MITSUGIRLY'S birthday cruise on the JADE review/pictorial

[mitsugirly]

 

You're right. I was thinking of our cabin on the Carnival Freedom. Deck 8 on the Jewel and Jade was recommended on some other site as one of the best choices.

 

We have one of the sideways obstructed view rooms near the front part of midship.

 

Actually I was wrong and have been corrected (several times) :o :p I guess there are some penthouses at the very aft of the shift. My apologies. I hope you end up with a good room steward. At least you are not in the back. Hopefully they don't change locations often.

 

Enjoying your review and your daughter is adorable. We sailed the Jade 2 weeks in 2015 and plan to do the same this year. Our room steward, deck 8 midship was fabulous. So sorry yours was not.

 

I'm certainly not an NCL champion but Our stewards in ocean view and inside staterooms have been every bit as good as they were in the Haven. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy was at the end of his contract and not planning on returning.

 

I asked our room steward on ROyal Caribbean for an extra pillow, we only had two for the room. He told us they didn't have any and to buy one in port. Our room steward on HAL had the nerve to stand there the last day of our Cruise and ask for an additional tip above the DSC. This after he, "forgot" to both make up and turn down our room three days. I know both these lines have good reputations. I would sail HAL again and chalked it up to just one bad steward but actually swore off cruising for several years after our Royal Caribbean cruise. When we returned to cruising it was Ncl and the excellent staff is what keeps us coming back. Treating staff well and ensuring your staff are doing their job is paramount to repeat customers. We sailed the Jade in Europe. The staff and entire operation of the ship was top notch. I hope your experience was an anomaly.

 

Btw, happy birthday.

 

 

Thanks for your comments. I agree, this is not the norm and we usually have fabulous stewards. I have to agree with thoughts he was probably at the end of his contract...and probably a good thing too.

 

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I appreciate it. :)

[barnacle_boy]

Aww, that sucks if they try to make it look like the rest of the fleet. I like a variety. I really like the Spirit because of it's Asian decor. It's so different from the rest of the fleet and made it so unique. Although I was on it in 2011, so that might have changed by now.

 

No need to worry about that. NCL is trying to sell Spirit, so they've put little effort into standardizing her to match the rest of the fleet.

[elruth]

I am enjoying your review and your photos. We will be on the Jade for the first time in Dec 2016 and April 2017. Your little girl is so sweet and seems to have a joyful spirit as do you.

[shadowmeboy]

another stellar start to your review, waiting patiently to find out more!

[Jana60]

Are you still on the Jade right now?

[shadowmeboy]

Are you still on the Jade right now?

 

No, she sailed the Jade February 20th to 27th. According to the earlier posts on this thread she is trying to get this review done ahead of her Carnival cruise in a few weeks.

Edited March 7, 2016 by shadowmeboy

[Vacationdreamer<><]

Oh - I take one day off CC and look what you've accomplished!

I'm very much enjoying this, even without any plans for a Jade cruise.

 

I can't WAIT til you get to the excursions!!

 

I hate that your steward was so poor. I am ALL ABOUT customer service. The part that bothers me so much is it doesn't really COST someone to give good service EXCEPT that it requires their time and effort. Some people are just too lazy to go all the way. I hate to complain, too; but I always get fired up about poor customer service.

 

 

I'm a nurse, too. Actually, I finished my MSN as an NP WaaaaaaaY back in 1999. I worked as an NP a little while but then started my family and "just" work per diem as an RN now. LOVE the flexibility and meeting new patients all the time. I love the variety of my job in cardiology/medicine overflow.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Vacationdreamer<><

[bluehawks47]

Thank you again for all the great pictures. I'm glad to see there is a medicine vending machine. I always bring a few items, but never need them...thank God!

[Munstergal22]

Oh i am loving all the detail, thank you so much for taking the time to put all this together.

 

110 days until we sail on the Jade from Venice, super excited :-)

[Heather1972]

 

But they did have this...medical supplies.

 

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Do all NCL ships have that? I haven't seen that before, but then again I wasn't looking for it.

