Norwegian Jade Review
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My husband and I were on the Jade from October 10th - 17th. This was our first time in Europe, and it was incredible. We booked the cruise a year ago, booked the airfare in February, and reserved a room in Barcelona for a night pre-cruise. We found great deals on all three. We also purchased trip insurance, which I always do since I feel it's a good investment if you're spending a load of cash on a vacation. I began researching and reading Cruise Critic extensively, which helped in planning and expectations. This was our first cruise with Norwegian, and I would sail with them again. We enjoyed the freestyle dining immensely.
Barcelona-Pre Cruise
We flew overnight from the States to Barcelona, arriving around 9 AM on Saturday morning. Customs was a breeze, as was the luggage gathering. We easily found a taxi and got to the Hotel Pratkik 25-30 minutes later (cost was @37 Euros). Our room wasn't ready until 2PM, which wasn't ideal since we were so tired, but we dealt with it. We put our luggage in lockers, took the free map the front desk gave us, and ventured to Placa de Cataluyna. We stopped at El Corte Ingles and bought drinks and snacks, sat on a bench and watched the action. We had read about the pickpockets, and saw a few shady people, but didn't have any problems. I wore a crossbody PacSafe bag, DH had nothing, no wallet or cash at all. We then walked to the Gothic Quarter (Barri Gotic), which is beautiful. We watched a choir practicing in the cathedral. We stopped to get some cash at an ATM (first of four times! Credit cards aren't taken everywhere, sadly), and started back to the hotel. The weather was perfect. We sat on the terrace of the hotel and checked our e-mail until our room was ready. The room was the size of a walk in closet, but this wasn't surprising for Europe. It was clean and had a comfy bed, and that's what we wanted. After a nap, we got ready for dinner. We ate at Tapas Bar in Eixample that had yummy sangria. We sat outside, watching people. I wish we had more time in Barcelona, it was a beautiful city.
Cabin Review
Oceanview Picture Window
Cabin was clean and comfortable. The bathroom was roomier than I've experienced in the past. The location is close to the elevators, which was handy. The only drawback to the room was that the toliet gurgled during rough sea weather.