Norwegian Jade Cruises Reviews

Thursday 9th Feb 2012

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Ncl Cruises

Norwegian Jade

COPY OF LETTER SENT TO NCL

COPY OF LETTER SENT TO NCL	1 of 1 people found this review informative

Reviewed By: Turner, Drumoak on 6th Feb 2010
Cruise Line: NCL Cruises	Times cruised before: 6-10
Cruise Ship: Norwegian Jade	Sailed: January, 2010
Destination: Mediterranean	Age: 46-55
Cabin: Outside	Occasion: Annual/regular holiday

We have just returned from Barcelona where we disembarked the Norwegian Jade having cruised the Eastern Mediterranean 25th Jan - 5th Feb. There are two subjects we would like to comment on regarding our onboard experiences. 1. Sanitisation issues due to Gastro-enteritis. Having watched your onboard video presentation and listened to your policy to eradicate/stop the spread of this problem we were impressed with the steps you wished to take and were happy to comply with the program you implemented. It is just a shame that the crew onboard did not practice what you preach. 1. Wash hands/ sanitise after contact with another person 2. Wash hands before meals 3. Wash hands after using rest room facilities 4. Wash hands/sanitise before embarkation We probably would not be bringing this to your attention if the action of one crew member had not infuriated us so much that we felt something had to be said. The incident occurred as we were about to leave the Galleria. A girl called Avril from Scotland refused to let us leave without having our hands sanitised. We questioned this practise as this was the one and only time we were asked to do this the entire voyage. She said she was only following company policy. We disagreed and tried to reason that it made no sense to sanitise on leaving the area just as it made no sense to sanitise as people disembarked (as asked to on one occasion). She was very rude and an other staff member actually laughed at us (as we perceived it) as we left. We immediately spoke to a very nice girl at reception (Alyona) who agreed with our view point and apologised and said that she would get the manager of the shop to phone and speak to us. Imagine our surprise when that turned out to be the same girl that had been so rude. She did not retract anything or apologise so we begged to differ and left it there. Because of this incident we decided to mention to reception staff that we had noticed several things around the ship that let your company down badly with regard to its desire to have a clean ship and strict hygiene measures. We should perhaps mention that I work in a health care setting and am very aware of public perceptions on cleanliness and the measures required to attain certain standards. If the Jade had been a hospital it would have failed at very basic levels. Glass and metal around the interior of the ship was filthy not because it hadn’t been sprayed with sanitiser but because it had but no-one had bothered to wipe immediately with a polishing cloth so the result looked streaky and dirty. We could have written our names on the elevator doors it was so bad. We noticed this was rectified after we mentioned it. The sanitisation issues impacted on the second subject we would like to comment on as it affected it greatly. 2. Service We are aware that NCL prides itself on its reputation for a high standard of service so we were disappointed to find it mediocre at best. We were allowed to go to our cabins before they were actually ready so the cabin steward hadn’t vacuumed and there were no towels or glasses. We were quite happy to give him a couple of days grace but things while never being bad never got really good either. He didn’t seem to now what tie-backs for curtains were or what a duster was for. He eventually made an attempt at the thick layer of dust in the corner of the carpet after we mentioned it. The service in the restaurants wasn’t much better. The Blue Lagoon and Grand Pacific we only used once because we were so unimpressed(e.g. slow, then got all the courses at the same time and food was cold). Alizars was marginally better (May-Lin from the Philippines being excellent). Watching what was happening about us did not inspire confidence however as waiters were taking dirty tablecloths off and holding them clutched to their uniforms and then lifting clean cloths and clutching them to there now contaminated uniforms (transference of bugs!) Despite wiping the outside of menus there was no cleaning of the inside where everybody runs there hand over the list of choices (difficult to do we realise). In the Garden Café things were by far the worst. People clearing crockery and cutlery away who were not wearing gloves, kept there cleaning cloth in the same tray/basin as said used items. The tops of tables were wiped but not the rims. Why were the servers wearing gloves but never changing them between tasks? I noticed several people dipping their gloved hands into a pail of water/sanitising fluid. How often did that get changed and what better breeding ground for bugs?! The fact we could not serve ourselves at the ”buffet” was fair enough under the circumstances but it would have been nice to have