Norwegian Jade Review

Trip of a Lifetime!

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Norwegian Jade
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MileHighMama
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Mar 2010
Cabin: Family Balcony

My main reason for choosing this particular cruise was the ports of call. Rome was the initial temptation (I have always wanted to see the Colosseum), but Athens and Egypt were the clinchers. I, too, pored over the reviews for this ship and this particular cruise, writing down pointers as a first-time cruiser and trying to take the bad reviews with a grain of salt. Overall, we looked forward to this trip with great anticipation, but didn't set our standards too high as we didn't want to be disappointed.

We booked our own airfare as booking through NCL seemed quite excessive. I understand that the price includes transport to/from the airport or hotel, but we figured it couldn't be that difficult to make our own arrangements. We saved a bundle on airfare this way (found 2 RT from Denver to Barcelona with one stop for $700 each). We arrived in Barcelona the day before the cruise embarked and managed to easily find the right aerobus to take us to the Plaza Catalunya, an easy walking distance to our hotel. The Hotel Continental Barcelona is located at the upper end of La Rambla. It is rather old and quaint, but comfortable and pleasant, and we wanted something close to La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter. The front desk service was very friendly and helpful, and we would recommend staying here for the price and location. Your rate includes a breakfast and dinner buffet (nothing special, but decent), and complimentary wine, beer, juices and coffee at all hours of the day.

We spent that first day in a rather zombie-like state, having had almost zero sleep in the past 24 hours. We walked along La Rambla after checking into our room (they had a room ready for us even though it was only 9:30 a.m. and check-in isn't until 2:00), napped a little in the early afternoon, then took the metro to see Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. BTW, the metro is pretty easy to understand and get around in, and this is coming from someone who has never had to deal with this kind of transportation before (especially in a foreign country). Walked La Rambla some more, ate at a Tapas Bar and sipped sangrias, meandered through the Gothic Quarter and found some random music and dancing, bought some pastries, enjoyed the atmosphere, then went back to the hotel to collapse for the night.

Cabin Review

Family Balcony

Cabin B2

Loved the balcony cabin, more spacious than I expected, more than adequate space in the bathroom/shower, plenty of storage, remarkably quiet -- no real disturbance from the hallway or adjoining cabins.

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