Long But Objective Review of Our Norwegian Fjords Cruise on Jade.

[Paul S]

I’ve just returned from my first cruise with NCL, nine nights on Jade from Southampton to the Norwegian Fjords. We were a group of six, myself plus DW in an aft balcony cabin (9674), DS1, DS2, DD and DSiL being in the aft balcony cabins on deck 8.

 

 

Previously DW and I have cruised with P & O, Cunard, Holland America, Azamara as well as on Marco Polo (then with Transocean but now with Cruise and Maritime), variously in inside, unobstructed ocean view and standard sized balcony cabins, varying in size between around 700 and 2,500 passengers. Mentioning this in a thread on this board some months back I was asked by a fellow contributor to post a review of my trip on Jade by way of comparison with the other lines, though as it’s been a few years since my last cruise (in 2013, also to the Norwegian Fjords but with Holland America) I suspect things have moved on since then. Anyway, here are my objective thoughts of our time on Jade.

 

 

 

Embarkation was straightforward. Our trip was to commemorate a special family occasion, and we openly brought on board in a shopping bag half a dozen bottles of good champagne. Additionally, in our main cases we had between us several non-surge protected multi-socket extension leads. However, we weren’t asked to pay corkage either on boarding or in the restaurants, and there were no issues with the extension leads.

 

 

 

The cabin stewards were efficient, friendly and we were very happy with them. The cabins were compact but very adequate, and we loved the aft facing balcony. There were four USB sockets, two USA sockets and two European sockets (USB sockets under each bedside light plus, one USB one USA power and one European power socket under the TV and the same over the small worktop by the side of the wardrobe). There was also a high level shaver socket in the shower room. Storage space was sufficient, and our full size cases fitted under the bed (which was very comfortable). The only major issue for DW and I with regard to the cabin was a flooded shower room on the last night due to a waste water blockage under the floor, but that was fixed fairly quickly and the floor cleaned, though not in time for us to shower and change before dinner. The keep to the lock bolt of the balcony door was bent, preventing the lock fully engaging, but proved not to be a problem. Our first time out on the balcony the door slid shut behind us and we found ourselves locked out, but fortunately the steward was in our cabin, and after much banging on the glass came and let us back in!

 

 

We had some issues with the restaurants, both main and speciality venues. I should disclose that we eat out quite a bit, at both high end and not so high end restaurants as well as in between. I do most of our cooking at home, and this is an interest of mine, whilst DW looks after the cocktails which is an interest of hers. We found the service in the restaurants generally to be very slow, sufficiently so that on a few occasions we made complaints. We were happy not to be rushed, but this went well beyond not rushed. At breakfast in the MDR service was particularly poor, with hot foods being brought from the kitchen and left out on the side tables for prolonged periods before being brought to our table – on one occasion our server had disappeared altogether and didn’t return! Though peanut butter along with Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce for my tomato juice were out on the counters in the buffet, asking for these in the MDR resulted in very long waits and conversations with the manager. The kipper on the last morning was dreadful, and nothing like any kipper I had ever had before (possibly a transatlantic difference between a UK and an American kipper?). Things improved when we breakfasted in the buffet, where we sat out on the rear deck in the Great Outdoors bar area – a second but smaller buffet was set up there but didn’t have granola, involving a long return walk to the main buffet.

 

 

By and large we found the food in the MDR not very interesting, with fairly small portions. It was difficult to book (when we asked it was generally only offered for 6.00 pm or 8.30 pm onward) and without reservations we had to wait up to half an hour for a table for six (and on one occasion for a table for four) though we were given pagers and went to the bar. Mostly we drank wines by the glass priced above the $15 limit for the UBP, and a great fuss was made in the MDR of using aerators (which were on sale) for the red wines over $15. However, aerators weren’t considered necessary in the speciality dining venues!

 

 

We didn’t eat in Jasmine. Sushi was good, as was Teppanyaki, though the hostess put the latter against our dining package without asking – we wanted to pay and save the package for other venues. However we were able to reverse this at Guest Services. Additionally at the end of the meal in Teppanyaki we were presented with mounted souvenir photos with a receipt to sign but no explanation, giving the impression we were signing for the meal and the photo came free (our first time on NCL so we didn’t know any better), and we were unhappy with the hard sell. In Moderno the meat was good but the rest disappointing, and they mislaid our champagne bottle (but found it eventually!) We enjoyed Le Bistro, whilst O’Sheehans was OK though with variable service. We didn’t visit the buffet in the evenings, nor did we use room service.

 

 

In Cagneys my medium rare ribeye was over-charred on the surface and tasted burnt, and though the middle was nicely pink it lost so much of its juices onto the plate that the steak ended up dry and tough, and I couldn’t finish it. The wine list came on a tablet, but the wine waiter was very slow to return and take our order, which only happened after we complained to another waiter and (twice) to the manager. Having asked for six glasses of a $22.50 wine the waiter then complained that he would have to open another bottle and pushed me hard to purchase a whole bottle rather than by the glass, even though notwithstanding the discount for having the UBP the bottle was more expensive than 6 times the $7.50 pp surcharge over the UBP plus addition of service ($63.36 v $54), prompting another complaint to the manager.

