JADE Review: May 2nd-9th, 2015

[Epic_Bear]

I cruised with my mom, brother and his wife on this seven day Greek Isle cruise. We decided that it was the best vacation we ever had. We, as a group, aren't big into ship activities and spend most of our ship time hanging out in lounge chairs, a hot tub and maybe taking in a show.

 

We did do three ship excursions, which is odd for us, but we wanted to make the most out of the ports. They were excellent!

 

Santorini: We did the volcano climb with the swim in the thermal springs. Highly recommended, a great hike, stellar views and cheap beer onboard. My sister in law and I rode the donkeys up the mountain after that, while mom and brother took the cable car, where we wandered around, shopped and enjoyed the rest of the day.

 

Mykonos: We went to Delos, where is was very hot and inspiring. There were so many ruins we couldn't see them all, but it was just beautiful. We had lunch and wine afterward.

 

Katakolon: We did the standard tour of Olympia and then spent some time at the beach to wind it down.

 

Corfu: We just wandered around to the ports, shopped and ate!

 

The ship food was pretty solid. We ate in Cagney's, La Cucina, Le Bistro, Jasmine Garden, Blue Lagoon, Alizar, The Grand Pacific and the buffet. My mom and I are both Platinum and we each had a free dinner for two for the Le Bistro and when we presented them when the four of us went to dinner, we were told we could only use one per group. We argued for a bit, and were allowed to use both as we were given both. The only slow service we had was at Le Bistro, but the food was excellent!

 

On the subject of bringing food to the cabin: My sister in law asked for her bison at Cagney's to be wrapped so she could bring it back to the cabin. The waiter did it without issue.

 

We also enjoyed the kooky Hawaiian décor in the middle of Greece!

 

Overall the crew was great. The captain was on our tour in Santorini and the Cruise Consultant on our Olympia tour. We did see an Officer telling a crew member to smile if they wanted to keep their job and a bartender yelling at two waiters while guests waited to order their drinks. Staff issues need to be addressed, but it shouldn't be in a public space.

 

We had mini-suite 11120, which was by the aft stairs. We've usually had balconies, and really noticed the extra space compared to my brother and sister in law's balcony. It was super quiet, and a quick run up the stairs the buffet. We had all our sailaways from it! We saw our room steward three times total, but he kept the room clean and was cheerful when we did see him.

 

The Greek Isles were stunning, it was fun to explore Venice again after 11 years, and would do this itinerary again in a minute.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

[coldinerie]

Thank you for posting a review of the Jade. I am going on the ship in 25 days. There is nothing on CC about the Jade so it was great to see your post.

 

Tell mw about Venice, its our first time there. How did you get from your hotel to the port? I am assuming you came in a day early, but just wanting to know your thoughts on transportation.

What are must do's in Venice? We have about 30 hours in Venice and are staying very close by St Mark's square.

 

What are the Jasmine Garden, Blue Lagoon? I know they are restaurants, but what is the cuisine? We have the specialty dining plan, so do I need to use it?

I am sure I will think of more questions, so thank you for letting us ask.

[GoAndHaveFun]

Thank you for posting a review of the Jade. I am going on the ship in 25 days. There is nothing on CC about the Jade so it was great to see your post.

 

Tell mw about Venice, its our first time there. How did you get from your hotel to the port? I am assuming you came in a day early, but just wanting to know your thoughts on transportation.

What are must do's in Venice? We have about 30 hours in Venice and are staying very close by St Mark's square.

 

What are the Jasmine Garden, Blue Lagoon? I know they are restaurants, but what is the cuisine? We have the specialty dining plan, so do I need to use it?

I am sure I will think of more questions, so thank you for letting us ask.

 

Not OP but I was on the same cruise as OP.

 

From hotel to port, I am pretty sure your hotel will arrange for transportation to the port but it will definitely be pricey. If you are near a bus stop, you can try to take the bus to Piazzale Roma (where the bus stops are on Venice proper) and then walk like 10 minutes to get to the ship. For Venice, just walk around and explore the city! St Mark's Square is nice along with Rialto Bridge (tho it's under construction at the moment).

 

Jasmine Garden is Chinese cuisine while Blue Lagoon is mainly comfort food. Since you will have the dining package, I highly recommend dining in a specialty dining restaurant every night or almost every night

[scoochy12]

Thanks for your review.

 

What was the temperature in the isles? When you went to the beach, was the sea water cold? What was the one thing that is a "must" for this trip?

 

Really looking forward to our trip in 2 weeks!!

[Epic_Bear]

The temps were in the 80's! It was very hot in the sun, don't forget a hat. The sea wasn't warm, probably 70-75, but it felt great.

 

My musts were the volcano hike and donkey riding in Santorini. Delos was awesome too. Ship wise, nothing really as we aren't big activity people, more of just lounging with a cocktail ones.

[scoochy12]

The temps were in the 80's! It was very hot in the sun, don't forget a hat. The sea wasn't warm, probably 70-75, but it felt great.

 

My musts were the volcano hike and donkey riding in Santorini. Delos was awesome too. Ship wise, nothing really as we aren't big activity people, more of just lounging with a cocktail ones.

 

That's great - warmer than I was expecting. Thanks!!

