Jewel of the Seas in the Mediterranean - Summer 2017

I have been fortunate enough to take 2 cruises on Jewel in the Mediterranean this summer already!

Both cruises sailed from Rome Civitavecchia, the first was at the end of May and was a 9n to the Greek Islands; the second sailed in June and was 7n to the West Med.

This is an amalgamation and comparison between the two cruises...

In May it was an impromptu booking with my elderly mother because she was fed up with the miserable summer weather in England!

We flew to Rome with BA, and used Hoppa to transfer to our hotel, the Alpi, which was quite near the station. As she is quite elderly we did Rome at a very s-l-o-w pace! We shared with others on the RC a shuttle with RomeCabs which worked out at €25pp.

I forgot to mention that DH and I also sailed with Jewel in Nov 2016 in the Southern Caribbean so I was well acquainted with the lay out and the condition of the ship!

As this was a last minute gty booking we were given a balcony on deck 7. That overhang cover of the lifeboats is really far more obtrusive than I thought, and it really does detract from the ability to look down. The upside of the room was that it was a few steps from the lifts so I stuck with the allocation rather than move it.

The cruise visited Messina, Mykonos (raining so didn't get off), Rhodes - lovely stroll into the city; Santorini - where we were incredibly the only ship in port which made the cable car very quick and easy (€6pp e/w), and Athens ( didn't get off).

As mum doesn't like all the fuss in the MDR (she eats like a flea) we dined several times in the WJ - good selection - especially of the curries (more on that later).

It was a very slow gentle relaxing cruise which was just what we needed. However I felt that there wasn't any 'wow'.

We shared with others back to FCO and again it was €25pp.

The cruise in June had been booked since Nov 2015 and was with my DH. We booked a JS (actually the same JS we had on Jewel in Nov 2016). We flew to Rome with BA and used Bobslimos to transfer to Civitavecchia. It cost €75 for both of us. It could have been a shared shuttle but we were the only ones in a new sleek Mercedes. We stayed one night at the Traghetto which is right opposite the 'new' port gates.

There was far more to Civitavecchia than we thought - a lovely beach front area with lots of restaurants, and just back a few streets from the port area we had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant called Nuova Torretta, of vongole and grilled shellfish washed down with white wine. Highly recommended if you are in Civitavecchia for the night.

Boarding was quick and easy. This time we visited Cannes, Ajaccio, Barcelona, Palma and Cagliari.

However this cruise felt very different from the one just 3 weeks before. The food in the MDR was delicious and HOT! There was also the introduction of the separate new curry menu which changed each night. Our waiter was sooo excited every time we ordered from the curry selection. The chef came through the dining room with macaroons and other sweets one night; there was a canopy outside the ship when you returned with seating, iced flavoured water and even iced towels. The ship was beginning to feel a lot like Celebrity and not like RCI at all.

The CD was Simone and was far better than screechy Susan 3 weeks earlier.

However this time we never saw, and barely heard the Captain compared to the lovely Captain Lis 3 weeks earlier.

Dress code on formal night was appalling on both cruises- people were wearing tee shirts, shorts and caps......:mad:

This last bit I'll write in very small writing.......we were not charged corkage on any of the bottles we took into the MDR. DH thinks this is because it isn't worth the effort by the already over stretched staff; and they don't earn anything out of it, so they don't bother!

So it really did feel like 2 cruises on 2 different ships. It felt like the RCI of old. I'm not sure what part of the management team had changed in those 3 weeks but the 2nd cruise was superb in both food and service. Let's hope this spreads to other ships

Very interesting read, thank you.

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Thank you for your report.

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Nice comparison, just goes to show how things can vary so much cruise by cruise.

I saw you mention on your other thread about the curry menu that your hotel director on the recent cruise was called Peter. Our best ever RCL cruise was on the Splendour TA in 2015, we had the great service and lots of extra little touches that you mention The hotel director was Peter (can't remember his surname but maybe the same guy?). We felt that the great vibe on the ship was largely down to him and his team. They were in the DL/CL every night chatting to guests and very visible around the ship. This attitude seemed to roll down the line to all the staff.

Julie

What nights were the formal nights ?

What nights were the formal nights ?

Given the outfits on display, I don't think there were any formal nights......[emoji36][emoji31].... however on paper they were day 2 Cannes and day 5 Palma.

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Im on the jewel now. The food is great and everything is peachy. Especially the Indian food!

As for dress code it seems they have started enforcing it now. Several men were turned back yesterday for wearing shorts - including quite dress shorts, and I think people dressed up very nicely for the first formal. My wife felt underdressed in her nice dress

Good to hear the dress code is being enforced! And the curries are a hit!

Julie: is this 'your' Peter??!

Interesting that no one has picked up on my comment......[emoji848]

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Interesting that no one has picked up on my comment......[emoji848]

I picked up on the comment in very small type.:D

I picked up on the comment in very small type.:D

^^^^[emoji41][emoji484][emoji445][emoji898][emoji322][emoji857]

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Good to hear the dress code is being enforced! And the curries are a hit!

 

Julie: is this 'your' Peter??!

 

Interesting that no one has picked up on my comment......[emoji848]

 

 

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Yes, that was 'our' Peter, don't usually pay much attention to the hotel director but he was fantastic. We're not on Jewel until Nov 2018 but would love it if he were still there.

I wonder if he had something to do with the curry menu, on our TA there were relatively few D+/Pinnacle and many of us were British. He invited us all to a special curry lunch in the MDR with the captain and other senior officers.

