NCL Jade Review 9/5/24-9/11/24

[DAK333]

This is mostly from my review, which I posted in the review section, only with a wee bit more musings and general and comparison opinions.

 

This was our second cruise, this time just me and my wife.  We looked to do a New England/Canada cruise and originally looked at the NCL Getaway (a Breakaway Class ship).  But I really wanted to go to PEI…so I started  looking at the Jade.  I was not sure after previously being on the Joy (a Breakaway Plus ship), how a smaller ship would be. I watched some videos of the ship on YouTube and started to like the Jewel Class ship better.  Am I glad that I decided to go with the Jade.  I just loved that ship and its layout.

This ship was in great shape.  Very clean throughout.  The crew does a real great job keeping things clean.

 

Room

We had an Aft Facing suite.   We thought about Haven, but honestly the extra money was not worth it as pretty much the things from Haven that we liked were either not available (restaurant/bar) on this class of ship and the things we do like (priority/escort) still come with the Suite category.

The room was great and more than enough room for the two of us.  Bed was super comfy, more than enough closet and drawer space.  Good sized bathroom, I would rather just a shower then the bath/shower but hey that’s what it comes with.

The balcony views from the aft are spectacular.  Some great pictures from there.

 

Food

I thought the food was very good to great.  Since we were in the Suite, we had access to breakfast at Modernos, where they used the Haven menu.  The food and the service there were great each morning.  We also had access to Cagney’s for lunch (also using the Haven Lunch menu).  When on the ship for lunch, we either went to Cagney’s or the Buffet.  We had 2 nights of Specialty dining (Moderno and Le Bistro) and the other nights we went to Jasmine or to the MDRs Alizar or the Grand Pacific. 

Let’s talk about Specialty dining.  Our first night, we went to Modernos.  The salad bar portion of the restaurant was great.  Enjoyed that very much and had high hopes, but the meat portion was not so good.  The meats just did not have great flavor or texture. Last year on the Joy I was disappointed by Cageny’s but I’ll be honest I would give Cagney’s another try, I would never do Modernos again.

Le Bistro on the other hand was fantastic.  From the look and décor of the restaurant to the food and service.  It was great.

Now for the most part, like last year, I enjoyed the MDRs.  The service was good and the Parmesan Crusted Pork Chop is one of my favorite things I had last year and this year. 

Jasmine was ok.  Nothing special, I enjoyed my meal more than my wife.

The Buffet was not bad, but much smaller than I expected in regards to choices.  I felt the choices on the Joy last year were more than what was offered on the Jade.  Whatever I at was good and I have no complaints, except the breads for the hamburgers and hot dogs seemed they were heading to the stale side.

Lunch from the Haven menu at Cagneys was always very good.  The only ok meal was the Steak and Frites.

O’Sheehans we only had the late night menu.  The hot dog was good, but again the wings were eh.  The flavoring of the sauce is fine, but the problem is they are not being fried, they are being baked, that changes the flavor.  They’re not the bar wings you look for.

I am noticing a pattern here.  NCL seems to be lacking in the quality of beef.  Now I know I am on a mass market cruise line, so I know I will not be getting Michelin star quality cuts of beef.  Nor am I looking for that.  But the beef seems to be lacking in flavor.

 

Elevators

Elevators are not a problem.  Yes during busier times (after a show, mornings at the port, disembarkation), the elevators were slower.  Also this cruise skewed to the older crowd, so more scooters and chairs, but it’s fine I can take the stairs.  Burn some calories.

 

Entertainment

Entertainment is where I scratch my head and try to understand people.  I realize you will always read/hear more complaints then positive things.  It’s the way of the world.  But I really wish I could understand the complaints and understand what people are looking for.

I thought the entertainment was very enjoyable.

We saw Blazing Boots which is basically a jukebox musical.  I enjoyed it.

We also saw Elements, which is still great.  Along with one night with the magician act and the other night with the acrobat duo.

We enjoyed it all. 

I know people keep talking about the cut backs on the Broadway shows.  But I don’t really want the Broadway show because they are not really Broadway/West End…if I want that I’ll go to Broadway (which is when my wife reminds me not everyone lives near Broadway).  But the truth is these “Broadway” Cruise productions are never the full shows anyway, they are more like the regional versions that play at smaller venues.

Or the complaints about seeing the same shows, well as much as cruises want repeat business, the cruise model was not built to run new production shows each year.

