Jewel ofthe Sea Review-Italy,France and Spain 9/4

[starrcards]

My wife, 10 year old son and I just returned from 8 day Mediterranean cruise on the Jewel. We had a great time. The ship is fabulous after the retrofit. In this review I will quickly review our trip and ports but since there are so many questions about the "new" Jewel, I'll concentrate on that. Don't expect pictures. I'm a real technophobe in that area!

 

We left Newark on Thursday evening 9/1 and arrived in Rome via Amsterdam (when you use frequent flyer miles, you take the flights available) at 2pm on Friday 9/2. We used NCC Airport for our transfer tour B&B (and to Civitavecchia on Sunday). Cars, drivers and service was fine. We booked 2 nights at the Domus Casletto B&B in the Monteverde section of Rome near Trastavere at the end of the #8 tram. B&B was very nice and clean and Deborah, our hostess went out of her way to provide whatever we needed including a6am breakfast on Saturday 9/3 so we could make our 8 am Vatican tour. Friday night we ate at a local Italian trattoria, Trattoria Da Cesare around the corner from the B&B (Deborah was kind enough to make reservations for us). Fabulous food. Would recommend no matter where in Rome you stayed. On Saturday 9/3 we toured the Vatican Museums using Italy with Us. We were unable to tour the basilica because of a papal audience (it was Mother Teresa's canonization weekend). Would highly recommend an early Vatican tour to avoid the crowds in the Sistine Chapel. Our tour started at the Sistine Chapel at 8 am and the chapel was not crowded at all. We also finished the tour at the Sistine Chapel at about 11 am. What a mob scene. Like a NYC subway station at rush hour. Word to the wise TAKE AN EARLY TOUR! We spent the afternoon at the Colosseum and Forum (self tour). Dinner was at an excellent Indian Restaurant near the B&B, Himalaya Palace. We got there about 45 minutes to an hour prior to dinner but the owner was kind enough to open about 20 minutes early. Food was very tasty (they can make it as spicy as you care) and they offered combo dinners (appetizers, entrée, veg side and dessert in meat, fish and vegetarian) for 20 euros. Good deal.

 

On Sunday 9/4 we were picked up at 11 am and were to the port by noon. Not very crowded and we were on the ship by 12:30 pm. We had a nice lunch in the WJ and at 1 pm the staterooms were ready. We dropped off our hand carry luggage and were off to explore the ship. Muster was at 4:30 pm and most of the meeting points seemed to be inside the ship. We had dinner in the MDR (made a reservation prior to boarding).

 

On Monday 9/5 we were at Ajaccio, Corsica. Since we are not much of a snorkeling, sailing, etc. family, we toured Ajaccio on our own. Since we were visiting on a Monday, the Bonaparte house was closed. So we walked around a little bit, saw the outside of the Bonaparte house, the cathedral and the market. We were back on the ship by 1:30 pm and had lunch in the WJ. After lunch, we played miniature golf (cute course) and then our son did his pool thing. Later in the afternoon he was able to use the water slide (open 4-6:30 pm on port days and 10 am to 6 pm on the sea day...same times for the rock climbing wall).

 

More to follow.

[champagne123]

Wonderful so far!!!! Looking forward to more.:)

[JMHDisney]

On this cruise next summer on the Jewel and looking forward to hearing more! Thanks for posting!

[starrcards]

On Tuesday 9/6 we docked at La Seyne Sur Mer (Toulon, France). We had planned to take the M8 water taxi to Toulon but the walk to the ferry dock seemed longer than advertised. So we opted for the water taxi to Toulon provided by RCL. More expensive (10 euro per person) but definitely more convenient. After arriving in Toulon, we made our way to Cours Lafayette to visit the local outdoor market. Very interesting and significantly larger than the Ajaccio market (but no samples!). We purchased our day transit pass and boarded the #40 bus to the Mt. Faron telepherique (cable car). We rode the cable car (included in the day transit pass) to the top of Mt. Faron. There was a great view of Toulon harbor from the cable car and the top of the mountain. We decided to walk to the Mt. Faron Zoo. What a waste of time, energy and money. After a 15-20 minute walk in the 90 degree sun, we got to a ramshackle zoo. No map. Poor sineage. And very few animals. Don't waste your time! We returned to the ship after 3 pm and grabbed lunch at the WJ. Since we had such a late lunch, we opted for a late dinner at the WJ (the only night we didn't eat in the MDR).