Julie

Just wondering, how did the tender process go in Cannes? I have a 9 am tour (booked to go later this Summer on the Jewel) that I booked with an outside touring company. Just wondering if I will have any issues in getting one of the first tenders since I am not taking tour with RCCL. TIA.

Thank you so much for posting. A group of 8 will be on the Jewel's Western Mediterranean cruise in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed it will have the same almost Celebrity feel. Any tips for the ports? Our roll call isn't very activeand other than Rome, Barcelona and Cannes, the ports are new to me. Thanks again!

Just wondering, how did the tender process go in Cannes? I have a 9 am tour (booked to go later this Summer on the Jewel) that I booked with an outside touring company. Just wondering if I will have any issues in getting one of the first tenders since I am not taking tour with RCCL. TIA.

See the bit about a Independent Guests!

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Thank you so much for posting. A group of 8 will be on the Jewel's Western Mediterranean cruise in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed it will have the same almost Celebrity feel. Any tips for the ports? Our roll call isn't very activeand other than Rome, Barcelona and Cannes, the ports are new to me. Thanks again!

Ajaccio was my favourite. Very pretty. You dock right in town. Cross the street to a fabulous market, and there is even a little beach just round to the left past the fort.

Palma you need to take a shuttle into town €8pp round trip. Drops you right by the cathedral. Lots of shops and cafes and great restaurants. It was a much bigger city than we remembered. Good little streets to the left of the cathedral with the designer shops and restaurants.

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Cagliari: a healthy walk to the top of the hill, again a maze of little streets just across the road from the port (free port shuttle to the gate).

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thanks for this post! So useful as I'm travelling on jewel doing the same western med cruise later in the year! Very much looking forward to it.

thanks for this post! So useful as I'm travelling on jewel doing the same western med cruise later in the year! Very much looking forward to it.

If you have any questions just ask!!!

Am really interested in how people liked this ship as there are some awful reviews on Cruisecritic. I'm pleased to read good ones as we are having a family holiday next year on the Jewel with 6 adults and 4 teenagers.

 

See the bit about a Independent Guests!

 

Little Britain, Thank you very much for the information. Very much appreciated! Btw, I love the pics you have uploaded. Ports look great.

I just finished my cruse today (sigh), and thought I'd add my review to this thread. I hope thats ok:

We are first time cruisers, my wife and I are in our fourties and we have an 11 and 13 year old boy.

Embarking and disembarking was a breeze. We arrived at around 11 at walked to the port, and got the shuttle bus out to the Ship and was on board before 12. When we left the Ship a week later it was even better. We got a 7.15 time and was called 7.05 and was in our prebooked taxi at 7.10. So easy!

The cabin : 3130

Was small but situated quite well,close to centrum without the noise. Fitted 4 people. Kevis took good care of the room and made 3 towel animals which delighted the kids.

Food and the Ship:

We ate most breakfasts and some lunch in the Windjammer. It was ok. Theres a large selection, and mos tthings looked and tasted ok. But the whole experience is typical buffet. Which means the food doesn't look the part.

We ate 2 breakfasts and lunches, along with all 7 nights in Tides. It ranged from Very good to Excellent. Service was great, the food hot and looked and tasted like a medium-high restaurant. The view up there was great as we had a window table most nights.

We had the full drinkj package and took advantage. Lots od Frozen Margarites and Pina Coladas - along with some interesting cocktails at night. Highly recommended!

The ports :

Santorini: the tender went well. I was in the line 8.30 and they opened 8.50. I got tender no 5. After a windjammer Lunch we were called and after a short wait we were on our - very rocky - tender.

The plan was a boat trip to Oia, and we bought tickets and waited for the boat. And we waited. And found out there are more 'lines' and we picked the wrong one. When the ship finally left it went out into the choppy wave, circled 3 times then put back in to take more people. That pissed us off and we demanded - and got - our money back and went up to Fira instead. I wish we had more time there!

Mykonos :

We went in early using a taxi. Cost 10 euro. But when we wanted to return there we no taxis to be had. We eventually got the bus for only 1.60 a person. The town was very nice and we did some shopping. Too windy for beaches.

Athens, katákolon : we skipped Athens because of we had been recently and wanted the Ship to ourselves. Katákolon was a small and boring town. We didn't go to see Olympia as we were tired (also spent 4 days in Rome).

Cagliari: a healthy walk to the top of the hill, again a maze of little streets just across the road from the port (free port shuttle to the gate).

 

 

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Hi Littlebritain,

Is it compulsory to take the shuttle bus? My wife is in a wheelchair and it is not always possible to get on the shuttle buses.

Cheers

Steve

Hi Littlebritain,

 

Is it compulsory to take the shuttle bus? My wife is in a wheelchair and it is not always possible to get on the shuttle buses.

 

Cheers

Steve

Hi, from what I saw it was compulsory to take the shuttle as it was quite a large industrial port. I'm sure they must have accessible buses.

question for recent Jewel cruisers. we are doing sicily, mykonos, rhodes, santorini, athens and naples in september.

I have read that liquor (bottles obviously) is not available for purchase during the eastern med cruise...True?

also is the VAT tax added to purchases on board while you are out at sea?

thank you.

question for recent Jewel cruisers. we are doing sicily, mykonos, rhodes, santorini, athens and naples in september.

I have read that liquor (bottles obviously) is not available for purchase during the eastern med cruise...True?

also is the VAT tax added to purchases on board while you are out at sea?

 

thank you.

Bottles of liquor can be purchased on board the ship, but not for consumption on the cruise. They will be held and returned to you at the end of the cruise.