Norwegian Jade Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,044 reviews

Terrible Customer Service, Low Amenities Ship, Dull Private Islands

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Jade
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Robnads
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
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Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
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Additional details

Sail Date: Jan 2019
Cabin: Inside

I chose this cruise because I had heard that Norwegian was a great cruise line and, as a single person, I was able to get an interior stateroom for less than $1,000 including taxes and port fees, so price had a lot to do with it. However, the reason I took that is I was offered a much better deal the night before and told they would hold it 24 hours while I checked airfare. When I called back 12 hours later, I was told by another customer service agent that it was given to someone else and that the guy that said he would hold it was inexperienced and shouldn't have made me that promise. So I took the Jade offer. I was assigned a person to call if I had questions, so I did asking if I could get the $50 credit on each port's excursions offered on the previous deal. She said she had to rush off to a meeting and would call me back but never did. So a few days later I called again and the answer was "no". When I arrived in Ft. Lauderdale I panicked somewhat because I was supposed to be on the ship by 2 and Norwegian's transfer bus was nowhere to be found. On a previous cruise I used a private shuttle and they texted me to tell me where they were. I finally found a man with a Norwegian sign who said, yeah we were looking for you and then had to wait another hour before the bus left, arriving well after 2. Checking in was fine, except that the person gave me a room number that was already occupied. So I had to go down to customer service with my luggage to find out what the room number actually was. My experience after that point was not all bad, which is why I gave them two stars rather than one. The room was clean except for a dingy carpet and quiet except for banging sounds at 3 am on Thursday night. Generally the service aboard was very good, as was the food. And the dine anytime system is much better than the two seatings most cruise lines have. But the Jade has the fewest things of interest of any ship I've been on. No water slides, no big outdoor television, no skating rinks, surfing, indoor malls or atrium that goes all the way to the top, all of which I've found aboard other ships. And the scheduled activities were standard cruise ship stuff. As to the ports, I loved Costa Maya, but all the excursions the excursion desk offered were expensive. So I got off and found one that was just $40 for a boat ride to go snorkeling. I paid for it with my cruise card, which means that it was official but they didn't offer it onboard to try to get you to buy a more expensive excursion. Outrageous. The next port, Harvest Caye, was a private island they own, which makes you wonder why there are port charges. It is also a sanitized and entirely manufactured bland tourist island. Yes, they had zip lines and such, but if you travel to get a sense of other cultures, avoid this island because it's just the same people you are on the ship with. I rented a kayak there and discovered I could only kayak in a small enclosed (and polluted with suds and an oil sheen) lagoon. And the kayak apparently leaked because it was filling up with water. But no one was interested in refunding me. Fortunately, that day was saved by a round trip boat trip to the mainland, Placencia, that was just $20. Placencia is wonderful, full of places to eat and people selling hand made items and the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. So the best things were not where we docked. You had to find them on your own. The third port was also a private island in the Bahamas and there was no means to go elsewhere. This one had a nice beach where I could relax and snorkel but the only taste of Bahamian culture was from a few souvenir sellers. Whatever makes them think people want their private islands, I don't know, but I will never book a cruise that goes to one again. At the end, getting off was easy, but we had to wait a very long time in the sun for the transfer bust arrive. But I wasn't finished with them yet, because when I got home I discovered that instead of the onboard charges I had agreed to, they charged me a much higher amount. So I called and the woman I spoke with said she didn't have the information to explain the additional charges and I should call back Wednesday. I can afford one cruise a year, but this is both the first and the last one I will ever take with NCL.

Cabin Review

Inside

Cabin IC

Adequate, quiet except for one night. Carpet appeared dirty.

Port Reviews

Miami

Miami is a beautiful port. I just embarked and disembarked there.

Harvest Caye

Really boring, sanitized private island. You would never know you were in another country. Take a boat to Placencia if you get stuck here, which I did.

Great Stirrup Cay

Not of much interest private island but nice beach with snorkeling.

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