dmwnc1959

3 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

You'll do great with the Jade especially it's a Panama Canal .... you get to go thru the old locks, not the new ones. Jade is a mid-sized ship and due to the length of cruise there probably won't be a lot of lids on board.

 

You mentioned that Moderno is out but why don't you go to the Sugarcane bar for a mojito one time and pop into the restaurant to take a look at the salad bar there. It's quite good!

 

You can use a dining coupon for sushi - 4 items off the menu.

 

We're on the Gem (sister ship to the Jade) for the two back to back Panama Canal cruises in December this year. First one is Miami to Panama City (Pacific side) via the ABC islands, and the second is from Panama City back to Miami via western Caribbean. We're looking forward to that.

 

 

I’m hoping that with the ships smaller size, lack of kid-friendly activities (compared to the much larger ships), and long repositioning cruise length that the number of kids on board will be at a minimum, even if it is over spring break and Easter. 
 

I got the mojito menu a couple of days ago on another thread, and it’s also a must-do on my list! The restaurant looks fairly intimate, and I think that may be why I’ve shied away from some specialty dining and opted for the buffet for dinner in years past. 
 

Sushi is always an option. I’m wondering though if it’s so good that it’s worth expending one of the 9-nights of specialty dining I’ll have on the reservation. 
 

And I’ve definitely considered the B2B Tampa-Panama City-Miami to the point I’ve held a cabin (two different times) but let them slide in favor of the much longer cruise. 
 

1 minute ago, FPMoosally said:

 

Any type of dinner jacket will put you in the top 1% of well-dressed men. Add a tie, and it will the top .1%

 

 

This made me very happy and smile. 😁

15 minutes ago, DrUrsula said:

No shorts; men in nice jeans or slacks and a collared shirt.

I am bringing a couple pair of docker slacks so that should be good enough. I’m trying not to pack 2 suitcases and a carry-on, but due to the extremes in weather it may be unavoidable. Might pack a light sports jacket just in case. 😉 This is all very exciting! 

3 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

That I don’t know.  I’ve never gotten the Starbucks package.  I would assume it would be covered by the Starbucks package, but I don’t know for sure.  Maybe someone else does.

 

For what it’s worth, I found the espresso martini to be worth every penny of the $3.60 upcharge.  😃

This sounds like a plan. I’ll have to see what happens. 😁

4 minutes ago, DrUrsula said:

No shorts; men in nice jeans or slacks and a collared shirt.

1 minute ago, bluesea777 said:

 

No suit or tux!!

 

Le Bistro requires men to wear long pants and collared shirt (short or long sleeved).

 

If you are on the Encore, Le Bistro is high up on deck 17 port side next to the aft elevators - fantastic sea views. lovely place to dine in.

 

On Encore it's not La Cucina but Onda. Our fave (along with Le Bistro). If you're on a long cruise with multiple dining coupons, I bet you'll visit each of Le Bistro and Onda TWICE - just to have different entrees if you are undecided the first time, ha ha.

 

Another restaurant to try is Los Lobos ....

 

5:30 reservations are quite easy, so you'll manage!

 

ENJOY!

 

THANK YOU! This may have very well changed my mind! 
 

And I’m on the Norwegian Jade, so no Los Lobos. 🥲 My cruise is 25-nights so I’m strategically spreading out my evening meals on 9-nights of specialty dining, as well O’Sheehan’s, Jasmine Garden, the MDR, and the other complimentary venues. 

4 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

I don’t believe so.  You’re paying for the espresso, not the liquor.  Espresso is t included in the regular FAS drink package.

So, I gotta ask, if I have the specialty coffee package and the FAS, is it doable? I ran across a list of drinks that I want to try and the Espresso Martini was one of them. 
 

1 minute ago, FPMoosally said:

 

Never been on the Jade, but Le Bistro is a "must do" for us, regardless of the ship. If you've got 9 meals, give it a try. I don't think you'll regret it. Moderno was very good on the Escape, but I've heard it can be hit and miss. Since it is gone on all new ships after the Escape, you might want to try it while you can. The meat was fantastic for me, and my wife raved about the salad bar.

 

I’ve looked at the menu for Le Bistro and it looks fantastic, I just hear it’s more dressy in the evening for dinner? I’m not taking a suit or tux. Trying to restrict some of my clothing options due to the length of the cruise. I’ve also eaten at a Brazilian-Style steakhouse on Allure of the Seas and it wasn’t a good experience. Dining as a solo it’s kind of awkward. If it’s better on NCL it might be worth a revisit. 

