Just off Jade first timers NCL

[johnandlinda]

We were on the 10 day cruise out of Tampa 1/15

One of the reasons we did this cruise is because we love Port of Tampa. Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived at port at 1030 am and were seated eating lunch by 1215 pm. The other reason we did this cruise was to experience the "freestyle cruising".

We were in a balcony on deck 9. Pretty std cruise ship cabin, however there was a table and chair that always just seemed to be in the way. We finally just flipped the table upside down and stored it on the sofa bed. Best shower we ever had on a cruise, but the larger shower meant very tight quarters in the rest of the bathroom. Cabin steward was efficient.

We thought in general the Jade was in very good shape. The pool area showing wear, and they must not use sea water in pools anymore cause pool water was cold!

We had the beverage package and being free at sea and only paying gratuity was great value. Bar service could be a lil slow but a couple dollars a day tip seemed to improve it...)

We also had the dining package which for us was also a free at sea and we had 5 nights. We did Moderno, Cucina, Le Bistro, and Cagneys twice. Again great value.

We were not impressed with lunch buffet...seemed to be the same day in day out and never saw a cookie for dessert!

Main dining room was just ok...seemed kinda chaotic to us but we never really had a wait.

We are in our mid 60s and we thought we were probably in the younger minority on the ship overall

Will be glad to offer any additional information

[the_dylaness]

I was on the Jade about three weeks ago and I was quite surprised at the lack of cookies in the buffet! Not my personal taste but travelling with a 5 year old she was of course always wanting a cookie... got away with the cupcakes (she loved the strawberry ones with sprinkles) but still seemed like an odd choice to be missing especially at lunch.

[NLH Arizona]

If the Jade is anything like the Pearl and Jewel, there are usually cookies at 3:30 at The Great Outdoors, back of the ship on deck 12.

[cage keeper]

Makig miss The Explorer again. They had cookies 24/7. And they were good. I am gluten free now so, oh well. :D

[Julia_Jackal]

Speaking of the showers, do they have those great shower head wands? Makes it a bit easier in tight quarters.

 

How were the shows?

Edited January 28, 2017 by Julia_Jackal
Forgot second question

[easyboy]

Thank you for your feedback.

[KeithJenner]

Re the cookies, we have always found them whenever we have cruised, but they do seem to be put out at odd times. Often during the afternoon and later at night.

 

It is very possible that they were never available at lunch. Our son really loves the cookies and we often end up making a special trip there in the afternoon or evening to get some.

[johnandlinda]

Regarding the cookies, we had never vacationed anywhere nice that cookies were not available as a dessert item

The hand held shower head is there...this shower was full depth of the bathroom and shower had sliding door...in the bathroom where sink was when standing in front of sink your back was nearly hitting door...in the seperate enclosed potty area when you stood up to get off toilet you felt your face would hit wall

We went to 3 shows...all good...we would have done more but times were either 730 or 930...dinner always interfered with the early show...and most nights at 930 we are ready for the nightcap and off to bed...lol

[johnandlinda]

This was also the first cabin we ever had with a coffee pot...we never used it...took up space on one table...eliminate that, they could then remove the table we ended up putting on the sofa bed which would have made the room feel way more spacious

Might also add at debarkation the Customs line moved way faster than our recent Ft Lauderdale cruise and they both had same number of officers

[sanger727]

We were on your cruise. Agree about the table and chair, we asked our room Stewart to remove them and she did, which make the room work a lot better. Agree that the shower size was fantastic.

 

The water in the pool was absolutely salt water, got it in my mouth a few times. So assume it was sea water. They were cool, but no colder than the pools where I live in may/June so didn't bother me. Once you jump in they are fine. Were refreshing on a hot day.

 

Agree lunch buffet was much the same. Lots of choices though. My #1 disappointment is there was no cheese, croutons, or low fat ranch on the salad bar! There were cookies though on the aft buffet every day. Also nachos, which became my favorite snack [emoji6].

 

The main dining room food was hit/miss to us. The service was wonderful. Loved the apps. The entrees and desserts were sometimes good/sometimes bad. But we loved the specialties with the exception on cagneys. Maybe we went on an off night. But we ordered 2 medium filets and got 1 mid rare and 1 mid well. The sides also lacked flavor.

 

 

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[johnandlinda]

If the pools were salt water they should have emptied them and refilled once we got further south cause ocean temps were 82F and above and I can tell ya the pool water was no where near mid 70s

We agree on MDR...few menus had more than one thing that interested us but what we did order was good, not great

[sanger727]

If the pools were salt water they should have emptied them and refilled once we got further south cause ocean temps were 82F and above and I can tell ya the pool water was no where near mid 70s

 

We agree on MDR...few menus had more than one thing that interested us but what we did order was good, not great

 

 

Idk. I did hear a lot of people complain that the pools were cold. I swam most days between the pool and the ocean in port. I couldn't tell you if there was a temperature difference. Maybe I just don't have cold receptors but to me, both were cool to walk in but pleasant once you jumped all the way in. In fact my stepmother wouldn't swim in Tortola because the water was too cold, it might have just been the water temp in Jan.

