We just got off the Jade TA from NYC to Mediterranean. The ship was a bit small but good. kept very clean, great service. The cabin steward and bartenders were wonderful. Visit Domingo in the Whisky bar - makes the best drinks. Entertainment was ok but you were able to see all the shows. Ports were good. The biggest issue we had was the poor excursions booked thru the ship. Not organized, too expensive for what you got, late getting off the boat, wasted time waiting around. We did three and cancelled the rest after those experiences. Oh and just a note - if you have a terrible excursion you must complain that day or they will not do anything for you. (lesson learned) Of course Norwegian says they are not part of them so they cannot do anything for you. So future if you sail book excursions from outside companies you get a better experience for your money...or less money for that matter. And if you go into a port that your have to be ferried over to port from the boat don't expect to get off for a few hours. It took us three hours to get into port. The experiences from the excursions may have cost them a customer. Read Less

We booked this trip last minute got an excellent price. Sea was calm all the way. Nice ship overall plus great entertainment. Don't like the fact that room service has a fee. NCL app free to download but if u want to use it to text cruise mates each person is charged $9.95. This is free on HAL. Drinks are expensive food was ok. Wish offered more selection at the buffet same fare every day. Plus no theme nights can you believe they did not have any celebration for Cinco de Mayo! Also the TV channels had no MSNBC or CNN just FOX, whats the deal with that? So if you wan't real news you had to watch BBC, but even that was turned off toward the end. I think Holland America is better because they offer the NY Times online or printed copies for no charge.But being a captive audience on a transatlantic cruise with only FOX news! That aside we loved the cruise the price and itinerary was fantastic! Read Less

I like transatlantic cruises because I get to Europe in a comfortable, leisurely and entertaining way.and without jet lag. I was disappointed with the kitchen and the dining room servers. In my estimation they were understaffed, inefficient, and ill-trained. The manager tried very hard to correct the immediate issues, but because it was freestyle dining we got different servers every meal, and it seemed as if each server disappointed us in a different way. Just a few examples.. Mistakes causing delays which caused us to rush the end of the meal or miss our following event. Some vegetables, like onions and garlic often had the outside paper skin. Sloppy pouring of water, coffee and wine. Mostly it seemed they were slow and didn't pay attention. Many of the handrails were loose and many handrails were sticky (soiled). The entertainment was mediocre, the violinist and the aerial acts were excellent, the saxophonist was inaudible above the accompanying musicians, the escape artist and the tango dancers were boring, the comedians were somewhat entertaining. We did not go through passport control in Europe which means there is no entry stamp which could actually mean that I am illegally in Europe. The cabin and cabin steward were excellent. Overall, I would not recommend NCL. Read Less

Transatlantic cruise was wonderful, so smooth. Dining, as always was very good. We went to several specialty restaurants, they were all great. Carney’s Steak house was fantastic. Entertainment was a little disappointing after seeing “Blue Man Group”, “The Legends”, and Electric guitar group on our last Transatlantic cruise. Need to ramp up the talent! Activities that I enjoyed were the MJ Thriller dance class and cupcake class as well. Service in O’Sheehans was horrible, staff was not well trained. Shore excursions were great, we did a few on our own as well. Excursion that we really enjoyed included a lunch in a Tuscany Winery, it was fabulous. Our last night on board after 25 days was wonderful as we enjoyed music in the Atrium. We returned to our room to put our suitcases out in hall for pickup. However after turning over our luggage the nite before debarkation-13 pieces of my clothing was stolen from 2 cases. The thieves had plenty of time to find what they liked-they actually paired items to create outfits! 13 pieces would require a couple shopping bags to cart off. I believe they were taken overnite in NCL storage, where was the security?? Plenty of time for these thieves to steal from me! Very angry, and getting thru to NCL Cust. Service has proved fruitless. I have always been very comfortable turning over our bags to NCL the nite before debarking, that feeling of security isn’t there anymore. I have to provide receipts and more paperwork. Not to mention shop for a swimsuit, favorite jeans and other missing items. Very disappointed!! Where was NCL security?. This is a huge inconvience and lots of time spent on this. It doesn’t help that Customer service doesn’t have your back - they never answered phone call about this. It has been 2 weeks now and we have not heard from NCL with an apology, a security report or any communication regarding our loses. Read Less

We will never cruise Norwegian Cruise Lines again. They were very expensive but low quality compared to any other cruise line we've sailed. Didn't even include water or coffee in their vert expensive drink package. Even their Specialty dining was terrible. They nichol and dime you to death....literally bill you for 20% gratuities. We were with a friend group of 7, and we all agreed we will never sail Norwegian again. The only thing good we have to say about Norwegian is they had the best on board Musicians we have seen on a cruise, and our room stuard was excellent. They had the most inconsistent mixed drinks I have ever had. They say they care about customers satisfaction, but it is apparent that their profit is their only true concern. We had a back to back transatlantic 24 day cruise and never saw a person win a decent prize at bingo even though they charged more for bingo than any other cruise line. Read Less

