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Review: Jade 11 Day Eastern Med - Feb 23-Mar 7

OzCanuck

By OzCanuck,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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OzCanuck

OzCanuck

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Great review so far!

I'm interested in knowing your impressions of the new CD. Last time we had a great CD - Gary. Just wondering what to expect this time.

 

Thanks

 

Simone, the new cruise director. He was not my cup of tea, and gauging on other peoples' comments... I think that pretty much sums it up.

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OzCanuck

OzCanuck

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What is the watever room for Adults only? It sounds very provocative!

 

Couples put their stateroom cards in a bowl - girls in one, boys in another. And you pick a card out of the bowl, then party.

 

Just kidding. I wondered what it was as well... but never enough to actually check it out.

 

Review will continue tomorrow!

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insidecabin "Live from...." Rare

insidecabin

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What is the watever room for Adults only? It sounds very provocative!

 

Your review is great. Thanks so much.

 

Lynn

 

there are some soundproof booths off the medusa lounge than can be used for karaoke/console games looks to be adult only in the evening , kids/family can probably use during the day.

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happytraveller

happytraveller

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I must agree, there seemed to be something false about Simone, just could not put my finger on it. I must admit we really liked Roberto, he was really good with passengers and had a great sense of humor. I must admit i am not really into magic shows, but wow these on the ship were really good, very impressed and they filled the theatre on each occasion

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OzCanuck

OzCanuck

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Great review! Were the pools open or hot tubs? I know it wont be really hot by any means, but I know my girls like to swim and since the temperatures seem similiar to how it was when we were on our Alaskas cruise, I was just curious if was even an option. We sail 3/27-4/6.

 

All the pools and hot tubs were open - but they did close the main pool (near the slide) for a couple of days in Israel. Looks like they were fixing the lining or something. We thought about dumping LM into the kiddie wading pool (yeah, he's still in diapers of course) - but I've never seen a kid NOT in diapers in that pool. It just seemed too cool - though I did see a number of other parents using it.

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OzCanuck

OzCanuck

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Day 3 & 4 – Messina and Sea Day

 

I have gotten in the habit of sleeping with the bathroom blinds up, and the master bed curtain wide open. It’s nice to wake up to natural light. We were on the go by 8am, and sitting down at Cagney’s for breakfast by 9. It was cold and windy, but the sea was calm and we had beautiful views of Sicily and Italy as we meandered through the Strait of Messina.

 

Photo of the navigation panel in the Bridge viewing area:

 

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I saw the pilot boat come alongside and offload the pilot guide for our trip through the Strait. There was lots of sea traffic (and enthusiastic squeals of ‘boat!’ ‘boat!’ from LM). Breakfast was relaxing and enjoyable – perfect for vacation. Our waitress was sort of disinterested though; this was not something we experienced on the Pearl. During the next 11 days service did get better – with a couple of notable exceptions.

 

Some photos from Cagney's, looking out the windows as we cruised through the strait of Messina:

 

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The one thing I was always impressed with is the staff’s enthusiasm towards messy toddlers. Almost every morning they would bring a little bowl of blueberries for him, one of his favourite foods. For breakfast he would always have yoghurt, a bit of fruit and a single piece of the plain French toast (rarely eating it all). After a couple of days we didn’t even have to order it, they would bring it automatically – I love that service.

 

After breakfast we strolled around the ship and eventually showed up at the Cruise Critic M&G. It was quite well attended, but we were a few moments late and ended up standing. Unfortunately LM was starting to get a bit cranky so we scooted off fairly early. Sometimes young ones can be a magnet of attraction, sometimes they can be objects of disdain. Rather than have him fall into the latter category, it made sense to hit the road.

 

We hit the Latitudes party at 1pm. I drank my fill of free booze. Then lunch at the Blue Lagoon (not much for vegetarians – c’mon NCL – get with it). By this time, LM was beside himself with exhaustion, so we went back to the room for naps all around.

 

Tonight was the Captain’s cocktail party for suite guests and VIP’s, I guess? Well, regardless we had an invitation, so we decided to have a very early dinner, and then head to Medusa for 7pm.

 

This was our first try at Alizar. I will say, the service was excellent and the food was pretty good. We both had the veggie burritos – LM tried the quesadilla (one of his favourites from the Pearl.)

 

Getting close to party time, we headed over to Medusa. It was a nice party, and we caught up with Rochelle and her mom Betty - Rochelle was the organizer of the M&G. LM behaved himself for quite a long time, enjoying the music and dancing by himself (something only a toddler can get away with). But – eventually he started making it known that it was bedtime, so it was an early night for us.

 

The next sea day was very quiet for us. The concierge, Karabi, took us to Spinnakers to pick up our passports from Israeli immigration. We opted to get our passports stamped for the novelty of it – they expire relatively soon and I don’t see us traveling anywhere that would exclude us.

 

At some point during the day I know we joined in the ‘Under Three’ Zoo and did some painting or crafts with LM. All in all, I would say that the Under Three Zoo on the Jade was much better than the one on the Pearl. It all comes down to who is running it. They had a very Hispanic staff on the Jade, and they were great and really got in to playing with the kids. The Pearl’s staff was … well… not very engaging.

 

At the end of the day, I think the Under Three Zoo is really just an opportunity for parents to get together and socialize. We did meet a couple of nice couples and their respective LMs. I know ours enjoyed the interaction and the ability to run around the meeting room. Generally these activities are held in the meeting rooms on Deck 6, just outside the Casino and the theatre.

