jeast

We were on Jewel leaving out of Rome on the 18th. We were on the balcony at a port when we saw a couple with luggage boarding the ship from a tender boat. We wondered why they were just boarding. My guess is that it was probably the OP. I'm thinking it was Santorini, but I'm not positive.

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.

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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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.

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.

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.

Today I get an error message when trying to print luggage tags. Weird. Their website is frequently a bit wonky.

Thank you for posting!

Train is about an hour, from what I've read. Pretty easy to take. Here is a website that has lots of info.

https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Rome.htm

We are choosing to spend a little more to get a door to door transfer. We're doing quite a lot of traveling and trying to minimize hassle. We are on Jewel to the Greek islands in June. :)

I've noticed significant technical issues. Website searching is not reliable and blanks out, issues making reservations for dining. I'm not impressed with their website at all.

Have you considered the high speed trains? They are significantly faster and cheaper. They are quite modern and comfortable. There is an excellent website about the train system here.

Wow, lots of differing opinions, all with valid points. We are stopping at Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, and Katakolon. I think we will take them in our money belts for all stops except Mykonos. In Mykonos, we will make sure we have paper copies, but we are having a beach/resort day at St. Johns. That would be harder to manage with money belts.

I've always carried my passport in a money belt while touring Europe. This is my first cruise there. My instinct is to keep passports with us wherever we are, but I know some people leave them on the ship and bring paper copies.

Opinions?

Went to the local Safeway and found a bottle of the Villa Antinori Toscana. Having a glass right now.

I definitely feel a bit better about choosing wine in Italy now. Thanks!

Italy has lots of approachable, inexpensive wines, especially if you like reds such as the sangiovese you mention.

 

Here's a quick guide to both the most common white and red wines in Italy: http://www.dummies.com/food-drink/drinks/wine/italian-wine-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/

 

Unless you like sweet red wine, avoid Lambrusco. Definitely not one of my choices.

Thanks! Emailed myself this cheat sheet to have it handy. Now I have to see what is available here locally so that I can experiment. :)

Yeah, not a sweet fan.

We ended up booking a private tour with Athens Walks. Great reviews. PK was about the same cost but it was for a semi-private tour. Since my son has hearing issues, a private tour works out better for us.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Hello,

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm writing them all down!

I don't have a lot of knowledge but I have tried the sangiovese and liked it. I pretty much like all reds, from the lighter varietals to a meaty cabernet-the kind that many people don't care for. It is actually fun to do wine tastings with other people, because I always like the ones that are too strong/heavy for them, and I get their extra! Lol. I know KJ isn't sold there; I was just making a comparison to something that can be found almost anywhere stateside.

I have some great suggestions. Thanks so much!!

Hi,

We are staying in Rome (Jewish Ghetto) for a few days before a cruise. We can bring 4 bottles of wine onboard, so we would like to pick some up in Rome before we embark.

Do you have any recommendations for a fairly inexpensive ($20-$30) bottle of red Italian wine that is commonly sold in stores in Rome? For example, you can almost always find KJ chardonnay in most grocery stores here. I don't want to have to hunt it down. I like most reds varieties, so am not fussy about which type.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Anyone with experience of Costco onboard credits? I don't see anything showing up yet (June cruise), even when I put something in the cart in the cruise planner.

I had the exact same issue. I shut down my browser, restarted it and re-entered the site, tried again, and it worked fine. I used similar tactic for cruise planner MTD ressies.

If I understand correctly, the continental breakfast of pastries and coffee is still free, though, correct?

Personally, I'm okay with the charge. Yes, it's a change, but IF it allows for faster service (IF is a big IF), I would willingly pay it. After the amount of $$ I spend on the cruise, $7.95 won't bankrupt me. We have two staterooms together, so will just order for both at once if we want food. Less than the cost of one drink.

Great. I was able to make MTD reservations for each night. That way we can go if we want or hit the windjammer if we want.

I don't think I'm over stressing. I think everyone wants to make the most of their time on ship and avoid long lines and unnecessary hassle once onboard. That's why I stress a bit NOW. :)

I had the exact same thing on Jewel with "dining credits" from Costco. I asked at the service counter on the ship and they told me that the dining credits were actually just additional on-board credit and can be spent on anything, there is nothing that forces you to spend it on dining. I can confirm from looking at my folio receipt that it appears as any other OBC. You can spend it anywhere on the ship.

 

While Izumi on Jewel does not have hibachi, they do have "hot rocks" where you can cook your own seafood, meat, and vegetables at the table.

That's really good news! I didn't want to waste the credit. And while the kids don't enjoy sushi, I bet they would LOVE the hot rocks. Thanks!

First of all, does Izumi on the Jewel offer Hibachi, and if so, how do I book that specifically on the cruise planner?

Also, we received a $75 dining credit from Costco for each of our two staterooms, but we have to PAY when we schedule dining slots at the specialty restaurants when booking on the cruise planner. Since the dining credit won't be applied until we are onboard, that $150 would be useless because we will already have paid for the specialty experience at time of booking the restaurant. If we wait until we are on the ship, will there be additional slots opened up? There is very little left available online as it is right now. Feeling frustrated that our credits won't help us much.