Back from the JADE!

[CruisinEurope]

I'll be posting a review soon - - focusing mainly on cruising w/ a family of 4 (2 kids, age 5 & 7) and how NCL, the JADE, and the ports stacked up.

 

In a nutshell - we LOVED it!

 

We felt relaxed, cared for, and thoroughly enjoyed about 99% of our 12 nights onboard. (yes, a FEW minor hiccups, but nothing to COMPLAIN about! LOL).

 

If you have questions - ask!

[Lady Meer]

I'll be posting a review soon - - focusing mainly on cruising w/ a family of 4 (2 kids, age 5 & 7) and how NCL, the JADE, and the ports stacked up.

 

In a nutshell - we LOVED it!

 

We felt relaxed, cared for, and thoroughly enjoyed about 99% of our 12 nights onboard. (yes, a FEW minor hiccups, but nothing to COMPLAIN about! LOL).

 

If you have questions - ask!

 

Looking forward to reading your review. We will be Jade (and NCL) first-timers in June. One question - did you get a coffee maker / kettle in your room? We will be in a balcony BA room. Thanks

[CruisinEurope]

Looking forward to reading your review. We will be Jade (and NCL) first-timers in June. One question - did you get a coffee maker / kettle in your room? We will be in a balcony BA room. Thanks

 

Hello!

 

There was a coffee pot in the room and had creamers/sugar/etc.

 

No electric kettle like Europeans are used to - but I also never asked for one - so not sure if they have them or not.

 

They DO have both 110 and 220 volt plugs though, so if you HAVE to have one, you can always bring yours.

 

However - -

 

There are some decent choices of teas in the dining rooms and several options in the buffet...

 

There is hot water on tap in all of the buffets and you can also ask for a thermos of hot water from room service.

 

 

Enjoy your cruise! We sure did!!!

[Lady Meer]

Thanks for the info. We have only used Princess before (because we liked their itineraries - not particularly for any other reason). It's good to be able to get some useful tips. No doubt I'll think of other things I would like to know.:)

[insidecabin]

You get a filter coffee maker in the Balcony rooms

 

We just put water through for tea.(twice makes it hotter)

[cmpaula]

Can't wait to read your review!!!!!

[rlmlcb6]

welcome back.... on the Jade next Sunday...just a few questions..

1) still just tea, coffee & water available? and juice ONLY in the am?

2) were there 2 for 1 dining specials?

3) lobster any night?

4) what movies were playing?

5) favorite port? anything to be aware of in any port?

6) did you see anyone get caught smuggling in booze?

7) what (if any) excursions did you do? did you do overnight in egypt?

8) how was the weather:p

Thank you sooo much. been waiting for you all to get back!!

[shkeh]

We will be on Jade this June, also traveling with our kids (9&10). Did your kids participate in the kid program? Any tips for us on what to do or avoid? One last question, was there laundry on board? We will be gone three weeks total and the thought of packing enough is daunting.

[CruisinEurope]

welcome back.... on the Jade next Sunday...just a few questions..

1) still just tea, coffee & water available? and juice ONLY in the am?

 

AM - tea, coffee, water, milk, juices (apple, orange, cranberry) and sometimes lemonade (kids area had chocolate milk BOXES)

 

Afternoon/PM - tea, coffee, water, iced tea, lemonade, milk

In the buffet areas and in all dining rooms you can also get cappuccinos, lattes, espresso, etc. out of machines. Think that they are only on during "meal times" though... not 100% sure as we didn't look for them "off time".

 

2) were there 2 for 1 dining specials?

 

On port days they had specials in a FEW restaurants. Panolios, Cagney's and Teppenyaki were never 2 for 1.

 

3) lobster any night?

 

I had lobster a few times. I didn't look for it specifically, but heard that there was one dish that had lobster in it in at least one restaurant each night.

 

4) what movies were playing?

 

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Hancock

The Incredible Hulk

You dont mess with the Zohan

X-Files, I want to believe

Mamma Mia

The Dark Knight

My Sassy Girl

WALL - E

The Love Guru

American Teen

Blades of Glory

Stardust

Batman Begins

Cars

The Holiday

Michael Clayton

No Reservations

Breach

Bee Movie

Flushed Away

Get Smart

Freedom Writers

The Prestige

Hot Fuzz

License To Wed

Superman Returns

Chronicals of Narnia

Meet the Robinsons

Music and Lyrics

 

and more... LOL

 

5) favorite port? anything to be aware of in any port?

