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


ROWSE
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7 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

Another fabulous blog of yours; thank you! Can’t wait for your next one! We did the British Isles on Princess 2 years ago, and it was a top cruise! 

Thank you for the compliment!  I love Princess, and this will be our first time on the Regal so we are very excited.  So glad to hear you enjoyed the British Isles.  I am researching and planning for our cruise next May, which will take me right up to the cruise it self I am sure as there is so much to learn.  

I wish you happy sailing on any future cruises you have planned!

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/9/2019 at 2:36 PM, ROWSE said:

Questions are definitely welcome!  DrivesLikeMario is right.  I think the black is plastic covers over the pads in case there is rain before the performances to keep them dry. 

 

Thanks for answering, life sure gets in the way of reviews sometimes!  :classic_biggrin:

What tour company did you use for Athens?

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Hi,

      I've no idea how I missed this review!😲 Fantastic photo's, detail and descriptions. I have followed singinalot also as we are visiting a number of these ports next October on the Allure and the Jewel.

Can I ask how long it took to walk from Fira to Oia as we have been thinking of doing similar? Thanks. {P.S. we live between Glasgow and Edinburgh so if you have any questions need answering for your British Isles trip then happy to help!}

Cheers!

David

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13 minutes ago, TRUEBLUE66 said:

Hi,

      I've no idea how I missed this review!😲 Fantastic photo's, detail and descriptions. I have followed singinalot also as we are visiting a number of these ports next October on the Allure and the Jewel.

Can I ask how long it took to walk from Fira to Oia as we have been thinking of doing similar? Thanks. {P.S. we live between Glasgow and Edinburgh so if you have any questions need answering for your British Isles trip then happy to help!}

Cheers!

David

If you don’t walk, what is the best way to get from Fira to Oia? Taxi/bus?

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37 minutes ago, TRUEBLUE66 said:

Hi,

      I've no idea how I missed this review!😲 Fantastic photo's, detail and descriptions. I have followed singinalot also as we are visiting a number of these ports next October on the Allure and the Jewel.

Can I ask how long it took to walk from Fira to Oia as we have been thinking of doing similar? Thanks. {P.S. we live between Glasgow and Edinburgh so if you have any questions need answering for your British Isles trip then happy to help!}

Cheers!

David

Thank you for the compliment!  I also love to read other’s picture reviews and even though ours are just iphone photos I like to include them.

Our best guess on the hike between Fira and Oia was about two and a half to  three hours.  It was probably our favorite thing we did.  The views are magnificent.
I have been steadily researching your area, and we are so excited to see it all.  There is never enough time to get in all I want to see.  Narrowing it down is the hard part.  
 

Cheers to you also!!!

 

 

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29 minutes ago, ljvander said:

If you don’t walk, what is the best way to get from Fira to Oia? Taxi/bus?

I can only comment that the bus was jam packed on our way back from Oia and not the most pleasant of experiences as it was hot, but it gives us a great story.

DriveslikeMario on our roll call took a taxi and they were very happy with that.  
We were luck to just have our ship and maybe one other small one on our day there.  I can’t imagine how crowded it gets when they have several ships in port.  

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Rowse, thanks for sharing your trip! I started reading just to see how you liked the Jewel because I'll be on her next month. (Happy to read she exceeded expectations!) But I kept reading because you're such an engaging storyteller! Good work. Happy cruising!

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53 minutes ago, ROWSE said:

Thank you for the compliment!  I also love to read other’s picture reviews and even though ours are just iphone photos I like to include them.

Our best guess on the hike between Fira and Oia was about two and a half to  three hours.  It was probably our favorite thing we did.  The views are magnificent.
I have been steadily researching your area, and we are so excited to see it all.  There is never enough time to get in all I want to see.  Narrowing it down is the hard part.  
 

Cheers to you also!!!

 

 

Thanks for the information. Don't know if you've been before but please make sure that a few hours in Edinburgh is on your list for your British Isles cruise. No matter where we have travelled to, it is still near the top of our favourite cities in the world. 

Thanks

David 

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6 hours ago, Artemis said:

Rowse, thanks for sharing your trip! I started reading just to see how you liked the Jewel because I'll be on her next month. (Happy to read she exceeded expectations!) But I kept reading because you're such an engaging storyteller! Good work. Happy cruising!

