This was our 4th family cruise and first on Norweign Cruise line. We have cruised Disney, Carnival and Royal. This by far is our least liked cruise. This experience left a lot to be desired from food selection to entertainment to kids program. The only best part of our cruise was the unlimited beverage package we opted for as one of the bonus. If we didn't have this I probably would of gave this experience a one. The only food we enjoyed was breakfast as it provided lots of options but that was where it ended as Lunch was below average and dinner we skipped because of lack of selection. Servers appeared to be unhappy with their jobs as they were not personable at all nor did they smile. They one person who was pleasant to see every day was the lady spraying antibacterial on our hands as we enter the outdoor dining room. We definitely do not plan to cruise Norweign again and will share with all our not so fun time here. Read Less

It is hard for me to be objective about this ship. My wife and I sailed on this ship for our honeymoon in November, 2007 when she was the Pride of Hawaii and it was our first and best cruise. At the time it was NCL's newest and most expensive ship ever built. The ships built since then definitely have bigger and better features, but I have a soft spot in my heart for this ship even though she is not the newest or fanciest any more. There were a few little things I could nitpick such as no Latitudes package or wine or stationary in our state room the first day and some minor issues with our shower which had a slow drain and inconsistent temperature but it did not stop us from having a wonderful time on the ship. Embarkation was as smooth as possible considering the ship was sold out. We parked with one of the off site parking services and arrived at our scheduled time and were checked in and on the ship in less than an hour. The rooms were not ready yet so we went straight to the Grand Pacific dining room for an excellent lunch. We were happy to see that the Grand Pacific was relatively unchanged during the refurbishment, the carpet and chairs and some of the paintings were new, but the light fixtures and marble staircase were left unchanged. We had not been on this ship since our honeymoon and were eager to see the refurbishments. Previously the Atrium and other public areas were adorned with Chihuly glass flowers, and I wish they had not removed them although the new color changing chandelier is also very nice. We preferred the purple and orange carpet to the brown and creme colored theme they are currently using, although I understand why they changed it considering the ship is in Europe half the year and is frequently used for charters. They also removed the water slide from the pool deck although compared to the breakaway class water slides this one was less than exciting when it was there. All in all the refurbs are classy, the ship is very clean and well maintained, and there are still a few leftovers from the Pride of Hawaii days if you know where to look, especially in the SS United States library and the bridge viewing room which still has the original US flag encased in glass. The Stardust Theater and the art in the corridors on the room decks were also as we remembered. The ship although sold out did not seem crowded except at the pool deck on the sea days and on the last morning at the buffet. The bars were also a bit crowded since this was a spring break cruise, but we were able to get drink service without a problem. Our cabin was ready around 2PM and we did have to clean a few smudges off the walls and fixtures that were missed in the turnaround, but overall the cabin was clean and everything worked. The A/C was a little noisy but worked well. Our room steward Renato was very friendly and addressed all of our concerns, when we asked why we had no Latitudes Package or wine he brought us three bottles! We also got to cheer him on during the towel animal demonstration in the Atrium on the last sea day. After the life boat drill and dinner at the buffet with some choice prime rib, we went to the welcome show at the Stardust Theater. This was a preview show of the main theater entertainment, Blazing Boots, Duo Nica and the Illusionists. The production quality was excellent but we quickly discovered that this wasn't going to be up our alley so we did not go to any more theater shows. Overall we were not impressed with the main entertainment which was better on the Escape when we sailed in December but the Jade Show Band and the Hi-Lux band were top notch and even did a few sets together. We especially enjoyed the Dixie Land set the Show Band did on the last night. The activities were a lot of fun, we had two sea days on a four day cruise and Richard, Francesco, DJ Flip, Nacho and the rest of the cruise directors staff kept us going with some very challenging trivia along with a scavenger hunt, bingo, deal or no deal, and other games. The service in the main dining rooms was excellent and on point. We were seated right away in most cases and served in a timely manor. (We tend to eat early.) We did see a few lines to get in to the restaurants at later times but again the ship was full and there were several large groups on board. There was a 30 minute wait to get into Jasmine on the first sea night but this is also the smallest non up-charge restaurant on the ship. They gave us a pager so we could go to the casino or out on the Promenade Deck so it wasn't a problem to wait. We ate at Moderno on our last night, the food was perfect and we had a great view of the sun set. Cozumel was our only stop and we loved it! We had never been there before but it was easy to get around with a super cute VW beetle we rented for only $30.00! The people were all friendly and we did not feel unsafe at any time. We stopped at Punta Sur for some fun in the sun and then on to the Mayan Ruins at San Gervasio. Punta Sur is a beautiful beach spot but I would not recommend going there without a rental car, the area is huge and there is only one very bumpy dirt road to get to the beach. There are only three gas stations on the island so we had to wait in a long line to get gas, but besides that the rental was a smooth and easy process and the rental office was within walking distance of the pier. Overall we had an excellent cruise and found the service to be better than when we cruised on the Escape in December, especially in the main dining rooms. The Escape is much bigger than the Jade but it seemed more congested especially in the Atrium where most of the activities were. The Jade had multiple activities in several of the small lounges so none of them felt crowded. As stated earlier I have a soft spot in my heart for this ship, but I would recommend the Jade to anyone who likes a fun cruise on a good ship with an excellent crew. Read Less