 

On Wednesday 9/7 we docked in Barcelona. We again opted for RCL transportation due to convenience. We had scheduled a 12:30 pm tour of Segrada Familia and hopped on the Metro to the cathedral. What an impressive place, started in the 1880's and still not finished! They hope to have it finished in 2026, 100 years after architect Antoni Gaudi's death. Not to be missed! After the tour, we took the Metro back to the Mercat de Saint Josep de la Boqueria. Now this is a market. Huge (and crowded). It has everything you could want. We stopped at the Bar Pinotxo (recommended) for some tapas and a beverage. Everything is delicious (don't miss the chick peas) and goes well with a glass of cava. For those with you that don't care for an alcoholic beverage, there is a fruit stand next door that makes great smoothies. And then back on the shuttle bus to the ship.

 

On Thursday 9/8 we docked in Valencia, Spain. We had planned a visit to the Llardo factory but got a late start (all the port days and walking were catching up to us). So instead we to the shuttle bus to historical center of Valencia. We toured the Cathedral and bought our son his promised churros. Maybe we picked the wrong place but he said the churros at our local Costco were better. Go figure! Our last stop of the day was the Central Market (getting a trend hers?) Not huge but worth a visit. Then back on the bus to the ship.

 

On Friday 9/9 were docked a Palma de Mallorca, Spain. We docked no more than a half mile from Sa Seu cathedral but in the parlance, you couldn't get there from here. Unless you could walk on water. So once again we made use of the shuttle bus. Our first stop was indeed the cathedral. Impressive Gothic exterior and interesting interior. The entrance fee also includes an audio guide. Very helpful. After the cathedral, we prepared to board the hop on hop off bus (made a reservation with City Sightseeing prior to leaving the US). When we got to bus stop, there was along line. Evidently the stop by the cathedral is very crowded. We were final able to get on the second bus and at my son's request, sat in the open upper deck. Good choice but beware of low hanging tree limbs. The complete tour takes about 90 minutes (Palma is a bigger city than I imagined). We hopped off at Bellver Castle to admire the view of Palma harbor. We had no urge to go in the castle so we hopped back on the bus to finish our tour. We went part way around again to get off for the Mercat de l'Olivar. We stopped at Sushi Yoko in the "fish" building of the market for lunch to get my sushi fix. The rest of the market is medium sized and has veggie, Spanish rice, wine and coffee. And back to the bus for the ship.

 

On Saturday 9/10 we had our only sea day. Our son spent most of the day at Adventure Ocean and had a great time. My wife and I spent some time at the tee shirt sale on the pool deck and over a hundred dollars later, had some good bargains. We picked up our son at noon and headed to the MDR for lunch. Besides the Tutti salad bar, they also had a stir fry bar with noodles and your choice of veggies, protein (chicken and shrimp) and sauces. Both were delicious. Don't miss it. The rest of the afternoon was some well deserved relaxation.

 

On Sunday 9/11 (the 15th anniversary) we docked in Naples. We decided to book the Pompeii excursion. Our son had studied Pompeii the previous year in school and was looking forward to seeing it in person. As a matter of fact, that is why we chose this cruise, it included Naples. The tour was well done but it was a toss up as to what was more crowded, Pompeii or the Vatican. But mission accomplished, our son had a great time and learned lot about Pompeii. After we returned to the ship, we headed out to explore Naples and get some Naples pizza. Since we were visiting on a Sunday, many places were closed so we had to forego our top pizza choices. The place we found off the Via Toledo was fine. After lunch we spent some time browsing shops on Via Toledo and then headed back to the ship (with a stop for gelato on the way).

