Jewel of the Seas Review (LONG) September 15-24, 2019, with travel pre/post cruise

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

After the museum we had a look around the harbor and then being more than a couple hours since we ate, we

were hungry.

So many choices to eat along the water! It was hot so we chose to eat under some Canopy's for shade.

The place was called Palazzo!

We have some house wine-Red to share and hubby also has a beer

We order Fava Bean Dip and fries to dip in it. They say this is what people usually do.

But they say the bread is also a favorite dip. They were both excellent!

They had fantastic wifi also!

After being stuffed and thinking we were ready to go, I venture up the stairs to

use their bathroom. A look down at the inside of the restaurant

When I come back my hubby had ordered an amazing dessert. It had custard inside with

the most incredible chocolate sauce

Then, which we had no idea before hand thus ordering dessert, they bring a pudding out

for dessert that goes with all food items. AND this drink.

It is called Raki and WOW!!! it burned the throat on the small taste I had so hubby took one for the team and finished it.

Thank you Palazzo we had a wonderful time!

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

Thank you.

Eagerly following and thoroughly enjoying your review. Your pictures are amazing. Appreciate the time you've invested writing this.

Jewel is our favorite ship 😁

So glad to see hear you are enjoying my memory lane! Thank you for letting me know!

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

After our amazing lunch we start making our way back to the ship as I am so full there is no way there could

be much more sightseeing as I think I may explode!

I forgot to mention the alcohol content of the Raki is 45%. At 80 to 90 proof! WOW!!

This is again where we realize we are terrible map readers. I am wondering if we are even going the right direction. Again we finally find a street name. It sounds like that should not be THAT hard, but it is as they just don't list streets very well.

FINALLY we are in the bus area. I am SO full I decide I better use the bathroom that is in this area. We go down a stairs and it is what I call a Squatty Potty...

Really glad I have been doing all those deep yoga squats!

We find the bus and load. Off we went with my praying the ride is quick. Chatting with lovely people helped me to keep my mind off of how full I feel. My hubby immediately falls asleep. I was so thankful to get back and it took quite some time to feel un-full again. We leave a message on the phone line for our friends saying "We will never eat again!"

We had not been sure, since it was such a long port time, if we would be having dinner together at all. Turns out they were very late getting back on anyway.

We rested and then did manage to go to the show of Best of Broadway. I love Broadway tunes, but most of these were not ones I recognized. Still, the young people are so talented we enjoyed it a great deal. We were able to squeak in a water for our Diamond coupon before the 8:30 cut off.

We were in bed by a half past 10 as tomorrow would be Mykonos, and we had big plans!

Chania, Crete, proved to be a ton of fun!

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

3 minutes ago, singinalot said:

we’ll be in crete on saturday. can’t wait!

I will be so excited to read your review!!!

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

September 18-Mykonos, Greece

We were scheduled to tender at Mykonos and to our surprise it was announced last night that we instead were docking! What a treat!! BUT tendering is wonderful, said no one ever!

Here are some views as we sail in.

We were one of at least 5 ships in port today. Not sure who they paid off to get the dock!

There was some wet areas on the ship so we think it had rained before we got up today.

There was still a shadow of the moon in the sky!

We are here! Our private excursion today was kayking and snorkeling. We were to meet the

family matriarch at 9:30. We were so excited to be out on their beautiful blue waters.

We proceeded off the ship and to the only roundabout. We had directions from our tour that if they tendered we were to meet at one place and if we docked it was the roundabout. The ferry in the picture below was the transport back and forth to the harbor old town area.

The roundabout!

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

We waited and waited, and at 9:45 I broke down and turned on the roaming on my phone. We called our tour

company. They were almost there to get us as they had went to the area we were to meet if we were still

tendering. That must be very difficult for tour operators when solid plans are not solid in this port.

We met Kostos and a person he had already picked up, Tom, from the UK. There were only 7 of us total today on our excursion and Kosto's two sons. We picked up one other couple and then headed to the kayaking area. I wish I knew for sure where we were, but I think it is Panormos Bay.

We get ready for our adventure. I get a few pictures before I tuck my phone away with them for safe keeping. We were thrilled to learn they take photos and send them to us later!

We follow the son's Nikos and Alexis on the most amazing adventure!!

Note the wonderful use of solar panels behind us!

Nikos shows us the herbs growing wild on the hills. We have a little smell test!

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

Mykonos kayaking continued...

The bay water for the most part heading out was as smooth as glass. A few more bays down and it was time to snorkel. There was not very many fish, but nice to get in that gorgeous blue water. Most of us are out there snorkeling if you look closely.

Then we went to this area where we magically hit just the right amount of waves to make it a tad of white water rafting. What a hoot!

We loved it out here!

More rock areas...

Edited October 3, 2019 by ROWSE

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

Mykonos continued...

Sadly, it was time to head back. The waves were kicked up by the wind now, so we had a little more work out

on the way back. So beautiful out here!

Once back they showed us a spiny sea urchin. He tried to walk on my palm.

Kudos to our kayaking hosts, they were majorly eco-conscious!

Kostos was soon there to take us back to the old town harbor. We had a wonderful time with them!

Edited October 3, 2019 by ROWSE

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

We had asked our kayaking hosts where they recommended to eat and they suggested a place called Captain's.

Of course once we get there, there is no room except at the bar. Good places seldom have seats left, so we knew

we should just go for it sitting at the bar.

We were just about to order and they found an amazing spot for us.

Our view

Besides wine, we ordered hummus and pita, grilled veggies and a greek salad. WONDERFUL!!

This was either the owner or manager. She was fantastic! Our Kayak hosts were right!

Edited October 3, 2019 by ROWSE

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

Mykonos...

