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Great Mediterranean First Cruise |
| Reviewed By: Neale, Barrow upon Soar on 10th Oct 2008 |
| Cruise Line: NCL Cruises |
Times cruised before: 0 |
| Cruise Ship: Norwegian Jade |
Sailed:
September,
2008 |
| Destination: Mediterranean |
Age: 56-65 |
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Norwegian Cruise Line mediterranean-cruises/">Mediterranean cruise 7 to 19 September 2008 aboard the Norwegian Jade.
My wife and I, together with two friends, recently undertook this, our first cruise, and had a wonderful time, thoroughly enjoying the cruise on a great ship with an excellent crew. The brilliant weather helped, of course, but overall we had a very good time and we look forward to cruising again with the same cruise line and same ship. Although we had a great time there are just a few comments that we would like to make as they may help others in planning a similar cruise.
We started our cruise in Barcelona having flown with BA from Heathrow. The transfer from the airport to the ship was efficient although the cabins were not ready when we arrived at the port terminal. We made good use of the time by going into the city but really there was not enough time to do very much. It would probably be better to travel to the port of embarkation a day or two earlier, experience the place and then arrive rather more leisurely.
Ports of call during the cruise were Civitivecchia (for Rome), Naples, Venice, Dubrovnik, Piraeus (for Athens), Izmir (for Ephesus) and finally Istanbul. We went on organised shore excursions at all the ports except Dubrovnik. They were extremely well organised despite the numbers involved and were most enjoyable. One major comment is the cost as they are rather expensive although probably worth the expense and there are no extras so can be budgeted beforehand. However, we have one criticism of NCL; we decided to book the shore excursions so that we could ensure being on the same excursions but even though we did this we did find that we were booked on to different times in Venice; the matter was, though, sorted out on the ship but NCL need to improve this aspect.
Food on the ship was excellent and we found no desire or need to use any of the restaurants that charged a premium; the Garden Café was brilliant for breakfast and lunch and we used the Alizar restaurant for most of our evening meals.
If we have one major comment it is on the practice of adding a fixed service charge to the overall cost and a 15% cover charge for drinks. Given that NCL emphasise the “Freestyle” of their cruises why do they not depart from the tradition of charging extra and add the cost (assuming it is necessary) to the cost from the outset. On the matter of the cost of drinks the prices were excessive, for example, the cheapest bottle of wine was around $30 and again a service charge was added. Whilst such prices may be in line with those charged in hotels on land, the actual cost to the company should be considerably less as they should be able to obtain the alcoholic drinks free of duty. The upshot of these high prices for drinks was that we just drank less than we might otherwise have done. On the other hand, the plenteous supply of iced water, for which there was no charge, was great.
Disembarkation in Istanbul at the end of the cruise was again efficient but, with hindsight, it might be better to arrange to stay a day or two longer at the final destination thus making the travel more leisurely. As it was we had to leave the ship earl and then had time to kill at the airport where facilities landside were not very good.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable cruise.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Alizar Restaurant | | Entertainment |  |
| Magicians | | Shore Excursions | |
| They were all very good; slight problem with NCL in booking on same excursion beforehand but this was resolved on the day | | Staff | |
| ANdrea in the Alizar restaurant; served us on several occasions and was always happy and joking and very efficient | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
| | Cabins | |
| | Overall Rating | |
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