Jade 12-day Eastern Carribean-my brief review and a little bit of dry dock info

[drvalo]

I just returned from the 12-day Eastern Caribbean (I do know how to spell it but I could not correct the title :( ) cruise on the Jade. It was her last cruise before a couple of charters and a dry dock.

 

We had originally booked the 10-day cruise immediately before this one, but then the prices plummeted to lower than the 10-day so we switched. We also made a few other changes to our booking along the way, including adding a second Cruise Next certificate, rebooking for the free gratuities, and downgrading from an ocean view to a sideways inside. We pre-booked one excursion through NCL (at a substantial savings compared the price once on the ship) and also pre-booked our platinum dinner at Le Bistro. We easily made a reservation for La Cucina once on board. We did not receive a bill at the end of the cruise.

 

Pre-cruise we stayed at the Tampa Airport-Cruiseport Quality Inn. It is several miles from the port, but they have a park and cruise package that provides complimentary transfers to and from the port. We waited for about 30 minutes for the return shuttle, but it was not a bad deal for the price and convenience. The morning of the cruise there were probably 30 or more others who stayed and used the shuttle, although not all left a car as we did. There were 8 of us in our return shuttle (3 cars) and I don't know how many trips the driver made. The hotel is really more of a motel, but it is clean, the staff was pleasant and helpful, had good wifi and it had a pretty good breakfast.

 

Tampa is a sort of confusing port. I was happy we stayed at a hotel that provided transportation to the terminal. A porter came right up and took the luggage and pointed us in the right direction. The lines were long and there was no dedicated line for Platinum or Gold Latitudes members. Since almost everyone is a Latitudes member...oh well.

 

There was much good about the cruise. The stand out has to be the crew, which was fabulous in every way. Our room steward was probably the best we have ever had in 10 NCL cruises. The weather was also almost perfectly spectacular with calm seas and very little rain. The itinerary included two ports we had never visited (Santo Domingo and San Juan). The entertainment was good generally and included a magician, a comedian, acrobats, two different singers, and a juggler who juggled well, but whose jokes I found pretty offensive and sexist (but others seemed to laugh). The production company also performed some very good shows. Also we were on board for the Super Bowl. There were lots of related activities and "tailgating" with treats and mardi-gras type necklaces with footballs.

 

It was a gray cruise with an average age of 62. There were very few children and most were infants or toddlers. Most days were filled with activities and the trivias were very popular (with all ages).

 

Platinum benefits seemed to again be devalued. This cruise we only received four strawberries. Not that I cruise for those things, but with the other recent changes (dinners, chocolates, etc.), it was hard not to notice.

 

We saw passengers filling water bottles directly from the water fountain in the buffet. That really grossed us out. We spoke to crew members and officers about it, but the crew members just stood and watched it happen. Myself and other passengers angrily asked the offending passengers to stop and pointed out the signs saying "do not fill water bottles here", but that did not make any difference. So, my advice is don't drink the water in the buffet.

 

We ate in each of the MDRs, Le Bistro, La Cucina, the buffet (including the grill and great outdoors) and the Blue Lagoon. While we always found something good to eat, the quality seemed different. Perhaps it was a result of the length of the cruise or perhaps it was a change in menu, particularly in the buffet. I don't care what French sounding name you give it, potatoes and spinach in a cream sauce with cheese on top is a casserole, and there were lots of such dishes. Most buffet meals had four kinds of rice. Also, while soft serve is available for lunch through late night, you can only get the harder scooped ice cream in the dining rooms or specialty restaurants. Service was good wherever we ate, however. In fact, when we ate at Le Bistro, there was no appetizer or salad that DH wanted and they went to the main dinner room galley and got him a Caesar salad. Again, a great crew!

 

Finally, we asked a lot of questions about the dry dock. Mostly we found out about the more cosmetic changes. Interestingly, most of the crew stays on the ship during the dry dock. Only the entertainers were leaving. The housekeeping staff put the rooms back to together and clean up after the carpet is replaced. They may also be ripping it out as well. The cruise director's staff is cleaning and organizing some of the common areas, such as restocking, cleaning and organizing the library. The Blue Lagoon is finally becoming O'Sheehans and Moderno is moving up near Cagney's. All of the Hawaiian décor will be removed including the murals and art work. The electronic system is also to be updated so that passengers can view their accounts on the TV. The crew was excited about the more modern décor. So, it seems that if you are cruising after the dry dock you will get a much more modern feeling ship AND the really great crew will still be there.