After our lunch it was time to explore. We had been looking at this little church while eating.

We wound our way through the area to find the Windmills

I was told this was my name in Spanish, maybe it is in Greek too!

It was VERY crowded on our walk here, but we finally get sight of the windmills

Then it was time to head back through the quaint little town

Along the way back to the harbor, I buy my one and only souvenir as we usually pack every available space with none left for much of that kind of thing.

I bought a bar of Olive Oil soap for 1E. At home those specialty soaps are over $6 each so I was thrilled. I

wanted it for the ship as for some reason our stateroom attendant was soap stingy. I think our bar was down

to a sliver before he replaced it so we wanted to have our own.

We find out way back and bought our one way tickets on the water shuttle. I think it was 2Euro each.

We ended up being there the same time as our friends who had also had a fantastic day.

Waiting in line for the shuttle.

ROWSE · October 3, 2019

Mykonos...

It had been so hot today it was wonderful to hit the showers as we got ready for dinner. We had an amazing sunset to say goodbye to Mykonos!

We met our friends for dinner and they had another salad on the menu for once...

some other parts of the meal

This chocolate cake was enjoyed more than one night that is for sure!

We were just too tired for the show tonight so we retired to our room to find this little friend.

What an amazing day and Rhodes promised to be just as wonderful tomorrow.

iamcsm · October 3, 2019

Thanks so much for the review! We will be on the ship on the 21st, and can't wait. This is so fun to see your review just before leaving!

ROWSE · October 4, 2019

12 minutes ago, iamcsm said:

Thanks so much for the review! We will be on the ship on the 21st, and can't wait. This is so fun to see your review just before leaving!

I am so glad you found this then! You are in for an amazing time! Thanks for letting me know you are here!

TinkBellaMom · October 4, 2019

Just popping in to thank you for your wonderful trip details!

We did this trip one year ago, with a slightly different itinerary, and we absolutely loved the Jewel.

We loved her so much that we are hoping to sail on her again in 2021. Hopefully she will be repeating her tour of the Baltic Sea.

ROWSE · October 4, 2019

13 hours ago, TinkBellaMom said:

Just popping in to thank you for your wonderful trip details!

We did this trip one year ago, with a slightly different itinerary, and we absolutely loved the Jewel.

We loved her so much that we are hoping to sail on her again in 2021. Hopefully she will be repeating her tour of the Baltic Sea.

So glad it might bring back some fond memories for you! I have no idea why the Jewel gets some negative reviews, but we thought she was wonderful! The Baltic's are a "someday" for us.

laceyc · October 4, 2019

16 hours ago, ROWSE said:

Mykonos...

It had been so hot today it was wonderful to hit the showers as we got ready for dinner. We had an amazing sunset to say goodbye to Mykonos!

We met our friends for dinner and they had another salad on the menu for once...

some other parts of the meal

This chocolate cake was enjoyed more than one night that is for sure!

We were just too tired for the show tonight so we retired to our room to find this little friend.

What an amazing day and Rhodes promised to be just as wonderful tomorrow.

Edited October 4, 2019 by laceyc

laceyc · October 4, 2019

We are doing the exact same tour in Myknos. Question--did you go back to the boat and change or bring a change of clothes?

ROWSE · October 4, 2019

September 19, Port of Rhodes, Greece

We wake early today as port time is at 7:00a.m. We wanted to be one of the first off the ship to explore. We had no formal excursion today just a couple sites we wanted to hit. We got to see a beautiful sunrise.

We went up to the Windjammer and found it did not open till 6:45. That was odd to us as we assumed it would open early due to early port time. The next days it did open way earlier so very odd for today. We went up to Diamond lounge for some specialty coffee and then came back to the buffet.

It docked a little later than planned but we were ready and off we went as soon as it was cleared. There was hardly anyone out at this time and seeing this area of Rhodes was so wonderful without any people at all!

Area beside the ship

There are many gates to enter the Medieval City. We went in what we think was the first one which is the Gate of St. Catherine or possibly it was the second, The Gate of the Virgin.

ROWSE · October 4, 2019

11 minutes ago, laceyc said:

We are doing the exact same tour in Myknos. Question--did you go back to the boat and change or bring a change of clothes?

We did bring some extra clothes and I kept my top on as it dried and used my cover up as a dress. Hubby did a quick change under a towel as we waited for our pick up after the tour. Remember to bring a plastic bag for your wet things.

It is an beautiful tour. I forgot to say that due to high winds they had not run the tour since early August, so we were so lucky to get to go on it! I hope you have the same luck!

ROWSE · October 4, 2019

Rhodes continued.....

I fell in love with the area the moment we walked in the gate. Since I had turned my phone on yesterday in Mykonos, I still had cell service for the 24 hour period and sent my adult kids so many pictures.

It was like stepping into a story book...

ROWSE · October 4, 2019

Rhodes continued....

We continue to explore.

We are looking for the Palace of the Grand Masters, the Street of Knights, and the Archeological Museum.

Again, map reading proves to be a problem; and this is one of my favorite moments, a very friendly shop owner

comes to my aid. Shirtless and limited English speaking, he helps me out.

What a dear man!

We finally get our bearings!

We are almost alone save for this little cat enjoying the area too.

Coming up next is inside the Palace and the other sites I mentioned, but we have a huge weekend ahead starting now, and I will have to continue this adventure of ours on Monday. I will answer any replies but my access to pictures will have to wait till then.

Edited October 4, 2019 by ROWSE

ROWSE · October 7, 2019

Rhodes continued...

After a lovely weekend it is time to continue our adventure, we started with the Palace of the Grand Masters and bought the combo ticket which included the Archeological Museum as well. The descriptions say the Palace is one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Greece.

After our previous wanderings, we finally find the entrance...