For a too-short two-day cruise, I had cabin 11018, the Sapphire Penthouse. Amazing space. With a butler, champagne (not just sparkling wine) and a doorbell. Not to mention a window in the tub and a window in the shower. With special breakfast settings in The Moderno and lunch in Cagney's, the cruise was special. This is the second time I have taken the Southampton-to-Hamburg cruise and embarkation is always organised. What I didn't realise was that I was supposed to be in the VIP check-in. My fault because, when the receptionist ask me my cabin, I simply responded that I was Latitudes Silver and she put me in the Latitudes queue. If I had shown the papers, I would have been moved to the correct place. Still, once in the right place, we were the first to board. And then it was straight to O'Sheaghans for wings. It has become a bit of a tradition. Both dining rooms are comparable, tho Alizar a bit smaller. Choose according to personal preference and style. Getting off the ship couldn't have been much easier. A small queue for immigration - but that was probably 8 minutes max Read Less

This is my second cruise on NCL and first on the Jade. I was looking forward to a smaller ship due to more personal service and personable crew. The ship's pools were a bit small for the sold-out two-day voyage I was on; restaurants sometimes packed and entertainment was only okay (for a cruise ship). I had an inner cabin which was just fine and located upstairs aft which was convenient. The quality of the food was overall okay The food and beverage staff were all tremendously friendly. Guest services, however, was anything but. I only had a minor problem but being dismissed by each person I talked to in guest services, and being told there was no manager to talk to, really sealed the deal for me. Other guests on this cruise had similar experiences, to the point of multiple people complaining throughout the cruise, all falling on deaf ears. What a disappointing experience. Read Less

To get acquainted with Norwegian we booked a mini cruise on the Jade. We have sailed with other companies and they are all well liked, we were very curious in advance and were looking forward to this weekend. However, this was a mini cruise that was pretty disappointing. Try to keep it short, the free drinks (all under $ 15), probably in combination with the beautiful weather, a lot of passengers were drunk (there was also plenty of liquor offered) and this gradually became more noticeable. Especially at the pool deck and in the restaurants, there was an aggressive atmosphere at a certain point with a number of guests. We witnessed a group of Germans who would have had a reservation at Teppanyaki, we were waiting at the bar at the Jasmine Garden before we were given a table. The lady behind the counter apparently made it clear that something was wrong, on which a discussion arose between the group of men and this lady. This got pretty out of hand, many guests have seen and especially heard it. The men were drunk and behaved horribly, several managers were called in to get the group calm again. The atmosphere was therefore very uncomfortable, crew in the Jasmine were also a lot less nice. The people under the influence were numerous and that gave a strange atmosphere during this cruise. Security was present on the ship, but not seen once! On the pool deck, guests in all four jacuzzis were drinking a lot and even eating a plate of chicken wings. Despite appealing from a crewmember this did not stop, crew walked around it at a certain moment, their facial expression already told me enough. These are probably incidents that I noticed, especially on such a mini cruise. Saw a group of 30 women in a kind of bachelor party that managed to clear a complete O'Sheehan's, bar staff who made it clear that they had enough of it, but nothing was done with it. And so I can still write down some notable things. Our balcony cabin was fine, the crew member was very precise and did more than his best. The food was pretty disappointing with the exception of Grand Pasific, especially the buffet of the Garden Cafe was bad (lukewarm food and indeed on plastic plates). Furthermore, we noticed that there is music in every public room, which is pretty present, a normal conversation is impossible in some restaurants, you have to talk pretty loud if you want to understand each other. The behavior of some people towards the crew is quite bizarre, do not understand that the crew has to accept all this. You also understand that a part of the crew is fed up with this, but some do keep their smile on. But good show must go on and they know that on the Jade, but at the cost of what. Read Less