 

It was at some point today that I realized I’d left my Canon SLR battery charger at home. Not good. The battery was flashing. I called Karabi and asked her if she could help out. The ship does keep a couple of boxes of cell phone chargers, and camera chargers (I assume that have been left behind by guests). I rooted through both boxes and couldn’t come up with what I needed. From then on, I spent the next few hours stopping everyone with a Canon SLR that I saw and asking about the model. Unfortunately mine has a unique charger (model was not in production too long), and I could not get a match. If you are reading this and remember me – thanks for trying to help out – that’s for the 20 odd people I asked.

 

I’ve also brought a Sony Handycam with a photo feature, and my Hero GoPro – which I use for Time Lapse videos. Neither will take great quality photos, so I’m a bit bummed. I checked on the internet to see if I can find a camera store in Alanya that will have some selection…. No luck.

 

We had dinner at the buffet. A lot has been said about the quality of the buffet food. As with many things in life, I try to have no expectations. That way – I am rarely disappointed. Ship-board buffets? Why does anyone think they will be great quality? I don’t know. It is low quality, mass-produced food, pure and simple. If you don’t like it, don’t eat there.

 

We went and saw the cast production of the sixties rock songs…. “Shout! The Mod Musical”. But – it was about as far from ‘Mod’ as you can get (if you are familiar with the genre). And – it was bad. But – like the buffet, I didn’t expect much and wasn’t too disappointed. LM sat quietly for the entire thing and really enjoyed himself. After that – we tried to make the most of the shows – it became a good bedtime routine for LM.

 

Tomorrow... Alanya.

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OzCanuck

OzCanuck

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Day 5 – Alanya

 

We awoke to a beautiful sunny Day in Alanya, Turkey. The waves were calm, no breeze, not a cloud in the sky. Our cabin was on the port side, so we had a view of the old city wall snaking up the cliff. Pretty cool.

 

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I will say right now that we did no shore excursions. At every port, we just got off, walked around, maybe ate something, and got back on.

 

We got kind of a late start, enjoying breakfast in Cagney’s and getting to know some of the staff as they interacted with LM. As with the Pearl, the Cagney’s staff was very good and finding out what he liked, what we liked, and getting it ready for us. I just wish there was something else on that menu! It gets depressing looking at it for 12 days straight. The issue is – we are vegetarians. Not the type that eats fish, but the type that eats everything as long as it didn’t have a mother. When you get down to it, that means omelette, pancakes, French toast or waffle. Too many carbs for my liking, and I hate getting an omelette every day. But – whatever.

 

We walked off the ship and strolled through the throng of taxi drivers, eventually ending up on the seafront promenade. We walked for about 30 minutes, taking in the sights, then strolled up into the city. I will reiterate that it was a fantastic day. Probably 20 degrees or so. In the photo below you can see snow on the mountains in the distance.

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I love Turkey. We spent a week in Istanbul four years ago, and rarely have I been to a country where the people are so friendly and inviting. The food is also very good. Alanya was no different. Someone tried to coerce us into his shop, but I told him I was only interested in finding a camera store. He went out of his way to point me in the direction of one.

 

And…. They actually had a charger I could use! Ok, it was 25 euros, but whatever. I bought it. I am happy again.

 

We continued to walk around Alanya, just enjoying seeing this port during the off season. People going about their day – getting traffic tickets, going to school, buying groceries, etc. A nice place. Around 1pm we were getting hungry and couldn’t decide whether to eat in town or go back to the ship. Eventually we went back to ship as LM was needing some service and a nap. Approaching the Jade:

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We had a very uninspired lunch at the buffet, and went back to the room so he could nap.

 

I think we watched a movie, maybe the other half went to the gym – I can’t remember. But we were on the go in time for the Under Three Zoo, and then went to dinner at the Grand Pacific after.

 

I’m not sure if it was an off day, but the service was bad. I expected a little bit more. If you are a waiter, and you have a table with a toddler in a high chair, don’t space things out like you would with a normal table. Get things going and get the food. It took so long that he started acting up – and you know what? I didn’t care. Let him act up. If dinner had taken 45 minutes instead of 90 minutes, everyone would have been happy.

 

I’m only saying this because exactly the same thing happened when we tried Grand Pacific again, a few days later. This time I complained to the maitre’d who was shocked. And – this was even after telling the wait staff that we needed to hurry things along at the start of the meal. But – whatever.

 

We did not have any problems at Alizar during the cruise, by the way.

 

Tonight was the “4Ever” show. It wasn’t really my kind of music, but these guys were pretty good. We quickly developed a good modus operandi for seeing shows. Get there a bit early, sit in one of the side wings, on the aisle. (1) LM has nowhere to run – he can walk down to the end of the row and back. And (2) most people, seeing a toddler in the row, will give it a pass and move on. Most. People.

 

It worked out well tonight, because he definitely did not enjoy the show. I think it was a bit too loud (and if it was too loud for me, it was too loud for him). And – there just wasn’t much happening. Four dudes in suits standing and singing is not visually entrancing to a 17 month old.

 

At one point, during the finale, he started wailing. Sorry everyone. We left. After he went down, I made the first of a handful of trips to the craps table. I love playing craps on these ships. Only half the table is open, and the dealers are super friendly, and the game isn’t too fast. I don’t play to win, ever – though winning is nice. I just like the vibe. Stayed for about an hour and was down maybe $30 so I called it a night. The other half went to the gym when I got back, and we turned in around 11:30.

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