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Jewel of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 5
Helpful Votes: 63

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Verified Review
Jewel of the Seas

7 Night Greece & Turkey (Rome Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 07, 2016

Ship: Jewel of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9596

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Jewel of the Seas was clean, spacious and the crew was top-notch.  Boarding was a breeze and we were in our stateroom in just minutes.  We were immediately invited by our stateroom attendant to have lunch at the Windjammer Cafe - he saw we were tired, hungry and jet-lagged from our flight from Boston.  While we were out, Sandy made-up the bunk-bed so our children would not have share a bed.

 

Dinners in the main dining room were top-notch.  We loved the local flair of each port in addition to alternatives in case not everyone in the group wanted to try ratatouille (I did and it was good!).  Our servers Francisco and Pavlo took great care of us - we loved their stories of visiting the ports and cool things we should look for. 

 

Main pool area was extremely crowded on cruise dates (as is the case with most cruises) but we found other areas to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine - just a short walk fro the pool.  Outdoor bartenders were fantastic.  When I told Tonica that this was the first time I splurged on a drink package, she made us the most delicious fruit drinks - always asking our likes and knowing what to put in.

 

Evening shows were fun - comedy/magician headliner was great.  Theater was very modern feeling and spacious.  Enough bar space not to have drinks get in the way of the show.

 

Ports were all fun on the ship - a real variety of options allowed us to get out early for some and see everything, or just leisurely wander around the port city in others.  It was nice to mix it all up.

 

Kudos to the Jewel Of The Seas Staff.  This was our 2nd time with RCI - and they have set the standard very high

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Tight for a family of four, but we knew that. The bunk bed was a savior. It folded up into the ceiling during the day.

Ship tip

We love oceanside seating at dinner. We found out that an earlier My-Time dining seating makes that possible. 6:30 was earlier than we normally eat dinner, but we got an ocean window table the entire cruise and were done in time to catch the entertainment and take and evening stroll on deck.

Ports of call

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

3 out of 5

Santorini, Greece

5 out of 5
After tender, consider taking the boat around the island that meets-up with a coach that takes you to the exact spot as the cable-car. Cable car lines are 1 to 1-1/2 hours which leaves little time at the top. The coach option not only get you there quicker, but you get to see the other part of the island. I think boat/coach option is 20 Euros.

Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

5 out of 5

Piraeus (Athens), Greece

5 out of 5

Souda (Chania), Crete

5 out of 5
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11 Comments

JohnsonL    8 years ago

At Santorini: Glad to hear another recommendation for the boat and coach ride up the hill. We're you able to take the coach back down the hill? Also, was this an RCCL tour or a third party tour? 

This will be our second large ship Mediterranean cruise but first time in beautiful Santorini.

Thank you for the review:-)

dambrosine    8 years ago

Just under 3 months till our honeymoon trip and my 1st cruise. So glad to hear the Jewel was a good choice. Can't wait.

jaclynleigh83    8 years ago

Thank you for the review! Did you feel the drink package was worth it?

TeamCano3334226    8 years ago

87 days for us to board the Jewel. Soooo excited. This will be our 6th cruise with RC!

hass    8 years ago

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Great to hear given we are going late September!

Wendy28    8 years ago

Loved your review we have forty days to go before we board Jewel can't wait

frows    8 years ago

We have three weeks to go, celebrating silver wedding, can not wait.

long4theocean    8 years ago

We have 190 days to go. It will be our second time on the Jewel and this time I'm taking 47 of my friends and their friends along. Can't wait to share the things I love with them.

fionawh2401    8 years ago

I am also on the ship in two weeks. Have been counting down for weeks now 😊

mselder    8 years ago

Great review! I enjoyed the Jewel as well. Our servers were awesome, the stateroom was always well attended. It was great!

KimRune80    8 years ago

Thanks! I'm so excited to go on this ship! Only 16 days left and I'm sure I'll enjoy the cruise as much as You did.