What I liked about the Jade was the Spinnaker Lounge.  Where on the Joy many events were held in the Atrium (which I think is a terrible place for these things due to the small size, plus the ambiance of the place), on the Jade they are held in the Spinnaker Lounge.  Great looking place and plenty of seating.

Also saw some musical performances at the Bliss Lounge and Magnums.

A lot of areas to just sit around and have a drink as well.

 

The only time I was really on the lido deck was on Embarkation Day, and just had a drink at Topsiders.  The weather was not for the pool this trip.

 

I really liked the layout of the Jade over the Joy.

The Joy, although not a bad ship at all, just seemed like an oval where everything just had a place on the left or right side.  Almost like every area was put together just to fit somewhere in the oval, nothing unique or special. 

Whereas I felt the Jade had multiple areas with different looks and feels.  I liked the Casino bar on this ship as well, as it was in the center and not stuck in some corner.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our second cruise with NCL and yes we have another booked for 2025…the Aqua.

[ggTexasGal]

10 minutes ago, DAK333 said:

This is mostly from my review, which I posted in the review section, only with a wee bit more musings and general and comparison opinions.

 

This was our second cruise, this time just me and my wife.  We looked to do a New England/Canada cruise and originally looked at the NCL Getaway (a Breakaway Class ship).  But I really wanted to go to PEI…so I started  looking at the Jade.  I was not sure after previously being on the Joy (a Breakaway Plus ship), how a smaller ship would be. I watched some videos of the ship on YouTube and started to like the Jewel Class ship better.  Am I glad that I decided to go with the Jade.  I just loved that ship and its layout.

This ship was in great shape.  Very clean throughout.  The crew does a real great job keeping things clean.

 

Room

We had an Aft Facing suite.   We thought about Haven, but honestly the extra money was not worth it as pretty much the things from Haven that we liked were either not available (restaurant/bar) on this class of ship and the things we do like (priority/escort) still come with the Suite category.

The room was great and more than enough room for the two of us.  Bed was super comfy, more than enough closet and drawer space.  Good sized bathroom, I would rather just a shower then the bath/shower but hey that’s what it comes with.

The balcony views from the aft are spectacular.  Some great pictures from there.

 

Food

I thought the food was very good to great.  Since we were in the Suite, we had access to breakfast at Modernos, where they used the Haven menu.  The food and the service there were great each morning.  We also had access to Cagney’s for lunch (also using the Haven Lunch menu).  When on the ship for lunch, we either went to Cagney’s or the Buffet.  We had 2 nights of Specialty dining (Moderno and Le Bistro) and the other nights we went to Jasmine or to the MDRs Alizar or the Grand Pacific. 

Let’s talk about Specialty dining.  Our first night, we went to Modernos.  The salad bar portion of the restaurant was great.  Enjoyed that very much and had high hopes, but the meat portion was not so good.  The meats just did not have great flavor or texture. Last year on the Joy I was disappointed by Cageny’s but I’ll be honest I would give Cagney’s another try, I would never do Modernos again.

Le Bistro on the other hand was fantastic.  From the look and décor of the restaurant to the food and service.  It was great.

Now for the most part, like last year, I enjoyed the MDRs.  The service was good and the Parmesan Crusted Pork Chop is one of my favorite things I had last year and this year. 

Jasmine was ok.  Nothing special, I enjoyed my meal more than my wife.

The Buffet was not bad, but much smaller than I expected in regards to choices.  I felt the choices on the Joy last year were more than what was offered on the Jade.  Whatever I at was good and I have no complaints, except the breads for the hamburgers and hot dogs seemed they were heading to the stale side.

Lunch from the Haven menu at Cagneys was always very good.  The only ok meal was the Steak and Frites.

O’Sheehans we only had the late night menu.  The hot dog was good, but again the wings were eh.  The flavoring of the sauce is fine, but the problem is they are not being fried, they are being baked, that changes the flavor.  They’re not the bar wings you look for.

I am noticing a pattern here.  NCL seems to be lacking in the quality of beef.  Now I know I am on a mass market cruise line, so I know I will not be getting Michelin star quality cuts of beef.  Nor am I looking for that.  But the beef seems to be lacking in flavor.

 

Elevators

Elevators are not a problem.  Yes during busier times (after a show, mornings at the port, disembarkation), the elevators were slower.  Also this cruise skewed to the older crowd, so more scooters and chairs, but it’s fine I can take the stairs.  Burn some calories.