5 minutes ago, FPMoosally said:

 

The ship is sold out. The dining options aren't even close due to the number of days available.

 

Wow. 😳 

Despite their huge popularity there are a couple of specialty restaurants on Norwegian Jade I’m personally not that interested in: the Brazilian Steakhouse, Le Bistro, and Teppanyaki, even though I may change my mind later. Cagney’s and La Cucina will get the bulk of my reservations. 

Just now, UKstages said:

typically, 5:30 is no problem... generally wide open.

 

it's the 7 - 8 pm reservations that "sell out" more quickly.

That would be perfect! I’m booking a 7-night specialty dining package, and along with the 2 freebies have already picked out which restaurants I want to eat in. I’m hoping 9 nights will be enough! 

13 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes. But there will be limited competition for reservations.
 

The upcoming transit from Miami to Vancouver is surprisingly sold out. 

Is that on the Norwegian Encore? To me that’s quite surprising on a ship that size with so many dining options. Wow.
 

I’ve got my it set now on my iPhone calendar as a reminder. Just want to make sure I can grab some of those 5:30pm time slots. 😉
 

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

On a weeklong cruise, dining opens at midnight eastern time 130 days for suites, 125 for club balcony and top tier latitudes members, and 120 days for everyone else. 

Would it be safe to assume that this is going to be about the same for longer 25-night repositioning cruises? 🤔

I’ve read on different posts in the past month two different ‘dates prior to your cruise’ when specialty dining opens for reservations. Can anyone confirm that it’s 90 days or 120 days? 
 

Is this also when shore excursions open for booking up as well?

Thank you! 👍

6 hours ago, jamin jul said:

What time do you recommend getting down to the bow on a Jewel class ship?  Booked on Jade full Panama Canal transit from Panama to Tampa. Thank you.

You might want to try and post your question over on this thread…😁

59 minutes ago, yakcruiser said:

You could always add the 10 days from Panama City to Tampa prior to this cruise and make it 35 days. You would get to go both directions through the canal. I am considering doing this if the price takes a big drop.

I have checked out that option, too. Also looked at doing a B2B on Norwegian Jade doing the Tampa / Panama City / Panama City / Miami for 22-days. Did a pricing spreadsheet on that, checked tours on both sides of the canal through NCL and Viator. Hemmed and hawed, put a cabin on hold (did this two separate times), and then let the Courtesy Hold expire. I’m not sure if there could be a thing as Panama Canal Overdose but I think that would do it. 🤣

19 minutes ago, julig22 said:

You should get the full amount. The other codes mean you took all the FAS offers, you're getting a 50% off fare (as if that means anything LOL), your 10% military discount, and $50 off excursions. 

Is this your first NCL cruise? It if isn't, then there should also be a LATREW* code.

Once your stock benefit is added, there will be another code, NCLHBENE

Yes, my first ever cruise with NCL, and it’s a doozy! I’m in for the long haul on this cruise. 🌎

53 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Since the solo cabin category is new, there probably isn't a lot of information out there.

Question - under the promo codes, does it say SINGLE? That used to be the code the sometimes triggered the 50% OBC.

Even when I have booked solo in the past, not paying full fare, I usually got the full amount anyway. The only caught it 1 time out of maybe 12-15 times that I had a solo rate, only got 50%.

Here’s a screenshot of my booking reservation which shows all the promo codes used. The MAP10OFF is my military/veteran discount. Not sure what the other ones are.

23 minutes ago, TheAdventureSeeker said:

I would love to go on RCL and only done it once, but they are very unfriendly to Solo cruisers they charge crazy amounts of money in double occupancy fees if you go solo compared to NCL which is my go to for solo cruising. This is one reason I am very disappointed in NCL having such a bad inventory issues in the NYC area with almost no cruises because they are the only line here that are solo friendly price wise. I never done MSC before will definitly need to check them out, anyone know if they are solo friendly?

If you look at one of the newer class ships from the Quantum-class they have Solo Balcony cabins which seem to be very popular.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum-class_cruise_ship

“With single staterooms, there is no single supplement fee. When Royal Caribbean added these rooms, they designed them to be respective of the ship's business model and this means solo cruisers do not have to pay double the cost of what the cruise should be” 

Some of the other Royal Caribbean ships actually have different types of cabins specially for solo cruisers. Hear a screenshot that might help. 