 

 

In La Cucina I ordered an appetiser, soup, risotto and steak Fiorentina. The pasta came before the soup and I had to ask for it to be taken away. When it came back the risotto had dried out. The medium rare steak was cold when served and had to be sent back.

 

 

In fairness I have to say that I pulled all of the short straws, the others didn’t have the food problems I experienced, other than suffering the slow service. We didn’t want our meals rushed, but this was beyond acceptable on several occasions. Actual service from the waiting staff was mostly OK but on occasion fell below the standard we would expect ashore (eg dishes for different people being brought out at different times rather than together, serving dishes to the wrong person, delays in bringing out sides, leaning across the diners to serve or clear rather than walking round the table).

 

 

 

Generally the cocktails weren’t to the taste of DW and I, possibly because mostly they weren’t made with premium spirits and mixers, and we prefer classic cocktails with premium spirits (gin and tonic, negroni, martini, etc.) rather

 

than the fruity long ones which as with most of the desserts, were mostly too sweet for our UK tastes. Some of the bartenders were better than others (one large gin and tonic came almost entirely of gin (a quadruple shot?) with just a splash of tonic, a dirty martini was just horrible, overdosed with the brine from the olives, and a margarita came with an unasked for overly salted rim). However, the mohitos in Sugarcane were always good.

 

 

Entertainmentwise, we only went to the show theatre once, for the illusionist act, which was nothing special. We didn’t go to the dance parties in Spinnaker lounge but enjoyed Sunset Swing in the atrium and jazz from the show band. We weren’t too taken with the solo pianist in Magnums and furthermore found him to be over-loud, and DS1 (a professional musician) was uncomplimentary about the solo guitarist in the atrium. However, I accept that entertainment is a matter of personal taste, and there seemed to be plenty of people enjoying the acts we didn’t think so much of.

 

 

 

There was plenty of football and other sport available on screens all around the ship. As fans of Tottenham Hotspur (London based soccer team) DS1 and I were delighted to be able to watch a big game for our team live (which we won!), though not happy that we couldn’t find anywhere on the ship which had the sound turned up instead of turned off.

 

 

I normally like to play in the casino once on the cruise, and would expect to change up and lose $50. However, we were told the minimum to change was $100, so gave it a miss. In hindsight I should have changed $100, played with $50 and cashed in the unspent remainder.

 

 

We didn’t do any ship’s tours. However, whilst disembarkation and embarkation at the ports of call mostly was OK we did have some issues. We tendered in Flam where we had made a private booking for the train excursion. Disembarking was due to start at 9.00am and we had to pick up tickets ashore before our 11.05 train. Having been told that if you did not have tickets 1, 2 or 3 for the tenders there was likely to be a long wait to get off DW spent the best part of an hour the previous evening queueing to make sure of an early tender (we got ticket 3). We then breakfasted extra early, only to hear the tenders called from around 08.15, with all tickets called by 8.45 and a message broadcast that anybody not off by 9.00am would have a long wait whilst those booked on private tours went ashore – we just made it before 9.00, but it was stressful. At Gerainger we disembarked via a single exit to a floating pier. Though we were warned of congestion in the lobby by the exit it was chaotic and poorly marshalled. People coming out of the lifts were obstructed by the queue and joined it midway, as did people coming from the corridor rather than the stairs. Returning from Haugesund by shuttle bus in the rain, instead of queueing people just arriving were pushing past to force their way onto the bus (not the fault of NCL). Coming back on one occasion there was music and dancing on the quayside from the ship’s entertainers but the DJ’s music was extremely loud and with the speaker placed hard against the side of the gangway one had to walk slowly past it in the queue to embark. My ears were left hurting and I made a formal complaint which was taken up and I received an assurance words would be had with the DJ and this wouldn't happen again. I need to stress that we go to many live gigs and are used to loud music, but we don’t sit or stand right against the speaker. The volume was excessive, there were passengers of all ages going past the speaker very close by, including children and the elderly, and clearly there had been no proper planning or consideration to placement of the DJ and his rig.

 

 

We self-disembarked at Southampton, and that was straightforward, though it was quite a long walk back to the car park with our luggage and no shuttle buses were provided.

 

 

The issues highlighted above did not spoil our cruise, but they were irritations we would have preferred to do without. Did we enjoy ourselves - yes overall and it was great that we could spend time with our family. This doesn't happen often as we are all spread out including on a different continent, and last happened two years ago. Would we cruise again with NCL? Probably yes but only for the right itinerary if we couldn’t find it elsewhere on the dates and for the prices we were looking for. Additionally, we prefer smaller ships – the Jade was about our limit for size. We like to feel we are on a ship at sea, rather than a floating mega-sized resort hotel, and couldn’t imagine going on any of the larger NCL ships.