 

Entertainment

Entertainment is where I scratch my head and try to understand people.  I realize you will always read/hear more complaints then positive things.  It’s the way of the world.  But I really wish I could understand the complaints and understand what people are looking for.

I thought the entertainment was very enjoyable.

We saw Blazing Boots which is basically a jukebox musical.  I enjoyed it.

We also saw Elements, which is still great.  Along with one night with the magician act and the other night with the acrobat duo.

We enjoyed it all. 

I know people keep talking about the cut backs on the Broadway shows.  But I don’t really want the Broadway show because they are not really Broadway/West End…if I want that I’ll go to Broadway (which is when my wife reminds me not everyone lives near Broadway).  But the truth is these “Broadway” Cruise productions are never the full shows anyway, they are more like the regional versions that play at smaller venues.

Or the complaints about seeing the same shows, well as much as cruises want repeat business, the cruise model was not built to run new production shows each year.

What I liked about the Jade was the Spinnaker Lounge.  Where on the Joy many events were held in the Atrium (which I think is a terrible place for these things due to the small size, plus the ambiance of the place), on the Jade they are held in the Spinnaker Lounge.  Great looking place and plenty of seating.

Also saw some musical performances at the Bliss Lounge and Magnums.

A lot of areas to just sit around and have a drink as well.

 

The only time I was really on the lido deck was on Embarkation Day, and just had a drink at Topsiders.  The weather was not for the pool this trip.

 

I really liked the layout of the Jade over the Joy.

The Joy, although not a bad ship at all, just seemed like an oval where everything just had a place on the left or right side.  Almost like every area was put together just to fit somewhere in the oval, nothing unique or special. 

Whereas I felt the Jade had multiple areas with different looks and feels.  I liked the Casino bar on this ship as well, as it was in the center and not stuck in some corner.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our second cruise with NCL and yes we have another booked for 2025…the Aqua.

I enjoyed reading your review of the Jade. You gave a fair assessment and it's nice to read about your good experience overall!

[cruisebeachgirl703]

Thanks for your information/review. We are in Aft Suite end of November and we are not considering moving to Haven. Did you feel vibration in the  Aft Suite? How was you butler? Do you remember the concierge? Thanks.

[Cruising Lynne]

I was also on this sailing and agree with most of what you have said.

 

I was not in a suite so cannot comment on that, but did experience Cagney's and  Le Bistro. Both had excellent service and very good food. The filet in Cagney's was very tasty and cooked perfectly as ordered. Overall the experience in Le Bistro did feel more special. Also tried Jasmine complimentary Asian restaurant. Food was good but I noticed that the dumplings aka pot stickers had a very small amount of filling compared to past times I have eaten there. Totally agree about the chicken wings in O'Sheehan's. They felt hard and slightly overcooked. I have had the baked ones on other ships and still thought they were good, but they were a little off on this ship. The only beef dish in the MDR is the New York strip from the every day section. This was disappointing compared to other lines we sailed this year. The MDR was not as good as in the past due to many good menu items from the past are gone. I also did not see as many of the special salads that I usually enjoy in the buffet. Great Outdoors was my favorite place to get breakfast. The omelette station back there was not as busy as the one in the main buffet.

 

Blazing Boots and Elements were very enjoyable. I did prefer Blazing Boots, but I think that is because I have seen Elements so many times. There was no comedian which I usually like to see, and I did not like that there was no welcome aboard show in the theater. The first and last nights they only had movies in the theater!  Very disappointing. We had better entertainment on our Princess and MSC cruises this year.

 

I also felt that NCL Jade excelled in the cleanliness department especially in the buffet, Dirty dishes were promptly removed and tables were wiped. The entire buffet area was very clean. Our room steward did a great job with our room.

 

I also enjoyed the big bar in the center of the casino, and the casino had a good amount of drink servers which I really appreciated. Though I had very little luck on the slots. Still was fun to go there for a little while each day.

 

We had seen the weather forecast and took advantage of the good weather on embarkation day to enjoy the pool and hot tubs. We also got some pool time on the last sea day. We found some loungers out of the wind and enjoyed swimming  and hot tub time again that day. The pools were heated to a very comfortable temperature. A must for a Canada sailing.

 

PEI was my favorite port and Newfoundland had the most scenic sail away. 

 

Overall we had a great time on our vacation. This is Cruise Critic so I did want to come and give my two cents, which included some negatives. I hope the OP does not mind me adding to their post. Thank you to DAK33 for posting your review.

