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Norwegian Jade Review

Cruise from Hell

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Norwegian Jade
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dadzomar
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jan 2010

My wife and two adult daughters just returned from a 12 day cruise of the Eastern Mediterranean. The NCL Jade, a lovely ship was consumed by some sort of gastrointestinal attack almost from the onset of our trip. My daughters each spent three days in isolation with a very nasty virus and I suffered from some sort of lower digestive bacterial disorder that was never resolved. NCL did try to affect some changes around the ship by installing many hand sanitizer devices and eliminating self serve dining in the Garden Cafe in favor of crew food servers. Rumors of a "few" to several hundred sick passengers circulated throughout the ship. The service staff sprayed and scrubbed the ship relentlessly with disinfectant with little overall impact effect of the situation. I'm sure there were other passengers with bacterial issues similar to mine ( I did see a Doctor to report my problem) which, in my opinion, point to some sanitation issues within the food and water supply. As a former crew member having worked on various lines and ships, I can recall occasions when food poisoning became a problem that these companies worked very hard to keep quiet.

Another "highlight' of our cruise involved a passenger deciding to jump overboard wearing his life vest. NCL did do an impressive job of search and rescue and recovered this gentleman from the ocean within 30 minutes of his unscheduled departure. The good news regarding this cruise is that in my experience I've never encountered such a dizzying array of "issues" and more than likely, this was a rare exception to an otherwise positive cruise experience. The crew did an excellent job of making the best of things and worked very hard to accommodate our needs.

I found the new practice of "prepaid gratuities" very questionable. Paying money into a corporate fund for the "benefit of all" seemed like a good excuse, in my opinion, for NCL to pocket more revenue in a less than altruistic manner. I addressed a number of crew members regarding this issue and found my concerns well founded. The crew were under orders not to " talk about this with passengers". NCL begrudgingly adjusted our bill when we insisted upon paying certain crew members "service charges" directly to them in cash.

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