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Norwegian Cruise Line

MS Norwegian Jade

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Reviewed by: Malcolm Oliver
# previous cruises: 10 to 20
Date of Trip: May 30, 2008
Itinerary: Europe

Norwegian Jade is casual modern floating resort, aimed at the mass market. She has more choices for dining than just about any other ship that I've cruised on.

Freestyle worked for me and in general I enjoyed the NCL "difference". The downside of the NCL experience is the surcharges. I managed to spend more onboard than I normally would with other mass market lines. Quite simply, if you enjoy good food you need to pay extra for it on this ship.

NCL's main (no-surcharge) dining room had reasonable service, but you were treated as just a number. The food was not as consistent. The surcharge restaurants onboard Jade were all very good in terms of food quality and provided more attentive service.

Most of Jade's public rooms are located on decks six and seven. Deck Seven also has a wrap around promenade. The exceptions are 'Cagney's' Steak House, the 'Star Bar' which are amidships deck twelve and the Spinnaker Lounge, forward. There are two pools on the Sun Deck, one adult (salt water) and one child's (fresh water) complete with slide. There is no indoor public pool. This is quite a disadvantage when offering cruises from Southampton, with the U.K's unpredictable climate.

The Atrium is modest two story one, although the floor area is quite large.

The Stardust Theatre is an impressive space and very attractive. The sight lines are excellent with just a few supporting pillars.

All of Jade's dining rooms are single height and most are relatively intimate. There are eight in total, but the two so called 'main' dining rooms are the 'Grand Pacific' at the very aft of the ship and the 'Alizar' nearer amidships. They actually share the same kitchen and have the same menus and do not carry a supplementary charge. The 'Grand Pacific' is the biggest dining room, accommodating 556 passengers and is extremely attractive. The decor was inspired by the dining rooms of the Matson Liner ships that used to sail from San Francisco to Honolulu. The Alizar is smaller and has more minimalist, contemporary decor.

Located amidships are three bars; 'Tankards Beer and Whisky Bar', 'Mixers Martini and Cocktail Bar' and 'Magnums Champagne and Wine Bar'. There are no walls separating them so in reality this area is just one large bar.

The Star Bar on deck is an attractive and intimate 'quiet' bar on deck 13, with tinted windows, overlooking the pool deck.

The Spinnaker Lounge is on the top deck of the ship, forward and is a multi-purpose lounge used for live music, comedy, disco dancing and karaoke

Jade has thirteen different dining options, if you include room service. Some have additional fees and others are included in the cruise fare.

The 'Freestyle' dining concept is simple; you can dine in any dining room, at any time you like and sit with who you like. Of course in reality it is not always as simple as it sounds. Dining is of course subject to the various dining room operating hours and passenger demand. There was a peak rush at around 8.00 to 8.30 pm each evening, when many of the dining rooms became full simultaneously, especially the two 'main' ones which have no surcharge.

My wife and I often preferred a table for two. At peak time's short lines would form at the two dining room entrances. If a table is not available to meet your requirements, you are given a pager. We had to wait 15-30 minutes for a table for two on several occasions at peak times. At other times you can simply walk-in. Alternatively if you are an organized type of person, you can book a time, 48 hours in advance.

I must admit that I though that I was a traditionalist when it came to shipboard dining, but I actuality liked NCL's 'Freestyle' system. We could dine anytime that we wanted at a table for two, with a 0 to 30 minutes wait, depending on the demand. Now to me that is still infinitely more flexible than the traditional method of being given one assigned time for the cruise and sitting with passengers all cruise that you may not get along with.

I loved the yellow louver doors of the cabins - very funky!

The standard inside, ocean view and balcony cabins onboard this class of ship are quite compact, but adequate. Hopefully the fare that you pay would reflect this fact. All cabins have a coffee maker, a mini-bar, a heavy duty metal hair dryer and safe too. The air conditioning was very responsive.

Most cabins have two single beds that can be reconfigured as a double. Standard balcony cabins have a bed settee which can provide a third berth.

The bathroom was divided into three spaces; shower, sink unit and toilet. Two partially frosted sliding glass doors separated the shower, sink unit and toilet from each other. This would allow the non-shy to perform simultaneous ablution functions. The shower was of adequate size for most people and the glass door prevented leakage onto the bathroom floor and mouldy curtain syndrome. Dispensers providing shampoo and shower gel are a reminder that this is a mass market cruise line. The toilet compartment was quite small and even a person of average height may find that there knees almost touched the wall while seated on the throne. The towels provided were pretty small and the largest would hardly wrap around anyone with a generous waist measurement. The wardrobe space was reasonable and had a useful internal light.

The cabin TV was a small out of date 14" CRT type. The Signal reception was poor and channels limited. There were unfortunately no interactive features which is amazing for a relatively new ship. There were no UK plug sockets in cabin so an American to UK adapter is required for your own appliances.

NCL clearly tried to offer entertainment on our cruise to please everyone including a crew show, Karaoke, quizzes, magic, juggling, comedy, ballet, light opera, Mr and Mrs game, Bingo and Broadway type productions. However I was not overly impressed with the production shows or most of the guest acts.

My major complaint was there was no live band in the Stardust Theatre, just taped music, even though the 'Daily News' repeatedly lied and said "an absolutely live orchestra". Although the cast of the shows injected lots of energy I found the shows too American for my British tastes. The quality of the singers was generally mediocre and there were no dedicated dancers. The best of the mediocre bunch of shows was called "Shout - The Mod Musical". This was the female members of the troop all in 60's mini-skirts, singing 60's songs with corny jokes and bad English accents.

The magician and the tenor were mediocre. However a guy from the Moscow State Circus, who stood on the top of a free standing ladder, on a moving ship's stage, was very impressive.

In terms of entertainment, three lounge musicians made the cruise for me. W. J. Greer had an excellent voice which was a little reminiscent of Lionel Richie. Russian pianist Konstantin Dragulyov charmed the passengers with classical, popular and jazz tunes and acoustic guitarist Eugene Villarino sang songs ranging from Pink Floyd, John Denver to the Beatles.

I took a 14 day cruise to the Mediterranean: Southampton; Malaga; Barcelona; Villefranche; Livorno; Civitavecchia; Gibraltar; Lisbon; Vigo; Southampton.

The passengers were mostly British as we were sailing return form Southampton, although some American's were onboard too. The North of England seemed well represented. The age range was very diverse, although in the great British cruise tradition the majority were over 50.

(A more detailed version of this review appears in the 'Ship Review' section of this web site)