We sailed this cruise about 6 weeks after completing a Panama Canal/Transatlantic back to back on the Star. We spent a couple of days in Southampton just getting organised and post cruise visited Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath for 5 days. Embarkation was fairly standard with huge crowds, inefficient lines etc but the staff were pleasant and we did not have to wait too long. For disembarkation we took our own luggage and left the ship late morning. We have previously sailed on the Star and the Sun and the Jade felt like the 2 ships combined, it had the crows nest bar and outdoor rear facing bar/buffet of the Sun but also had the O'Sheehans and Magnum bars of the Star. Overall the Jade was more contemporary and neutral in styling than the other ships. The layout was similar and it has the same problems of congestion in the hallways due to the strange configuration. The public areas felt more spacious though. We had on OB oceanview on deck 4. The size was the same as the other ships which was ok. It was difficult to get past the furniture to the bed. Storage was limited. Bathroom was a good size. Shower pressure was average and our toilet leaked one night and flooded the cabin. We received some obc as compensation. The bed was very comfortable. Dining, same offering as other ships but food quality was poorer than we had on recent Star sailings. The meals in the MDR were very inconsistent even when ordering the same thing. Portions were small. French Bistro was the worst food on the ship (after being the best on the Star); Teppanyaki was way too salty (and I love salt) after being perfect on the Star; Cagneys was very good with superb service; La Cucina Italian was superb (after being average on the Sun). Service around the ship was very good especially in the bars with bar tenders remembering our names - amazing on such a big ship (maybe because being in our early 40's we were younger than most - the average age was 70). Entertainment - some new stage shows were appreciated with blazing boots very enjoyable and the new show (forgotten name) which was similar to a Cirque style show absolutely amazing. The guest entertainers tended to be average at best, Tre Amici had little connection, we have seen Lily Jane many times. There was loads of activities as usual and the cd and his staff did a great job. Ports - we had very mixed weather with heavy rain in Bergen and Tromso and wind in Honningsvag and Haugesand but Alesund, Stavanger and Loften were beautiful. Unlike recent cruises we actually had a reasonable amount of time in most ports. We organised our own days with car rentals in Loften and Alesund. A private excursion in Honningsvag. We walked or took public transport in the others. Other than the quality of food are only other disappointment was with the captain. We had high hopes when we heard he was Norwegian but we rarely heard from him. His greatest error was arriving an hour earlier than planned to the only glacier/fjord sailing planned and not telling anyone. Several people missed it. We were heading to the show and asked an officer to contact the Bridge and ask how long we would stay there and were told at least an hour, we came out 30 minutes later and we had already left. Other times when we were sailing thru picturesque fjord areas there was no mention of it. This is completely at odds with other cruises we have done and in particular to the other cruise we have done to Norway. Overall a good cruise and we appreciated the Jade over the other ships we have taken on ncl. Read Less

My wife and i chose a cruise up the coast of Norway that passed the Arctic Circle and went up to the North cape. It was splendid scenery with very interesting animal life. I have no complaints with the level of service or friendliness, but note the following: This cruise line assumes you are like a child. There is no education on board. In a place teeming with interesting animal and bird life, you are on your own to learn about it. Cruising the glacier? Figure it all out for yourself. I would faint to hear even minimal facts or history of the ports we visited.. Norwegian assumes that because you are on vacation, you have no desire to learn anything. So what you get is shopping, shopping shopping, amateur shows, bingo, and music that explores no boundaries. Only tired rock and roll songs and very standard jazz (sometimes) is apparently allowed on the ship. The big "effort" at entertainment was a "viking ceremony" supposedly in honor of ancient Norsemen. It consisted of pouring water over the heads of passengers while they sat on a chair near the pool and wore plastic viking hats with horns. This was utterly disgusting. Not only was it not funny, it was an insult to the great history of Norwegians. Sea days are incredibly boring. I note that in our two Alaska cruises on Celebrity, there were wonderful naturalists who spent hours in the theatre educating us and entertaining us about the animal life, geology, and the seas. The ship is gorgeous, having recently been redone, but Norwegian made a terrible mistake. They took out one whole side of the 12th floor buffet and built a specialty restaurant. As a result, the buffet is terribly crowded nearly all the time, and finding a seat is a real challenge as you walk around with your food desperately trying to find a seat before your food gets cold. A disaster! Read Less