 

Monday 9/12 was our disembarking morning. I know there have been a lot of questions about how early, self departure, etc so here's our story. You will recall that early on I said we had used frequent flyer miles for our flights and had a 10:25 am departure from Fiumicino back Amsterdam. We got up at 5:30 am and got ready to leave. We decide on Express departure and turned in our luggage the night before. We made it to the WJ for breakfast right at 6 am and were to the Safari Club (our meeting point) by 6:25 am. We hardly had time to sit down before they called groups 1, 2 and 3 to leave the ship. Since we were in group 3, away we went. Our bags were there as was our driver (this time we used Rome-Airport.net...very pleased). We were to the airport by 7:35 am and sitting in McDonalds (yes McDonalds) having coffee at 8 am. So we had no problem making an early flight. Now this is one experience and no guarantee that it will work for you.

 

Next post,,,,the ship.

[starrcards]

Now that you have all waded through 2 posts on our trip (I was a lot longer wined than I had planned), its time to talk about the Jewel. As I said before, she is a beautiful ship, very clean except for one or 2 sliding door tracks to/from the WJ. They did a great job with the refurb.

 

We had cabin 9582, a balcony hump cabin on the starboard side. The balcony had a view both fore and aft. We had 2 chairs and a table on the balcony with room to spare, There was enough room for the 3 of us to have room service breakfast on the balcony in Ajaccio. Even though the room is off the centrum, there was no perceptible noise from the centrum, even during the 70's party. If this cabin is available when you book, take it!

 

As I said before, we ate 7 of 8 dinners in the MDR and were pleased. Our wait staff, Sandy and Dyson, were very helpful and provided fine service especially to our son. Most nights his Shirley Temple (with extra cherries) was there first thing and since he liked the minestrone soup even on nights when it was not on the menu. My wife always found something on the daily menu to her liking. I don't think I had to order the strip steak off the classics menu more than once or twice. The steaks I had were very tasty and cooked as requested. My favorites included Rosemary Lamb shanks (fall off the bone tender), garlic shrimp and seafood spaghetti. And yes, for those of you that care (and I cared every night) they had escargots every night. Suggest that you order them as a second appetizer as I did.

 

For those of you that care about the kinds of things, here is the MDR lineup on our cruise.

Day 1 Mojo Casual

Day 2 Bay Leaves Smart Casual

Day 3 Saffron Formal

Day 4 Pimento Casual

Day 5 Basil Casual/70's

Day 6 Portobello Casual

Day 7 Jasmine Formal (No lobster)

Day 8 Pomodoro Casual

 

As for dress in the MDR. On casual nights, there were 10-12 men with shorts, smart casual fewer shorts and formal everything from open collared shirts to ties to jackets and ties (my preference) and even a half dozen tuxes. As usual, the women were dressed better than the men.

 

We did not do any specialty dining on this cruise but I did ask about specials on the first day. I was offered 2 for 1 in Giovanni's with my son free (we passed). No deals on Chops or Izumi. Izumi does have take out but the times (6 pm to 9:30 daily and lunch on the sea day) didn't fit in with our plans.

 

We had 1 dinner, a few lunches and all breakfasts (except for the room service breakfast) in the WJ. The food was good except I think the breakfast variety could be better. The only way to get egg variety is to change the ingredients in the omlette or have fried or poached eggs (my advice, avoid the scrambled eggs). They had bacon (both American and British), corned beef hash, sausage and hash browns every day. But even with my complaining about variety, I didn't starve at breakfast. And don't pass up the pink grapefruit or watermelon. Great! And several mornings they had a made to order pancake station. And the fries at lunch and dinner are addicting. The outside dining areas in the WJ were our choice.

 

Everyone wants to know about the Kummelweck sandwiches. hey were available every afternoon (I don't know about evenings) in the Solarium Café. They are served with mustard, horseradish or gravy. After much experimentation, my favorite is rare beef with horseradish and a packet of mayo mixed in. The Solarium Café hours are 4pmto 6:30 pm and 9 pm to 2 am. And just another opinion, the pizza served in every venue of the ship is way too doughy for me.

