Jewel of the Seas June 18th Greek Islands Review

This was a seven night cruise stopping at Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, and Katakolon (Olympia). It was our fourth cruise and our first with Royal Caribbean. We have previously cruised with Carnival and Disney. We have two teenagers (13 and 16) and were meeting up with cousins (18 and 13). Be aware that 18 is drinking age on the ship, which presented no problem for our family member as she sipped responsibly. We used Romecabs for transfer to and from the port. They were early, professional, and we would recommend them.

Embarkation was reasonable. There was a bit of a line, but nothing worth complaining about. The terminal was a large tent, but they seemed organized, and it only took 45 minutes total until we were on the ship after arriving at around noon.

Our family of four had 2 hump balconies, #8594 and 8596. Both rooms had standard sized balconies, comfortable beds, and great views from front to back of the ship. Our room steward, Raybourne, was excellent. We hardly ever saw him, but our room was magically cleaned whenever we returned to the room, and we often had a creative little towel friends awaiting us at night. We needed a corkscrew one night, and he brought it to us within 2 minutes. On other cruises, we have found the room stewards to be a little bit in-your-face, but we preferred Raybourne's understated competence and we tipped him well.

Some people have questioned centrum noise for hump rooms. Although we could hear the noise with the door open, it was quiet when the door was closed. However, I would NOT book rooms on the other side of the hump that was more open to the centrum. Even the first few down the hallway on either side would have more issues than 8594 and 8596 as our side was shielded by a wall.

We thought the ship was a nice size and appreciated the focus on the water. I like the feeling of being on a ship rather than a giant floating resort that is turned inward. I may try the Freedom Class ships, but am not sure I'd like the Oasis and bigger class ships. The Jewel was simple and easy to navigate with beautiful views everywhere. On the other hand, we did get a bit bored on the second sea day. Not that much to do. That's why I would consider a slightly bigger class. The main pool was frequently crowded, as you might expect. The Solarium was very nice, and we were almost always able to find a chair somewhere in there.

We tried Izumi and enjoyed it very much. Otherwise, the food was disappointing. There was a lot of it but a lot of it was bland and unexciting. I'm not really sure how the prime rib in the MDR was so pale. How do you turn rare beef beige? MDR service was slow, as it usually is, and we ate there only twice. The food was a bit better in the windjammer, and we didn't have to spend an hour and a half to two hours at dinner. Plus, the outside seating area at Windjammer was the best place to eat! There were also times where there really wasn't anything available to eat except room service or a few snack items at the solarium cafe, which was different than other cruise companies I have experienced. I would say that Royal Caribbean's food, while adequate, was not as good as other cruise lines that I have experience. Drink service could be slow, but I found the bartenders friendly enough.

The kids hit the teen club for the first night and sea day. After that, the activities were a bit repetitive and they preferred hanging with the adults for the most part.

Their headliner was Fourever, a singing foursome. They were very good and absolutely killed a version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". It was amazing. They had different movies every day. Bingo was $20 for 3 cards with a jackpot of $300. They really made a LOT of money off of that one, but it was fun. The family also went to see a broadway variety type show, which they said was very good.

In Santorini, we took a taxi to Oia, which was beautiful but very touristy. We only took a taxi ($30 euros) because we couldn't find the bus station. Make sure you know where it is before you get off the boat! In Oia there were lots of people craning cameras for the same shots. We spent an hour or two there dragging the kids around for pretty pictures and then took the bus back to Fira (7 euros and change.) Our family members took a bus to the black sand beach and enjoyed it very much. They said it was easy to manage but the buses were very crowded. We returned early and had a quick dinner in Fira along the main road. We watched the sunset from the deck, which was lovely. Santorini was a very rushed stop. Because we had to tender and take the cable car, we were always pressured about time. It put a real damper on the stop. I would not take a cruise with less than a full day at Santorini again.

In Mykonos we booked a day pass at Saint John's Villas. We had some issues finding the driver and it was almost an hour before we figured everything out and found the driver. We ended up arriving at the resort around 10:00. The breakfast buffet was great. The resort was stunning. The only issue was the hot tub was not hot at all. It was barely lukewarm and full of kids. We had been looking forward to an uncrowded soak in the hot tub, so were a little disappointed. Still, the resort itself was a visual joy and very relaxing. Our time went quickly. Lunch was delicious and service was excellent. They were able to accommodate an extension of time there and delivered us back to town when we were ready. Our family went to Elia beach, again on the bus, and enjoyed it very much. The water in June is still very cool. Everyone waded. No one swam in the sea here.