 

Sadly, this will probably be our last NCL cruise, at least for a while. Not being able to bring on beverages was really the last straw for us. If you can see my signature you can see that we have booked our next cruise on Princess and we are beginning to try out some other lines. Perhaps we will come back or perhaps not. Perhaps NCL will come to its senses. We made a particular effort this cruise to not spend any extra money during the cruise, we able to use both of our Cruise Next certificated (and did not buy new ones) and even downgraded to an inside which in no way lessened our cruise enjoyment, but it was our protest as my missives to Mr. Stuart were ignored. But as a last cruise, it was a good one. See you on Princess!!!????

Edited February 8, 2017 by drvalo

[CH_ca]

Thanks drvalo for the review! I'm wondering do you know if they will replace the furniture in cabins? The mattresses in particular. I always find the mattresses a little bit saggy even for a couple of years old ships. Egg crates didn't help either. Really hope they will be new when I go on board after the dry dock! Fingers crossed!

[elruth]

Thanks drvalo for the review! I'm wondering do you know if they will replace the furniture in cabins? The mattresses in particular. I always find the mattresses a little bit saggy even for a couple of years old ships. Egg crates didn't help either. Really hope they will be new when I go on board after the dry dock! Fingers crossed!

 

We were on the Jade in early Dec. 2016. I am very picky about the mattress as I have a bad back. Surprisingly, the mattress was one of the most comfortable I have slept on and I have been on 20 cruises. ( most of them on NCL ships ) We were in a balcony cabin.

[easyboy]

Sorry your experience did not come up to your expectations. Hope your next Princess cruise does.

[johnandlinda]

We were on the 10 day cruise prior to yours

You were able to describe the quality of the food in the buffet better than we did

It was our first NCL...for us the UBP and UDP made the cruise great value overall...we have cruised Princess once...very good experience

[EllieinNJ]

We really enjoyed our cruise on the Jade in September. The beds were very comfortable. It was fun to see the Hawaiian décor and I'm sure many will miss it. I, too, am going on Princess in October, only because the itinerary goes well with visiting my daughter in San Francisco, but I will still cruise with NCL. Yes, not being able to bring on water and soda is a real pain, but I brought 32oz. water bottles with me and with Crystal light iced tea and Mio water enhancer, we filled them up in our stateroom with the tap water and took them everywhere we went.

[All-ready2cruise]

drvalo, Thanks very much for taking the time to do this review. We're cruising in April so I've let the other's on the Roll Call know what to expect.

 

Sorry you're calling it day with NCL but totally understand and there are so many other options to try, enjoy. :)

[drvalo]

Thanks drvalo for the review! I'm wondering do you know if they will replace the furniture in cabins? The mattresses in particular. I always find the mattresses a little bit saggy even for a couple of years old ships. Egg crates didn't help either. Really hope they will be new when I go on board after the dry dock! Fingers crossed!

 

They were already replacing mattresses, I believe. There were a number in hallways as we were leaving. And, I think we may have had new mattresses in our cabin. They were much higher than I remember and very comfortable. Other passengers had complaints about dips and lumps, but ours were great! About the other furniture, I don't know. Much of the furniture in the pubic spaces, it seemed, was going to be replaced. I don't think in three weeks time they could completely remove the built-ins in the cabins, but maybe the chairs/stools and tables could be replaced. I didn't ask though and don't know.

Edited February 8, 2017 by drvalo

[drvalo]

Sorry your experience did not come up to your expectations. Hope your next Princess cruise does.

 

It really exceeded our expectations. There were many wonderful aspects to the cruise. But NCL, as a corporation, has begun policies and practices that do interfere with our cruising enjoyment (for our convenience), so we voted with our wallet this cruise and will with our feet for the future. Not sure if many others are as this cruise was completely sold out weeks before (could have been the drastic price reduction though), however our feet vote is all we have left as we have tried other ways to communicate.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Great review! While I will miss the Pride of Hawaii feel to the Jade I'm excited to see how she looks in June. I was docked next to you in San Juan (I was cruising on the Carnival Splendor) and we had the same older crowd onboard.

[crayola1932]

I was on this cruise. I thought it was a great cruise, the extra day for Key West was a special treat. The staff were outstanding and the food was delicious as usual.