My wife and I had done a transatlantic cruise on the Breakaway last April, but our travel companions had to back out due to a late medical problem. So we decided to get together this year and do it again with everyone being healthy again. The cruise left from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, which is a bit hard to find, and is not really an inviting place to sit and wait for boarding instructions. However, once on board, everything went well. We had lunch in the Main Dining Room (MDR) and proceeded to our cabin (a mid-ship mini suite on Deck 11). We met our cabin steward, and have him a small cash tip to ensure good service. We never saw him again, but I must say that he did his job very efficiently and our cabin was always clean and made up after breakfast and turned down each evening. The cabin was comfortable with lots of storage space and nice verandah. Food onboard was of very good quality. We ate in the Alizar dining room a few times and found it noisy and cramped. The menu there was always identical to the menu in the MDR. My biggest problem was with the shortage of variety from day to day. Appetizers did not often change and the main entree page, while being different almost every day, often did not appeal to me. Having said that, the food was well prepared and always arrived hot. Servers varied from VERY attentive and friendly, to almost indifferent and slow. One evening in the MDR, we were seated in a corner and almost forgotten. In order to make the 9 PM show, we had to get up and leave before dessert because the server was incompetent and brought the wrong items. But, for the most part, service was good. We did enjoy the wide variety of buffet items for all three meals. Breakfast was as one would expect, with all the usual offerings. The burgers and pizza at lunch were always well prepared. Lots of great dinner items, with a different cuisine highlighted each evening. Entertainment and shows were of varying quality. We did NOT like the Cruise Director, Claire Booth. She is British, and had a nasty habit of affecting a snooty accent when making public announcements which drove us nuts! We did not find her outgoing, as has been the case with other CDs we've encountered. She did a daily TV show on the ship's system with here assistant Fabi, which was painful to watch, almost as bad as watching Hoda and Cathie Lee on NBC. The productions shows were of high quality, but we've seen better on other ships. The compulsory illusionist act was somewhat boring. However, the comedian, Tony Daro, was laugh-out-loud funny. In addition, a vocalist-violinist, Greta Salome, from Iceland was unbelievably talented. Most amazing violing work I've ever seen. We found out later that she is a violinist in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. They are lucky to have her. Won a few bucks playing slots in the Casino. Stayed as far away from daytime gambling opps such as "Deal or No Deal," as we learned last year that it is nearly impossible to win at that game. The casino had limited table games of the usual variety. There was plenty of stuff to do onboard during the sea days and the initial six days at sea during the crossing went by pretty quickly. Having the Unlimited Beverage Package made it a lot more enjoyable as we could have a drink at any time without worrying about the cost. Bartenders were always friendly. Always ordered my Aperol Spritz with a double shot of Aperol and never had a problem asking. Ports of Call were excellent. Our first call was at Ponta Delgada in the Azores. We were there last year, so we opted to walk around the town on our own. Enjoyed the Farmers Market and an outdoor meal at a sidewalk cafe. Second call was in Lisbon, Portugal. We had our own private guide and she was great. Showed us the city, as well as heading out to the town of Sintra. I can't recommend this town enough. It was wonderful! Had lunch i the seaside town of Cascais before returning to the ship. BTW, all of our shore excursions were booked on our own and we never had any problems returning to the ship with plenty of time to spare. Next port was Cadiz, Spain. We left the ship and immediately headed inland to Sevilla. Our guide took us through the Alcazar (incredible!) and then we spent some time at the Feria (an annual fair in Sevilla in May). Unbelievable costumes and displays! The drivere who brought us back to the ship was really nice and gave us a short tour of the city of Cadiz before we got back to the pier. After another day at sea, we arrived in Barcelona. We'd been there a number of times before, so we opted for a private tour of Montserrat. This is an impressive mountain with a monastery and cathedral on top. Very impressive. Excellent British-born driver/guide here and he knew his stuff, which made the day go very quickly. After Barcelona, we stopped in Cannes, France, and had an all-day tour of Cannes, Nice and Monaco. Our guide was so much fun. She took us to the village of Eze and the Galimard perfumery there. Then on to Monaco and Monte Carlo, where we actually won a few Euros in the beautiful Casino Monte Carlo. This was our favorite port call. Next, on to Livorno, where our driver met us in town (we took the ship shuttle bus--for 5 Euros per person--and noted that lots of passengers just ignored the ticket salesperson and hopped on the bus without paying and no one stopped them at all). We went to the small towns of Siena and San Gimignano. Lots of medieval stuff to see there and we had a very nice time. Finally, we arrived at the end of our cruise in Civitavecchia (the port for Rome). Disembarkation went smoothly and our driver/guide met us at the pier. We had booked a port-to-airport transfer with a three-hour included tour of Rome and the tour was wonderful. We had all been to Rome before, but our driver took us to places in Rome that we had never experienced before (along with the usual stops at the Colisseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, etc.). A great way to end our vacation. He took us to the airport and we said "Arrividerci, Roma" to end our 14-day journey. Read Less

