Wednesday 20th August 2008
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Good for what it was, but no more than that... |
| Reviewed By: Wills, St Austell, Cornwall on 2nd Jul 2008 |
| Cruise Line: NCL Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Norwegian Jade |
Sailed:
June,
2008 |
| Destination: Mini Cruises |
Age: 18-25 |
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We decided to take a mini-cruise as a weekend break and found a good deal on the Jade to Le Havre. We were also interested to try out a different cruise line as we have previously only sailed with Princess Cruises. Arrived at Southampton, no queues at all, checked in and were some of the first people onboard (I guess it pays to be early, of course there will be queues if you arrive at the same time as everyone else).
The ship was nice, but as we had only cruised with Princess in the past, the Jade did not compare (for example, the quality of food was not as good although the choice was excellent, and their atrium was practically non existant!). Went up to the lunch buffet at the Garden Cafe, lots of choice and was very enjoyable. Ate at the Garden cafe for lunch and for breakfast, so much choice but on the last morning half the buffet was closed off and there seemed to be a shortage of cups and mugs which led to some disgruntled guests. BBQ on deck for sailaway was a nice touch, although it was a bit concerning watching people eat their burgers in the hot tubs!! Yuck!!
We had an inside cabin, it was small but the bathroom was one of the largest i've seen! In my opinion they should have made that slightly smaller and given more space to the cabin itself. Room stewards were very friendly and always willing to help.
There were long queues for the restaurant reservations, so we thought we better book a table. We ate at Tepenayki the first night which was amazing. Lovely food prepared and cooked right in front of you by brilliant chefs, it was a very entertaining experience and well worth the cover charge ($25).
The second evening we ate in one of the main dining rooms (Akizar), they gave us a pager as we had not booked but we only had to wait five minutes for a table. Food was nice and there was a good choice on the menu, but again I didn't feel it lived up to the standards of Princess.
I find the dress code for the freestyle dining concept a bit odd, I agree with the concept of 'wear what you want', but at Tepenayki this policy led to our table of 8 consisting of people going smart/casual in shirts and trousers and nice dresses, some people people in dinner jackets going formal, and one couple wearing jeans and scruffy t-shirts! It looked a bit odd!
We didn't see the show, only the comedian, who personally we didn't think was that impressive. After the comedian, they hosted a 'white hot night' in one of the lounges, but this turned out to be just a disco with the staff pulling people up to dance (it was a bit too 'Butlins' for my liking!).The entertainment was the same for both nights, perhaps they were a bit short of staff! I agree with other comments that NCL should have pulled out all the stops as many people seemed to be using the cruise as a 'taster', but they did not seem to do that.
The staff were really friendly and helpful, we never had to wait more than a few minutes to get a drink at any of the bars. However the bar areas and sun decks did get really crowded, with many people seeming to treat the trip as a 'booze cruise', which I could see would put off many people using the trip as a taster for cruising.
Le Harve itself seemed to lack any atmosphere, and considering it was a Saturday, it was very quiet with not much to see. However, the free shuttle bus from the ship was nice and we had a pleasant afternoon wondering and browsing in a few shops.
The mini cruise was nice break and well worth the money paid, but I would not take a cruise with NCL again as the quality and the 'wow' factor was sadly lacking. I overheard some people who had never cruised before saying they would not do so again, especially on NCL. Like I said, it was good for what it was, although not a good representation of cruising in general so I hope people do not get put off. I'm happy to answer any questions if people have any.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Tepenayki was wonderful, Lots of choice in the Garden Cafe buffet | | Entertainment |  |
| Only saw the comedian who was not very impressive, Hardly saw the cruise director and staff for the whole trip | | Shore Excursions | n/a |
| | Staff | |
| Very friendly and always helpful | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| Not much chance to discover them as it was only a short cruise | | Cabins | |
| Room space was very small, but bathroom and shower were really big in comparison! | | Overall Rating | |
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