Cruising like a Norwegian on the Jade

The Ship

The Norwegian Jade is a medium sized ship holding around 2200 guests. She was originally launched in 2006 as the Pride of Hawaii but was pulled from there in 2008, renamed to the Jade and brought over to Europe. This is very evident when you are walking around the ship as a large proportion of the decor is Hawaiian themed. Although there is the odd area where I feel that the decor is a little dated I did actually quite like the Hawaiian theme and the some of the colours that Norwegian cruise line use, it just makes you feel in the holiday mood. Everything was
extremely well kept and clean and I didn’t notice any wear of furnishings anywhere on the ship at all.

The Cabin

We stayed in an Inside cabin forward of deck 10 on the cruise and found it absolutely fine. The cabin had plenty of room for the 2 of us and we found the shower cubicle was larger than expected. The cabin had all the usual amenities like safe, mini-bar, lots of wardrobe and drawer space and a flat screen television. There was room to push the suitcases away under the bed once unpacked too which was useful.

The Food

We found the food to be of a very high standard wherever we ate on the ship. There was always a large section on offer too. We mostly ate our
breakfast and dinner in the main Grand Pacific dining room. In fact we actually only ate breakfast in the buffet once as the Grand Pacific was that good we just had to keep going back there. The service in all of the dining rooms we ate in during our cruise was excellent and we just couldn’t fault anything at all, the service was very fast, attentive and the crew were really friendly and a pleasure to deal with.

We did try a couple of the speciality restaurants, Cagneys Steakhouse and Le Bistro (French Bistro). Both of which are highly recommended as although there is a surcharge to dine in them they really are a treat, and why not treat yourself, that is what holidays are about after all !

The dining on the ship is freestyle, that means you dine where you like, when you want. We never had any problems getting a table for 2 whenever we went to the main dining room but the speciality restaurants can get busy and definitely are best booked in advance by at least a day or two.

Sarah was very pleased to find that at the hot drinks stations in the buffet they had PG tips tea bags.

The Entertainment

There was always plenty of entertainment on board the Jade. Out on the main deck by the pools and in the bars and lounges they would often have people singing renditions of popular hits with a guitar and sometimes piano. I thought all of the performers on board were really talented. The best entertainment on the Jade was in the main Stardust theatre in the evening where the main daily show was held. During our cruise we watched a great mixture of acts from singers, dancers, strong men, acrobatics and magicians. Every time we watched a show there was always a standing ovation at the end and rightly so too they were brilliant. There was often fun and games going on around the main pools in the daytime but they did have a large quiet section on the deck above where you could sunbath and relax without being bothered. I would have taken some photos or videos to share of the performances but they didn’t allow this as it would infringe copyright.

The Ultimate Drinks package

We had the Ultimate Beverage package included with our cruise booking which included most drinks up to the value of $15 per drink. The only drinks that weren’t really included were bottled water, champagne, wine by the bottle, some ultra premium spirits, energy drinks and some speciality coffees. The amount that was included though was amazing. There was a huge selection of bottled and draught beers, a very good selection of wine (I mostly drank a Pinot Noir or Chateauneuf du Pape whilst Sarah drank Pinot Grigio and Prosecco), lots of different cocktails to choose from and a very large section of spirits. Spirits included Grey Goose Vodka and Johnnie Walker Black Label as well as lots of other premium brands. Although wine is only served by the glass on the drinks package we did find that our glasses were kept topped up during dinner by the waiters. Also on the drinks package you just hand over your card to get it swiped, you don’t have to sign a receipt for every order either which is more convenient.

Smarter package – 2 nights pre-cruise hotel in Venice 

As this cruise was sailing in and out of Venice we decided to do what we call here at Cruise.co.uk a “Smarter package”
this is where we package the cruise with a hotel stay for a couple of nights before the cruise. Venice for me was one of the main
highlights of our cruise holiday and it would have been criminal in my mind to fly to Venice, board the ship,
disembark and then just fly straight home without having time to enjoy such a beautiful place. Also Venice is quite
large, there is so much to see and do there. For anyone considering this sort of cruise then you really must think about
adding a hotel stay, if doesn’t often cost too much extra either.

Me and Sarah both really enjoyed our cruise on the Norwegian Jade and would like to thank all of the crew on the Jade for
making this such an amazing time for us. I hope that we get the chance to sail on the Jade again as am missing her already.

Here are a few final pics from our cruise.