Which ship - NCL Jade or Emerald Princess?

[Albinroo]

Note: I posted this in the Princess forum also.

I am stuck making the choice between these two and as my husband has given up trying to help me decide I now ask you, members of Princess and NCL forums here on cruise critic to help me out. We haven't been on either ship before, but have travelled with NCL previously and had a booked Princess cruise that was cancelled during the pandemic.

Both cruises are in December, 14 days caribbean and we have not visited any of the ports before. 

NCL Jade stops in Key West, Great Stirrup Cay, Barbados, Aruba, St Thomas, St John, Grenada, Curacao and Puerto Plata.

Emerald Princess stops in Barbados, Aruba, St Kitts, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Grenada, Trinidad and St Lucia. 

Which of these two itineraries is best if we want to go out and explore on our own by foot, or if necessary a short bus/taxi ride. Since we travel with kids we will mostly try to enjoy beach days and local things around the port.

 

My first thought was to go with Princess since from what I understand they have better service and food. But my worry is that we will feel out of place since we travel with four kids, in the dining room etc. (Our kids are generally well behanved but if the two year old would make a fuss we would remove him from the dining room without hesitation). On the other hand, we don't really drink and I am worried NCL will have a part vibe - plud I've heard not so great things about the MDR in Jade. We don't really do specialty dining because of the kids.

In NCL, the 5,7 and 10-year old can stay together in the kids club, but on Princess the oldest would have to be on his own - which can be a problem since our kids don't speak English that well. But their kids club looks really wonderful, and seems we can go there and stay with our 2-year old which we would love. 

 

Any advice would be much appreciated, I feel I am spending SO much time choosing between the two (same cost, two oceanview cabins) even though I am prety sure we would have a great time on both. We are pretty easy to please, but they are scheduled for Aruba the same day and I don't want to stand on one ship wishing I was on the other! 

 

[Pitzel]

I don't think you will experience a "party vibe" on this sailing. Longer sailings tend to attract older passengers without kids, in general.

[Albinroo]

17 minutes ago, Pitzel said:

I don't think you will experience a "party vibe" on this sailing. Longer sailings tend to attract older passengers without kids, in general.

Thanks, that's my experience too. Just curious, what did you think  of your Jade cruise in general in 2017? I've only been on the breakaway class ships, and while I know the Jade is completely different- how does it compare in your opinion?

[Pitzel]

It is a very different ship, but it suited us well when we sailed Europe for 2 weeks in 2017. We thought that the crew was quite friendly when we went.

We had a minisuite (now called a Club Balcony), which we liked because there is a curtain that that divides the bedroom area from the living room area. When our child would go to sleep, we could pull the curtain closed and be able to stay up a bit longer before we went lights-out.

There is not a ton for kids on the ship, though, and unfortunately I don't remember much about the kids club. I believe my child went to the kids club from time to time, but he also spent a good deal of time with us and with his grandparents, who also sailed with us. The Breakaway and Breakaway+ class ships are much better suited for kids.

We liked the Freestyle dining since we could eat when we were hungry and not have to worry about being back onboard for a specific dinner time.

[Crazy planning mom]

We sailed on the Jade in 2022 on a 7 day bucket list itinerary without kids.  We enjoyed it very much but there wasn't a ton of activities.   I think I would be bored for 14 days on her. 

[Panhandle Couple]

Since the reopening, we have sailed 6 times, 5 with NCL, once with Princess. 

 

I would NOT assume Princess provides "better service and food".  Service for what, if you are not going to the bars often due to the kids being along.  Our service in the MDR for Princess was bad, the food overall (buffet, MDR and specialty) was not as good as NCL.  The ship was crowded, so most everything had lines.  We had a good time due to a large group of 20 or more friends and relatives, and we went to Alaska, which is great location.  But if we had been just a couple (like on NCL trips) we would have been disappointed with several things.

 

But, realize that all crews are now (back) on a turnover schedule.  (Per NCL on board info briefings) every week they turnover crew members.  On Ba/BA+ that is 80 per week, on Jade size ships maybe 40 per week. (that includes the cook staff too)  So a 6 month old ship review that states poor MDR service and yucky food (on any ship) might be totally different from when you sail. This includes my comments above.

But NCL freestyle dining might be better for young kids who get hungry at odd times, and you don't want to fight buffet crowds. 

 

Some other thoughts:

Getting a taxi or Uber in any port might be hard with a 2 and 5 year old.  They require car seats in most locations, and only a portion of the vehicles are set up for 6 people.  We have never looked for public busses in these ports, my guess is very few. (others might correct me)

 

We have only been to a few of the listed ports, I would really like to go on theses cruises!  My quick thoughts for each.

St Thomas, no walkable beach, will need taxi to town or any beach.  Not much to do at the immediate port area outside of tourist shopping.

Puerto Plata, a nice fenced in port area with pools and a lazy river. But the town is small and congested, not a place for young kids. Stay by the pools and the kids will have a good time.