This was my second transatlantic on The Jade, my fourth cruise on The Jade. I love the ship for its size, layout, always exceptional service and staff. Jen in the Spinnaker and Maria in the Champagne and Martini bar, both are treasures and a credit to NCL. I do not like the absence of the bar in the Atrium being replaced by *$s. Really, most of the customers were the officer staff of the ship.. Deep 6 *$s and bring back the bar~!! Always meet some of the friendliest fellow cruises on NCL. The guitar duo were phenomenal talents. Dave was too loud for several of the venues. One group that were awful (sorry) ruined sailaway in the Spinnaker twice. The vocalist (male) salute to Johnny Cash, and others, was painful~! Sometimes "entertainment" is just NOT necessary. Loved the trivia game with Brenda in the afternoons on sea days. Brenda is a sweetheart. Always enjoy the specialty dining. La Cucina had a fantastic Osso Bucco. Cagney's prime rib was the best I have ever had. La Bistro is heaven. Great itinerary on this trip. Cadiz was a delightful surprise.... beautiful city. Lisbon and Barcelona were wonderful. My second trip to Cannes and excited seeing the hussle of the city the week before the film festival. Love the Azores. Detested the confusing Rome airport~! JMHO... The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.... (but mostly THE GOOD) Read Less

I was planning a trip to Europe, & I was also shopping for a cruise. When I found this TA, it was a perfect match! I loved the itinerary! Besides that, the embarkation port was also my home port. I had initially wanted to sail on one of the larger ships, but chose the Jade TA for the wonderful ports on the itinerary. As it happened, the Jade turned out to be the perfect ship for a TA. It was very stable, & we were very comfortable. The Jade was recently refurbished, & its a beautiful ship; very clean, comfortable, & well maintained. We had a midship balcony stateroom. We had lots of storage, we really enjoyed the balcony. Yes, it could get quite cold out in the middle of the Atlantic, but we would bundle up & watch the amazing sunrise & sunsets. Watching the twinkling lights of Morocco from our balcony was magic! We had a very active Cruise Critic Roll Call. Our group constituted practically 10% of the total number on board the Jade. As a result, everywhere we went we knew somebody! We had organized several events, including a Sailaway Party, CC Meet & Greet, Cabin Crawl, Pub Crawl, Poker Crawl, Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, Left Right Center, Jewelry making classes, and last but not least, two parties at the sumptuous Garden Villa! We also went on excursions together. As a result, we had a fun filled, exciting cruise! I do believe we made life long friends over the 15 days we sailed together! We enjoyed many other activities like Trivia, lectures, language classes while on board. The nightly entertainment was over the top. Elements was a Vegas level show; the Illusionist was great; the Aerial show was memorable; the comedy show was laugh out good; night after night, we were entertained by a great cast of entertainers. And no repeats! Our cabin steward, Cher, kept our stateroom immaculate. He was hard working, & cheerful & always there. We couldn’t ask for a better steward. We ate at the buffet most of the time, because we were always in a hurry to go to the next activity! The food was consistently good. A big shoutout to Executive Chef, Saldanha! He was at the Buffet every day, personally supervising all the stations. We became good friends! I loved his attention to detail, & how he happily accommodated my dietary restrictions. We liked the Asian station, & the Hot Entrees stations the best. The food at the MDR was good, too. All the ports had so many wonderful options for excursions; but we always felt that we didn’t get enough time on shore, there was so much to see & do! After disembarking in Civitavechia, which is about an hour from Rome, we went straight to our hotel; then spent the next 10 days exploring Rome, Florence, Venice, & Milan by high speed train (Italo), which was another great adventure made possible by this cruise. I would do this itinerary again, in a heartbeat!! Read Less