[chipis]

Yaaaaay!!!

 

 

The review has started!!

 

Too bad to hear about the room steward, but after reading your past reviews and experiences, I know you guys made the best out of it, and still managed to have a ball

 

Long Live the Queen!!! (and I'm not referring to Madonna) :D

 

Hope to read more as well about the ports... we are sailing on the Getaway in May, and the itinerary includes Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Edited March 7, 2016 by chipis

[Jana60]

What's in the machine? On a separate subject is seems like there is a lot of us cruise fanatics also in the health field! I'm a family practice physician but I love to cruise! I agree with Vacationdreamer about customer service. I noticed a great decrease in quality of service on my recent cruise on Carnival. For example it took over an hour to get coffee in the morning! I believe it's because they had cut back on the staff in room service and I noticed decrease staff in a lot of areas so I decided to give Norwegian another look. It will be a good comparison because I will be boarding the Jade this Saturday only 2 weeks after getting off the Carnival ship so everything will be fresh in my mind.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Jana60

[Jana60]

Do you know how much the cheapest bottle of champagne is on board ship? Also when you have the universal beverage package do they let you get a drink as soon as you get on board? I thought a glass of champagne at sail away would be great but I don't know if I need to bring the champagne in order to have it or whether the drink package would supply it that early in the cruise!

[mitsugirly]

No need to worry about that. NCL is trying to sell Spirit, so they've put little effort into standardizing her to match the rest of the fleet.

 

Isn't that the one they have been trying to sell for years? I remember reading that one of them have been up for sale for quite some time now. Either way, it's too bad. We loved the Spirit and her uniqueness.

 

I am enjoying your review and your photos. We will be on the Jade for the first time in Dec 2016 and April 2017. Your little girl is so sweet and seems to have a joyful spirit as do you.

 

Thank you so much and I hope you have a wonderful cruise on the Jade. Sakari is a bundle of joy and fun to be around that's for sure. :)

[mitsugirly]

another stellar start to your review, waiting patiently to find out more!

 

Thank you.

 

Oh - I take one day off CC and look what you've accomplished!

I'm very much enjoying this' date=' even without any plans for a Jade cruise.

 

I can't WAIT til you get to the excursions!!

 

I hate that your steward was so poor. I am ALL ABOUT customer service. The part that bothers me so much is it doesn't really COST someone to give good service EXCEPT that it requires their time and effort. Some people are just too lazy to go all the way. I hate to complain, too; but I always get fired up about poor customer service.

 

 

I'm a nurse, too. Actually, I finished my MSN as an NP WaaaaaaaY back in 1999. I worked as an NP a little while but then started my family and "just" work per diem as an RN now. LOVE the flexibility and meeting new patients all the time. I love the variety of my job in cardiology/medicine overflow.[/quote']

 

I did manage to accomplish a lot didn't I? I spent all day long yesterday on posting. I'm not sure how much I'll accomplish today though since it's back to work for me.

 

Bad customer service does put a damper on things. It alters the mood for the day, but I quickly forgive and move on...of course in this instance, I'm constantly reminded daily of the bad service he gave me. :(

 

Oh how neat (your job). I absolutely love my job. I only work about 2-2 1/2 hours a day seeing private patients and it's a very flexible job. Making my own schedule, picking my own patients, and only working a few hours a day definitely has it's perks. I do miss the emergency room though and the fast paced traumas. These days, my adrenaline doesn't getting pumping too much...well, except for bad room stewards getting it going. :D :p

[mitsugirly]

Thank you again for all the great pictures. I'm glad to see there is a medicine vending machine. I always bring a few items, but never need them...thank God!

 

Yea, being a nurse I always over pack anything I can think of that we might need medical related...that and of course I'm a klutz on cruises and manage to get hurt a lot. :o

 

Oh i am loving all the detail, thank you so much for taking the time to put all this together.

 

110 days until we sail on the Jade from Venice, super excited :-)

 

Thanks for the comments. Have a wonderful time on the Jade. :)

[mitsugirly]

Do all NCL ships have that? I haven't seen that before, but then again I wasn't looking for it.