What a wonderful thing to say, thank you!  The Jewel seemed to have bad reviews before we went, and we absolutely loved the ship and have 38 cruises under our belts with several different lines.  We loved that you could walk all the way around the promenade deck.  Had to go up a deck at one point and back down but you did not have to cut through the ship to get to the other side.  I almost wished for another sea day just to hang out on the ship as these European itineraries are jam packed with port days.  Our next one on Princess in the British Isles is packed also. 

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6 hours ago, TRUEBLUE66 said:

Thanks for the information. Don't know if you've been before but please make sure that a few hours in Edinburgh is on your list for your British Isles cruise. No matter where we have travelled to, it is still near the top of our favourite cities in the world. 

Thanks

David 

David,

We will indeed "do" Edinburgh.  I have way more planned on walking and seeing the sites than probably will fit, but we will hit the ground running on our 7a.m. to 7p.m. port time.  I plan on buying timed tickets to Edinburgh Castle before we go, as I read that is wise.  We port in South Queensferry and will grab the port bus which if research is correct is called the Lothian X99 bus. 

Looks like it may be one of our favorites too! 

 

 

Edited by ROWSE
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3 hours ago, ljvander said:

What tour did you do?

We booked the Semi Private Full Day Athens Tour and ended up with just 9 of us from our Roll Call in our group.

It is 65 Euro plus about 36 Euro entrance fees.   We had a wonderful day! 

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On 10/29/2019 at 8:15 AM, ROWSE said:

Thank you for the compliment!  I love Princess, and this will be our first time on the Regal so we are very excited.  So glad to hear you enjoyed the British Isles.  I am researching and planning for our cruise next May, which will take me right up to the cruise it self I am sure as there is so much to learn.  

I wish you happy sailing on any future cruises you have planned!

 

Kitty, great review which I read in one long page-turning sitting this afternoon!

Glad to hear you are taking the beautiful Regal Princess to tour the British Isles in May-a wise choice in itinerary, ship and timing.

Approaching anywhere on the coast is a great anticipation builder in a way that landing there at an airport fails to do, as there is the horror of baggage claim, customs and a lot of walking with carry-ons ahead (yeah I'm talking about you, Heathrow and Chicago!). On a ship everything is revealed slowly as you near the port and you can get off in just a tee shirt and flip flops (um, the pants are understood).

Looking forward to your May review!

 

Norris

 

 

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2 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

 

Kitty, great review which I read in one long page-turning sitting this afternoon!

Glad to hear you are taking the beautiful Regal Princess to tour the British Isles in May-a wise choice in itinerary, ship and timing.

Approaching anywhere on the coast is a great anticipation builder in a way that landing there at an airport fails to do, as there is the horror of baggage claim, customs and a lot of walking with carry-ons ahead (yeah I'm talking about you, Heathrow and Chicago!). On a ship everything is revealed slowly as you near the port and you can get off in just a tee shirt and flip flops (um, the pants are understood).

Looking forward to your May review!

 

Norris

 

 

Norris,

It is an honor to know you read about our adventures.  I loved reading about you and Carol’s recent time onboard!  I look forward to reading more in January/February when you sail again.

I am so excited about the British Isles and the slow reveal of the ports as you so beautifully expressed above.  Nothing like seeing the port grow ever closer and to know that some exciting moments are just about to occur.  
I think May in the British isles will definitely require those pants and probably more than a t-shirt.😀

I hope you have smooth sailing and a wonderful experience in January!

 

Kitty
 

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Thanks for the kind compliments, Kitty, on my review!

We had a Greek islands cruise booked back in 2013 but had to cancel as we got tickets to the Wagner Festival in Germany and now you and Crystal (Singinalot) have shown us what we missed. We might find it a tad too hot as we are shade seekers and trees seem to be rationed on some of those islands. We love Greek food though and their prices can't be beat.

 

It was a good move on your part to get off the ship early when you docked to try and beat those crowds. Empty streets make for good photographs!

 

I'm sure you have started planning your British Isles visit-so much to see.

Cheers!

Norris

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