 

Everyone has an opinion about drink plans and I'm no different. My wife and I had a select drink plan (wine, beer, soda) included by our TA on this cruise and it was nice. Beer or wine with lunch and wine with dinner at no charge (unless you exceed the dollar limit of the plan). Besides the normal suspects, there was Peroni and Dos Seces available. And the freestyle soda machines were nice. The time limit on refills did not hamper the use of the cups. But the only 2 machines on the ship were in the back of the WJ and most days late in the afternoon the machines were doing self maintenance. Yes, I know you can go to the bar and get it filled but... So the plan was nice to have but I have to think hard if I want to pay for a drink plan on our February cruise. I don't think I drank the cost of the plan each day. And yes they had daily drink specials ($8.95 not 2 for 1) but you had to check with each bar as to what their special was (not the same at every bar). And the other question on everyone's mind...yes, they did offer drink cards starting day 4 (10 drinks for $80).

 

Last but not least, wash and fold laundry $34.95/bag starting day 2. And our cruise charged VAT on all store purchases.

 

I hope that is a good summary and I didn't forget anything. Questions class?

[Magellan321]

Thanks for the review! Feeling much better about my January cruise:).

[starrcards]

Just a few more things...

 

Meet and mingle was second day after sail away from Ajaccio. About 18 people present. We got our invite in our cabin night one. Enzo, Activities Director and Acting Cruise Director did a nice job.

 

Nightly entertainment was OK. No Broadway style productions. Orchestra, singers and dancers were good. My family liked the Fly Boys the second night. We also enjoyed Maria Margiyeva (billed as circus with a touch of dance) and Jaz Danion (a juggling and balancing act).

 

With so many port days, I didn't notice if there was a problem with deck chairs. They did seem full on the sea day. Didn't notice if the solarium was opened or closed, I have a 10year old son so Solarium was out of bounds (except for Kummelwecks.

 

Again, I think that does it (until I remember something else).

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review.

[Miryam1234]

Thanks for your review! Perfect combination of our latest cruise on Jewel and our next up cruise with Rhapsody. You got the same ship and Rhapsody is doing about the same itinerary in Oct. So you were able to answer few of my questions already - like what's up with VAT during an EU cruise.

 

One more:

Did you have to book tickets for the RCI shuttles beforehand, or just when at port?

[starrcards]

Tickets for all the RCL shuttles were available as you got off in port. The water taxi in Toulon was charged to SeaPass account. All others cash.

 

Happy Sailing.

[Reva_Dearchi]

Thanks for a great review. Question... if the ships gets back in port at 5:00 a.m do you recall how long before you cleared customs and were off the ship? I am thinking is booking an 11:20 flight from Rome but don't want to cut it too close. I was hoping we'd be off the ship by 7:30 and at the airport no later than 9:15 ish. Your thoughts?

[TPCRUISER2]

How was the prices in Spain at the factory? Thanks in advance!

[starrcards]

Thanks for a great review. Question... if the ships gets back in port at 5:00 a.m do you recall how long before you cleared customs and were off the ship? I am thinking is booking an 11:20 flight from Rome but don't want to cut it too close. I was hoping we'd be off the ship by 7:30 and at the airport no later than 9:15 ish. Your thoughts?

 

See last paragraph of post 4. We used Express (less carrying of bags) and were in our limo by 6:35 am. As I said previously, it worked out perfectly for us but I caution that it's no guarantee of future cruises. But if I were a betting man, I would say a flight after 11 am would be fine.

[starrcards]

How was the prices in Spain at the factory? Thanks in advance!

 

We missed out on the Llardro tour. After 3 days of walking in port (and a full Saturday in Rome), we just couldn't rally in time to make our Llardro visit. So we just hung out in Valencia. Sorry.

[muffinpup]

Did you use the internet package onboard the Jewel? If so, what package did you use and how well did it work? Did you have to pay VAT for it?

[starrcards]

Did you use the internet package onboard the Jewel? If so, what package did you use and how well did it work? Did you have to pay VAT for it?

 

We got the surf and stream package for 1 user with the beverage package ($46 per day for both I believe). Worked fine for us. We did more surfing than streaming. Since we bought it prior to the cruise, I do not believe we paid VAT.