 

It's the first time I have ever seen one on any of the ships. But then again, I have never really looked for one either. :)

 

Yaaaaay!!!

 

 

The review has started!!

 

Too bad to hear about the room steward, but after reading your past reviews and experiences, I know you guys made the best out of it, and still managed to have a ball

 

Long Live the Queen!!! (and I'm not referring to Madonna) :D

 

Hope to read more as well about the ports... we are sailing on the Getaway in May, and the itinerary includes Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

 

Yes, we definitely made the best of it, but it still sucked...and so did he.

 

Long live the Queen!! :D

 

Yea, I can't wait to get to the ports section. It's always my favorite. :D

[mitsugirly]

What's in the machine? On a separate subject is seems like there is a lot of us cruise fanatics also in the health field! I'm a family practice physician but I love to cruise! I agree with Vacationdreamer about customer service. I noticed a great decrease in quality of service on my recent cruise on Carnival. For example it took over an hour to get coffee in the morning! I believe it's because they had cut back on the staff in room service and I noticed decrease staff in a lot of areas so I decided to give Norwegian another look. It will be a good comparison because I will be boarding the Jade this Saturday only 2 weeks after getting off the Carnival ship so everything will be fresh in my mind.

 

The medicine box had things for headaches, band-aids, ointments, sea sickness pills and condoms! I didn't really look at everything in there, but did notice a few things.

 

Yes, I have noticed over the years that there are a lot of health care workers that cruise. I have especially noticed nurses. Taking a cruise is probably one of the safest places to be according to a lot of my roll calls saying they were a nurse on previous cruises. :D I actually had to use my nursing skills this cruise. :p

 

Have a wonderful cruise on the Jade. :)

[mitsugirly]

Do you know how much the cheapest bottle of champagne is on board ship? Also when you have the universal beverage package do they let you get a drink as soon as you get on board? I thought a glass of champagne at sail away would be great but I don't know if I need to bring the champagne in order to have it or whether the drink package would supply it that early in the cruise!

 

Quite honestly, we are not big drinkers and when we do drink, we usually have a fruity drink. So I couldn't answer your question about the pricing of champagne. Hopefully someone else can.

 

We have only had the UBP once before and yes you could use it once you got on board but we had to pay the tax on it while we were still in port. I don't know if it's every port or just the port we were in (N.Y.) If you bring your own, you will have to pay a corkage fee from what I have read.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Do you know how much the cheapest bottle of champagne is on board ship? Also when you have the universal beverage package do they let you get a drink as soon as you get on board? I thought a glass of champagne at sail away would be great but I don't know if I need to bring the champagne in order to have it or whether the drink package would supply it that early in the cruise!

 

If you prefer a certain champagne I would suggest you bring it onboard and pay the corkage fee. I am not sure of the prices on the ship. We receive a comp bottle in the suite which was ok. I won't be able to tell you as you leave before us but the recent bottle on the Star did not give me a headache. If you have UBP I would just enjoy glass after glass or go to the champagne bar for recommendations from fellow travelers. This is the first cruise I am not schelpping wine!:eek: I am not a wine snob but I love Trefethen and it is not available on the cruise lines.

[Laszlo]

Great review Kim!!!

Edited March 7, 2016 by Laszlo

[Cruise-mom]

I have rushed through the last couple of pages so I hope i didn't miss it but did your last suitcase turn up?

[FraudBroad]

I'm beginning to think you had the same room steward we did on the Pearl in 2014. On more than one occasion he entered the room without knocking and my teenage daughters were in there alone. Multiple things in the cabin were broken, never brought the right amount of towels, and rarely did he get the cabin turned down at night. He was hands down the worst steward we've ever had on any line. I complained to the guest services desk as well as the concierge about his service (or lack there of) and him continually walking in on the girls. Sorry to say it never improved. The one and ONLY time I've ever had a daily service charge removed....not the entire thing mind you, only for one person (we were three to a cabin).

[jenseib]

aha!!here it is.

 

Now to go back and catch up!!!!!

[starfish the second]

Cant wait to read your review