The highlight of our cruise was the excursion to Pisa and Tuscany. As far as Pisa is concerned, that was disappointing and a lot of walking. Tons of tourists and not much to see. However, the Tuscany part of the excursion was the very best. Imagine sitting out in the open in a vineyard at a long table with 20 or so strangers. Then imagine many bottles of white and red wines and some excellent food. Conversation picked up quickly and suddenly there were 20 friends enjoying the view. On the way back, our guide, Sara, had all of us slightly intoxicated cruisers singing Volare and pretending we were Dean Martin singing "...when a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie.....". Well worth the money. The bus tour of Lisbon was disappointing. Everything seemed to be closed. You will either love or hate the early Vatican tour. You meet at 7:30 and stand outside for over an hour. You then fight the other 40,000 people (yes, that is how many people visit the Vatican every day and it seems like they are all inside with you at the same time). Tour guides are very good but it is a lot of walking and by the time you get to the Sistine Chapel you will be ready for a cold beer. Food on the Jade is not bad. The best food by far is at the Bistro. Cagney's can be great sometimes and mediocre the next time. The buffet provides so many options so if you don't like something then there is always something else to try. Seating is rather limited at times. Read Less

This was our fourth cruise, first on Norwegian. Could not even come close to the quality of all other cruise ships we’ve been on. Our biggest complaint was the lack of food choices available on the ship. TWO restaurants had the exact same menus. What a waste. Food average. Never had shrimp cocktail, properly made Italian food choices. Desserts and appetizers good. Rooms were adequate, our room with a balcony was great (however, they never cleaned the balcony surround enclosure, hard to see out if you were seated. Bed was comfortable and our steward “Roberto” was the nicest employee on the ship. Everyone else on cruise was for the most part not friendly or helpful. If u asked a question about almost anything they didn’t know!! Or they just ignored you, They did not know what seltzer was! Really with all those bars on board! Did not keep after the public areas. Had to leave our coffee cups and glasses on tables cause there were no receptacles around to dispose of trash. Four hours after I left a glass, the same one was was still there, unbelievable! The places we visited were great, no problem there. Would we cruise the Jade again, never! Also, not nearly as beautiful as all other ships! Also could not hear any announcements in the staterooms, channel 24 on TV was supposed to have this service available as per cruise director. We had to argue with personnel on board to get lounge chairs they had tied so we could join other guests on deck. Deck Stewart claimed it was not his decision to untie and place those lounges! The cruise cost us a lot of money and we all felt we were not treated as well as other cruises have in the past. Read Less

Cruise left out of Brooklyn, NY to Fla, Bahamas, and Bermuda. Port of departure appealing as was the itinerary with 2 days in Bermuda. Since the ship arrived to NY around noon with no passengers and was not scheduled to depart till 10:30pm, this allowed for a nice stretched out embarkation process. The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal was fantastic, the employees seemed happy to see us and assist us, we breezed through security and right up to the check in window; 5 mins there and we were on the ship enjoying our vacation. Rooms were ready when we boarded, I won't go into every detail, but the cruise was enjoyable. No real WOW factors to speak of. A few slight issues with the Shore Excursion desk and the Photo department trying to charge me for things I did not want. Typical sales practice. I had an issue with the bathroom sink draining slowly, once this was brought up at customer service, was corrected within a few hours. Cabin Steward was fantastic; crew very friendly and helpful. Cruise Director I felt left quite a bit to be desired. Food was ok, decent choices in the buffet, Cagney's was delicious; LaCucina's menu was not desirable to our basic tastes. Theater Entertainment was ok, production cast numbers seemed high school quality in both production and talent. The music around the ship was ok, Dave McHugh the guitarist was the most entertaining. Port Canaveral, we took the Cocoa Beach shuttle, which we enjoyed, but feel the price could be lowered; the private island felt VERY crowded and only the Jade with 2400 passengers was there, I can't imagine what the island is like when the larger ships are in town, yikes. Nassau, just walked around downtown, and in Bermuda we visited the Bermuda Museum the first day and Harbor Nights in Hamilton that night. Harbor Nights was enjoyable, but pack your patience when taking the ferry, it gets very crowded, and there is only one entrance/exit, so it's a slow process getting off; the 2nd day in Bermuda both of our excursions were cancelled (one by me because I was not feeling well, and my wife's was cancelled due to mis-communications between the ship and vendor). But a lovely visit to Bermuda. Voyage was during the Easter/Spring Break, so there were 700+ children on board on a ship that does not offer a lot for kids (compared to other ships nowadays). So wasn't a huge issue, but I am not sure I would bring a child over 8 years old on this ship. The older ones were going a little stir crazy and raucous toward the end of the trip. We enjoy cruising, so we had a good time, but were not overwhelmed by any one factor. Bermuda was the highlight for us. Average cruise, sea days were quiet, crew were fantastic, entertainment average. I would do this itinerary again. Read Less