Both Platinum Plus members on the 10 day cruise and have disappointedly been experiencing a general decline in NCL service and product. Food: Cold food in the MDRs. Nothing like cold, soggy calamari for lunch (not!). Seasoning was lacking and at times the food was just inedible. I am not picky so for me to say this. The days of terrific NCL soup are gone. The food in the buffet felt recycled. Chinese noodles were dry, tasteless, and often burnt from the wok. I was eager for the different themed buffet nights but was disappointed there was no seafood night or Italian night. We (and many other guests as well as buffet servers) questioned the Spanish night and then the Mexican night two days consecutively. While I understand there are differences, the food didn't reflect them. The fruit seemed to have been the lowest quality - brown bananas and watermelon was horrible. The pasta station (with a nice S. African young man - Bufana) was a saving grace. Moderno and Cagney's were great as usual. Service: Thank goodness for the hard workers on NCL. From a terrific CD (Richard Mactic) to a very fun/personable chef (Rodney), the crew were great. The Officers were rarely to be seen. One of the Engineers at the Question/Answer was quite curt and it was obvious he didn't seem to be participating. Would have been more pleasant without his poor demeanor. The buffet Maitre'Ds appeared to be sleepwalking as we watched them walk from one end of the buffet to the other end without making eye contact with any guests. The MDR Maitre'Ds appeared robotic in their circling the dining area with downcast eyes, seeming to focus more on chairs being lined up than chatting or greeting guests. Boarding/Leaving: No Platinum Plus special line for embarkation. Got behind everyone else in line and awaited to be served by a worker who did not greet us and spent most of his time chatting with his fellow worker. I overheard them both agree that they didn't want to go look for English cruise ship maps/details so they gave everyone Spanish ones. Disembarkation easy except the wait for the bus transport took close to an hour! It was super nice to see Richard and the 2 "washy-washy" staff seeing us off the ship. They were the only friendly faces as we left and it was a spark of NCL days now gone by when it felt the crew cared about the passengers' experience as "family." Ship: The ship itself was clean although we found it odd that so many windows in the MDR were so dirty they could not be seen through. Nice new furniture everywhere although the MDR chairs were impossible to move. Pool/Lounges/Theater: It's unfortunate NCL has not adhered to their own policy for chair hoarding both at pools, lounges, and the theater. We often observed 3 women hoarding the chairs/couches around them which could have easily sat another 5 guests and no one else ever came to join them. Entertainment: Good shows - especially the solo male vocalist. Production cast were energetic but often seemed off key when the lead singers sang together. Seeing Richard's wardrobe sometimes was the best entertainment of the evening. The Atrium singer/piano man was excellent. Between 1p and 5p there was nothing to do. A lot of "dead" time. Richard was great but his staff were often nowhere to be seen or when they were, they were less than friendly not even offering a greeting "hello." Ports: All excellent except for Bonaire (poor excursion). This was the first NCL cruise in 5 years we did not buy a CruiseNext deposit. We are leaning towards looking elsewhere for several reasons but mostly because we weren't treated with special regard given our Platinum Plus status. I'm not even thinking about the retracted 2 dinners so now we get only 2 versus in the past 4. I'm just thinking about the days gone by where we were treated like "family" since we have about 35 cruises on NCL. The growth/expansion of NCL might be exciting but it also may be their quick demise downward. Read Less

We really loved this ship. Recently out of dry dock, and newly rennovated, it had subtle tones, and was very nice. There was a nice selection of dining options and entertainment as well. The cabin restroom seemed a little more cramped than usual, but certainly not uncomfortable. I loved the itinerary. We originally booked for the eastern caribbean, but due to the hurricanes, NCL changed the itenerary to a western/southern caribbean sailing, and it couldn't have been better. We "sail like a Norwegian" every year, and this one was certainly not disappointing. We always enjoy spending our evenings sitting on the top deck, under the stars, sipping a cocktail and visiting. Unfortunately, everything seemed to close very early on the upper decks (outside), but there were a lot of early evening entertainment options at Spinnakers and the Mojito bar. As always, the crew was amazing, thoughtful and helpful. I can't wait until next March when we sail again! Read Less