[BaWBarmy]

 

 

We self-disembarked at Southampton, and that was straightforward, though it was quite a long walk back to the car park with our luggage and no shuttle buses were provided.

 

 

I'm not going to comment on most of your post but the above summed it up for me. The ABP Car Parks are literally next to the terminal (City Cruise Terminal is usually the one favoured by NCL). I have walked further through airports with my luggage.

 

You could have watched the Spurs game in your stateroom with the sound up at least they showed the game. They never seem to show any Grimsby Town (a Cleethorpes based UK football team).

 

I think you should try Cunard next time.

[Paul S]

Not much atmosphere watching the match in my cabin and thought there might have been a bar somewhere with the sound up. At home I prefer to go to watch games in the pub rather than by myself in the house.

 

 

 

We were in the furthest section of the furthest ABP car park. Shuttle buses were provided for embarkation and we were expecting to find the same on disembarkation. We weren't the only ones there who were struggling and surprised by their absence.

[PTC DAWG]

Did the not have gin or vodka etc. of your choosing and your preferred mixer?

 

Drinks have been one of the highlights of my NCL cruises...Goose & Tonic..Makers & seltzer, etc...

[wdsted]

Sorry to hear that you were disappointed with the food and beverage solutions provided. We were on the same cruise. We tend to eat late and more often than not dine at specialty restaurants, so weren't constrained in terms of preferred dining times. We didn't personally experience the problems you did at the specialty restaurants in terms of time and food preparation and generally don't watch the clock for elapsed times. To some, 2 hours dining is a long time but not an issue for us. The biggest food disappointments for us were the MDR, which over the last few years had improved across the NCL fleet; not so much on this cruise. I'm surprised with your observation about lack of qualify liquors and mixers because we requested Bombay Sapphire gin, Grey Goose Vodka, and--although a couple bucks in upcharges per drink--Makers Mark bourbon. Fine enough for us.

 

We went to a few shows and thoughts that Elements was great, the singing contest not so much.

 

The one thing that really sticks in my mind was the service levels provided by the crew. Absolutely top notch. Oh, and the fjords were amazing and the weather pretty darn good.

 

Overall, we rated this an A- cruise.

[Jack Staff]

I agree with some of the OPs comments :

We had no issues with our cabin. The mini-suite we occupied did not have USB sockets under the bed side lights but this was not an issue. The cabin stewards were friendly and good representatives for NCL.

 

We had no problems with slow service in most restaurants other than

O’Sheehans where the waiter seemed to be somewhat detached and at one meal the food was delivered but after a short wait had to request cutlery.

We were a party of 4 and only ever waited about 5 minutes for a table.

Overall we thought the food on board was OK and taste/style that of the USA (not a problem NCL is a USA line) and catering to UK taste is not expected. We do not expect large portions and found they were adequate.

We had only one problem with drinks (we did specify the brand we required) and that was at

O’Sheehans where the bar tender when asked for a G&T served Gin & lemonade!

The

illusionist act : Mystika - we saw a preview on the first night and decided that it was not for us. As for music in places such as the atrium we were generally unimpressed except for an evening in Bliss when the showband played some jazz. We were in

O’Sheehans which looks down to the atrium bar when I think it was Sean and his guitar was performing and we found the music - from artists such as the Eagles; Neil Diamond etc acceptable.

I must agree on the piano player.

Not being a football fan I largely ignored the TVs but was a bit surprised to see them in the first place. I would not have been happy if the sound had been turned up -perhaps there should be an area put aside for those who want such entertainment outside their cabin when on a cruise.

I totally agree about the 'shambles' for FLAM tenders. We had a slot of between 9 - 10am and all were called prior to 08:45 - some one on board deserves a slating for that. However we had little delay in disembarking.

As far as people being disorganised at lines/queues I think an example from Kirkwall will suffice. When lining up (as the British tend to do) for a local bus there was a party of about 20 European people . As soon as the bus arrived they rushed towards the entrance - one person purchased all tickets but the rest of the party were spread throughout those waiting as we had all responded to the rush to get a place. If some discipline had been shown we would all have been aboard quicker.

Would we sail again with NCL. If the itinery and of course price is right we would have few reservations.

[DominicAUS]

Thanks for the review. I’m looking forward to the TA on the Jade next April. I found on the Gem drink Belvedere and Grey Goose pretty top shelf for my tastes.

 

Roll on the Epic TA, I’ll be loooing forward to giving the UBP a good nudge.

[Paul S]

Apologies, I should clarify that premium spirits were available if requested. However the mixers weren’t our preferred choice and neither were drinks such as vermouths, which were not premium brands and make a big difference in martinis, negronis, americanos, etc. I referred to them in the comment on the spirits but technically they are not spirits. There were also a no alcohol beer on the bar menus and a port on the restaurant wine lists which were not available anywhere on board.

 

I agree, the fjords are truly amazing. We were disappointed with Haugesund, the first port of call, which is not in the fjords, and we didn’t find much of interest to see wandering around town, but all the other places visited were great.