NCL Jade out of Rome

[mdsgu]

Last night, we booked the Jade out of Rome in May 2019. We got our kids for free with the Friends and Family promotion. Six of us will be going (my family and my wife's parents). Only I have been to Europe, it was over 10 years ago, and it did not include Rome, Italy, or Greece.

 

Any advice regarding the Jade? Older ship or newer?

 

Any advice regarding European cruises?

[littlelulu01]

The Jade is a jewel class ship. Has been newly refurbished. Midsize ship, typically port intensive sailings ideal for Europe. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the mega ships but also doesn’t have twice the passengers of the mega ships. Weather that time of year should be excellent for the med, a little hot but nothing like the summer. Jade is casual. Much like a land based vacation but the ship gets you from place to place without the hassle of baggage, trains planes... a very enjoyable, easy vacation. Great mix of passengers from all over. Have fun.

[Sauer-kraut]

Join your roll call, or start it if you don't find it. You can sometimes piggy back on private excursions when people want to fill a tour van, etc.

It is port intensive, schedule down time if you can.

Do a lot of homework, research ports to see what you want to do, break things down and find out how far ports are from the actual city.

Visit the EUROPE ports of call boards (sub forum) for ideas and travel reviews others have done.

Pompeii or Herculenum, the latter is smaller, shadier and has beautiful mosaics. This town was also destroyed by the volcano. Easy to do on your own by taking the train.

[rmurray847]

Last night, we booked the Jade out of Rome in May 2019. We got our kids for free with the Friends and Family promotion. Six of us will be going (my family and my wife's parents). Only I have been to Europe, it was over 10 years ago, and it did not include Rome, Italy, or Greece.

 

Any advice regarding the Jade? Older ship or newer?

 

Any advice regarding European cruises?

 

6 years ago, the Jade was our very first cruise ship...from Rome! We sailed an Eastern Med. itinerary for 10 days in November, and were able to hit places like Alexandria Egypt and Izmir, Turkey. Glad when went when we did.

 

Sailing from Rome is interesting, because the port of Civitavecchia is an hour or so from Rome. (Depends on transport method.) I would assume you'll spend time in Rome beforehand, because it is an AWESOME city. Just be sure to spend a little time looking at your transport options. (Oh, and the airport is an hour or more from the city and from the port.)

 

There are some great boards here on cruise critic specific to European cruise stops. Check those out. But I also highly recommend the book by Rick Steves, European Cruise Ports. GOOD info here, and enables you to do many things on your own without spending for an excursion. You'll get a sense of which cities you can do on your own and which ones are trickier.

 

One tip I'd give: most major sites, like Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Vatican Museums or even St. Mark's in Venice allow for ticket purchases in advance on line. DO THIS! The lines at some of these places can be quite long, and it's sure nice to just walk right past all those folks and stroll in! I know some people really hate planning, but I HIGHLY recommend some in Europe. You'll get much more out of your visit.

[Giantfan13]

We did a TA in November, leaving from Rome (or Civitavecchia). We spent 5 days, pre cruise in Rome with a day in Florence (via train from Rome). As was said, transportation from the Airport to Rome is about $50, and from Rome to Civitavecchia, figure about $75. But hey, you are in Rome so what's a few extra dollars here and there.

If you want info on the Jade, this is the place. If you want info on Rome and surrounding areas, go to the Europe Ports of call and then to the Italy link. I can't tell you how much valuable info I got from all the wonderful people there. They all helped make our trip just wonderful.

 

Cheers

Len

[mdsgu]

Thank you all for the information!

[ace2542]

The Jade is a jewel class ship. Has been newly refurbished. Midsize ship, typically port intensive sailings ideal for Europe. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the mega ships but also doesn’t have twice the passengers of the mega ships. Weather that time of year should be excellent for the med, a little hot but nothing like the summer. Jade is casual. Much like a land based vacation but the ship gets you from place to place without the hassle of baggage, trains planes... a very enjoyable, easy vacation. Great mix of passengers from all over. Have fun.

 

It is slightly larger than the Gem but only slightly larger. Most of the bars are in the same location.

[buggins0402]

6 years ago, the Jade was our very first cruise ship...from Rome! We sailed an Eastern Med. itinerary for 10 days in November, and were able to hit places like Alexandria Egypt and Izmir, Turkey. Glad when went when we did.

 

 

I think we were on the same cruise. Was it the one the Israel stops got a bit dicey because Hamas had decided to bomb Israel while we were in port and if it had started just a few hours earlier the ship would have diverted? Despite the issue, we don't hesitate counting that cruise as our favorite trip ever (not just cruise, but tall our trips) and we've been traveling the world for over 30 years.

[rmurray847]

I think we were on the same cruise. Was it the one the Israel stops got a bit dicey because Hamas had decided to bomb Israel while we were in port and if it had started just a few hours earlier the ship would have diverted? Despite the issue, we don't hesitate counting that cruise as our favorite trip ever (not just cruise, but tall our trips) and we've been traveling the world for over 30 years.

No, our trip was over Thanksgiving...10 nights. Did not go to Israel. It was dicey in Egypt. There was rioting in Tahrir Square, and the captain announced the day before that all trips that included the Egyptian Museum were cancelled (or at least, the stop there). We did a private tour to the Pyramids, Memphis and Saqqara, and had no issues...but it was a little nerve wracking. It was right before Egypt's elections and it was very interesting seeing all the election campaign signage. Glad we got to visit this amazing area before it got even scarier!