In Athens we used Athens Walks and arranged transportation to and a private tour of the Acropolis and the museum. Maria, our tour guide, was knowledgeable, passionate, and very funny. We enjoyed her company and she made the history of the area come to life. Even my teens loved that tour. Later, she walked us down into the Plaka, showed us where our driver would meet us, and made some restaurant recommendations. The entire private tour and transportation was less than we would pay for 2 people on the ship's tour. Excellent company. Highly recommended.

In Katakalon, the kids were tired of ruins in the heat. Sometimes, you just have to be flexible. We made arrangements with Taxi Katakalon for drop-off and pick-up at Kourouta Beach. Sun chairs were free and a beach boy came by for our lunch/drink order. Hubby and the kids got in the water for a few minutes. I did not. But it was beautiful, relaxing, and uncrowded until later in the afternoon when the cruise excursion bus dropped a bunch of people off. Our driver was right on time and we got back to Katakalon for a little shopping before heading back to the ship. Prices in Katakalon seemed quite a bit higher than other areas we visited. Don't wait to buy your souvenirs there!

Our flight wasn't until the day after disembarkation. After three weeks of traveling, the kids were not interested in any more touring, especially with luggage issues, so we paid for RC's "Stay A While" program for late disembarkation. We stayed onboard until 3:00 pm. While I think this was a reasonable choice for us, there were some downsides. We were the only ones there except a few back-to-back cruisers. We had to be out of the room by 8:30 but the pools were all closed. They said they wouldn't open until 11:00, but a kind staff member decided to open the main pool (not the hot tubs) early for us. We kind of felt like we were in everyone's way. On the plus side, we spent several hours in and out of the pool with no one else there. They opened the hot tub at 10:00ish, and we enjoyed that, too. Then we used the changing rooms in the spa (no hair dryer, ladies), and waited for the windjammer to open. They said it would be open at 11, but it was 11:30 before it opened. Since we ate at 6:30am, we were pretty hungry by then. We played ping pong, mini golf, and napped in chairs on deck 12. We were escorted off the ship at 3:00 and picked up our luggage. Our transfer was waiting (yay, early!), and off we went to our hotel at Fiumicino.

Summary: Very nice cruise for the price we paid. Excellent staterooms and attendant. We found the staff in general to be very good. Food was sub-par. Entertainment was repetitive. Ship was nice size and had beautiful views.

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise. The Jewel is our favorite RC ship.

Do you have any pictures from the balconies? We are in 8594 next year and i've heard conflicting information on the dividers.

I can't find a picture that includes the dividers. DH and I stayed in 8594 and spent quite a bit of time on the balcony. The divider was not something that we noticed as a negative, if that is any help.

Thanks for the review. We are sailing out on sunday!

Did you wait a long time to take the lift up to Fira? We are hoping to take the Ferry service to oia from the tender harbour - did you talk to anyone doing that?

Do you have any pictures from the balconies? We are in 8594 next year and i've heard conflicting information on the dividers.

I found one but can't seem to make it small enough to post and I don't have a hosting site. PM your email and I will send it to you.

Got one! This is between 8596 and 8598. I would assume that the divider between 8594 and 8592 would be similar as they are both middle hump cabins.

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Got one! This is between 8596 and 8598. I would assume that the divider between 8594 and 8592 would be similar as they are both middle hump cabins.

 

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Thats actually what i had been looking for. One user mentioned that the divider between 8594 and 8592 was not opaque, and was much shorter than usual giving less privacy to 8594. If your balcony looked just like this, then I am very happy!

Thanks for the review. We are sailing out on sunday!

 

Did you wait a long time to take the lift up to Fira? We are hoping to take the Ferry service to oia from the tender harbour - did you talk to anyone doing that?

I got on line for tender tickets about 20 minutes early and there was already a line. I got tender 6. When we got off, we walked right to the cable car and got right on. There were no lines at that time. Cable car itself took about 2 minutes.

I didn't talk to anyone who took the speedboat, but there were several boats offering that service along the walk to the cable car.

Thank you for the feedback!

Appreciate the review. We have a TA coming on Jewel, so this info is timely for us.

Ah!!! This cabin is my home in Aug! :D Thanks for posting this pic & your thoughts,