Great Stirrup Cay, very nice beach and probably great for the kids if you get a shaded area.  Also very cheap, same buffet and drinks as on the ship.

St. John (Antigua?) We weren't impressed.  Kind of Jamaica lite.  Ship did have reasonable tour to a close beach.  Lots of locals hawking trips to beaches that we stayed away from.

St Kitts.  The port area is very new with shopping and food/drinks.  We did the train tour around the island (the kids probably won't like it) so can't say about any beaches nearby.

St. Lucia we loved, but went on a coastal sailing cruise.  Can't say on beaches close to port.

 

The rest are on our bucket list.  

I recommend reviewing each port listing here on CC for better info.

 

[pkay1]

I just traveled on the Emerald Princess last month. I have not traveled on the Jade, but have sailed on the Jewel, a similar ship. I thought the Emerald's food was decent, somewhat bland, except for the pizza, which was delicious! I think the specialty restaurants are much better on Norwegian, and as far as the complimentary restaurants, I'd say the two cruise lines are about the same. The common areas on the Emerald were nice, but my stateroom really needed updating. The furniture in the room definitely needed to be replaced and the hairdryer was from another century. It barely worked. My kids are grown so I can't help with that. As far as the Jade being a party ship, probably not the case. The bigger ships with more bells and whistles tend to have a more robust crowd, but I'm not sure Norwegian is ever really known as a party cruise line.

[Albinroo]

11 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

We sailed on the Jade in 2022 on a 7 day bucket list itinerary without kids.  We enjoyed it very much but there wasn't a ton of activities.   I think I would be bored for 14 days on her. 

Thanks for your reply, glad to hear you enjoyed it. I doubt we'll be able to get bored, the kids keep us busy!

[Albinroo]

9 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

Since the reopening, we have sailed 6 times, 5 with NCL, once with Princess. 

 

I would NOT assume Princess provides "better service and food".  Service for what, if you are not going to the bars often due to the kids being along.  Our service in the MDR for Princess was bad, the food overall (buffet, MDR and specialty) was not as good as NCL.  The ship was crowded, so most everything had lines.  We had a good time due to a large group of 20 or more friends and relatives, and we went to Alaska, which is great location.  But if we had been just a couple (like on NCL trips) we would have been disappointed with several things.

 

But, realize that all crews are now (back) on a turnover schedule.  (Per NCL on board info briefings) every week they turnover crew members.  On Ba/BA+ that is 80 per week, on Jade size ships maybe 40 per week. (that includes the cook staff too)  So a 6 month old ship review that states poor MDR service and yucky food (on any ship) might be totally different from when you sail. This includes my comments above.

But NCL freestyle dining might be better for young kids who get hungry at odd times, and you don't want to fight buffet crowds. 

 

Some other thoughts:

Getting a taxi or Uber in any port might be hard with a 2 and 5 year old.  They require car seats in most locations, and only a portion of the vehicles are set up for 6 people.  We have never looked for public busses in these ports, my guess is very few. (others might correct me)

 

We have only been to a few of the listed ports, I would really like to go on theses cruises!  My quick thoughts for each.

St Thomas, no walkable beach, will need taxi to town or any beach.  Not much to do at the immediate port area outside of tourist shopping.

Puerto Plata, a nice fenced in port area with pools and a lazy river. But the town is small and congested, not a place for young kids. Stay by the pools and the kids will have a good time.

Great Stirrup Cay, very nice beach and probably great for the kids if you get a shaded area.  Also very cheap, same buffet and drinks as on the ship.

St. John (Antigua?) We weren't impressed.  Kind of Jamaica lite.  Ship did have reasonable tour to a close beach.  Lots of locals hawking trips to beaches that we stayed away from.

St Kitts.  The port area is very new with shopping and food/drinks.  We did the train tour around the island (the kids probably won't like it) so can't say about any beaches nearby.

St. Lucia we loved, but went on a coastal sailing cruise.  Can't say on beaches close to port.

 

The rest are on our bucket list.  

I recommend reviewing each port listing here on CC for better info.

 

Thanks for your very imformative reply - both on ports and crew turnover. I am realising more and more that we will probably have a great time (because we usually do) on whatever ship we choose, and that we will probably take a few organized excursions anyway just to avoid the car seat issue. You are completely right that with such a high crew turnover things might change, and as with everything else it's subjective. We are not picky eaters so should be fine. Again, thanks for info on the ports!

[WillCruiseForMoney]

@Albinroo

Have cruised the Emerald and Jade's sister ships (Jewell class).

In our experience food and service were better on NCL. Was disapointed on both of our Princess cruises.

Emerald felt crowded and we often could not find a seat for various events unless we arrived early.

NCL tends to be a little more casual.  

NCL usually has more families than Princess, so might be better for the kids.

Neither ship has things like water slides.

Both itinereries look good for beach days and/or wandering the port areas.

14 day Jade cruise will not be a party vibe.

 

If it were me, I would choose the Jade, but you would have a great time on either ship.   Whichever you choose, I do not believe that you will be disapointed.