Jewel of the Seas Review
Don't miss the War Room in Malta & String Fever aboard ship
Rating by category
Additional details
We heard from friends that the War Room in Malta was a highlight. Totally TRUE! Royal Caribbean didn't know a thing about this tour but due to the heads up we found it easily at the saluting battery within walking distance from the ship. The War Room guide was an amazing historian that told the very engaging story of how the air war over Malta was managed and the vital role radar and Malta played in winning the war in North Africa as well as how the invasion of Sicily was a training ground for D-Day. Great museum displays and well worth the hour tour.
The other highlight of this Med cruise of the Greek Islands and Italy was the headline act String Fever. What an amazing string quartet! Very entertaining and high quality energetic performances. The Centrum performance was a one of a kind memory. www.stringfever.co.uk/
Of course the antiquities of Athens, Rome, and Malta were a timeless show in and of themselves but the War Room and String Fever were totally unexpected finds that knocked this cruise off the chart for us.
Cabin Review
Grand Suite
The Grand suite experience was indeed sweet! Our room was amidships close to the Centrum, Windjammer, pool and running track. Plenty of room and the Veranda was spacious as well. Included suite perks were prime seating in the Coral Theatre, robes, welcome fruit, cookies, and behind the scenes tour as well as express embarkation and debarkation.The Concierge Club offered snacks and drinks in the afternoon and overall we loved the Grand Suite experience.
Port Reviews
Rome (Civitavecchia)
The port is no great shakes but it is your access point to Rome. Rome is excellent! A very different experience from the Caribbean. The Vatican Museums are jaw dropping in the art and antiquities they present. The people are friendly and the Gelato is everywhere and delicious everywhere we tried. Navigation is made easy with your smartphone and Google Translate is an amazing app where you can point your phone camera at a sign in Italian and it allows you to read it in English. Because of the maps and the translations we felt very comfortable roaming without a guide. Although having said that, we found the Hop on Hop off bus a great way to get the big picture of Rome and it saved us a lot of steps. Well worth the price.
Malta (Valletta)
The War Rooms tour is a must see if you enjoy WWII history. That was all we needed to put this port as a highlight of the cruise. The tour guide was amazing. Would have enjoyed another day in this port.
Mykonos
Beautiful place, easy to explore but the Google Translate app camera feature doesn't work in Greek and your keyboard doesn't have the right letters so we were fortunate that everyone spoke English well.
Santorini
The warning provided by Royal Caribbean not to walk up or ride the donkeys was wise. the 588 steps would be challenging. I walked down and I needed to be very nimble to avoid "most" of the donkey waste that was on the steps. The 20 min walk down was faster than the line for the gondola but you need to be nimble and comfortable maneuvering through several herds of donkeys (20 or so at a time). Hint: stand clear when a donkey lifts his/her tail. But the gondola is a great way to get up to the town and the town is very lovely to see and explore.
Naples
We were warned of pickpocket activity but took precautions and had no trouble. This port was convenient to shopping as a main thoroughfare is just a few blocks from the dock. The people were friendly but we used the free time mostly by relaxing onboard taking advantage of an uncrowded ship.