Norwegian Jade Review
Rating by category
Additional details
I would start by saying that this sailing was my 20th cruise. I have traveled to many different parts of the world through cruise ships, as well as land-based tours and a couple of business trips. Having cruised with premium cruise lines, I had deep reservations booking a cruise onboard one of the NCL ships, given the various mixed reviews that I had heard from friends and other sources, including the quality of service and food onboard.
In summary, I was indeed pleasantly surprised by NCL Jade. There was a great mix of passengers from many different countries with which I feel very comfortable. On all my cruises, I always enjoyed and appreciated the crew and their nationalities. In my opinion, the crew onboard the Jade was the best I have ever encountered. This is a factor that will definitely bring me back on another sailing with NCL. Kudos to all these wonderful people!
As regards the quality of food onboard, I have no complaints whatsoever. At home, I am accustomed to and prefers dining at fine dining restaurants at most times. I found the food on Jade's main restaurants to be good. The choices were varied and sufficient. I generally chose the fish/seafood entrees, but at times tried the beef entrees, all of which were tasty and well presented. I found the desserts not to be very sweet, which suited me just fine. I also enjoyed dining at the Blue Lagoon. It was like going to a local restaurant for some comfort food. I ate at the Garden Cafe (buffet) a couple of times as I preferred to eat at the main restaurants, whether it be for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This also helped me limit the amount of food that I would have been tempted to eat if dining at the Garden Cafe.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Our cabin was one of the accessible cabins. I was content with the cabin and the bathroom, having the extra space. There was enough closet space to store our clothes, as well as our luggage. However, the cabin can use some upgrade; for example, the TV, lighting and paint colour. Bathrobes were also not automatically provided, and we had to ask for them. Although there were shampoo and body gel in the bathroom, hair conditioner and body lotion are also necessary. Our cabin was located between mid- and the aft of the ship on the 9th deck. There were times that I could smell the aroma of the food coming from the Garden Cafe (Deck 12). As well, when walking closer to the middle of the ship, I could also smell the aroma of the food coming from the Blue Lagoon.