NCL Jade

[Krissyboi]

I have just booked a cruise with NCL which i had never dreamed of choosing for my mum and I next year.
I thouroghly enjoyed my Thomson Spirit i did last year and hoped to show my mum how fantastic a cruise really is, all the time having Royal Caribbean in mind.

The only reason we booked the NCL was to avoid flying to either London or Amsterdam and having to change to head down to the med for the intended Royal Caribbean cruise.

The travel agent convinced me about NCL even though of all the cruise lines I had considered it was one of the last simply because Princess and Royal Caribbean seemed in a league of their own.

However it got booked and I am now not sure as I have read the comment on here and other websites and am still on the fence.
If anyone has any thoughts or opinions on the NCL Jade I would love to hear from you.

I assume that it will be just under the same standards of Princess and Royal Caribbean . . . right?

She seems a beautiful ship.

Please help me out

Thanks

Kris

[HW tenpin]

Hi,

I have had two cruises with what is now NCL, the first being on the Sky, which strangely enough was going to be the Costa Olympia, before the shipyard went broke.
This was the first ship to offer ‘Freestyle Dining’ when Star Cruises took over in 99, then on the Pride of America. The first was different and we quite enjoyed it, the last on the Pride was awful, mainly with the food and service.

So my point is although we enjoyed the first the next let us down, and consequently put us off cruising with them again.

So you have one good review and one bad review both from the same person.

In my honest opinion, until you sail on a ship you cannot tell what it will be like on that cruise. Chefs, crew menu’s and entertainment all change, the main thing you might find is that NCL ships seem to me to be Jazzy and OTT, yet some people like this, again the different restaurants, so many different charges and the introduction of service charges, make some cruises expensive.

So lets go to reviews, some will really be awful, because of ‘flights, embarkation, price of tours, bad weather, even fellow guests or ports of call.’ while on the same cruise you will get twice as many great reviews.

There is only one way to find out if you like a particular line, sail with them, I personally would not choose NCL just yet but, Yes, given the right cruise and Itinerary would use them again.

Your reasons for chosing this ship are sound, UK sailing from near you, some will say they are just different from RC or Princess, many love them and on another site have quite a good high rating.

[Krissyboi]

Thanks for your input and I think I will just go without any reservations and experience it for myself.

Kris

[Mrs Johnson]

Hi

Can I set your mind at rest, we went on the Jade in August and had one of the best cruises we've ever been on. We sailed from Southampton and went round the med for a fortnight. The ship was pretty busy as it was school holidays, but we still managed to find quiet places. We liked the freestyle cruising - not having to rush for early or late sittings really suited us. We always got a table for 2 as well, something we weren't expecting. Food in the main restaurant was good, drinks are expensive (around $6.25 for a spirit and mixer) but the measure is very generous. Entertainment was probably not as good as Thomsons but was varied. Some of the shows we saw were outstanding, some fair. Our favourite place for casual dining was "The Great Outdoors" - at the back of the ship. We enjoyed many a pleasant breakfast and lunch up there.

Overall we have cruised with both Thomsons and Royal Caribbean, but thoroughly enjoyed NCL. We would definitely cruise with them again.

Hope you have a great cruise next year.