We left out of NY which was great since we are from upstate NY. This made our trip very easy. My only comment about leaving out of NY is that the seas are rough on the Nothern Atlantic first half of the year. First and last day were rough at sea even for those that are not prone to seasickness and have cruised before. Getting on and off the boat was very easy. We exprieanced a small delay getting off at the end of the trip but it was to be expected with 2000ish people getting off the boat in a small window of time but I still felt it was fast and organized. This ship was georgous and the rooms were very clean and well kept. You can hear your neighbors but I feel that is to be expected as well in close quarters like these rooms are. They had a lot of entertainment, a little bit for everyone. All crew were helpful and happy. Our stateroom steward was wonderful and was always there for whatever we needed. Kudos to the crew on this ship! We did excursions at all stops, I reccommend doing the excursions provided on the ship, they are organized and ensure you are back in time for embarkation, one less thing to think about. On our last stop to Bermuda we were there for two days so we did our own thing, there are many options at all ports to do so. We did not travel with kids but there was much to do for them on board. They seemed to love the "camp" that they did daily. My only negative on this trip was the food served for room service and the buffet. I hate to say but it was awful (only edible items were the made upon request omlets and the salad). If I had any advice, go to the complimentary resturants and stay away from the buffet and pack snacks, snack on board are expensive (as are to be expected). The food in the sit down resturants was good and we did not dine at the fine dinning spots becasue they were always full. Helpful hint; pre-book your reservation for the fine dinning before cruise even begins or in the first day getting there otherwise you will be waiting or have to eat at 10PM. Overall, this was a great first cruise experiance! Read Less

A chance to see NY before we left, sailed out of Brooklyn port yard. The embarkation was pretty seamless and well done, no issues. The ship is great. Very clean and the décor was appealing, the updates (remodel in 2017) went very well I'd say. We were very impressed with the crew and service, no issues for us. Delicious foods, highly recommend the specialty dining. We had the alcohol package and took advantage of that. The servers were great, drinks were made well and with no reservation to mostly making any drink a double. Ship wasn't full but busy. Never felt like we waited long for anything. Great Stirrup Cay and Bermuda were our two highlights of the trip. Amazing places. Beach sand and clear waters - SO blue, fantastic. It was our first time there. Entertainment was good, we saw the Elements show and it matches a Vegas act for sure. Daily entertainment is a plenty, lots to see and enjoy. Really liked Dave (from Canada!) and his guitar melodies and many, many songs to sing along to. Pool deck was crowded of course, but still enjoyed that they had an adult only pool section and hot tub. It was myself and spouse, no kids and for us it was an excellent experience. No hesitation to sail with NCL again! Read Less

Needless to say, my fiancé and I were so disappointed with this cruise that we can honestly say after this experience, we will probably never cruise again. The ship was a small ship in comparison to other cruise ships I have seen. With the storms that hit on the Saturday after we disembarked, you could feel the waves hitting the ship so hard you could hardly walk through all areas of the ship. Waves hit the 13th floor deck of the 14 deck ship. The swimming pools on the ship were closed the majority of the cruise with only 2 or 3 days availability throughout the 11 day, 10 night cruise. It was the absolute worst date to pick as children were on spring break from school. Constant running up and down the ship, no parental supervision, and non-stop children screaming and crying in the cabin next to us made me want to get off the ship immediately!! The entertainment on the boats deck near the swimming pool always catered to people of Latino descent. The only music the dj played was in Spanish. The White Hot Party, which was supposed to be for adults only starting at 11:30 was filled with nothing but kids under 18 and, once again, the music was all in Spanish! Was very disappointed with the Duty Free store on the ship. Because the ship was going to Europe after our cruise, they hardly had any alcohol or cigarettes for sale on the ship. They were out of everything!! I paid over $200 for professional pictures, which were delivered the morning we embarked in New York on the door handle of my cabin, only to find out when I got home pictures were missing!! My fiancé and I never go on vacations because we can't afford to. It took us five years to save for this cruise only to be completely disappointed with the over $3,000 we wasted! Read Less

We booked a 10 days holiday cruise from NYC to Bahamas & Bermuda in April. We stayed at the 11th Floor Mid Ship mini Suite on the Port side. Once the ship left the calm water, Squeaking sound appeared louder and louder inside our Cabin and outside vicinity. Making us wondered how structurely sound of this ship. The loud squeaking noise caused us to have bad sleep on our entire Cruise! The only peaceful night of sleep my family had was when the Jade docked at Bermuda for overnight! Our room Steward was friendly but lazy! He didn't put up the sofa bed in the upright position in the mornings after nighty use (do less work)! The suite countertops are not wiped regularly with dust lingering. The Grand Pacific Main Dinning Room staffs were aweful!! Multiple times, these Servers didn't even know our table numbers. Waiting to order foods after seatings took a long long time on mutiple occasions and received the wrong orders from other tables instead. They put up very fake smiles when talking to us. The Host of the Grand Pacific Dinning Room from India, appeared to lack leadership skills and poor supervision on his Server team. After the Jade went through a rough night before arriving to the first port of Cape Carnveral, The Ship Captain ( called himself as "the Old Man") made announcement about the 15 foot waves we encountered overnight. Should he had warned us, the passengers, about the rough sea expected ahead, the night before instead of talking about it after the fact?!? Read Less