Edited May 13, 2015 by scoochy12
typos

[ejincali]

Thanks so much for posting, I will be on the same cruise in exactly one month! Did you attend any of the entertainment? Wondering how it was. Did they have second city comedy? Glad you liked the Santorini hike, we will do that as well. Also, we booked the bicycle trip around Corfu.

[RMLincoln]

Thank you for posting a review of the Jade. I am going on the ship in 25 days. There is nothing on CC about the Jade so it was great to see your post.

 

Tell mw about Venice, its our first time there. How did you get from your hotel to the port? I am assuming you came in a day early, but just wanting to know your thoughts on transportation.

What are must do's in Venice? We have about 30 hours in Venice and are staying very close by St Mark's square.

 

What are the Jasmine Garden, Blue Lagoon? I know they are restaurants, but what is the cuisine? We have the specialty dining plan, so do I need to use it?

I am sure I will think of more questions, so thank you for letting us ask.

 

We have stayed in Mestre before and will again in September so we take a local bus to P. Roma. P. Roma is the terminus of buses and the beginning of the canal boats/water buses (vaparettos). So depending on where your hotel is you might take a bus or a vaparetto (water bus). Water taxi is very expensive but if it's in your budget (maybe $100) that's a possibility. Many just walk but with rolling luggage you can have difficulty with the steps on the many bridges.

 

At P. Roma you can easily take the People Mover automated tram - luggage friendly. It is now I think 1.35 Euro per person per way but it's worth it to not have to pull baggage all the way to the pier, although that's OK for some. It may be a 15 - 30 minute walk depending on which berth your ship is in. A land taxi can be had also from P. Roma but I haven't done that so can't comment.

 

As for great fun in Venice we just love the canal boats and get an all day or multi day pass. St Mark's square is romantic in the evenings with the restaurants' musicians playing but beware of the very inflated pricing - coffee and a pie might be $30 per person. Many reasonable places off the square.

 

A boat ride to Murano, the glass making island in the lagoon is a fun half day. We like to get tickets for one of the many evening small-venue concerts of Vivaldi (Venice-born) selections or other classical music. Then we take the vaporetto back to P. Roma and the local bus 5-10 minutes to Mestre on the mainland. Passes are good for the vaporettos and buses plus the vaporetto to Murano too.

 

Check out the ports forum, Italy ports... lots of info there. Enjoy, m--

[Epic_Bear]

Thanks so much for posting, I will be on the same cruise in exactly one month! Did you attend any of the entertainment? Wondering how it was. Did they have second city comedy? Glad you liked the Santorini hike, we will do that as well. Also, we booked the bicycle trip around Corfu.

 

We saw Shout and Elements, both were pretty solid. We caught part of the opening show on TV, and all that stood out was that someone on stage had their pants by their ankles. Patricia played a great piano in the bar. DJ Kevlar was awful, unless you are super into techno.

 

No Second City (Love them and have seen them off ship too) and I believe they aren't on any Europe cruises.

 

Santorini hike was great. Our guide was Giancarlo, he rocked.

 

Corfu bike tour sounds fun too!

[Epic_Bear]

Thank you for posting a review of the Jade. I am going on the ship in 25 days. There is nothing on CC about the Jade so it was great to see your post.

 

Tell mw about Venice, its our first time there. How did you get from your hotel to the port? I am assuming you came in a day early, but just wanting to know your thoughts on transportation.

What are must do's in Venice? We have about 30 hours in Venice and are staying very close by St Mark's square.

 

What are the Jasmine Garden, Blue Lagoon? I know they are restaurants, but what is the cuisine? We have the specialty dining plan, so do I need to use it?

I am sure I will think of more questions, so thank you for letting us ask.

 

Venice is easy to walk around in, it's fun just to wander. We stayed at one of NCL's hotels and took the train in from it. It ran every half hour or so, easy to catch. I've been to Venice a few times, but we went to Saint Marks, Rialto and the Bridge of Sighs because my sister in law had never been.

 

Jasmine Garden: Chinese Food

Blue Lagoon: Comfort Food, good wings!

 

They are both free, so no UDP needed there.

[Magicdi]

Thank you for posting a review of the Jade. I am going on the ship in 25 days. There is nothing on CC about the Jade so it was great to see your post.

 

Tell mw about Venice, its our first time there. How did you get from your hotel to the port? I am assuming you came in a day early, but just wanting to know your thoughts on transportation.

What are must do's in Venice? We have about 30 hours in Venice and are staying very close by St Mark's square.

 

What are the Jasmine Garden, Blue Lagoon? I know they are restaurants, but what is the cuisine? We have the specialty dining plan, so do I need to use it?

I am sure I will think of more questions, so thank you for letting us ask.

 

I think the you should visit the Doges Palace and go inside the Bassilica St. Marko and also go up the Campanile Tower for brilliant Views. It's just beautiful to wonder around all the little back streets as well. The Piazza St. Marco is beautiful in the evening after all the day trippers and cruise excursions have left and the orchestra's are playing outside the cafes. It might be pricey to buy a drink but it's worth it for the experience. We have stayed in the Canaregio district of Venice and there are some lovely restaurants, less pricey and where the locals eat.