Back from the JADE!

[jdough]

BATH ROBES,,,, to be clear... on other cruises (Celebrity, Holland) robes were in each cabin.. It's been a long time (1999) since we were on NCL.. we're packing for the 2-15 cruise and needed to know if we have to bring our own robes for the pool, hot tub, spa, etc. .... appreciate any help with those that have recently been on the JADE in a BA category... THANKS>>>

[dos equis]

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!

 

Sorry for the long quote.... but you said if you sign up for cruise rewards you can get your second laundry bag for half price. 2- questions.. how do you sign up for cruise rewards? do you have to have sailed NCL before? also, can you give me a better idea on how big the laundry bags are? Size of a plastic grocery bag.. size of a garbage bag.. somewhere in between?

[CruisinEurope]

Sorry for the long quote.... but you said if you sign up for cruise rewards you can get your second laundry bag for half price. 2- questions.. how do you sign up for cruise rewards? do you have to have sailed NCL before? also, can you give me a better idea on how big the laundry bags are? Size of a plastic grocery bag.. size of a garbage bag.. somewhere in between?

 

 

cruise rewards is a GREAT program! It's for ANYONE - - While on board (up to the very last night) if you put down $250 towards another cruise in the future you get:

 

1) that $250 acts as your entire deposit for your entire cabin

2) $100 OBC to spend on your CURRENT cruise

3) a sticker on your room key that gets you 10% off EVERYTHING you buy in the gift shop for your entire cruise plus a "free gift" (which for us was a cute little ship coin that the kids loved)

4) a coupon book thingy that had some decent stuff in it - including the 2nd bag 1/2 price offer

 

(and probably more stuff that I'm forgetting. TOTALLY worth if if you know you'll cruise NCL again within 30 months).

 

The laundry bags are a decent size - like the size of a really big grocery bag. You can CRAM it chock full and they wash/dry/fold all of it neatly and give it back to you in as many bags as it takes - - they don't try to re-cram it all back in. :D

[CruisinEurope]

BATH ROBES,,,, to be clear... on other cruises (Celebrity, Holland) robes were in each cabin.. It's been a long time (1999) since we were on NCL.. we're packing for the 2-15 cruise and needed to know if we have to bring our own robes for the pool, hot tub, spa, etc. .... appreciate any help with those that have recently been on the JADE in a BA category... THANKS>>>

 

 

LOL

 

BATH ROBES were in my BC cabin (which is below a BA category) on the Jade which we got off of a few days ago.

 

I would be VERY surprised if you didn't have robes in your cabin.

[insidecabin]

LOL

 

BATH ROBES were in my BC cabin (which is below a BA category) on the Jade which we got off of a few days ago.

 

I would be VERY surprised if you didn't have robes in your cabin.

 

Last time we were in an inside no robes but asked for them and got them

 

Robes are available at the spa, GF used to come back in them got quite a collection at one point.

[MedwardBound]

We will be on the Jade in May--first NCL cruise. I am appreciating all of the tips and have a few specifc questions.

 

1. Any embarkation tips? The ship is currently scheduled to depart at 4 pm. If we arrived at the port by 2 pm, would we be cutting it close? (We are staying overnight in Londont he night before and want to stop at Windsor castle on the way to the port.) Would there be anywhere to eat at that time?

 

2. Could someone explain the soda card? My understanding is that soda always costs extra. With the card, when and where is soda available? And what kind of soda? (I am a diet coke addict--I am sure other addicts will sympathize with my questions.)

 

3. Anything that we should know to ask for that might not be advertized? For example, I've read about people not knowing to ask for an egg-crate bed-topper.

 

4. Our travel party includes a 17 year old and a 13 year old. The cruise is very port-intensive but the 13 year old would love to find some other kids to interact with. How does the kids program work for young teens?

 

Thanks!

[CruisinEurope]

We will be on the Jade in May--first NCL cruise. I am appreciating all of the tips and have a few specifc questions.

 

1. Any embarkation tips? The ship is currently scheduled to depart at 4 pm. If we arrived at the port by 2 pm, would we be cutting it close? (We are staying overnight in Londont he night before and want to stop at Windsor castle on the way to the port.) Would there be anywhere to eat at that time?

 

I think that is a bit too close. You should be ON the ship 2 hours prior for sailing away so that they can get all the paperwork, etc. done. And then you have to do the muster drill - so the dining rooms will be closing around the time you board to get all hands ready for that.

 

2. Could someone explain the soda card? My understanding is that soda always costs extra. With the card, when and where is soda available? And what kind of soda? (I am a diet coke addict--I am sure other addicts will sympathize with my questions.)

 

The soda "card" is actually a little sticker that they put on your seapass. It entitles you to a coke travel mug thing and all the soda you want. Get it your first day to maximize your benefits. From what I understand, it's only worth it if you drink more than 4 sodas a day.

 

We chose to just buy a few cans of diet coke at the shops near the pier and bring it on board with us. when we ran low, we got some more at the next pier.

 

I THOUGHT we would really miss having diet coke "on hand" but found that we really didn't. AND - an added bonus, we drank MUCH more water than we normally would because of it. :rolleyes:

3. Anything that we should know to ask for that might not be advertized? For example, I've read about people not knowing to ask for an egg-crate bed-topper.

 

Strawberry soft serve is in the BACK of the Garden Cafe, towards where you would use the elevators or get into Papas Italian.

 

You can ask for things at various restaurants that aren't on the menu and they will try to help you out. For example, at Blue Lagoon, they don't typically have the lemonade available. DD loved it, and asked for it. They went downstairs, got a bag of the stuff, popped it in their machine, and from then on had it for her. We thought that was really nice.

 

4. Our travel party includes a 17 year old and a 13 year old. The cruise is very port-intensive but the 13 year old would love to find some other kids to interact with. How does the kids program work for young teens?

 

Sorry, can't help there. On our cruise I honestly NEVER saw any teens in the teen club - but then again, I NEVER saw any teens either.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[bluesea777]

We will be on the Jade in May--first NCL cruise. I am appreciating all of the tips and have a few specifc questions.

 

4. Our travel party includes a 17 year old and a 13 year old. The cruise is very port-intensive but the 13 year old would love to find some other kids to interact with. How does the kids program work for young teens?

 

Thanks!

 

We were on Jade holiday cruise (Xmas and New Year) and it was full of families, so the kids clubs had lots of kids. Our 14 yo DS had a ball of time with other teens in the Teens Club. They did many things together around the ship. Our DS saw more shows than we did :eek:. He went into the hot tub several times (we never went into any :eek:). He ate wherever the group went and they had good time eating together - Garden Cafe mostly. We (DH and I) had several intimate dinners :D.

 

If your cruise is during the mid-term break (half-term) your teen will be fine. We usually cruise when it's school holiday for our DS so he can enjoy the cruise as much as we do.