Our group consisted of my mother, who was just shy of 85, and myself in Owner’s suite cabin 9504, and my brother and his wife in the connecting balcony stateroom, 9506. Here are some general observations of the ship, itinerary, dining, etc. The first point to mention is that prior to boarding, we took the NCL shuttle from Gatwick airport to the ship. NCL needs to update the information available online. The information states that the pickup point for the shuttle is at Gatwick’s North terminal only. We stayed over the night before at the Hilton connected to South terminal, so dutifully schlepped our luggage up to North terminal, only to find out that there is a pickup point at South terminal too. Mom was not happy. My brother and his wife went out of Heathrow airport which had multiple shuttle buses running, however there was only one for Gatwick, which meant we had to wait until all passengers had arrived. Two of the incoming flights were slightly delayed, so it was more like 1:30 PM before we arrived at the ship. Our stateroom just became available as we were boarding. We received a personal escort to O’Sheehan’s where we met my brother and his wife. This cruise attracts an older demographic. The average age of the passengers was 60 and there were only 75 children on board, of which there could not have been more than half a dozen or so teenagers. I did not get a nationality breakdown, but the percentage of Americans was certainly less than on the Getaway in the Baltic the year before. On that cruise, Americans made up about 40% of the passengers, while on this cruise it seemed that at least the Brits outnumbered the Americans. The crew seemed more diverse than on the Getaway as well. On the Getaway, Philippinos clearly dominated, but while well represented on the Jade, there seemed to be more from other places including Croatia, India, China and Latin America. My mom thought the Getaway was too big and things were too far away, so we intentionally chose a smaller ship for this year’s cruise. Overall it was an improvement; however being on the front of the ship did make some venues at least as far as on the Getaway where we were mid-ship. But the advantages of a front facing stateroom more than made up for it since mom could see out both sides of the ship without having to go up on deck. Compared to the Getaway, the Jade definitely experiences more motion. This was compounded by stormier seas and the fact that we were on the very front of the ship. Motion doesn’t bother us, but for those affected by motion, this may not be the stateroom for you. Mom and I both commented that we slept the best when the seas were at their stormiest. One thing to note is that when the storm door to the front deck is open, a draft will come through the stateroom door behind it. With temperatures in the 40s and 50s when getting to Northern Norway, this draft becomes very noticeable. Having a hull balcony on the side was certainly an advantage for this particular cruise as it provides good protection from the wind without significantly blocking the view. The room was all that we could have hoped for, and worked out well by making a common living room accessed from my brother’s stateroom. We pretty much always kept the connecting doors open except when sleeping. One thing we hoped could be done is to open the door on the side balcony too, but that is apparently not allowed. The closet next to the master bathroom is cavernous, I would only take points off for the amount of space available for folded items, while there is an overabundance of space for “knickknacks”. The shelf above the hanger rack cannot be used because the life preservers must be stored there. However since there were just two of us, it did not present any limitation, and there are places outside of the closet that could be used for flat storage. The bathroom was amazing, the only minor gripe I would have is with the mirror lighting. It really isn’t good enough for shaving, although the vanity mirror was excellent, just not my space. :) My mom and I are not much in the way of drinkers, and one place we screwed up was in ordering our three complementary bottles of liquor. Neither of us drink any kind of straight liquor and about the only mixed drink either of us have are margaritas. It was a bit awkward to keep asking the butler for mixers. In the future, I think we will just swap the liquor for bottles of wine. Our butler Putu was from India, steward Vanier was from the Philippines, and concierge Carlos was from Chile. All were outstanding. Putu was the consummate professional, we really never got to engage in idle chit-chat or otherwise crack his professional demeanor, and we did try. Vanier on the other hand was very engaging and always made time for us if he could. Carlos was a real hero for us on a couple occasions, including securing about the best table in the Grand Pacific dining room after a relatively disappointing experience at Alizar’s. We did not make a whole lot of use of the Haven area, mainly going up there on sea days when housekeeping needed to clean the room. There never were all that many people there, and usually the same ones. As cold and windy as this itinerary is, the Haven deck area went unused. We set out as an objective to eat at least one meal in every dining