 

LOVED Rome, we had a great guide - http://www.driverguideservice.com Made the wet, rainy day a memorable one! Be sure to eat local pizza and get some gleato! Shop around Trevi fountain if you like the high end stuff. Stay away from there if you're looking for bargains!!

 

Athens - did the Acropolis on our own. Not sure if it would have been any better with a guide.... Easy to get to using the elecric tram/subway (1E per adult each way! SUPER cheap!!!). Had a great gyro from a local restaurant on the Platka.

 

LOVED Turkey! Also had a great guide! http://www.ephesusexcursions.com LOVED the Terrace Houses and the entire archeological site. Be SURE to have a guide IN here with you! The things you can learn are amazing! We also visited Sirince villiage. The ride up (and back) was WHITE KNUCKLE but well worth it. Interesting old time villiage with great crafts/handiwork to be found.

 

Egypt - a huge dissappointment for me. Sorry, I know that's not a popular response. Yes, seeing the pyramids and Sphinx were neat ... but that is about it. It stank, my lungs hurt for days from the pollution, and the hoards of people trying to sell you stuff (and trying to touch you, and trying to take my son and put him on a camel after being told NO a zillion times) were just too much for us. Thankfully, the armed guard from our tourbus took us under his wing after our stop at the pyramids (and after seeing some guy take my son out of DHs arms) - and "guarded us" at the Sphinx. Totally different experience. IF I was ever to go back (or if I had it to do over again, I would have gone with a private guide - one that is a BIG Egyptian man willing to serve as both tour guide and body guard.)

 

Now - before I get flamed, I was never in fear of our SAFETY at all. I don't think the Egytpians were dangerous or mean. Just overwhelming. Being a blue eyed blonde didn't help matters though... and we were constantly being touched and encroached upon. Just nerve wracking.

 

Going in, I knew what to expect ... the pollution, the abject poverty, the "sales people" - etc. But it was still overwhelming.

 

Malta - bring a jacket even if it's warm out. It got MIGHTY windy! I'd love to see this little island in the spring ... not much of anything to see in the winter unfortunately. We did do Mdina, interesting! And we did the Northern route of the HOHO bus - pretty! I would have liked to see the fishing villiage and taken a grotto boat ride - but our time here was very limited. I think that we could easily spend a week here and enjoy it very much (in the spring or late summer).

 

 

6) did you see anyone get caught smuggling in booze?

 

We didn't try, and didn't hear of anyone getting caught or getting away with it.

 

7) what (if any) excursions did you do? did you do overnight in egypt?

 

We had private guides in Rome and Turkey that I arranged. LOVED them!

We did Athens and Malta on our own (super easy!)

We did the 1 day Cairo trip via NCL.

 

8) how was the weather:p

 

Barcelona was horribly windy and wet. Icky.

Rome was wet and cold.

The rest of the cruise was PHENOMENAL! Upper 60s/lower 70s for the most part. Sunny, a tiny bit of wind on deck - - but not enough to stop us from using the pool/hot tub/etc. Wonderful weather overall!

 

Thank you sooo much. been waiting for you all to get back!!

 

Have a great trip!

 

We really enjoyed our vacation!!!

[CruisinEurope]

We will be on Jade this June, also traveling with our kids (9&10). Did your kids participate in the kid program? Any tips for us on what to do or avoid? One last question, was there laundry on board? We will be gone three weeks total and the thought of packing enough is daunting.

 

 

There were only 70 kids on board - and never more than 10 (total!) in the kids club.

 

My 5 DS yo loved it - went day and night and rarely wanted to come out for lunch or dinner.

 

My 7 yo DD (going on 18) liked it in the evenings when they split up into more appropriate age groups and did scheduled activities.

 

During the day it was mostly "open play" since there were SO FEW kids there.

 

I think that if there were more kids on board they would have been able to separate them into the specific age groups more and do more of the "scheduled" things.... and that DD (7) would have liked it more.

 

During the day she hung out with us unless we were able to successfully bribe her to go in "just for a few minutes" ... (once she was in though, she was fine and usually had a good time).

 

In the evenings we couldn't get her out! LOL

 

I think the counselors did a great job - and I 100% felt OK leaving my kids with them. DD even opted to stay on board during our port time in Malta. She had the place to herself and was able to dictate what she wanted to do. Since it was our last port stop, and I had seen the counselors, etc. I was VERY comfortable leaving her there.

