Does $224 for dining package seem good to you?

[HoopTroop]

My love of the specialty restaurants is how small, quiet and the less hustle-bustle of people coming and going. So worth it.

[AF-1]

HoopTroop, thanks for your feedback; I still have five months to decide; but I like where your coming from; small groups, no loud noised; relaxing ambiance.

[jkgourmet]

We did 21 days on the Jade in January 2014. Our ONLY serious complaint was the food. In the MDR and buffet. Food is a big deal for us - at home and on vacation. We enjoyed the cruise anyway, primarily because the itinerary allowed us to have some spectacular lunches at our port stops.

 

Dinner in Cagney's twice - outstanding meals. DH is an ex butcher and claims his ribeye was one of the best slabs of meat he has had in years.

 

BUT we would NEVER sail NCL again unless we had can affordable (read: free) UDP and\or ports that offer great lunch opportunities. Otherwise, we'll stick to cruise lines that offer far better food in the included buffet and MDR.

[ricksurf]

We have used the UDP on a 14 day cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. There is so much variety on each specialty menu that the longer cruise gives you the opportunity to do more sampling. The other thing we liked about the UDP is that there is no extra charge for lobster,etc. Quite frankly, the lobster is much better in the specialty restaurants. The food is prepared to order so it's not sitting in a steam table as you see with banquet prep in the MDR.

The service is generally much better in the specialty restaurants.

We would never consider NCL unless we had the UDP.

[SuiteTraveler]

I appreciate your feedback. I'm thinking it may get old for 14 days. The ship is doing two 7 day cruises; but you can book for 14 days.; so the food in main dining room will be the same on both 7 day cruises; I will make a decision soon. Thanks.

 

What I would advise is for you and your spouse to look at the menus for each of the specialty venues and figure out if you want to eat at them and how many times. That will make it easy for you to figure out if the dining package is worth it or not.

 

Start here:

http://www.cruiseastute.com/ship.php?ship=Norwegian%20Jade&feature=dining

 

Apparently the Jade has already rolled out the new MDR menus that were expected in early 2015, so you will get to experience those as well.

[chefcaw]

We had the UDP on our 38 day cruise this past spring. I think knowing that we could return to any of the restaurant again, controlled the urge to sample everything in one visit. All the extra cost items are included in the UDP. Several night we only used the salad bar in Moderno, much nicer than struggling with the buffet for a salad and appetizers

[AF-1]

We did 21 days on the Jade in January 2014. Our ONLY serious complaint was the food. In the MDR and buffet. Food is a big deal for us - at home and on vacation. We enjoyed the cruise anyway, primarily because the itinerary allowed us to have some spectacular lunches at our port stops.

 

Dinner in Cagney's twice - outstanding meals. DH is an ex butcher and claims his ribeye was one of the best slabs of meat he has had in years.

 

BUT we would NEVER sail NCL again unless we had can affordable (read: free) UDP and\or ports that offer great lunch opportunities. Otherwise, we'll stick to cruise lines that offer far better food in the included buffet and MDR.

 

Thanks for the feedback. On your trip you ate in some of the pay dining; but you did not have the udp on your cruise; is this correct?

[AF-1]

We had the UDP on our 38 day cruise this past spring. I think knowing that we could return to any of the restaurant again, controlled the urge to sample everything in one visit. All the extra cost items are included in the UDP. Several night we only used the salad bar in Moderno, much nicer than struggling with the buffet for a salad and appetizers

 

Thanks for the feedback; so did you ever eat in MDR or only the specialty places?

[AF-1]

We have used the UDP on a 14 day cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. There is so much variety on each specialty menu that the longer cruise gives you the opportunity to do more sampling. The other thing we liked about the UDP is that there is no extra charge for lobster,etc. Quite frankly, the lobster is much better in the specialty restaurants. The food is prepared to order so it's not sitting in a steam table as you see with banquet prep in the MDR.

The service is generally much better in the specialty restaurants.

We would never consider NCL unless we had the UDP.

 

Thanks for the feedback; you make a good case for the UDP

[NLH Arizona]

Hello fellow cruisers, I will be on Jade for two weeks in May. The offer on the table is $224 per person for the 14 night cruise. It has been this price since I booked this cruise back in Mar of this year. What do you think; buy it, wait till we get onboard; or forget it? Those options are on the table.

I would look at the restaurants you want to go to, price it out and see if there is any savings. On my 11 day cruise I saved over $100 on what it would have cost me, if I didn't have the UDP.

[AF-1]

What I would advise is for you and your spouse to look at the menus for each of the specialty venues and figure out if you want to eat at them and how many times. That will make it easy for you to figure out if the dining package is worth it or not.