On 2/26/2024 at 3:04 PM, nordicacres said:

Agreed. I would never fly to NYC to hop on a cruise ship when there are cheaper flights to FL ports, not to mention less time spent at sea.

 
But wow do I 🥰 LOVE 🥰 sea days. They could have a cruise sail out of New York City, driving in giant circles off the coast for a week then come back and I’d be pretty happy.

😁

On 2/27/2024 at 8:56 AM, tsahall01 said:

I just did a status match with MSC.  Their drink package is much better than NCL--specialty coffees, waters, and better wines included!  I did pay for their specialty dining. Was not happy with the package--you order off a limited menu, have no choice with which restaurants and the venues did not carry the same wines and liquors that the MDR did, so we had to do an upcharge on the drinks.  I would not order the package again unless they change the terms.

I did the same this morning, a status-match with MSC against my Princess Cruises loyalty level (which is just Platinum) and also got their Gold Level. Mostly I want to cruise non-holidays and off-season Dec/Jan, and out of NYC or Baltimore. I’ve been researching Odyssey of the Seas and Norwegian Breakaway for Dec. 2025/Jan. 2026. The Odyssey of the Seas has a really nice 12-night from Bayonne on Jan. 26, 2026 and that one is catching my eye, but the multitude of dining options on NCL has me hooked. Decisions, decisions. 😁

On 2/26/2024 at 1:55 PM, FLAHAM said:

Who wants 2+ days of cold weather and uninteresting ports when a week out of Florida offers 7 days of warm weather and better ports?

Some people actually cruise just for the ship, and not the destinations. I’ve traveled several times out of New York and Baltimore in December simply because I wanted to be on that ship in off-season. Once a long time ago on Celebrity Mercury out of Baltimore we didn’t hit warm weather until Key West. 😁

Don’t know if there are any experts out there. I’m checking out the NCL website for the stockholder benefits and the FAQ really sort of  left me with a question:

”Singles paying 200% are entitled to full onboard credit value.”

If I’m in a Solo Inside paying that solo cruise fare (which really isn’t 200% since it’s sort of a ‘special rate’) do I still get the full OBC amount? 

22 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We cruised on the Jade for 38 days in an aft-facing Club Balcony from Athens to Cape Town by way of Dubai back in the Fall of 2022 and had an awesome time!! See my Live From thread in my expanded signature area below.

 

Initially, all during the pre-cruise booking process as well as when we first boarded the ship, we kept comparing the experience with those we had come to take for granted when cruising with Princess or Celebrity, as there are definitely quite a few differences we needed to come to terms with. The first annoying one was that we could not use the nonrefundable OBC our TA was giving us to pay the DSR. However, once we expressed our concerns, our TA gave us a rebate check instead. There were others, but that was the most annoying.

 

But after a few days of being onboard and dealing with our "expectations", we made a conscience decision to stop comparing how NCL does things differently and just started appreciating what they had to offer. And from that point on, we started having a great time! I know, who knew! 😂

 

We enjoyed eating breakfast and lunch outside up at the Great Outdoors or in La Cucina, depending on the weather. We also enjoyed going up to Spinnakers to watch the various game shows and other entertainment offered there, to include a few lectures before they moved them to the theater due to the high demand! 

 

But I would also like to add, we were quite pleased when NCL implemented FAS Plus last summer, as it adds quite a few additional perks for around $70 pp/day (if you include the FAS gratuity charge) that we will take full advantage of on future cruises. FAS Plus also tops any All Included perk package either Princess or Celebrity has to offer. 

What an exceptional post! Thank you for sharing. I think that the one thing I’m accomplishing with these threads and these comparison posts is that I find myself adjusting my expectations long before I even get on the ship. And I find it amusing how offended and up in arms some people here get when their favorite cruise line comes into question by an outsider. 
 

There are a LOT of things I’m looking forward to on Norwegian Jade, and having breakfast at The Great Outdoors, a mojito  at the Sugarcane Mojito Bar, some tasty brewskies at O’Sheehan’s with lunch, and multiple dinners at La Cucina are definitely among them! 
 