In 2015 my best friend and I cruised on the Norwegian Breakaway. Till this day, it is one of my best vacations ever. Due to my great time on that ship, I expected the same fun across all ships. I did some research on Cruise Critic and found mixed reviews. I had a feeling that this may be more relaxing than fun. I was almost correct. Prior to embarkation day, I had the misfortune of seeing the many videos of the Escape tilting and the reactions. One would think that with those videos being viral the Captain and team would give the passengers a heads up about the horrifying (and sickening) rough waters. I almost threw up before my facial. Speaking of...I do not appreciate the aggressive product "recommendations" after the service. I almost cursed the lady out and I'm not even about that life. Anyway, it would have been proper for the captain to make an announcement so that people like me could actually sleep through the night without panic attacks. One lady I met in a bathroom said she was literally screaming. Another said that this is her 30th cruise and it was the first time she's gotten sick. With a heads up precautions could have been taken. The nightly entertainment was cool. The nightclub DJ Vito was HORRIBLE. I mean everyone and I mean EVERYONE was complaining. He trash mixes could bring about world peace the way we all complained together in unity. The overall staff was okay but not amazing. Our room steward was literally the best. Daytime activities were great if you're 60 and up. Actually I take that back because we met a couple in that age range and they were PISSED. I will say that the weather was to blame for cancelled poolside entertainment but backup indoor options should have been created. I did a yoga class and I've done yoga enough times to know this man had no idea what he was doing. Embarkation was beyond quick and debarkation was pretty good. Ports were cool...I mean how could you go wrong in Florida, Bahamas and Bermuda. Almost every person I met was on this ship because they'd previously sailed the Breakaway. I think I will stick to that class or try Carnival/Royal because Jade was no bueno. Read Less

worst vacation ever!!!!!! Forst time my husband and i ever cruised and it will be our last. Wasted our money wish we couldve been reimbursed thats how bad it was !! We prepaid for things such as a package of waterbottles and chocolate covered strawberries which we didnt get until2 days later and staff was so unhelpful just kept passing the ball back and forth.Shore excursion staff was extremely rude. Bartenders at top siders also very rude. Food was horrific. Drinks were horrible. Staff not friendly. excursions and days off port were cut short. Couldnt do everything we wanted to do. Had to get reimbursed for one excursion. Found a bug in our salad at osheehans. Alizar was served a frozen steak and paella had no rice in it. Had to speak to managers constantly at places for terrible service. The list goes on and on. I am so discouraged with this cruise for me and my husband we paid good money for this cruise and it all went out the window. Very disappointed. Read Less

Very nice 10-day cruise to the Bahamas and Bermuda. It was done over Spring Break and so there were lots of young kids running around and screaming. The seas were angry the first two sea days and also the final sea day. Pretty rough with some people getting sick. I have seen a lot worse. The weather at the ports and beaches was great. Not too hot. Horseshoe Bay Beach in Bermuda would be a nice beach except that it was way to crowded and commercialized. As always, the food in the specialty restaurants was excellent and the casino was fun. We sailed out of Brooklyn instead of Manhattan. I prefer the Manhattan cruise terminal. Also, departure out of Brooklyn was way too late - at 10:30 PM. I prefer a departure time around 5:00 PM. One thing I missed on this cruise is the photo kiosks that let you take your picture and send it via email anywhere immediately. Many other Norwegian ships of the Jewel class have them.i Read Less

We booked an AFT Port side suite and enjoyed all the amenities that came with it. I love not fighting any crowds at breakfast or lunch. Everyone was very attentive and nice. I love the Expresso machine in our suite and my husband loved the larger TV. We didn't really use the concierge or Buttler except for their normal duties. We were in bad weather on sea days which made everyone sick except us. I would not suggest getting spa treatments on sea days if it's ruff as my facial girl, even though very nice, only serviced my face about 20 minutes instead of 50 because she was so seasick. Same thing for my message and mani/pedi. They all got sick and had to get up several times through my services. That was defiantly a little disappointing considering how much you pay on the ship for these things. Overall we had a great time! Read Less

During my first two days on the cruise I got food poisoning from O'sheerans bar and grill. The boat was terrible because the rooms were so small and the food was so fake and awful! The boat itself had not much to do on it. It was my boyfriends first time on a cruise and this made him not want to cruise again. The ship did not sail smooth at all. I told staff about this awful experience and they did not care. Everything is so expensive on the ship and a rip-off. I would NOT recommend this to anybody at all. I am very upset with my experience. The staff was nice but the food was terrible and wasn't cook correctly. Shore excursions are so expensive and not worth it at all. Please do not purchase when you can get transportation or things on the island for cheaper. This cruise line tries to get your money. I hope that they really fix this ship and the problems because I am sure many people have felt the same way as I did about this trip. Read Less