 

 

 

 

[DAK333]

29 minutes ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

Thanks for your information/review. We are in Aft Suite end of November and we are not considering moving to Haven. Did you feel vibration in the  Aft Suite? How was you butler? Do you remember the concierge? Thanks.

 

Did not feel any vibrations in the Aft Suite at all.  Also had some rough waters at times, and it was not bad at all.

 

We did not really bother our butler (Jay Domingo) much, but he did bring snacks every day and helped with some info that we needed.

 

The concierge was Susan, I forget her last name.  I have her card somewhere.

[cruisebeachgirl703]

2 hours ago, DAK333 said:

 

Did not feel any vibrations in the Aft Suite at all.  Also had some rough waters at times, and it was not bad at all.

 

We did not really bother our butler (Jay Domingo) much, but he did bring snacks every day and helped with some info that we needed.

 

The concierge was Susan, I forget her last name.  I have her card somewhere.

Thanks. 

[PhillyTravelBug]

That's great to hear. How was PEI and the sailing overall. I'm from Philly and have been to New England plenty of times. It is my favorite area in the US and have thought about this itinerary.

[StevenUS]

Thanks for the review. I will be on this ship in November. Only an inside cabin, but still better then not going.

[Cruising Lynne]

1 hour ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

That's great to hear. How was PEI and the sailing overall. I'm from Philly and have been to New England plenty of times. It is my favorite area in the US and have thought about this itinerary.

PEI was very nice. We were lucky to go there on two different cruises this year. This one on Jade and the other one on Emerald Princess  August 4-11.

 

In August we took a ship excursion to the Anne of Green Gables house. As someone who enjoyed the books when I was young I really liked it. The house, gardens, and walking paths were pretty much how I pictured they would be. That time of year was nice with the flowers in bloom. We also stopped at a scenic spot on the coast that had views of a beautiful beach and the red cliffs of the coastline. Our second stop there we walked around the port area. Out of the port building we walked to the left and went through a nice park which led over to a port area of shops and restaurants. We had some famous Cow's ice cream which was really yummy. You could also walk a little further up into the Charlottetown downtown area if you wanted to. We saw a bit of  that on our way back from Green Gables. Looked like a fun area with lots of restaurants etc. 

 

Halifax is also a  great port on this itinerary with lots to do near the port or take an excursion to scenic Peggy's Cove. Halifax has a big boardwalk that leads to shops, restaurants, and museums so no excursion is necessary. If you enjoy beer I recommend getting a flight at Garrison's brewery before returning to the ship. It is right across the street from the terminal building.

 

Sailing was very enjoyable overall, both times, but the second trip some people were a little seasick one of the nights that had some rough seas from a storm that we sailed through. We took our Bonine seasick pills for a couple of days and were fine. 

 

We are from New England so not so different from home, but we really like the ease of sailing out of Boston. About an hours drive from our house and poof! we are on vacation. I really like the views of the city on sail away, and seeing all the planes flying over the ship when you sail by the end of the airport. Awesome sunrise views from the Great Outdoors on the sail back in on disembarkation day. 

 

If you want to see good foliage, I would not go until the end of September/beginning of October. Google says peak foliage in PEI is the middle of October. I like to be warm so the August trip and early September were better for me, and some locals in Canada told us it gets very busy with multiple ships in port at foliage time. Plus I can see great foliage in my own backyard. 

 

 

[WickedRed]

This thread makes me even more excited for Thursday when I get on the Jade for this cruise.  Thank you!

[jamin jul]

Hi. Thank you for the reviews. I’m going on the Jade in January. Did you have to make reservations for Jasmine once on board? The reservations just opened for the speciality dining rooms but it said to book Jasmine on board and can’t book Teppanyaki either. Did you have that issue prior to boarding? Thank you.

[QuattroRomeo]

Thanks for the review. We also enjoyed the layout of the Jade, the larger ships just don't hold the same attraction for us. We also liked Le Bistro the best of all the specialty dining venues.

[cruisebeachgirl703]

For the suite specialty breakfast and lunch, do you remember the start and end times? Thanks.

[Doortravel]

Thanks,

Booked on Miami to Bahamas early Nov. in a suite. As you noted opted

for suite since they receive most of the Haven Benefits on this class 

of ship.

[ggTexasGal]

7 hours ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

For the suite specialty breakfast and lunch, do you remember the start and end times? Thanks.

