My wife and I decided to take a vacation to celebrate our anniversary.  We looked around for ideas and then we found this transatlantic cruise on the Jewel of the Seas.  We had never cruised before and thought we would give it a try.  We also found crossing the Atlantic by ship an intriguing adventure.  We arrived in Miami early in the morning the day the cruise embarked.  We live in Florida so we weren't very interested in hanging out in Miami.  We traveled to the dock and boarded the Jewel.  The crew processing the Set Sail Passes were pleasant, but not outwardly friendly.  I will say they moved the line along very well.  We boarded the Jewel and were greeted in a much more enthusiastic manner on board the ship.  We found our cabin and unpacked and then headed to the muster drill.  The drill was handled efficiently and we were soon enjoying the cruise.  It was a beautiful day as we pulled out of Miami.  The Sun was getting low in the sky and the Florida sunset was very pretty.  We had an interior cabin, but it was plenty roomy for the two of us.  We did not spend much time hanging out in the cabin.  We enjoyed the amenities of the ship.  Our stateroom attendant was wonderful.  She was very friendly and took care of every need.  On a cruise of 13 days we did spend some money on laundry.  We planned on it.  It was not cheap, but it was cleaned well and pressed well.The first evening we explored the ship.  We ate second seating dinner and met our table mates.  They were quite friendly and Royal Caribbean did a good job of sitting us with couples in our age range (20s and 30s).  The food most nights was quite good as was the service.  Our assistant waiter was especially good.  A couple of nights in a 13 night cruise the chef seemed to run out of new dishes, or the new ones he introduced were probably third string.  The last evening they served lobster in the dinning room and it was very good.  One evening they served a New York Strip, but it was average.  It wasn't bad, but it was not a great steak.  The desserts were very good.  One evening I ordered fish and did not feel well at all after eating it.  It was about 9 or 10 nights into the cruise and maybe it had been on board in the freezer too long.After a full sea day on our second day, we arrived in Bermuda.  We really enjoyed Bermuda.  It is a beautiful Island (Islands really).  The people were friendly and it had a wonderful atmosphere.  In Bermuda we took a ship excursion.  We booked a bicycle tour that went up to Fort Scaur.  Our guide was quite knowledgeable and helpful.  The drawback of the tour was the beginning.  We met our guide at the dock and then he departed without us.  We stood around for almost an hour where he told us to wait for him.  During that time we found the excursions director from the Jewel and they had to call him to come back to get us.  He was very apologetic, but it was an inconvenience.We spent the next five days at sea.  We enjoyed the sea days they were very relaxing.  The shows were hit and miss.  The quality overall was slightly above average.  However, we simply enjoyed relaxing and reading.  I also spent some time in athletic activities.  I played soccer and basketball.  The mini golf course was very enjoyable (and challenging).  We also used the fitness facility regularly.  It was clean and well kept.  It had a good selection of dumbbells and resistance machines.  There were not enough pieces of cardio equipment.  There was often a wait for a bike, treadmill, or eliptical.  During the cruise we ate in the dinning room, the Windjammer (buffet), and the Sea View Cafe.  The Sea View was OK.  It was typical fastfood quality.  The Windjammer was convenient, but nothing to brag on.  It was like Golden Corrall at sea.  The Dinning Room was usually very good.Our first port of call on the European side of the Atlantic was Lisbon, Portugal.  We decided to explore the city on our own.  We enjoyed the city and did not have much trouble communicating with taxi drivers.  It was significantly less expensive that other parts of Europe.  We especially enjoyed the shopping and the Alfama.The next day we visited Vigo, Spain.  We decided to take the ship excursion to Santiago de Compostela.  It was a very good excursion with a very knowledgable guide.  I don't think we could have pulled that excursion off on our own.  The city was beautiful and very interesting.  I am not Roman Catholic, but I found the Cathedral fascinating and beautiful.  It was also interesting to see the pilgrims making their way to the cathedral.  We were surprised to see bagpipes being played.  I guess the Galician region of Spain has a Celtic heritage like Scotland and Ireland.The following day was a sea day and by this point we were getting bored with the ship.  It is a huge ship, but 7 days at sea were quite a lot.The 12th day we visited Cherbourg, France.  It was very pretty and we enjoyed a ship excursion to the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach.  We ate lunch in Bayeux at Lyon d'Or (sp?).  It is a famous restaurant in the Normandy region.  It was a great experience eating french food.  Our tour guide was very helpful and really emphasized how much the French appreciate what the Americans did at Normandy in liberating France.  The excursion was good, but I would have liked to have seen more of the beaches.  If I had it to do over, I would take a private tour of the Normandy beaches and spend less time in Bayeux.The 13th day we landed in Harwich and traveled to London from where we flew home.  We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and we would gladly sail Royal Caribbean again.  We would even go out of our way to sail on the Jewel again.