venue and one drink at every bar. My brother and I succeeded. We ate at seven specialty restaurants, doubling up on Le Bistro and Cagney’s. All were outstanding, although we would have to concede that Cagney’s on the Getaway was a bit better than on the Jade. Mom and my favorite restaurant on the Getaway was Le Bistro, and that was repeated on the Jade. The only real disappointment was at Alizar’s. We had a reservation, but were seated very close to the entrance, and all of our orders seemed to underwhelm. However our meal at the Grand Pacific was excellent, even though both restaurants share the same menu and kitchen, so I attribute the experience at Alazar’s as a one off. I have never been a big fan of the buffet, so it was pretty much as expected. We only used room service one time, to order pizza after hiking up to Manafossen waterfall. We only had lunch at O’Sheehan’s on a couple occasions, but have always liked it for breakfast and lunch. Not sure why people stream to the buffet when this is available, but I hope it stays that way. We had most breakfasts at suites only Moderno’s, and on sea days, lunch at Cagney’s. The crab cakes eggs Benedict at Moderno’s were excellent, as was the French dip sandwich at Cagney’s. The only bar that was a bit of a disappointment was the Saki bar. I never had Saki up to that point, so went there with my brother to taste a couple. Turns out the Saki bar only carries two brands and the bartender knew almost nothing about Saki including how to serve it. It was also the only instance where a crew member used the phrase “I only work here”. In fairness, he did come around and found a way to warm the Saki after he saw me holding my hands over the cup trying to warm it. The quietest bar was the mojito bar next to Moderno’s. There was rarely anyone there and it was always quiet. So if looking for a quiet place to get a drink, this is it. The best bartenders were found at the Champaign / Martini bar. Once you get them going they were a real riot, so that was the only bar at which we became “regulars”. The entertainment isn’t really why we go on cruises, but was decent. “Elements” was a lot of fun and my mom particularly like Tres Amichi. Los Blondes played a lot of classic rock and pop, including sets of the Beatles, ABBA, etc. and gave everything they played a bit of a Latin beat. My mom particularly liked Sean, who was a natural Kenny Rogers, playing a lot of Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash, etc. I felt sorry for him when he had to play in the main atrium, as all the activity going on there drowns him out, however there a world of difference to hear him at the stage near the Champaign bar. I would also add that we like the performance venues on the Jade much better than on the Getaway, where such venues seemed to be more of an afterthought than by design. One tip about the Stardust theater, while we could sit in the exclusive Haven section, the best seats are actually in the section behind it, especially for “Elements”. Hat tip to concierge Carlos for that. We thought all of our shore excursions were quite good except “Northern Lights” which only my brother and his wife did. I did not go on that excursion so cannot really comment. We made one mistake in going to the Viking farm (Historic Avaldsnes and Viking Farm), in that it was a bit too hilly for mom. My brother and I had to help her up the final hill from the walk to the farm. In Bergen we went on our own to do some shopping and hoped to take the funicular, but the weather did not cooperate. The top of the funicular was pretty much in a cloud bank. In Lenkes, Lofoten, we did the Flakstad, Nusfjord and Sund tour. An unexpectedly pleasant surprise for me was a stop to see all sorts of antique machine tools and engines, mostly steam. I almost missed the bus talking to the machinist who had acquired much of the equipment. In Tromso, we did the polar expedition, and visited the sled dogs. It was raining, the dogs were drenched and many were shedding their winter coats, so overall not at their best, but all were friendly and happy to meet us. There were also three litters of puppies at the time. Having had several Norwegian Elkhounds, this was mom’s favorite stop. In Honningsvag, my brother and I split up from mom and his wife. We did the King Crab Safari through NCL, while they did the land only version booked directly through 71 North. While expensive, the King Crab Safari was an absolute blast and the highlight of the trip. The large crab do not live in the little bay or sound they took us, so the crab caught were only 3’ across or so. One already in the holding tank was a bit bigger. After pulling in a crab pot, the crab was prepared and we chowed down on some very delicious king crab. The ride back was a blast to, with the driver taking the boat full out and doing donuts and such. The morning session only had 16 people signed up. In Alesund, we again went on our own and took the hop on hop off bus. Unfortunately everyone else seemed to have the same idea, so stood in line for quite a while waiting to get on a bus. It was well worth it, however. The view