to me to use for the remainder of the cruise. His generosity went above and beyond the call of duty and I really appreciated it. Ehab Rashwan was a charming gentleman and he continued to surprise me by being at the gangplank on disembarkation day to say a personal good-bye to the passengers (or as he said, his guests).Summary - Minuses - At the cruise critic Meet and Greet at the start of this cruise we were informed by the Hotel Director that our passports must be turned in and that we could use photocopies to go ashore in ports and would get them back at the end of the cruise. As we have done cruises to Rome before and been told by NCL on those ships that Italy only recognizes actual passports and not photocopies we kept our passports with us when visiting Rome and Athens and turned them in that night as Turkish officials came on board at Athens to process our passports. We had no choice but to go ashore in Turkey with a photocopy however our passports were returned to us before Egypt as one can not go ashore without them in that country. We kept them and carried them with us again when we went to Malta.

What is done on ship in regard to passports appears to depend on who the Hotel Director is as we ran into this same individual on a cruise going from Barcelona to the USA one time and he insisted it was US custom regulations that all our passports be kept by the ship from the start of the cruise until we reached Miami. Needless to say we did not turn ours in until after our last port of call and I made a point of asking the Immigration inspector at Miami if this was a government requirement and was told NO - this was just being done for the ship's convenience. In this case the convenience of this Hotel Director as this has not happened on other trans - Atlantic crossings on NCL ships with different hotel directors.

I can quite understand that it is much easier to have all the passports turned in the evening before going to a non-EU country as they must all be stamped by that country's passport control agents - as had to be done before Turkey and before Egypt. It saves the passengers from standing in line all evening to be processed in order to get off the ship early the next day. But it is also possible to have passports turned in by passengers at the appropriate times by telling them the truth. Read more