Norwegian Jade Cruise
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First Time Cruisers
After much planning and more than 6 months of waiting, we were anxious to set sail on our cruise. My sister Colleen and her hubby Mike had experienced their first cruise the year before and decided it would be a good idea for us to go on one together.
So, we booked for February 2016 aboard the Norwegian Jade Cruise ship for the four of us last July. Then my friend Jen and her hubby decided to come too. It was starting to look like a party – yee-haw! A few months later, my other sister Brenda and her hubby decided to join us as well. The excitement mounted – 8 of us vacationing together. 🙂
I was happy to have Colleen guide us in the booking procedure and planning excursions for the different ports. We decided on a 7 day cruise on The Norwegian Jade, leaving the port of Houston with stops in Cozumel, Belize and Honduras.
We spent a little extra to get a stateroom (cabin) with a balcony. It was well worth it. We enjoyed opening the balcony door to get the ocean breeze at night. It was roomy enough and the bed was very comfortable.
The Norwegian Jade
The Norwegian Jade is considered a mid-size ship. It has a guest capacity of 2,402 with a crew of 1,078. It is 965 feet long and was built in the year 2006. The ship is like a floating hotel complete with 19 different dining options, many and lounges and bars. It boasts an award winning casino, a swimming pool, hot tub and spa. There are many activities on board for adults and kids alike.
They offer an all-inclusive drink package and a specialty dining package. We added both to our package so that we could eat at any of the specialty restaurants and drink whenever and wherever we wanted. I highly recommend getting this, especially the all inclusive drink package if you like to indulge in a wee bit of alcohol while on vacation. 😉
The Garden Cafe
Dining On Board
The specialty dining rooms were very good. I think our favourite was the Le Bistro, we went there twice that week for dinner. If you don’t have the specialty dining package, a surcharge will apply to those higher end restaurants. We had a 7 night dining package but could have probably gotten away with a 4 night package, because the food was good everywhere.
Most of our breakfasts and lunches were eaten at the Garden Cafe. It is a huge complimentary buffet with lots of choices. (I think we all gained weight on this trip – haha!). One of my favourite memories was being greeted at the Garden Cafe every morning by a crew member holding a squirt bottle (for hand washing). He would be holding out his squirt bottle saying “washy washy” all the while dancing and having a good time. We could tell he really enjoyed his job. All of us will always remember him as “washy washy”.
Relaxation Time
We set sail on a Saturday afternoon. We had the evening and the entire day Sunday to relax, check out the ship, get together and eat and drink, swim in the pool and just have fun. Did I mention drink?
Dune Buggy Tour Cozumel
Ports of Call
Our days in port were scheduled for Monday through Wednesday. On Monday we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico, then onto Belize on Tuesday, followed by Roatan, Honduras on Wednesday.
Four of us (Colleen, Mike, Rick and I) had pre-booked our shore excursion for Cozumel. It was a package that included a guided tour of the island in a dune buggy, time at a private beach, a guided tour of replica Mayan ruins, lunch and snorkeling. It was a 4 1/2 hour package. That was one of the best days of the trip. We had so much fun and the excursion was worth every penny and more.
Jen and George are “foodies” and opted for a different shore excursion in Cozumel. They decided on a Mexican cooking class where they learned how to prepare authentic Mexican food. After preparation they got to enjoy eating their delightful dish. Brenda and Jeff hit the beach to do some snorkeling.
Drinks in Belize
Belize
None of us had a shore excursion planned for Belize. We decided to wing it and go on shore just to check it out and do a little shopping. Belize is absolutely beautiful, well what we saw of it anyway. The only disappointment with Belize was that we could not go off and explore the island.
Everything was set up for shore excursions. So we stayed in port, did a little shopping, and a little relaxation with some drinks. My hubby Rick had been trying all along to get himself a tropical drink with an umbrella in it. He was unsuccessful – until Belize!
Roatan Honduras
Roatan Honduras
Six of us decided to do a shore excursion in Honduras, which we booked on the ship. So Wednesday morning, Rick and I, Brenda and Jeff and Colleen and Mike headed out. Our shore excursion was to visit to Maya Key, a private island.
I was so amazed, I felt like “this must be earth’s paradise”. The highlight was feeding and petting the monkeys in the animal sanctuary. I will be writing up a separate post review for this excursion as well, because it was so amazing, it deserves it own write up. It was well worth the money we paid for another “day in paradise”!
Days At Sea
The balance of our cruise was spent on the ship heading back to the port of Houston. So we had two full days, Thursday and Friday at sea. We were supposed to get back into the port of Houston early Saturday morning, but ended up there about midnight Friday night.
This gave us plenty of time to unwind and relax on the last two days of our trip. We certainly needed it after 3 gorgeous days of sightseeing and touring the ports.
Rick and I hit the casino and joined Brenda and Jeff for the “White Hot Party” on board Thursday night. A few more nice dinners in the specialty restaurants topped off an amazing week!
I was concerned about going on a cruise and being sea sick because I get motion sickness in the car. The first few days I needed to take Dramamine to help, but after that I was fine. If I can do it, anyone can!
The thing I enjoyed the most – spending quality time with friends and family! 🙂 Would I do it again? You bet!
I hope you enjoyed this post and found the quick tips helpful. Is there a cruise in your future? Comment below and share.
Thanks, Kim
PS: If you would like more information about our next cruise and our group rates, and would like to join us, please contact us.
SOME QUICK TIPS FOR CRUISING
Bring your own Lanyard for your key card
Your key card is used for everything on board. Colleen brought each of us a lanyard for our keycard. She hole-punched the cards so we could wear them like a necklace. Quick and easy to pull out to pay for something. Prevents loss or trying to find them in your pockets or purse! You can’t purchase these on the ship, we had many people asking us where we got them. Spend a couple bucks at the dollar store before you go. 🙂 Good call sis! √
Bring your own bottled water
Bottled water is very expensive on board. $6 for a one litre bottle. You are allowed to bring your own onto the ship. I highly recommend bringing as much as you need to get through the week. If you forget, pick some up in port, like we did. Water is not part of the all inclusive drink package. Go figure!
Enjoy these photos of our cruise aboard The Norwegian Jade Cruise Ship
Norwegian Jade Cruise Ship Pool
The waves from our balcony aboard the Norwegian Jade Cruise Ship
Sunset from the Norwegian Jade Cruise Ship
Kim, Colleen and Brenda in the lounge having drinks
Kim, Colleen and Mike having drinks on the ship
Rick and Kim on board Norwegian Jade Cruise Ship
Mike and Colleen on board Norwegian Jade Cruise Ship
Colleen and Kim aboard the Norwegian Jade Cruise Ship
Rick on board Norwegian Jade Cruise Ship
The shore in Cozumel
Hernan and Luis – Our Cozumel Dune Buggy Tour Guides
Kim and Rick in Belize
Jen and George in Belize
Colleen and Mike in Belize
Kim and Colleen
Turtle in Belize
Turtle in Belize
Private Island Maya Key Roatan, Honduras
Paradise in Roatan, Honduras
Kim with the Spider Monkeys
Brenda and Kim with the spider monkeys
Colleen and Mike with the Macaw Bird in Roatan
Macaw Bird in Roatan, Honduras
Let us know
If you found this post helpful, if you have questions or would like to share your experiences. We’d love to hear from you.
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This was my second cruise and it was just as good as the 1st one. I can’t wait to cruise again.