Jewel of the Seas Review

3.5 / 5.0
1,644 reviews

Boring Ship but Great Itinerary

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Jewel of the Seas
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rosenc1c
10+ Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Oct 2017
Cabin: Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony

We chose this cruise for the itinerary and price. The itinerary was great, it was our first Mediterranean experience and it was fantastic. The ship is very well kept and in very good condition. It's just a small ship without much to do on it. The movie selection was terrible, and there were only a couple of shows that even appealed to us. We ate in the main dining room every night except one, and generally loved the food we got. The only problem was that we were convinced that My time dining was the way to go, and for us it wasn't. We were a party of 2, and preferred to be a a table for 2. Each night they would ask if we minded sharing the table, when we said we preferred a table for 2, they would indicate they didn't have any. We shared tables a couple of nights and met some very nice people. Some people enjoy this, and that's great, but we didn't. On such a port intensive cruise, we were tired in the evening and didn't enjoy making small talk with strangers. Also the meal takes 2+ hrs with such a large group, as opposed to 1 hr when it was just the 2 of us. We finally found that if we had a standing reservations at 5:45 pm each evening then we could have a table for 2, otherwise we had to wait until > 8 pm. We won't do My time dining again, it wasn't for us.

The windjammer was awful. There is limited seating, and it is always packed. In 12 mornings we managed to sit indoors 1 time, every other time we had to go outside. Fortunately the weather wasn't too cold, but if it was then we would have been screwed. The food is mediocre, and it's pure chaos regardless of the time you went. They have stations rather than a line, and so it's just a mob of people randomly walking from station to station. It was like a real life game of pac-man trying to avoid running into someone. It's really a poor design and poorly thought out.

Overall we enjoyed the cruise. The itinerary was fantastic, and the ship was basically a floating hotel. Two nights we had rough seas, and being on a small ship you really felt it.

Cabin Review

Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony

Cabin D2

We booked a Guaranteed cabin D2 category, and so we didn't know what to expect. We found the cabin to be fine. The balcony is really big, because of the design. Some might consider it partially obstructed, but I really didn't find it to be any issue. There is a ladder to your left, and a sloping steel wall on your right, but I felt like the visible area of the balcony was as good as any I have been on. On some days the bathroom had a smell of sewage, but it seemed maybe it was something to do with the plumbing because it wasn't there all of the time. The only other issue is when we had some rough seas, you could really feel it. I'm not sure if it was worse since we were in the back of the ship, but it probably did amplify the movement a little more than it would have been in the middle.

Port Reviews

Rome (Civitavecchia)

We booked transportation from Rome to Civitavecchia through www.civitavecchiashuttleexpress.com, and we would use them again.

Barcelona

Our first time to this port, and we loved it. Booked the Hop On Hop Off (City Tours) bus. Went to Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and then just rode the bus loops around and took in the sights.

Valencia

Booked a segway tour through Segway Valencia, and it was fun. Rode through the park and saw the futuristic structures in the new development, and then took a little tour through the city. It was fun and a little different.

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