Reviews written by wakelover
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Serenade of the Seas
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Thomson Spirit
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Artemis
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Diamond Princess
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Independence of the Seas
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Navigator of the Seas
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Independence OT Seas
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Arcadia
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Mediterranean (West)
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Norwegian Jade
'Editor' Review - Norwegian Jade
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Part1 This was our first cruise with NCL and as it was for a mere two nights, please bear in mind that it was a whistle stop tour so we have covered as much as we can. Firstly - I really liked the Jade. I can only describe her as being similar to a comfy pair of gold fluffy slippers - a bit of glitz, a bit of fun, unpretensious, comfortable, homely, and you want to go back to her. Our troupe consisted of my self and husband, Chubbas Nanny (Angie, the WakeLover Moderator), her sister in law Tina, my brother in law Adam and his girlfriend Jo - the latter three being cruise virgins. We arrived VERY early at the docks - about 09.15 and were politely told by the car park chaps to return at 10.00am. We duly parked up at the Holiday Inn and partook of coffee and tea in their bar lounge. Not wishing to appear too eager!!! we returned to the car park gate and pulled over to the side at about 9.50am. We were now second in the queue, which I might add was beginning to form at this time. At a few moments after 10.00am we were waved through. I had decided this time to check in my luggage as our last weekend cruise saw me lugging it about the ship until the cabins were ready. So we handed it over to the luggage team, parked up and walked to the 101 Terminal building to be greeted by a whole lot of confused passengers and not a member of staff in sight. Staring at each other blankly, and in dire need of the loo by now, I took the decision to go through the double doors only to find a few folks already starting a queue at the pre-check in desk desks. We were promptly followed through these doors by a fifty or so other folk. The ladies on the desks kept saying that they weren’t ready for us all but as there was nowhere else for any of us to go, we held our places and simply waited. They were ill prepared for the early starters, the numbers of which were growing rapidly as time went on; so much so that when we passed through the first gate, most people avoided the snake like pathway to the check in desks and simply ducked underneath the straps! When in the main check-in room, we were left again to stand around staring wondering where to go and what to do. The man in front of me moved a few steps forward toward the check in desk only to be told by a brusque woman in blue who appeared from nowhere to “stand back”. I pointed out to her that if there weren’t any staff to direct the human traffic then what did she expect us to do. Suddenly staff appeared from nowhere (they had probably been napping somewhere) and the show seemed to then be on the road. We were directed to our check in desk... if you are anything like us ‘why do we always get ‘em???’ Needless to say our check in lady didn’t appear to have a clue what she was doing. Folks to our left and right were being checked in seamlessly – our lady seemed to take forever – (over 15 minutes in fact) to process what should have been a 5 minute task... First she couldn’t find our booking and said our names didn’t match (heaven help you if you have the name Smith.... goodness knows what she’d do). Secondly she added another 6 cabins to our bill, luckily noticed by my husband. Then, after the supervisor had stopped by twice to ask her what was taking so long we eventually moved away from the desk, were given a red boarding card, moved on and then found her chasing after us to drag us back and say the photo she had taken had not worked. We handed our boarding card back. I pointed out that my expression for ‘take two’ was less smiley than the first attempt and did she wonder why. But we didn’t take anything too seriously – we were after all about to step on a cruise so nothing really could cloud that. Once the check in from hell had finished we returned to the lady with the red boarding cards and obtained one. Our travelling partners who had been sat waiting for us had been given a blue card so we asked if we could swap it for a red card and this was done – we now had priority embarkation! Promptly, and as promised, we boarded the Jade at 12.00pm. I don’t remember having to walk that far to board the Navigator from this terminal but this was due to the door location I think. We stepped onboard and we were offered a glass of bubbly or orange juice; the first time this has ever happened on a cruise and I have to say after check in and the long walk it was most welcome. Hoards of folk seemed to be gathering by lifts and in the first bar so we headed straight up to the top deck for fresh air and peace! We were duly served by a friendly waiter and watched as the crew started to fire up a “welcome onboard sailaway” BBQ which again was a welcome sight not having eaten all day. We downed a few light refreshments (well...several beers) and headed to our cabins at about 1.00pm. We escorted the cruise virgins to their balcony cabin. BALCONY CABIN What a great bathroom. Open the door and the basin is straight ahead – loo to the right with sliding door, shower to the left with sliding door so technically 3 could use the bathroom in relative privacy all at once. Excellent thought has gone into this. The balcony was of a decent size, the vanity a little small but practical, a good size bed, what would be a tight sofa bed me thinks, but all in all bright and well equipped with stocked mini bar, hairdryer, usual toiletries in the bathroom etc. No bathrobes though so take note. MINI SUITE What a great cabin – really an oversized ‘longer rather than wider’ balcony cabin but we fell in love with it. Lovely wooden panelling and the vibrant NCL colours. Fresh white linen again on the bed, nice sized balcony, and the bathroom is the same layout as the balcony cabin but with a bath with shower over. Nice bathroom. Shampoo and shower gel dispenser in the shower and a lovely soap dispenser over the basin which has a nice large mirror and good lighting. No sitting on the loo with your knees wedged under the basin with this ship – a loo separated by a sliding door was great. I thought at the time that for a family perhaps sharing with their kids, this would be most welcome. The curtain separating the main bed from the sofa bed would also afford some privacy too. Storage was the best we have had in a balcony cabin (albeit this was a mini suite). Lots of wardrobe space and deep drawers a plenty – your clothes, shoes, bits and pieces can really spread out. Good vanity table with illuminated mirror, good hairdryer which I used for the review and worked really well, a couple of extra plugs for straighteners, reasonably good lighting, and you can watch the tv reflected in the mirror behind you whilst you do your hair – perfect. Our cabin really felt homely – we had a coffee perculator, tea bags, fully stocked bar with sodas and booze. The obligatory Gideon’s bible, no doubt used during rough crossings!!! Our balcony was also a decent size – a small round table, two chairs, one of which reclined a little. Bath robes were provided but I would say the bath towels were a little on the small size affording only one each and if like me you need a second for your hair then some bartering has to be done with the other half, who then suggests you use one of the two beach towels provided, causing you to kick yourself ‘cos you’re supposed to be the resourceful one in the relationship! In all I would opt for a mini suite again on the Jade – but I have to say I am curious to find out what the suite are like....! Unfortunately we didn’t get a peek at the garden villas with their own hot tubs and other lovely stuff. Still to come – freedom dining – ‘does it work?’ and more...... |
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