our food served nicely instead of thrown at us or slopped unceremoniously onto our plates. Why did we get some cutlery wrapped up in napkins while at other times staff were happy to just pass you the spoon that you needed? We should perhaps also mention that my husband works in the service industry and is aware of public perception on what constitutes good service. We could go on and on but what we are really trying to say is the standard of service experienced on the Jade was slovenly, sloppy and ok at best. The sanitisation program was inconsistent and probably too ambitious. The crew should just stick to your four basic rules instead of trying to complicate things. There is plenty of room for improvement in both areas which are also very much interlinked. By the end of the cruise we heard lots of people moaning as they were getting fed up and beginning to resent being sanitised every few minutes when the crew were so inconsistent. I watched one crew member sanitise his hands then run them through his hair. I saw a lady passenger put her hand out for the spray only to wipe it off immediately on her trousers. You can’t expect guests to be compliant when the crew are so inconsistent. We did get to speak to a restaurant manager who apologised and said he would speak to the other managers about how to improve matters. Some of the public area toilets also left a lot to be desired. The actual toilets and basins were clean but the insides of the cubicles did not look it. Again I assume someone came in and sprayed the walls and did not wipe immediately so they were left looking like someone had urinated down them. I did mention this to reception but never noticed any improvement. Also why jam open the outer doors when people still have to touch the cubicle handles? We would also like to mention that we were horrified to hear on speaking to another passenger who had been ill that she had been given Imodium to stop her diarrhoea. You are asking for trouble if that is your policy. It is far better to let the illness run its course and keep the person isolated (for 48 hours after final episode) with plenty of fluids and electrolyte replacement therapy such as dioralyte. Lastly we were disappointed with the attitude and manner of the red-haired receptionist with whom we spoke on our last day when we asked to opt out of the service charge as despite having brought matters to their attention we felt that things hadn’t improved sufficiently. Your staff really need to be given a refresher course in good manners. A weaker willed person might have felt pressured into paying the service charge regardless of how they felt about the service. We hope you will give our concerns due consideration as though it is unlikely we will sail on the Jade (or any NCL ship) again, we would not wish others to experience the indifferent attitude of the crew or the mediocre service that we encountered.
Quality of Food
Best restaurant was Papa's Italian Kitchen $10 surcharge but worth it Main dining rooms reasonable Garden Cafe ok
Entertainment
Smokey Joes Cafe and Mel Mellor were the best
Shore Excursions
Efesus was the best with good guide. El alemein spoilt by guide hinting for tips at the end
Staff
Alex and Ion from the art team Vey helpful non pushy
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities
Plenty to do but would have liked more ballroom and less line dancing!!
Cabins
Yes
Overall Rating

1 of 1 people found this review informative

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Comment by watson, kirkcaldy (15 Feb 10 13:24) about this REVIEW

I'm just back from a 9 night cruise on the Jade. I agree that the service was poor, not the same happy faces as previous, however after 2 days all changed. (All staff were called to a meeting during one off the port days, this could be a weekly occurance, however what ever was said seemed to work). From the third day onwards the service was excellent.Happy smiling faces ! I do to a certain degree sympathise with the crew as the additional workload from this virus,would wear anyone down. However thats up to the captain to keep morale high................ I must also point out that I personally felt the ship was spotlessly clean during our cruise,with 2 deep cleans carried out on 2 port days. The service was difficult in the buffets etc, with no self service, however once you became aware of this, it became the norm............ What really got my goat, was even with all the signs re the virus and sanitising..the number of times I witnessed gents (mostly older) not washing their hands after using the toilet facilities.......What chance have NCL/other passengers got.....................................!!!!...come lads use the soap and water provided...............you know who you are...............

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Comment by Turner, Drumoak (16 Feb 10 16:42) about a COMMENT by watson (15 Feb 10 13:24)

Glad to hear things improved We did not exaggerate our experience Maybe our letter worked as we have had aknowledgement from NCL that they are looking into our comments

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