First of all I will start by saying that this was our first cruise. We had nothing to compare this to and little to no expectations of what to come other than reading reviews and comments on the forum here. With that said, we had a wonderful experience on the NCL Jade and we would both highly recommend the ship and the company to anyone interested in cruising, especially as first timers.

I will start with accommodations and the perks of the suite. After the prices dropped in September due to the fact that NCL removed Egypt from the itinerary we decided to upgrade to a penthouse suite. It was well worth it! The priority embarking process was simple and fast. We walked up, showed our passports, they took our pictures, and we were led to Cagney's by our concierge. By the time we were done lunch our room was ready. The accommodations were great and the view out of the back of the ship was amazing. We were in room 9170 which is the corner aft facing suite on the 9th floor. The square footage in the room was plentiful and there was plenty of space under the bed for our luggage. The closet space was great as well as the drawer space. The bathroom was small, but why do you need a big bathroom. The shower/tub combination was nice and big enough for two :) The balcony was roomy, and had a small chair and table and a lounge chair which I used a lot and even took a nice nap on listening to the moving sea. The bed was unbelievably comfortable and the upgraded blanket and pillows were great. The espresso machine in the room was okay but broke down several times, and that was a disappointment since my wife used it every day. Being able to eat in Cagney's for breakfast and lunch was a plus, and we ordered in breakfast from Cagney's every port morning. The butler service was fabulous and we were treated like royalty. Having our own concierge was great too mostly for the fact that we could make reservations in the main dining area even during busy times. Regular staterooms cannot do this as we found out after talking to some friends we met on board.

Next, on to the staff. Our butler Jayson was fabulous. He was prompt and courteous and recognized certain things. I told him from day one that I drank a lot of iced tea so he made sure to always have a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge. My wife is gluten free. So Jayson made sure that when he brought our afternoon snacks, he brought one for me and one for my wife that was gluten free. Our concierge was Karibi and she was great. She always stopped in to see us in Cagney's if she knew we were in there and she would make reservations for us in the dining area whenever we wanted. She even helped us out with reservations when we needed larger tables when we were going to be eating with friends. Our steward was Alfredo and he was wonderful. Our room was always made up promptly when we requested and turned down promptly when we requested. Alfredo always made fun towel animals and left fun notes for us. He was a joy to run into in the hall and we would spend lots of time just chatting about his cruise experiences and his family back home. The cruise director was Gary and he was amazing. I've heard a lot of people review Gary and say he's the best on the seas. I can see why they say that. Gary was personable, fun, and energetic and spoke about 10 different languages. He hosted the game shows, ran seminars, and was a wealth of knowledge and would have informal coffee chats each sea day. The employees that ran the activities were also fun and energetic and we had a blast getting to know them. Read more