Great Greek Isles cruise on the Jewell of the Seas

Item: Jewel of the Seas
Rating: 4.7
Author: dltv

Jewel of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

dltv

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 96

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

Verified Review

9 Night Greek Isles (Rome Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 10, 2017

Ship: Jewel of the Seas

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 1042

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

A great, great cruise from start to finish. The ports of call were all amazing. The history and beauty are breathtaking. The ship was in excellent shape. Dinner and the wait staff in the main dining room was excellent.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Smooth.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Too bad this rating wasn't divided into two different categories. One for specialty dining and one for main dining. They would get two very different ratings. I understand that that is all subjective and you will get totally different reviews from everyone. Our experience in the Main Dining room was excellent and worth a 5 star rating. Our experience in Chop's Grill was less then good and I would give it a 1 star rating. Specialty dining in general and Chop's Grill in particular, in my humble opinion, is overpriced for what you get. It's $35 per person in Chop's Grill and if you want seafood (a shareable seafood tower or a lobster tail) it will cost you an additional $20 - $30 (per person for the lobster tail). It's just too much if you are already paying a premium to eat there. Our steaks were both over cooked and the service was average. Nothing special. My advice would be to save your money at Chop's Grill and if you want a special filet or lobster tail, pay the up-charge in the Main Dining room. Specialty dining is supposed to be special, that's what we were are paying for and for us it was an anniversary dinner. It just wasn't special when our service was just average; our steaks were overcooked and if we wanted to enjoy a lobster dinner for two, it would have cost us well over $100. I know for every poor experience there will be an opposite good experience and review, but this was our experience. Final note, if anyone is looking forward to "lobster night" in the main dining room, sorry to disappoint you, but it's not happening on this cruise. If you want it, you will pay extra for it.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

N/A. Too tired at the end of the day from the excursions to attend. Getting old. I'm sure they were good.

Entertainment

Too tired at the end of each day of shore excursions to attend. Getting old.

Children's Programs

No children any longer. All grown up.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

As expected. First rate. Especially Main Dining room wait staff.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Everything was clean and in good working order.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Jr. Suite. Plenty of room and storage area. Good sized balcony with two chairs, a lounge chair and table. Very nice.

Ship tip

Save your money on Chop's Grill and order in Main Dining room if you want a good filet steak and lobster tail. Pay the surcharge there. It's a better value than paying $35 per person at Chop's and then having to pay at least another $20 - $30 per person if you want seafood (the seafood tower or lobster tail).

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