50 Shades of Jade Trilogy: My Big Fat 8/3/13 Sailing

[meltingmoments]

Hi coka, what a great review!

You beat me to mine aboard the same sailing as we were lucky enough to continue our travels and spend 2 nights in Venice AFTER the cruise and then 6 nights in Sitges, up the coast from Barcelona.

We arrived home 3 hours ago and I will hopefully get round to my review tomorrow!!

[jimswims]

I have been waiting patiently to read of your birthday adventure with your sisters.

 

Happy, Happy, Birthday to you! I wish were were able to celebrate it with you as in past years.

 

Looking forward to reading more :) .

[coka]

Cubechick, I am always anticipating your reviews and your pictures...it always means wherever you go I end up going!

 

Meltingmoments, welcome home and I look forward to reading about what you did.

 

Jimswims...it just was not the same without you and your family. Please give Mrs. Jimswims a happy belated birthday wish. Without you and the Mrs., there was nothing worth getting into trouble for...hehehe.

 

**************************************

 

Epilogue:

 

Did I title this 50 Shades of Jade? Since I never met the tycoon, I will change it to 50 Paragraphs About Jade and that is by no coincidence the exact amount in the trilogy above. I am so fortunate to have gone on this cruise with my two sisters. We will talk about it for the next fifty years. The officers, staff, and crew of Norwegian Jade helped make it so wonderful as well. Our first vacation hero is Christine, the Hotel Director's secretary. We met her upon embarkation and we saw her all around the ship. She was always so kind and so helpful in answering all of our questions as we had a lot! We cheered for her at the welcome back party from Katakolon...the party where the staff and crew wait outside the ship for you...music playing...dancing...cold washcloths...juice and water..Christine was right out there leading the way...it surely was the envy of the ship(s)'s passengers next to us! Oh...the ship next to us was Thompson Majesty. I swear she was the Norwegian Majesty in a previous life...I could see the old markings beneath the fresh white paint...anyone know for sure?

 

Jimmy, our stateroom steward, was very helpful as well. He knew what we needed before we ever did! He is a hard worker, very outgoing, and ensured our stateroom had everything...including the little chocolates at night. The two officers we won for dinner earlier in the week surprised me on my birthday day. I love surprises and they both went over and beyond to make sure I was. They are our vacation heroes too and they represent that Norwegian does care for their passengers. If you cruise and have a vacation hero or two, know that you can pick up cards at the reception desk. You leave them with reception or in a large drop off box towards the end of the week.

 

I also want to give a shout out for Gary Gladding, the Cruise Director, and his staff who speak so many languages. The diversity onboard is also what makes a Med cruise so interesting. I enjoyed hearing the Italian, the Spanish, the French, the German, and English. Reminds me of what you call someone who speaks three languages...trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages...bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language...an American. Add on what do you call someone who speaks seven...Gary Gladding. Gary could easily flow from one language to the next and we were in awe. He also has a good sense of humor that Balkan Soul and Sam appreciated. When we went to Le Bistro, it was on French night where Gary sang french songs along while the Jade Musicians played. He also did a good job at the circus show put on by the young children onboard at the last sea day.

 

We purchased onboard photos and we also found the photo staff to be very good, very outgoing, and cordial. I used my platinum rewards to get them all at 25 percent off. It ended up being 4 percent off as the photos had a VAT tax of 21 percent. The ship's store does too. Oh, we went looking at the ship store and discovered they do not sell liquor or cartons of cigarettes. This and the VAT have something to do with Italian law, I am sure! They do sell cigarettes at the bar areas but you can only purchase one pack per day.

 

Jamie Vandermoer was the latitudes consultant and he did a nice job at the latitudes party and at the "shhhhhh, silver, gold and platinum" party. Not a lot onboard or not a lot in attendance at this sailing. He had a fun Norwegian trivia powerpoint for us passengers to guess answers along with name the godmothers of the ships trivia and I kicked arse...but only I knew it, LOL. He also was very timely with the future cruise deposits. Sam is moving to Florida soon and she bought one knowing the ships will be nearby. I bought one knowing I will take another soon and it just makes sense because it is a free one hundred dollars. Balkan Soul wants to do a river cruise next so she held off.

 

Debarking the Jade Saturday morning for us was a piece of cake. Since embarkation we had learned to say "yes, thank you!" whenever a Norwegian employee offered to assist us. We set up a 9:15 debarkation time and were told to meet in a lounge/bar on deck 6. While everyone else was leaving on deck 7, a waitstaff member met us and wheeled my sister down a special elevator, down Jades's I -95, outside an opening, down a ramp, and over another to get our luggage. We got our luggage and he wheeled my sister as we followed him out. He got us a cab right outside the entrance (I never would have known these cars were cabs) and he stayed with us until my sister was in the car. For that and everything else, I am so very thankful and grateful to Norwegian for how they help and assist someone in a wheelchair. My back thanks them too!

 

The End

 

coka

[afn10305]

Doing the cruise in one month. Can't wait and am loving this review!

 

Dear confused123,

When is your departure date? We'll be doing this cruise also from Venice on 9/14. Some others on our cruise are doing the 14-day version.

 

If you are on our sailing, don't fail to check out our roll call.

2013: Sep 14-21, 7 day Venice to Greek Isles

 

 

P.S. Coka, you are charming and funny writer. I wish I had the energy to do as you have done after each cruise. What a wonderful memory for you and your sisters to share. :)

[confused123]

Dear confused123,

When is your departure date? We'll be doing this cruise also from Venice on 9/14. Some others on our cruise are doing the 14-day version.

 

If you are on our sailing, don't fail to check out our roll call.

2013: Sep 14-21, 7 day Venice to Greek Isles

 

 

P.S. Coka, you are charming and funny writer. I wish I had the energy to do as you have done after each cruise. What a wonderful memory for you and your sisters to share. :)

 

We are on the September 28 sailing. So take good care of the Jade for me :).

[leekel619]

Very nice review!

[Goldierocks24]

I have just come home from this cruise myself so it is interesting to read this review. The entertainment on the Jade is the highlight with the Cruise Director Gary being a delight!

 

Also,

 

Mandy - What is Rodrigo's surname? We became good friends on the ship and we intended to keep in touch but never got the opportunity to exchange details. Any help would be much appreciated :-)

 

Keep up the good work x

[willow surfside]

Thanks Coka...great review

[paulaud]

coka, can you tell me what the song was called where everyone got up dancing early in the evening. It was a bit like a line dance, the all faced the front but all doing the same dance?

[sjbdtz]

coka, can you tell me what the song was called where everyone got up dancing early in the evening. It was a bit like a line dance, the all faced the front but all doing the same dance?

 

 

Here are the top 10 Country Line Dances:

http://tasteofcountry.com/top-country-line-dance-songs/

 

 

 

Some other options: http://www.shawntrautman.com/linedancesonglist.aspx

 

 

 

Any of these: