The Jade...Again! Jan 25-Feb 6

[Satincruz]

Sorry, I didn't save them. I don't know how helpful they will be since this was the only cruise with this itinerary.

If you have a specific question, I might be able to help.

 

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Thanks :)

 

I was on the cruise right before yours, and am just interested in comparing the different entertainers.

 

As you said, we didn't have Soul Wave, and we also didn't have any big band players. On our cruise, there were several different solo guitarists, playing afternoons and evenings in the atrium. Did you see any solo guitarists at all, or was it big band-ers every night?

[MNcruisingcouple]

Yay! A real gluten free person that was just on the same ship I'm going on in 21 days! What gluten free meals/ dishes are "don't miss" and "don't bother"? Thanks!:D

 

 

Have you been on NCL before? Do you know the procedure for pre-ordering dinner?

Cagney's is really easy, most of their dishes are gluten free including both their soups.

One of my favorite meals is at Le Bistro, Fruits de Mar without the pastry, creamed muscles, mushroom soup and chocolate napoleon.

Other favorites- salmon tartare with gluten free bread, flourless chocolate cake, nutella pots de creme.

Misses- waffles in the MDR (very dry and tough), english muffins for the eggs Benedict also in the MDR (too thick, I preferred just getting the eggs Benedict on gluten free toast)

Didn't try any of the gluten free pastas but they are available.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions.

 

 

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[MNcruisingcouple]

Thanks :)

 

I was on the cruise right before yours, and am just interested in comparing the different entertainers.

 

As you said, we didn't have Soul Wave, and we also didn't have any big band players. On our cruise, there were several different solo guitarists, playing afternoons and evenings in the atrium. Did you see any solo guitarists at all, or was it big band-ers every night?

 

 

Yes, several solo guitarists that are also members in the Big Band group. Matt and Vaughn for sure and I think another named Jim. The Big Band did a New Orlean jazz show in the Medusa one night and the Beatles tribute in the Spinnaker.

 

 

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[hateswaterloves2cruise]

We too were on this cruise. I believe due to the 12 days most of the people were retired and older. I heard there were only 24 kids on board and several of these were under one.

 

Music is subjective and I don't know how they decide to play what they do but I'm sure this demographic appreciated the "older" music. We enjoyed the Glenn Miller tribute in Spinnaker one night and it was followed by more modern music.

 

We ate in Grand Pacific the first night and had great service and a great meal. Six of the 12 nights we did specialty dining and only ate in Alizar once but definitely enjoyed it.

 

Great cruise. Calm seas, lots of sun and warmth. Now back in CNY with 2 snow events since we returned. :mad:

[MNcruisingcouple]

We too were on this cruise. I believe due to the 12 days most of the people were retired and older. I heard there were only 24 kids on board and several of these were under one.

 

Music is subjective and I don't know how they decide to play what they do but I'm sure this demographic appreciated the "older" music. We enjoyed the Glenn Miller tribute in Spinnaker one night and it was followed by more modern music.

 

We ate in Grand Pacific the first night and had great service and a great meal. Six of the 12 nights we did specialty dining and only ate in Alizar once but definitely enjoyed it.

 

Great cruise. Calm seas, lots of sun and warmth. Now back in CNY with 2 snow events since we returned. :mad:

 

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I certainly hope it didn't come across like I was complaining about the demographic of the cruise. Despite our age, we much prefer cruising with an older group rather than being overrun with kids.

 

You're right that music is subjective. I just wish they hadn't focused so much on 40's and 50's and ballroom dancing music. I think they could have added variety and I think they wasted time doing Karaoke that very few wanted to participate in.

 

I'm glad you had a good experience in the Grand Pacific. I really think it depends on the waiter you get. And we happened to get a fabulous one in the Alizar.

 

 

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[Satincruz]

Yes, several solo guitarists that are also members in the Big Band group. Matt and Vaughn for sure and I think another named Jim. The Big Band did a New Orlean jazz show in the Medusa one night and the Beatles tribute in the Spinnaker.

 

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Right--that's them, thanks :)

 

I never realized that they were also part of a bigger band.

 

By the way, I really like your photos. They're so vivid!

[griz400]

We sail 4/23 on the jade. And was wondering which dining you all prefer, also are the menus in both the same ? Every cruise we have been on so far we have never made reservations, We always have "open dining" times. We don't like to put much on a schedule being on vacation. Also we have sailed on the Sun, and we really enjoyed "The great outdoors" on the aft of ship. On the sun, that little buffet there, had the Best french fries. lol Which dining room has best breakfast ? And how is the seaday poolside BBQ , It was real good on the Sun. :)

 

lol, I forgot to say ... very nice review

[MNcruisingcouple]

We sail 4/23 on the jade. And was wondering which dining you all prefer, also are the menus in both the same ? Every cruise we have been on so far we have never made reservations, We always have "open dining" times. We don't like to put much on a schedule being on vacation. Also we have sailed on the Sun, and we really enjoyed "The great outdoors" on the aft of ship. On the sun, that little buffet there, had the Best french fries. lol Which dining room has best breakfast ? And how is the seaday poolside BBQ , It was real good on the Sun. :)

 

lol, I forgot to say ... very nice review

 

 

Thanks!

 

The dinner menus at Grand Pacific and Alizar are the same. We don't normally make reservations for the MDRs but when we found our waiter Pascoal we wanted to be able to be in his section each night. That's the only reason we made reservations. If you can get him as your waiter, I'd recommend it!

There is a "great outdoors" area on the Jade. I didn't personally use it but our friends did and enjoyed it.

We used either Grand Pacific or Blue Lagoon for breakfast. Eggs Benedict and omelette were our favorites.

 

 

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[MNcruisingcouple]

Oh, and I had the poolside bbq one day. It was pork chops, sausages, grilled vegetables and rice. It was good. I believe they also had lunch there one other day. I appreciated that the food was kept hot and it didn't include things that would go bad quickly. Also the staff served it so guests weren't touching the serving utensils.

 

 

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[hairmagician]

Have you been on NCL before? Do you know the procedure for pre-ordering dinner?

Cagney's is really easy, most of their dishes are gluten free including both their soups.

One of my favorite meals is at Le Bistro, Fruits de Mar without the pastry, creamed muscles, mushroom soup and chocolate napoleon.

Other favorites- salmon tartare with gluten free bread, flourless chocolate cake, nutella pots de creme.

Misses- waffles in the MDR (very dry and tough), english muffins for the eggs Benedict also in the MDR (too thick, I preferred just getting the eggs Benedict on gluten free toast)

Didn't try any of the gluten free pastas but they are available.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions.

 

 

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Yes, I was on the Getaway last year. Unfortunately I had a rather difficult time and am willing to give it another try. I won't blow up your review with my saga. LOL. I do agree with the English muffin/hockey puck. We will be at Cagney's our first night figuring it would be an easy start to the trip. Fries??? Can I have the truffle fries??? Where did you have flourless chocolate cake? Our second night is at La Cucina. Hoping to do Teppanyaki as our third freebie. I'm bringing a whole bottle of Tamari in hopes of getting sushi too. Any opinions on those other two restaurants?

[griz400]

Thanks!

 

The dinner menus at Grand Pacific and Alizar are the same. We don't normally make reservations for the MDRs but when we found our waiter Pascoal we wanted to be able to be in his section each night. That's the only reason we made reservations. If you can get him as your waiter, I'd recommend it!

There is a "great outdoors" area on the Jade. I didn't personally use it but our friends did and enjoyed it.

We used either Grand Pacific or Blue Lagoon for breakfast. Eggs Benedict and omelette were our favorites.

 

 

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Yes, i have coffee at the "great outdoors" every morning that we was on the Sun, also, Norwegian makes all there own bread and this is only our 2cd Norwegian cruise, the pretzel rolls are a Norwegian special i believe.. :)

[MNcruisingcouple]

Yes, I was on the Getaway last year. Unfortunately I had a rather difficult time and am willing to give it another try. I won't blow up your review with my saga. LOL. I do agree with the English muffin/hockey puck. We will be at Cagney's our first night figuring it would be an easy start to the trip. Fries??? Can I have the truffle fries??? Where did you have flourless chocolate cake? Our second night is at La Cucina. Hoping to do Teppanyaki as our third freebie. I'm bringing a whole bottle of Tamari in hopes of getting sushi too. Any opinions on those other two restaurants?

 

 

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. We've always had great experiences with our gluten free issues.

I don't know about the fries, sorry.

We didn't do either La Cucina or Tepanyaki. But the night before, go to the hostess stand and tell them your issue. They will help you out. Don't wait until the night of because that limits what they can do for you.

The flourless chocolate cake was available every night in the MDRs.

If you can, request the waiter Pascoal in the Alizar. He was great. Also the maitre d' Zek, he works Grand Pacific and Le Bistro.

 

 

 

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[hairmagician]

Thanks!

[MNcruisingcouple]

My DH wanted me to add a couple things about out experience with the beverage pkg. Over all it was excellent, plenty of options and not long waits for drinks.

We did have a couple issues. DH likes single malt Scotch and last year had several options available with the beverage pkg. This year the price of all of them had been raised so that none were covered with the pkg. We realize that prices increase but it was disappointing that none were covered.

Another drink my husband enjoys in Scotch and ginger beer. There is a Dewars blend that is included in the beverage pkg and they have ginger beer that they use in Moscow Mules. However more than once we were told they weren't allowed to make anything other than a Moscow Mule with the ginger beer. So they have the Scotch and they have the ginger beer but they aren't allowed to mix them into a drink?? DH approached the assistant beverage mgr and was able to get the drink he wanted. He appreciated the resolution but it seems ridiculous that the bartenders are limited in this way when they have ingredients to make the drink requested.

Very minor issues, certainly we didn't lack for drinks.

 

 

 

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