😁

20 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

If I am reading all these posts correctly, you are doing a very long B2B.  Have you looked into being an NCLH Shareholder?  You get a very generous OBC ( $250.00 for long cruises).  That credit can be used to purchase specialty coffees and much more.  Just a suggestion

Thank you for the tip. This cruise is just a single repositioning cruise that’s 25-nights. I’ve done B2B on other cruise lines, primarily Princess Cruises and Celebrity cruises. But this is the longest single non-stop cruise I’ve booked. I’ll check out the NCLH Shareholder benefits option on the NCL website to see how much I have purchase for the OBC. This may definitely be an option. 👍

1 minute ago, zqvol said:

You are so over thinking this cruise that there is no way that you will be either happy or satisfied with NCL. 

I’m glad you know me that well. 🤣 

There’s something to be said about detailed research, investigating all the options, making comparisons, and ensuring there’s no stone left unturned. Especially when I’m looking at a 25-night repositioning cruise, my longest cruise to date. I do things with enthusiasm and gusto, and planning everything out is half the fun to me…I totally ENJOY this immensely.
 

And just for your information, I have been very satisfied with what I’m seeing on Norwegian Jade with the help of a lot of really great, insightful, and wonderful input from members of this forum. I’ve also come to adjust some expectations i.e. the drink package 😉 and the lack of chairs on the Promenade Deck.
 

When embarkation day arrives, when that day happens, all I will have to do it sit back and savor every moment of the cruise, relish in every moment of my very first Panama Canal transit, take great pleasure in revisiting Los Angeles and San Francisco, and for a sixth time delight in the wonders and awe that is Alaska. I don’t want to get to the very end of a 25-night cruise and go ‘Oh, crap! I forgot to’ do this or do that, or forget to enjoy this beverage, or that beverage, or not remember to try this menu item that I’ve never had before.

I only get to do this once. Once. There’s no going back, no do-overs, and there’s no second chance. For me at least. 😎

18 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

 

Yes. At this point, you have already booked one of the smallest and oldest NCL ships with the fewest contemporary features in the NCL Fleet. You are  constantly complaining about how, what you have already booked, does not meet your high standards.

 

You even picked one of the few ships in the NCL fleet that doesn't have a Starbucks on it. There is a generic coffee bar that "Proudly Serves Starbucks Coffee". The Shell gas station down the street from my house "Proudly Services Starbucks Coffee". It is not a Starbucks.... it serves coffee brewed by the mechanic between oil changes.  Won't be earning any stars this voyage. 

 

We have cruised for decades.  We are Diamond+ members on Royal Caribbean, Diamond members on NCL, Diamond members on MSC, Platinum members on Cunard, and have sailed on Princess and other lines. They are all the same. We were in a Haven room on NCL in December, an inside room RCCL last month, a Jr Suite Aurea on MSC this month, and a Club Balcony Suite on NCL next month. We're in a RCCL Grand Suite and NCL Club Balcony later in the year,,, need to fill out the summer still. 

 

If I want an ice coffee, I put ice in my non-branded thermal cup, pour in a good helping of milk, and top it off with hot coffee. I don't need to pay someone to do that for me. 

And that is my absolute right. Don’t like it, don’t read the threads. Period. It is just that simple.
 

I picked Norwegian Jade - I don’t care that it’s the smallest and the oldest, just like I didn’t care that Coral Princess is the smaller and oldest - because she can transit the old locks of the Panama Canal. I didn’t want to cruise on HAL or Carnival again to accomplish the same thing, other cruise lines didn’t fit my desired time-slot, and I’m really not into the upscale niche premium lines, although I did look at Ponant. And if my standards were that high I’d be booking Silversea, Viking, or Oceania and not even bothering with NCL. But NCL has my money. 
 

Norwegian Jade also has a lot of dining options. Which I really like. It doesn’t matter if it has a Starbucks or not. Plenty of cruise lines don’t have Starbucks but still offer specialty coffees which can be obtained at multiple venues. I don’t drink ice coffee (to me they are an abomination lol) but being able to grab a specialty coffee in the buffet at breakfast would be nice. I don’t want to have to eat breakfast in the MDR just to make sure I can have a specialty coffee with my eggs and bacon.
 

And I too have cruised for decades on a bunch of cruise lines (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Holland-America, Celebrity, Cunard, and Princess) so humble-bragging your elevated loyalty status, or The Haven and suites, or butlers don’t impress or me.