 

(I did note that a several parents left their kids in the kids club while out on port excursions. Pre cruise I said I would NEVER in a zillion years do that - - but I was wrong. LOL. The counselors are great, and DD had a blast being the "queen of Kids Club" for a day.)

 

packing - pack for 1 week and do laundry twice. Really.

 

I packed for our 15 days and am SO SORRY that I did that!!! Now I have all this laundry to do and had to lug heavy suitcases around.

 

There is no self service laundry on the Jade... they do provide Laundry bags where you can fill the bag and they wash/dry/fold everything in it for $24 - so not cheap - but in hindsight would have been well worth it for us. If you sign up for cruise rewards, you get your second bag for 1/2 price (when doing two bags at once - which we would have needed to do for our family of 4).

 

By the end of the trip, DD didn't have any clean "good" pants or dresses to wear to the main dining room (she liked eating in there), and DS didn't have any socks (I'm sure I packed enough... sock gremlins must exist on cruise ships too!).

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

We LOVED it!

[lhall85917]

Did you share your Rome tour with others or was it just your family? If you can give an idea on pricing it would help. Thanks for sharing!

[CruisinEurope]

Did you share your Rome tour with others or was it just your family? If you can give an idea on pricing it would help. Thanks for sharing!

 

http://www.driverguideservice.com is who we used in Rome.

 

I wound up organizing 3 vans and a total of 21 people (including our family of 4) -- all found on our Roll Call.

 

There was also a 4th van that was added from our Roll Call, but I wasn't "in charge" of that van. So - really, we had 27 people from our Roll Call using this company.

 

The vans had a flat price and you split it among however many ppl you had in that van. We had 2 7 pax vans, 1 8 pax van, and 1 6 pax van total. The vans are roughly 500Euro per van (7 pax) - though the 6 pax and 8 pax had different rates, I can't recall what they were off hand.

 

We paid entrance fees to the Vatican and the Coliseum separately.

 

The van price DID include a private Vatican guide - which normally ran 100Euros for 1 hour as an "add on" from all the other companies I looked at. This resulted in HUGE savings for us - and provided a GREAT tour of the Vatican!!!

 

 

We were ALL (all 27 of us) THRILLED with our various guides and drivers - and would all HIGHLY recommend them.

 

:D

[techshark]

We also just got back from the Jade. We enjoyed ourselves very much. No complaints but here are a few facts that we might have wanted to know so we decided to pass on. First, although there isn't laundry facilities on board, they have two days where you can do a bag of laundry (about the side of a US grocery bag) for $25US. Had we known we would have packed less and used this service. Also, no need for a tux or dress up clothes a pair of nice pants and blouse for the ladies and trousers and a jacket for men is fine. Again, fewer clothes to pack. Second, the specialty restaurants aren't for foodies. If you're a foodie, you'll be disappointed so don't bother. Particularly the Tex-Mex one, it's worse than any take out Mexican shop we have in San Diego. We mostly ate at Alizar where the food is the same as the Grand Pacific but it comes out faster so it tastes better. The food is fine but don't expect Maine Lobster on the lobster nights; it's frozen Australian lobster. In Rome the train from Civitechettia (sp?) is easy and much cheaper than the tour. Just take the Hop On Hop off bus to see the City. In Greece, we got a taxi (100 euro) for 4 (you may be able to do better), and had a great day seeing the sights. In Turkey, don't miss Ephasus. It is wonderful. In Egypt, do see the Pyramids, but it is a long day so be prepared. Another NCL hint is that if you get hurt on an NCL tour your medical care on the ship is covered so that may be a reason to take their tour particularly for Egypt which is very dirty and dangerous. My husband was hurt (bad gash to the head) which is how we found out about the medical care. Malta is ENCHANTING!!! Their Ho Ho bus is good but note that they only run hourly. We only had 5 1/2 hours in Malta although we didn't actually leave for over 8 hours (fuel bunkering problem). In Barcelona, no need for their tour unless you want to airport transfers. The Ho Ho bus is good and the walking tours are great. I hope this is helpful to others and please feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

[Demonyte]

6) did you see anyone get caught smuggling in booze?