The times can vary, depending on several factors.  Below is an example (and is approximately close to several cruises) when we have been in Suites.

 

Breakfast (Port Day) 07:00 AM to 09:30 AM

Breakfast (Sea Day) 07:30 AM to 10:00 AM

Breakfast - DEBARK 06:30 AM to 08:30 AM

      Lunch (Daily) 12:00 PM to 02:00 PM

 

Also, be certain that you are set in time with SHIP'S TIME!

[StevenUS]

30 minutes ago, Doortravel said:

Thanks,

Booked on Miami to Bahamas early Nov. in a suite. As you noted opted

for suite since they receive most of the Haven Benefits on this class 

of ship.

November 3rd by any chance?

[ggTexasGal]

21 hours ago, jamin jul said:

Hi. Thank you for the reviews. I’m going on the Jade in January. Did you have to make reservations for Jasmine once on board? The reservations just opened for the specialty dining rooms but it said to book Jasmine on board and can’t book Teppanyaki either. Did you have that issue prior to boarding? Thank you.

Jasmine Garden takes "walk-ups" only. Head there earlier than you tend to eat. If the restaurant is full, they will give you a pager.

As for Teppanyaki, the online system probably had reached it's capacity of pre-cruise bookings. You will need to head to the location that's listed in the Freestyle Daily (or check APP for location). 

[ggTexasGal]

On 9/22/2024 at 10:52 AM, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

Thanks for your information/review. We are in Aft Suite end of November and we are not considering moving to Haven. Did you feel vibration in the  Aft Suite? How was you butler? Do you remember the concierge? Thanks.

There are times when you might feel vibrations, especially when leaving port(s).

The vibrations don't tend to bother us and we love to watch the water once we get underway!

[DAK333]

32 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said:

Jasmine Garden takes "walk-ups" only. Head there earlier than you tend to eat. If the restaurant is full, they will give you a pager.

As for Teppanyaki, the online system probably had reached it's capacity of pre-cruise bookings. You will need to head to the location that's listed in the Freestyle Daily (or check APP for location). 

On our trip, Jasmine Gardens was taking reservations.

[cruisebeachgirl703]

2 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

The times can vary, depending on several factors.  Below is an example (and is approximately close to several cruises) when we have been in Suites.

 

Breakfast (Port Day) 07:00 AM to 09:30 AM

Breakfast (Sea Day) 07:30 AM to 10:00 AM

Breakfast - DEBARK 06:30 AM to 08:30 AM

      Lunch (Daily) 12:00 PM to 02:00 PM

 

Also, be certain that you are set in time with SHIP'S TIME!

Thanks. That helps.

[The Traveling Man]

On 9/23/2024 at 8:01 AM, WickedRed said:

This thread makes me even more excited for Thursday when I get on the Jade for this cruise.  Thank you!

See you on board!

[jamin jul]

2 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

Jasmine Garden takes "walk-ups" only. Head there earlier than you tend to eat. If the restaurant is full, they will give you a pager.

As for Teppanyaki, the online system probably had reached its capacity of pre-cruise bookings. You will need to head to the location that's listed in the Freestyle Daily (or check APP for location). 

The specialty dining just opened Saturday for regular people. It wouldn’t allow me to book then. I called NCL and they said there was a glitch and keep checking.  I booked Cagneys with no issues.  This is my first NCL cruise.  Does this sound right? Thank you. 
 

[chatnoire1967]

Very much appreciate your thorough review!

 

Does anyone know if the "basic" internet is worth it? If you used it were you able to look at the web sites easily etc? My dad wants to be able to read all the news every day!!

[StevenUS]

19 minutes ago, chatnoire1967 said:

Very much appreciate your thorough review!

 

Does anyone know if the "basic" internet is worth it? If you used it were you able to look at the web sites easily etc? My dad wants to be able to read all the news every day!!

I have not been on the Jade, but on the Bliss and Joy, it was good enough for such tasts.

[ggTexasGal]

13 hours ago, jamin jul said:

The specialty dining just opened Saturday for regular people. It wouldn’t allow me to book then. I called NCL and they said there was a glitch and keep checking.  I booked Cagney's with no issues.  This is my first NCL cruise.  Does this sound right? Thank you. 

It does seem "normal" because the system could have been going through updates, and some components might have been offline. Unfortunately, things don't always work right.

If I were you, I'd check back now and then, &/or do as I suggested earlier... try to book once onboard your ship.