from the top of the hill, still containing bunkers dating to WWII, was amazing. Lastly, in Stavanger, excepting mom, we did the hike up to Manafossen Waterfall. While we knew it was an activity level 3 tour, it was still a bit more than I had expected. The description said “hike” not “climb” after all. At 60 years old, I found I was not as sure footed as I thought, so getting to the top was a bit of a struggle. Getting down was even worse on suspect knees. But the view made it worth every bit of the effort. My biggest gripe would have to be with the ship’s wifi /cellular. I accidentally burned a lot of my time unknowingly when my phone connected to the ship’s cellular network. I had only authenticated with the wifi, and did not expect that the cellular would connect. Talking to NCL, they told me I have to keep roaming turned off. The problem is, if your carrier is T-Mobile America, you must turn roaming on to connect to T-Mobile in Europe. If nothing else, NCL needs to put a daily cap on connection time. For instance, if you get 250 minutes, then set a daily cap of 10% or 25 minutes, and require people to explicitly approve going over that cap. The fact that it is based on time rather than data usage is a bit problematic too, as the network was often very slow and took a long time just to pull in email. In the end I hardly used the ships wifi and waited until we were in port. All in all, a great trip, and NCL remains our go to cruise line. Read Less

5th cruise with NCL and standards have generally fallen,there were several small niggles that accumulated to put a damper on the general cruise .No Smirnoff available in shop 1 day out of Southampton yet every bar seemed to have plenty during whole cruise . Booked dinner for 6 pm on table of 6 ,we waited in large queue then give any available table mostly for 2 ,know they go on anytime dining so why ask and print on documents. Service time in restaurants very slow ,one morning had to leave as excursion was due ,this was one hour after entering .Cruise Next was a joke ,we wanted info and possible booking of further cruise in September,cruise next Director said look at web site,we then asked for a price for a specific cruise as we were flying from Glasgow and again told to look on website ,she seemed only interested in selling deposits .might just look at websites of all cruise lines.asked for tea in spinnaker lounge told no tea available yet this was just above garden buffet ,could the barman not have picked up phone and have it sent up or was this too much to ask .public toilet on deck 13 being cleaned ,no public toilet at the end of ship until deck 8 and had to get down stairs as legs are bad and could not wait for lift.Asked for melon as starter ,it came just slice no garnish and looked like it was just thrown on plate. Some on the staff were great especially around to magnum bar and in the bliss but others were surly.In general poor and will not be back on Jade Read Less

Having cruised with several different cruise lines I think I can honestly say this was the worst and I would never cruise with them again The emphasis to spend money by Norwegian cruise lines is overwhelming. The overpriced gratuities £14pp per day and the additional 20% surcharge imposed upon drinks which are already double the cost of other cruise lines made this seemingly fairly priced cruise an extortionate price in total. In terms of their money grabbing ethics I think I was most disgusted when we arrived in Bergen. Having obviously purchased the cheapest docking bay the Jade was the furthest ship away from town. It was torrential rain when we arrived and rather than putting on shuttle buses for those with poor mobility (I have good mobility so the walk is no problem for me)they were selling cheap thin plastic ponchos for $3 Food in all restaurants was mediocre at best and inedible at worst (I had the toughest steak I've ever been served in one of the non free restaurant Cagneys). There were no vegetables served that weren't stir fried with limited and repetitive choice in the buffet self served on hard plastic plates drinks to be stirred with wooden sticks The entertainment was ok I guess if you like bingo, Mr & Mrs game shows and are keen on passenger humiliation. There are no really nice daytime lounge areas with everything geared around bars or areas where you can spend money. No seating available on the wrap round deck as obviously you can't buy anything there Although only one tender was listed in the cruise itinerary pre booking there were actually 3 tender transfers making it impossible for those with disabilities to go ashore. No explanation was given but it was noticeable that other ships had obviously paid to dock and the Jade had not. Shore excursions ranged between $85 for a walking tour around town to $295 If you want a good cruise at a reasonable price with good service and food then I suggest you look elsewhere and give Norwegian Cruise lines a miss Read Less