 

I was on Jade just few weeks ago and did have my rum runners with me and had absolutely no problems at all. But on the other hand, I don't know if anyone else got caught, I don't even know where the naughty room exactly is located in the ship. :D

[techshark]

As for booze, they have a collection station that often isn't manned. If you don't declare, they don't stop you. We knew people who brought in booze in their backpacks that went through the scanner and they didn't get stopped.

[rlmlcb6]

ok--a few more more questions.

 

1) was the laundry for $25 restricted? like could you only do socks,tee-shirts,etc?

2) could you use your OBC for ANYTHING? have 264 from fuel rebate :confused:and 100 from promo?

3) how difficult was it to use you atm cards and credit cards in the ports? we have virginia credit union (with visa logo) and they told me that they have no surcharge on the atm's--except if the atm itself charges one. Hubbys is Wachovia with a visa logo.

4) what was the exchange rate?

5) what about cell fons? hubby was told buy fon cards there and to make sure to turn off his roaming.

6) were there "internet cafes" in the ports you could use? what charges? Bring your own computer to them or do they have ones you could use?

7) best things you bought--where and what and how much?

[insidecabin]

Laundry bag was $19.99 on the 4th Jan trip (might have been a suite rate)

 

No restrictions and if you pack properly you can get loads in, they used to bags to return ours.

[sottovoce]

For anyone going to Malta, the must-see sight is St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta. Be sure not to miss it.

[CruisinEurope]

ok--a few more more questions.

 

1) was the laundry for $25 restricted? like could you only do socks,tee-shirts,etc?

 

you could do whatever you could fit in the bag. the only thing they wouldn't do is "speciality care" things like suits and gowns. just your "normal" stuff like shirts, pants, undies, socks, etc.

 

2) could you use your OBC for ANYTHING? have 264 from fuel rebate :confused:and 100 from promo?

 

it looks like the OBC was really just a credit to our accounts - so you could use them for pretty much anything - as it ALL goes on your bill.

 

3) how difficult was it to use you atm cards and credit cards in the ports? we have virginia credit union (with visa logo) and they told me that they have no surcharge on the atm's--except if the atm itself charges one. Hubbys is Wachovia with a visa logo.

 

only used ATM in Barcelona to get some Euros. Ship will also exchange for you if you need to. WE only used Euros in Rome, Athens, and Malta. Everywhere else we used Dollars

 

4) what was the exchange rate?

 

No idea, and it changes daily - so it would be useless info anyway.

 

5) what about cell fons? hubby was told buy fon cards there and to make sure to turn off his roaming.

never used our cell phones - no one we needed to talk to while we were on vacation. :D

 

6) were there "internet cafes" in the ports you could use? what charges? Bring your own computer to them or do they have ones you could use?

 

never used them, can't help you here.

 

we did use the internet cafe on the ship - used their computers. brought our own, but forgot our ethernet cable, so had to use ships computers. they offer "time packages" so you can get the plan that best fits your needs.

 

7) best things you bought--where and what and how much?

ummm, this is hard. bought a nice papyrus in Egypt at NCL sponsored shopping tour. about $12 (not big). Bought a cartouche for DD, about $50 (sterling and gold, one side).

 

Bought a nice tablecloth for about $50 in TUrkey. Hubby says I didn't bargain good enough, I thought I did OK talking her down from $100.

 

That is really about it. Bought magnets and post cards.. .and tiny things for the kids... but not huge things. we'll go back to most of these places and do our shoppign then... this was more of an overview for us. Not a lot of time to shop at all

 

 

enjoy your trip!

[queenofdnile]

How about the cabins? They look small in the thumb nail photos.

[CruisinEurope]

How about the cabins? They look small in the thumb nail photos.

 

we had a BC, and was completely adequate for our needs... sure, bigger would be better, but for the price, we were very happy.

[jdough]

We'll be in a BA for the 2-15 cruise; are there bathrobes in these cabins? THanks for all of your posts on the JADE in the Med... it's extremely helpful.. and informative.

[CruisinEurope]

we had bathrooms in our BC - so i would assume that BAs have them too.

[lhall85917]

we had bathrooms in our BC - so i would assume that BAs have them too.

 

LOL, I hope you had bathrooms!! just teasing, I knew you meant bathrobes. ;)I'm not sure if robes are included in the BA, but you could always ask your steward for them.

[CruisinEurope]

LOL, I hope you had bathrooms!! just teasing, I knew you meant bathrobes. ;)I'm not sure if robes are included in the BA, but you could always ask your steward for them.

 

 

LOL! :o