We chose this cruise based on the islands we would be visiting. The entire cruise staff were welcoming, made us feel like we were VIP guests and went out of their way to make our 4 and 10 year old feel special. We enjoyed all the restaurants, the drinks, the pool, Splash Academy, shows and entertainment. We cruised with another cruise ship years ago and this experience was hands down the best and exceeded our expectations. The islands we visited were fantastic, we were treated excellent at each port by locals and felt safe throughout the islands. Our room steward was amazing, he greeted our boys every single morning and evening with fist bumps and knew them by name after the first day. We had exceptional service in the restaurants, the waiters made great recommendations from the menu and the wine steward paired delicious wines to go with our entrees. We are already looking forward to booking another cruise. Read Less

We chose this Cruise for the ports, however we really enjoyed the ship so we placed a deposit for a next cruise with NCL, staff was is very friendly and helpful ther is always something to do. Relaxing by the pool was great with lots of activities going on the only downside to being by the pool was the music being played by the DJ always the same not enough varieties they could be playing all kinds for a little for everyone especially when the average cruiser on this ship was in their 50’s, when the bands were playing it was great. The shows at night was very entertaining, the service in the Alizar restaurant was awesome and the staff really looked like they enjoyed their job. We cannot wait to go back it was Avery great experience overall, yes for sure their is always the little things but the good is what we took back home with us. We would definitely recommend Cruising with NCL great job everyone!!!! Read Less

In my opinion, NCL's standards have dropped considerably. There were a lot of times that my husband and I sighed in disappointment. The food in the dining room, was not up to fine dining standards. Fish that was WAY over done, finding a piece of shell in the escargot (and being told "that happens"), not much variety considering it was a 10 day cruise. The shows in the evening were just so-so, children allowed in the lounges after 10pm, smoking areas were almost non-existent, no dress code enforced in the dining room (pajama pants and flip flops). Getting on and off the boat went very smoothly. Richard, the cruise director, was great. Mark Anthony, our cabin steward, did a fantastic job. We felt that the service staff (bar tenders, wait staff, etc) just didn't seem to be a friendly as in the past, but then again, if you know that you're getting a 20% tip without even trying, why would you go above and beyond. This was our 4th cruise with NCL, we will give some serious thought to which cruise line to take next time. This cruise actually made Carnival not look too bad. Read Less

We have cruised on NCL before and love the freestyle aspect of the cruise. Some of the shore excursions were not very good but the overall experience was great. We traveled with 12 other cruisers from our area and what a blast. We were discouraged with the dinning package that we chose, we weren't able to use it because they were always full at the times we needed them. The other dining was very good lots of choices available. The staff was very friendly and the shows were excellent. The service we received especially from our cabin stewards was excellent They were very friendly and very respective of us and our needs. If and when we decide to go on another cruise we will consider using NCL, it is the best line were have been on. Thanks NCL for making our cruise an enjoyable one. Look for us again soon. Read Less

We chose this cruise 18 months ago with different ports but due to Hurricane Irma those ports were changed. At first we were disappointed; however our visits to the ABC islands was fabulous. The excursions were very good, Dutch Caribbean islands Aruba, Curocao and Bonaire are definitely worth the visit. It was interesting to see how three islands so close together could be so different in living style. We did not experience the specialty dining restaurants on this cruise as we had done so previously. The Alizara and Grand Pacific Dining rooms had an excellent dinner selection each evening. The Garden Buffet The Jade crew were very friendly and helpful especially one particular “washy washy” girl at the Garden Buffet. My wife and I enjoy the sea days on the “sunny, sunny and more sunny” deck where we met several other very nice people from around the world. We are Norwegian Freestyle cruising.....so much fun, many great memories. Read Less

We chose this cruise for our 20th Anniversary. From the time we stepped on the ship to the time we got off it was awesome!! This was our first 10 day cruise and it wasn't much different than a 7 day. We renewed our vows while on the ship and it will be a memory that will last forever. Everything went so smoothly on embarkation day as well as disembarkation. Ports of call were awesome and so were the excursions that we took . The service, food and entertainment was great as well. We had dinner a few nights at the specialty restaurant's and the portions were too much to even finish. The ship was the perfect size as we have sailed on the bigger ships and don't really have a preference on the size of the ship. I would definitely cruise on this ship again and recommend it to anyone. Read Less