The Norweigan Jade - NCL Lines

From the problems we had with Norwegian prior to the cruise I was pretty sure we would never be using them again.  They canceled our plane tickets  for no reason at all.  Twice.   We had to repurchase tickets at a higher price.  So many problems with the representative, they changed several times, one even said she was quitting!  It was so easy with Carnival because we have dealt with Lauren for about 10 years now.  NCL kept changing the representatives and it was difficult because no one knew what the other person had done.

Then there was the incident with the transfer and tour at the end of the ship. While Frank was still setting up the times, NCL threatened multiple times in emails and phone calls to cancel our entire PREPAID cruise and all  PREPAID excursions if it the $125 was not paid. 

Frank was furious and had we not had the amount invested that may have tipped his hand to cancelling the whole thing!



Mount Etna

 Everything was finally resolved to their satisfaction and then the phone calls and emails and texts started coming three and four times a day.  WAY too much contact with them.  Multiple people asked the same questions and wanted the same information as if they were not connected one to another.

But I must admit the ship, commissioned in 2009, was new and beautiful.  The service on the ship was good, and the food was very good. 

My only complaint about the ship is the FreeStyle Dining.  In our 15 or so cruises with Carnival we always had the 6:30 dining and our waiter knew our habits.  I had tea each meal waiting and coffee with my desserts.  Having one person wait on us for a week is so much better.

With the FreeStyle Dining you can go at any time you want, we always met at 6:30 so we could get the group together at the same time each night.  And there were a number of times when you can't just walk in, you have to wait for 30 or 45 minutes to be seated.  The waiters were so busy they really didn't care whether you got tea or coffee, they just wanted to turn over the table like in a busy restaurant. 

Not so FreeStyle when you have to wait for 30 minutes to eat. 

I so much prefer the set time dining.  This FreeStyle stuff is crap in my opinion.  And Carnival, like the Norwegian ships, all have 10 or more restaurants where you can eat anytime you want anyway.  Just give me my one place where they know my name!

Oh, this is Catania Sicily where my grandfather sailed from in 1908 as a teen. 

Caio, more later

glen