 

Start here:

http://www.cruiseastute.com/ship.php?ship=Norwegian%20Jade&feature=dining

 

Apparently the Jade has already rolled out the new MDR menus that were expected in early 2015, so you will get to experience those as well.

 

Thank you for the link to the website; It tells me a lot; however if you don't mind I have a few questions.

1. At the bottom of the list of dining facilities; it mentions Signature Trio; do you know if this is available or has NCL gone to the UDP?

2. This is a great website; do you know of any other websites that lists info on NCL Jade, including pictures of the staterooms. I really would like to get a good idea of my aft stateroom; and the NCL website has one picture;

thanks.

[newmexicoNita]

I think the price is great. We do not do the dining package because being platinum and a few other special perks we get we do, usually end up with 3 or 4 free specialty meals free. We also have learned that some items in the MDR really are fine, not gourmet, but certainly satisfactory. That being said, I would much rather eat all my dinners in a specialty dining room. $224 for 2 weeks is a great deal.

[AF-1]

I think the price is great. We do not do the dining package because being platinum and a few other special perks we get we do, usually end up with 3 or 4 free specialty meals free. We also have learned that some items in the MDR really are fine, not gourmet, but certainly satisfactory. That being said, I would much rather eat all my dinners in a specialty dining room. $224 for 2 weeks is a great deal.

 

Thank you for the feedback. This is our first cruise on NCL so we have no status or perks.

[jkgourmet]

Thanks for the feedback. On your trip you ate in some of the pay dining; but you did not have the udp on your cruise; is this correct?

 

Correct. We went to Cagney's twice when they offered a 20% discount of some sort. Those were excellent, maybe even outstanding meals in every way. And this was the only time we paid for speciality restaurants.

 

Otherwise, to be blunt, the food on the ship sucked, often closely resembling what comes in a frozen package meal from the grocery.

 

There are many things NCL does very well. Food in free venues is not one of them.

Edited January 3, 2015 by jkgourmet

[newmexicoNita]

Correct. We went to Cagney's twice when they offered a 20% discount of some sort. Those were excellent, maybe even outstanding meals in every way. And this was the only time we paid for speciality restaurants.

 

Otherwise, to be blunt, the food on the ship sucked, often closely resembling what comes in a frozen package meal from the grocery.

 

There are many things NCL does very well. Food in free venues is not one of them.

 

It seems they have upgraded their menues in the past month or so according to my travel agent. I am hoping this is true. Though I don't find the food as distasteful as you did, it isn't their best feature for sure. There are a couple of items we really enjoy in the main dining room, the salmon being one to them. The alwasy available steak is always available for a reason, no one wants it... the breakfast, to us is standard for a cruise ship and the lunch in the buffet is as good as any ship we have cruised, better than some. It is mainly the dinners that are not up to par.

[QuattroRomeo]

We were on an 11 night Jade Med cruise in November. We didn't book the UDP but in the end we wished we had. We thought we might be too tired from the port days but we ended up eating at specialties every night, as it was more relaxing. The UDP was offered to us a few days into the cruise, so you could decide after you try it. It is not only better food, but the atmosphere- it is quieter, better service, fewer people, waiters get to know you, and the food is hot when it arrives..

[AF-1]

Correct. We went to Cagney's twice when they offered a 20% discount of some sort. Those were excellent, maybe even outstanding meals in every way. And this was the only time we paid for speciality restaurants.

 

Otherwise, to be blunt, the food on the ship sucked, often closely resembling what comes in a frozen package meal from the grocery.

 

There are many things NCL does very well. Food in free venues is not one of them.

 

Again, thanks for this feedback

[AF-1]

It seems they have upgraded their menues in the past month or so according to my travel agent. I am hoping this is true. Though I don't find the food as distasteful as you did, it isn't their best feature for sure. There are a couple of items we really enjoy in the main dining room, the salmon being one to them. The alwasy available steak is always available for a reason, no one wants it... the breakfast, to us is standard for a cruise ship and the lunch in the buffet is as good as any ship we have cruised, better than some. It is mainly the dinners that are not up to par.

 

I appreciate your feedback. This is good info to have.

[AF-1]

We were on an 11 night Jade Med cruise in November. We didn't book the UDP but in the end we wished we had. We thought we might be too tired from the port days but we ended up eating at specialties every night, as it was more relaxing. The UDP was offered to us a few days into the cruise, so you could decide after you try it. It is not only better food, but the atmosphere- it is quieter, better service, fewer people, waiters get to know you, and the food is hot when it arrives..

 

Thank you very much. I plan on looking at all my options; but I may wait to purchase the package until I get onboard.