 

The OP was right--we were a gray cruise. I had an excellent time with my fellow grays, lots of nice people to talk to, and the few babies were cute.

 

We arrived 4 days early and spent time in Tarpon Springs and Crystal River. I highly recommend visits to these places. I especially recommend the Homosassa Springs state wildlife park in Crystal River.

 

After returning our rental car, we took a cab to the cruise terminal from the airport. Only $25 for the two of us, and we were able to get to the terminal a little earlier than the free shuttles from the hotels. Because there was a lot of demand for taxis, the dispatcher paired us up with another party, so the cost was even less than $25 per couple.

 

When we got there (shortly before noon), there WAS a special line for Platinum/Gold. The signage wasn't great, so we had to ask, but after that we were processed quickly. There are two terminals side by side in Tampa and we were in the smaller one for embarkation (and the bigger one for disembarkation). There wasn't enough room in the area where you sit in chairs to wait for boarding; it was a bit of a madhouse, but well-organized.

 

Food:

OP was right; I did have to strategize in order to get regular ice cream, but it was delicious when I found it. I think NCL must have been listening to customer criticism because I noticed some improvements: There were THREE coffee bean coffee dispensers in the buffet instead of only one. Skim milk was much more easily available than it has been on previous cruises. There were enough omelet stations in the buffet that you rarely had to wait long. Then I discovered that the steam-table eggs were moist and fresh--a pleasant surprise. And they separate the crispy bacon (DH) from the soft bacon (me) so that you can get the kind of bacon you like.

 

Tours

Submarine tour at Georgetown good. City tour of Santo Domingo good, but it really does involve lots of stairs. Tortola by land and sea a great tour. The only disappointment was the El Junque Forest Drive out of San Juan. A few years back they had a drive combined with a VERY short hike, which I loved. This time they had two tours: one involved a hike that I couldn't take because of length and difficulty, and the other was just a drive: OK but not as great as a few years ago.

 

When we disembarked, our flight wasn't until evening, so we walked over to the Aquarium (about a block from cruise terminal), checked our luggage with them (free), and spent the morning there. Excellent aquarium.

 

My one disappointment was the ventilation. Our cabin was extremely cold during the day (OK at night). Also, someone must have been smoking in a cabin nearby, because we had a fairly faint smell of smoke at times. I spoke to the Steward and he promised to report it, but I didn't push the issue, because the smell was so faint that DH couldn't detect it. Hopefully ventilation will be improved during Drydock.

[drvalo]

 

There were enough omelet stations in the buffet that you rarely had to wait long. Then I discovered that the steam-table eggs were moist and fresh--a pleasant surprise. And they separate the crispy bacon (DH) from the soft bacon (me) so that you can get the kind of bacon you like.

 

My one disappointment was the ventilation. Our cabin was extremely cold during the day (OK at night).

 

You are correct about the omelet station and the bacon, although sometimes there seemed to be little difference between the crispy and soft bacon...but it was BACON and lots of it, LOL.

 

That's so funny about the room temp. We thought it was perfect during the day and too warm at night, LOL.

[jaja]

OP--thanks for a nice,informative review.....:)

[BrentD]

Thanks for the review, drvalo! How was the sideways inside cabin? We currently have one booked because it was dirt cheap for one of the first few cruises after Jade's dry dock, but I tend to book low and try to upgrade as the cruise gets closer and prices drop. I'm curious to hear as many sideways cabin opinions as I can get.

[BlueJai]

Thank you for taking the time to review your trip. Lots of good information. I had really wanted to go to the Jade this year but the timing wasn't right and it was chartered so it is so nice to read about your experience! Thank you.:)

[drvalo]

Thanks for the review, drvalo! How was the sideways inside cabin? We currently have one booked because it was dirt cheap for one of the first few cruises after Jade's dry dock, but I tend to book low and try to upgrade as the cruise gets closer and prices drop. I'm curious to hear as many sideways cabin opinions as I can get.

 

We really liked the sideways cabin. It had been a while since we had an inside. There can be sort of a traffic jam as the bathroom door, closet, drawers and desk are all in basically the same location, so you have to plan a bit, but it did seem more spacious and private in other ways and one person was not forced to climb over the corner of the bed as happens sometimes in the regular insides. One way to make it seem even more spacious is to make sure it is only for two people (if you are only two people) as you can bump your head or shoulder on the folded up drop down bed in the cabins for more than two if the beds are pushed together. We were on deck 9 and, I believe, all of those were only for 2 people. I, too, had hoped to upgrade for cheap, but it was not to be. We were ok with the cabin both in space and in location. It was a great value. Sleeping was good!