We choose this cruise because our cruising friends also were going on this cruise. Some of us had been on the Breakaway to Bermuda, and for some this was our first time. We got to the Port at 10:30 am and the Port was very busy that day 2 other ships in Port. This didn't effect us much other then our Taxi trying to get to the curb to drop us off. We dropped off our luggage and into the Port we went. Security lines were long, put it was fast moving, so no issue at all. Since we were booked in a Haven Suite, check in was a breeze. Right to the Haven lounge and check in there. We were able to sit and relax, have a snack and chat with others until we were ready to board. We were escorted up to the ship and into the Haven area, where we were served drinks and some delicious sliders. I must say, you do get spoiled when booke in the Haven.The restaurant and the Staff in there were outstanding.The food was great, and if you didn't want to do anything else, you absolutely would never have to leave the Haven. We had the Haven Courtyard Penthouse Suite 16704 and loved it, very private and the balcony was a pretty good size, no complains at all. Our Butler Armando, Room Stewardess Julie, Concierge Patrick were all fabulous, Thank you for making our vacation so great. We would also like to Thank our Captain Alf Mikael Hilden for keeping us well informed about he weather and the Hurricane lurking out there.He kept us all safe and sound.Also Thank you to the Hotel Director Prem Kainikkara and to his amazing staff/ crew.Last but certainly not least to the Cruise Director DanDan and his crew for never a dull moment and for Great Shows. Thank you all NCL Staff/Crew for a great cruise. The ship is lovely and we will certainly book again, since there is much more to do, and we ran out of time to do it all. Read Less

We had chosen this cruise because it was close to home (we live in NJ) and we were traveling as a group of 15 family members including my 90 grandparents. Embarkation was smooth, however when it came time for luggage delivery everyone's arrived but one bag. I would up finding my luggage in front of a stateroom at the opposite end of the hall. We had 5 balcony staterooms. The bathroom was smaller than that of a balcony on other cruise lines. The room was adequate - each balcony room had a different arrangement - some had the couch/sitting area first then beds by the balcony, and some had the beds first and couch by the balcony. The stateroom attendants were very nice and were very helpful with my grandparents needs. One thing I noticed was that ice was never filled in the room. The ship itself has a lot of activities for children, taking away from the experience for adults. There is only a small adult pool that could perhaps accommodate 75 people, when there were more than 4,000 on board. You could NEVER get a chair on deck to sit in the sun or shade, because every chair had a towel clipped on it by 6:30 am. The staff on deck says they use a red sticker to monitor if people aren't sitting in their chairs, however all week I only saw that done twice. I cannot even begin to explain how many fights broke out over chairs. You were lucky if you could find one chair at 7 am for your whole family to share. The boat has a ropes course, water slides, and trampoline area for the kids, and because of that there is not adequate pool space or chairs for the amount of people on board. Instead of looking forward to my days at sea, I began to dread them. The restaurants are typical cruise restaurants. Specialty dining had to be booked in advance, because it was sold out on board. General dining had a long wait during certain areas, but we knew this so we booked those in advance too. My #1 recommendation for this boat is BOOK EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU CRUISE, THE DAY IT BECOMES AVAILABLE! Every show and restaurant were fully booked the day we got on the boat, so do so the day it becomes available online. This includes comedy shows on board. For shows, I highly recommend the Cirque show in the Spieglar Tent (book in advance and arrive early for good seats) and the Second City shows. When you arrive in Bermuda, rent a scooter in the dock yard for all three days, it is truly your best way to get around and see the whole island at your leisure. Horseshoe Bay is a little crowded but work it if you like to climb the rocks, Elbow beach is gorgeous too but no amenities there like at Horseshoe. Disembarkation was a MESS! It seems the majority of people carried of their own luggage. Our color was supposed to be 2nd to disembark after carry off and we were running about an hour behind because of how many people were trying to get off at once. Be prepared for very long lines, over an hour long, to get off the boat. We had two children with us, one whose 7 and one whose 11 and while the enjoyed themselves, they said that after a day or two they ran out of things to do on the boat. It was very difficult for my grandparents who were in wheel chairs and walkers because the hallways are very narrow, and elevators were always packed. At times, we had to wait 20 minutes before we could get them on an elevator. There were several medical emergencies on board which seemed to be handled differently. A staff member died during a weekly emergency protocol drill, which did make us feel a bit unsafe that that could happen. Three more staff members were in critical condition from the same drill. The cruise staff/captain did nothing to address this to us, and we all either a) saw it ourselves as it happened or b) saw it on the news/in a paper. Many of us felt that our safety, as well as the staffs, should have been addressed. Also during the week there was a code late at night referring to a child who needed assistance and the captain did come on the speaker and address it, and a helicopter had to land on board to transport a teen to a hospital for abdominal pain, which the captain did address on the speaker. Overall, I wasn't satisfied with spending over $25,000 on staterooms and having the experience we did. Everyone should be able to get a chair on days at sea, and take a dip in the pool. No one should fear for their safety, or be unable to get around because of a wheelchair. If you are a young couple and looking for an easy getaway from NY then sure, go for it. If you are a family, I do not recommend this boat. Go for a smaller Norwegian boat or travel on Royal Caribbean (who even thought the have mega boats can accommodate everyone). Read Less

