Norwegian Jade Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Firstly us. We are a retired couple, an engineer and bookkeeper who have travelled extensively both independently and with travel organisations. We have only cruised three times before this, twice on the Thomson Spirit around the Mediterranean and Adriatic and to the Norwegian Fjords on the Grills on Queen Mary 2
This cruise was arranged around six or seven weeks beforehand using a mixture of NCL and Thomas Cook. The booking was painless and we got more or less what we wanted. Because of time limits at either end of the cruise, we opted for a fly-cruise using NCL for flights both ways from and to London. Ideally we would have chosen Heathrow over Gatwick, but there were no NCL Heathrow seats left when we booked.
Not wanting to get up in the middle of the night to circle the M25, we opted for the ease of using the Gatwick Sofitel because we could just leave the car there and just walk over the bridge to the booking hall on the Saturday morning. The Sofitel system was superb and well worth the money -- a good choice. There was a minor irritation with the NCL flight booking system because you cannot book on-line and we were a little confused as to where exactly to go to book in, but we managed and shortly after we had done it there was an NCL representative in the booking hall for any lost souls!
Cabin Review
Penthouse with Large Balcony
Great balcony with two plastic wicker-like loungers, two chairs and a large table. The balcony overlooks the stern and the sound of the ship moving through the waves is a real treat. You can leave the glass door open most days and nights if you want on a summer cruise because there is virtually no wind due to the forward movement of the ship. Bags of room, decent big flat-screen television with virtually no programmes on it other than a film channel and Sky and BBC news. There is a bath with a very effective shower, separate wash basin and a wc with a glass door to separate it from the washing area. There is a large walk-through wardrobe with lots of space and lots of drawers and cupboards. There is a digital phone handset that works all round the ship that can be sued to order anything you want to be delivered to your suite or to talk to the concierge to book anything. There is also a small table with four chairs. The butler will look after everything in the cabin and will bring small treats every afternoon - the chocolate coated strawberries are a real treat on one of the days!