 

The next to last night of the cruise, a guy staying across the hall asked "Do you have enough room in there?" I invited him in to see the cabin (yes, it was big enough to invite someone else in, LOL) and he said it seemed more spacious than his balcony cabin. I am not sure if that was true, but clearly he was reconsidering his balcony for next time.

[BrentD]

We really liked the sideways cabin. It had been a while since we had an inside. There can be sort of a traffic jam as the bathroom door, closet, drawers and desk are all in basically the same location, so you have to plan a bit, but it did seem more spacious and private in other ways and one person was not forced to climb over the corner of the bed as happens sometimes in the regular insides. One way to make it seem even more spacious is to make sure it is only for two people (if you are only two people) as you can bump your head or shoulder on the folded up drop down bed in the cabins for more than two if the beds are pushed together. We were on deck 9 and, I believe, all of those were only for 2 people. I, too, had hoped to upgrade for cheap, but it was not to be. We were ok with the cabin both in space and in location. It was a great value. Sleeping was good!

 

The next to last night of the cruise, a guy staying across the hall asked "Do you have enough room in there?" I invited him in to see the cabin (yes, it was big enough to invite someone else in, LOL) and he said it seemed more spacious than his balcony cabin. I am not sure if that was true, but clearly he was reconsidering his balcony for next time.

Thanks! It's just my wife and I, and we're also on deck 9 (9623 to be exact), so glad to know we booked the right inside without having to worry about bumping heads on the fold down bunks. I've read plenty of reviews on the sideways cabins, but I always like to hear new ones for some other perspective I might not have gotten from the others...and nobody had mentioned the fold down beds yet! So thanks for that! I know the upgrades don't always work out, so I never book in something I wouldn't be okay with keeping just in case it doesn't happen. Ultimately I'd love to get in a balcony or mini suite cabin, but we'll be just fine where we're at if it comes down to it. I've heard many folks say the sideways cabins felt more spacious than a standard, so that's why I figured we'd try one this time.

[drvalo]

Thanks! It's just my wife and I, and we're also on deck 9 (9623 to be exact), so glad to know we booked the right inside without having to worry about bumping heads on the fold down bunks. I've read plenty of reviews on the sideways cabins, but I always like to hear new ones for some other perspective I might not have gotten from the others...and nobody had mentioned the fold down beds yet! So thanks for that! I know the upgrades don't always work out, so I never book in something I wouldn't be okay with keeping just in case it doesn't happen. Ultimately I'd love to get in a balcony or mini suite cabin, but we'll be just fine where we're at if it comes down to it. I've heard many folks say the sideways cabins felt more spacious than a standard, so that's why I figured we'd try one this time.

 

We were in 9619, so the cabins should be pretty similar. You are really close to the mid-ship elevator, which is very convenient and, unless the assignments change, you may have our quite excellent steward Santiago. He was a treasure. Have a good cruise!

[paulh84]

I'm tempted to book one of the 10 day cruises next winter on Jade but will have to see her post-dry dock before we make a decision. Those balcony cabins seem like dark dungeons. They need substantial freshening up before I would be interested. Hopefully they can make some magic happen because I do like their 10 day itineraries.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the detailed feedback.

[tiggerfan616]

We too were on the 12 day and must say it was a wonderful cruise. There were a few issues the first day with our cabin but they were addressed quickly and did not deter from the overall trip. I do agree with the smoking we were on deck 10, 10664 and our cabin to had a smell of smoke. As a former smoker my nose is now trained to it and its unpleasant to me, our room steward sprayed our room and it helped a lot.

 

I do agree with the crew as being outstanding, Henry our room steward was one of the best we have ever had. He was so accomidating and very detailed oriented.

 

I felt the food was an improvement since our Nov 2015 Star cruise in fact we went back to Cagneys twice this was the first cruise we have gone back there. Funny about filling the water bottles I had to tell a few fellow passengers as well and they just kept doing it, ignorant.

[drvalo]

Funny about filling the water bottles I had to tell a few fellow passengers as well and they just kept doing it, ignorant.

 

You'd think that they would not want the grossness on their water bottles either, knowing that others were filling there, too. Yes, ignorant.