We flew from Glasgow to Newark and stayed overnight in New York, prior to boarding the Norwegian Breakaway on 20 December 2015 for a 7 day Christmas Cruise to Florida and the Bahamas. The ship was very busy as you might expect. I have nothing bad to say about the cabin, the crew or the entertainment as it was all good. However, I do think they need to rethink their port stops as there are only three and it appears that they regularly miss at least one of them, making it a long time at sea. The itinerary was meant to be: Day 1 & 2: At sea Day 3: Port Canaveral, Florida Day 4: Great Stirrup Cay (private Island) Day 5: Nassau, Bahamas Days 6 &7: Two days The ports are sandwiched between two days at sea on either end of the cruise and as there are only three, they are important. Our first port was meant to be Port Canaveral on day three of the cruise, where many families had spent a lot of money arranging trips to the Space Centre and to Walt Disneyworld. For whatever reason ( it was never explained) the ship didn't arrive in the port until 2 pm which meant that all visits were heavily curtailed. I felt really sorry for some of the families who had spent a small fortune on travelling to Disney but only managed a couple of hours there. Furthermore, as the ship was so late in berthing, the RCI Anthem of the Seas also pulled in alongside which meant that there was insufficient transport to take passengers away from the port. An absolute logistical disaster. The following day was meant to be spent at Great Stirrup Cay, NCL's private island and everyone on board was really looking forward to it, given the previous day's events. By mid-morning, we were still at sea and it wasn't until after 11 am that the Captain came on to the PA to announce that we wouldn't be going there as the tenders couldn't get in. Fair enough, I thought, as this was always a possibility. Later on, whilst checking online and speaking to the crew, this is a common occurrence for this destination and the tenders often don't make it. As an alternative, we travelled to Nassau early, but it was pitch dark and no one left the ship. There will always be adverse conditions that affect the ability of the ship to berth at certain ports, however NCL should reconsider this itinerary if they arrive late at the first stop and often don't make it to the second. I might cruise with NCl again, but I cannot recommend this itinerary for the reasons given; its too high risk. Read Less

Well we got the cruise threw the casino & it saved us 1600 THAT was the ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT IT!! I Thought it was horrible dirty over crowed food stunk over priced ..pool packed and dirty nothing for kids you pay & WAIT FOR all of it I did not like ANY of it nothing the island stunk & we got one stop because they made the choice with no refund & I know people like cruises but NEVER again !! lines were long you have to wait for everything cabin was small & noisy all day & night ..then I tryed to get my service charge back( what a rip off) !! & emailed them for months& nothing no money no reply..DO NOT CRUISE Norwegian ever! WE will never again !.Id had cheaper vacations that were 10 times better! & I wont ever go in November again bad time of year weather sucked & all old people! Read Less

If you are thinking of cruising on the Norwegian Gems, please do not be put off by negative comments on this site. My husband and I have cruised on the RCl, P and O, Thomson and Cruise and Maritime an decided to give NCL a try. We were pleasantly surprised. We embarked in New York. As we are from the UK, NCL were able to offer us a flight deviation to enable us to spend a few nights in New York before our cruise. We were given a free night before the cruise at the fantastic Hilton Hotel in New York. On the morning of the cruise transfer to the port was so smooth. We were picked up by a hired mini van and taken to the port as there were only four of us transferring from the hotel. At the port, we were given information on where to go and what to do. Yes we had to Queue, but NCL had over 2000 people to get onto the ship and the queue went down very quickly. Our rooms were ready by 1.30pm and our cases arrived at 3pm even though they said we may not get our cases until 6pm. The entertainment was fantastic and Dan Dan the cruise director made everyone feel welcome. We found all the staff very friendly. The food was great and it was good to choose where and when you ate each day. The cabins were clean. The shower was bigger than any of the other ones we had on previous cruise lines. Coming from the UK we did find the drinks expensive, but they were the same price as we had paid in New York. People moan about gratuities going on your bill each day, but if you pay these up front before your cruise it is so much better. Would definitely cruise with NCL again Read Less