We are a family of 4, having cruised 3 times before to the Bahamas (Disney Wonder), Alaska (Sun Princess), and Caribbean (Caribbean Princess). This was our first time cruising on NCL to the Mediterranean, and it was our oldest daughter's high school graduation present. She specified which places she wanted to visit, and this NCL Jade itinerary best fit the bill.
We flew into Barcelona and stayed a couple of days sightseeing before the cruise. We also stayed another day in Barcelona post-cruise. We stayed at Hotel Jazz, which is located in the Eixample district, near Las Ramblas. The hotel is conveniently located about 7 miles from the airport, and about 1 mile to the cruise port. Hotel Jazz was clean and modern, with free Internet and great service. Our only complaint was intermittent rumbling from the underground subway, and some outside street noise.
We arrived at the cruise port about an hour before our embarkation time, waited only a short time in line, and appreciated being inside an air-conditioned room. We've had to wait in much longer lines outside in the heat on previous cruises. Our stateroom was ready with our luggage in just a couple of hours. We booked two adjacent mini-suites, one for our teenage daughters (ages 18 and 15), and one for my husband and I. The rooms were spacious, with queen bed, a sitting area with extra foldout bed, a nice balcony, large closet, refrigerator, desk, and large bathroom with tub and shower. We wanted to be able to open the balcony doors between our rooms (like on our last Princess cruise), but were told they had to be closed while the ship was moving. Instead, the inside door adjoining the rooms was unlocked (which gave us a little less privacy). Also, my girls wished they could sun-bathe on the balcony, but that area never received direct sunlight. I thought the temperature in our room was too cold, so I appreciated being able to adjust the thermostat.
Our mini-suite was spacious and comfortable, large bathroom, closet, and sitting area. We liked having a coffee maker in the cabin, but sometimes had trouble requesting an extra packet of coffee. We had adjoining mini-suites and wished we could have opened the balcony doors instead of the inside doors. Balconies were nice, but wished they offered direct sunlight. We sometimes heard footsteps of kids running through the halls outside. Our greatest disappointment probably was the lack of self-service laundry facilities on the ship, like on the Princess ships. The laundry service charge was very high, so we chose to reuse our clothing for the duration of the vacation.