I did a Baltic cruise in 2015 on the NCL Star. It was absolutely lovely. The Jade in 2017, however, although a nicer ship (it had been refurbished to a less gaudy, less beach-themed motif), was a dramatically worse experience. From top to bottom, with a few exceptions, the staff were unhelpful and often downright rude. We were yelled at on more than one occasion for offenses such as asking to see a menu 10 minutes before a bar opened, or following signs for disembarkation when a crewmember though we should have known (despite clear instructions to the contrary) to wait before descendinn. In over 40 countries of travel and 5 cruises, this was by far the worst experience I've ever had with staff--and I'm neither picky nor hard to please! Perhaps chalk it up to mandatory tips, rather than merit-based tipping? And while I enjoyed every meal on the 2015 NCL Star, there were meals that were almost unedible on the Jade, including rancid bacon at O'Sheehans for breakfast one morning. The specialty restaurants were the exception. Finally, while the NCL Star put out gorgeous, location-specific crafts and souvenirs for my Baltics cruise (a wonderful touch!) the NCL Jade had Caribbean-themed items in the gift shop throughout the cruise, with a few incredibly cheap and tacky Norway-themed items strewn on a few tables about halfway through the itinerary. All in all, this cruise felt like somewhat of an afterthought for NCL, or something simply geared toward making money, rather than offering up a wonderful experience designed to garner repeat customers. I'm not likely to ever cruise with NCL again! That being said, the itinerary was absolutely wonderful, and I'd recommend the Norwegian fjords as a destination wholeheartedly! We also thoroughly enjoyed the hardworking entertainment staff, and the shows they put on (particularly Blazing Boots). Read Less

We have cruised before on Royal Caribbean” independence of the seas” , Princess cruises “Grand princess “ and P&O “ Ventura and Azura “ , so this is a comparison with other cruise lines.. to give you an idea... We decided to go on this cruise as the price was good and,we didn’t have to fly. Southampton to Norwegian Fjords and Shetland Islands for 9 days . Check in at Southampton was ok not the quickest but didn’t mind waiting as we were so excited for the cruise. When we got to the room our bags weren’t delivered and we waited for 4 hours which was the longest time we had to wait ever .On previous cruises our bags will be already in front of the cabin ... we were dissapointed as we wanted to get our stuff and we feel we wasted time hanging around . We had a inside cabin which was nice but small ,you can see the photos to give you an idea of space , we were impressed with the toilet and shower that was a nice size ,more like a double shower that always had hot water .Toiletries provided were of low standards and only used once .. also I have never seen such thin toilet paper ever ... next time I’ll take my paper from home hahahahaha. The inside room don’t offer a kettle or mugs to have hot drinks ,I asked for one and was told “ sorry no “ with all other cruise lines we always had the facilities biscuits and sweets replenished daily. We had breakfast in the buffet and the food was very nice but you could never find a free table ,almost every day had to share a table with other people which we didn’t like ... the outside area it was very nice if you were lucky to find a table . We used the posh didning room that were free and we enjoyed the atmosphere was relaxed and not a strict dress code ,but we felt that the waiters were always so busy and we had to wait a long time to be served. Most of the time the foood will be nice and hot but other times was not presented nice and almost cold... The entertainment on this ship it was the most disappointing , it felt so amateur , the singing production felt like it was for kids and so loud .... The last show production “ Elements” was the only one we enjoyed ,The magician was the worst we had seen ,really ? ?? The flamenco guy was ok but after 2 songs we were bored . There was a band 24 karat which we listened to in the Bliss bar and they were really good.. We enjoyed the atmosphere around the ship so many nationalities like we never seen on other cruises before ... and the fact that the majority were adults and not many children. On one day I decided to have a hair cut and made an appointment ,I was told it will be $56 to cut wash and dry . The hairdresser man did Not listen to anything I said ,I showed him pictures what I want and he was ignoring me,pulling my hair very rough I felt like he was not competent and in the end my hair was very short and the bill was $94 which shocked me ... the worse experience on the ship. The ports we visited were beautiful such nice scenery like we never seen before ,we enjoyed it all. the organisation to get to the port was very poor and on 3 ocassions we had to use the tenders... no explanation was given ... I would highly recommend this itinerary!!!! Lots to be improved on this ship , overall nice atmosphere very relaxed but we still prefer Princess cruises as it offers a lot more . Princess cruises our number 1 , P&O the worst we have been on ,and NCL and royal carribean somewhere in the middle . Read Less