 

 

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[Satincruz]

Regarding the cookies, we had never vacationed anywhere nice that cookies were not available as a dessert item

The hand held shower head is there...this shower was full depth of the bathroom and shower had sliding door...in the bathroom where sink was when standing in front of sink your back was nearly hitting door...in the seperate enclosed potty area when you stood up to get off toilet you felt your face would hit wall

We went to 3 shows...all good...we would have done more but times were either 730 or 930...dinner always interfered with the early show...and most nights at 930 we are ready for the nightcap and off to bed...lol

 

I was on your sailing. They had cookies every day during afternoon snacks and every night for late night snacks. Never on the inside buffet, though. Only at the very back of the ship on the "Great Outdoors" buffet line. Many varieties, too, at least 3 different kinds each time, and 6 total that I saw. It won't help you now, but just for the future times you cruise w/ NCL ...

[FranknBeans]

Buffets will always seem the same especially if your epicking from all of it.

The secret to enjoying buffet is to select a food a day ie: salads, soups another day, a sandwich etc.

 

Same goes for night time, have chicken one night beef the next and so on.

Edited January 30, 2017 by FranknBeans

[CH_ca]

Buffets will always seem the same especially if your epicking from all of it.

The secret to enjoying buffet is to select a food a day ie: salads, soups another day, a sandwich etc.

 

Same goes for night time, have chicken one night beef the next and so on.

 

 

Great points! I never thought of controlling the variety to make the interest last longer! I always tend to take the opportunity to try a bit of everything. That's how I get bored with the ship's buffets. The only down side is, what if the food you skipped does not appear again? You'll never be able to taste what it's like. :o

[johnandlinda]

We do the buffet for the exact reasons you describe...but everyday the sandwich choices seemed to be tne same...cold meats almost the same daily...the carving station repeated itself at least three times....it just got "old" very quickly for us which is veru unusual...I dont think we saw iceberg lettuce as a salad option all week...but I try to understand things like that cause even at home keeping that fresh or even being fresh when bought is an adventure...other than the Specialty restaurants being good, we both agreed the food was the poorest we had had on any of our 8 other cruises...CCL, Princess, Regent, Azamara

[BLACKBURNROVERS]

We do the buffet for the exact reasons you describe...but everyday the sandwich choices seemed to be the same...cold meats almost the same daily

Just curious as to what you would really expect from a buffet. What variety of different cold meats can you possibly want?

[easyboy]

Buffets will always seem the same especially if your epicking from all of it.

The secret to enjoying buffet is to select a food a day ie: salads, soups another day, a sandwich etc.

 

Same goes for night time, have chicken one night beef the next and so on.

Very well said. They are food choices.

[newmexicoNita]

We were on the 10 day cruise out of Tampa 1/15

One of the reasons we did this cruise is because we love Port of Tampa. Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived at port at 1030 am and were seated eating lunch by 1215 pm. The other reason we did this cruise was to experience the "freestyle cruising".

We were in a balcony on deck 9. Pretty std cruise ship cabin, however there was a table and chair that always just seemed to be in the way. We finally just flipped the table upside down and stored it on the sofa bed. Best shower we ever had on a cruise, but the larger shower meant very tight quarters in the rest of the bathroom. Cabin steward was efficient.

We thought in general the Jade was in very good shape. The pool area showing wear, and they must not use sea water in pools anymore cause pool water was cold!

We had the beverage package and being free at sea and only paying gratuity was great value. Bar service could be a lil slow but a couple dollars a day tip seemed to improve it...)

We also had the dining package which for us was also a free at sea and we had 5 nights. We did Moderno, Cucina, Le Bistro, and Cagneys twice. Again great value.

We were not impressed with lunch buffet...seemed to be the same day in day out and never saw a cookie for dessert!

Main dining room was just ok...seemed kinda chaotic to us but we never really had a wait.

We are in our mid 60s and we thought we were probably in the younger minority on the ship overall

Will be glad to offer any additional information

 

Thanks for your abbreviated review: that is the kind I happen to like. As for the overall age group: I would expect an older crowd on a longer cruise, out of Tampa in the winter.

 

I agree about the lunch buffet, but isn't that pretty typical for most cruise lines: the buffet is so large how much more could they have? We are leaning more all the time to places like Osheehans for lunch or the the outdoor area , with the buffet maybe once in awhile. Same with breakfast. Buffets to me are just someplace to grab something in a hurry. I feel the same about buffets at home.

Edited January 31, 2017 by newmexicoNita