This cruise began in Rome and went to various Greek Islands, then back to Italy at Naples and then concluded at Rome. It was nine days, two of which were sea days. We booked excursions at each port and prior to the cruise, we spent a week in Rome. Greece was in ruins. Well, actually, there were a lot of other things, too. We thought the best two ports were Crete and Rhodes from a history standpoint and really enjoyed those. Santorini was also great. Athens is just another big city with a few interesting thing, but it is still very important historically and was worth the trip. Accessibility was an issue at times. Walking was, at times, rigorous so be careful of the excursions you book. The ship was clean and well maintained as was our cabin. We did, however, pay an additional amount to have a balcony cabin on Deck 9 on the very stern of the ship. Every morning, it was covered with soot from the engines, but the steward wiped it down on his clean-up of the cabin. It wasn't really a problem, just something to be aware of if you book those cabins in back. They were worth it for the view and additional balcony space, though. Food in the main dining room was disappointing. It seems that it has lost a lot of quality and it is not much different from the Windjammer. The advantage to the dining room though, is that you get table service and the very nature of the dining experience limits quantity. We had no beef that was done properly. We would have gone to Chops, but frankly, if they can't get prime rib right in the main dining room, they probably won't when you pay an additional 40 bucks for it. This is the first cruise we've taken (out of about a total of 10) where most of our meals were at the buffet, solely due to the lack of quality in the dining room. Overall, Jewel of the Seas is a good ship and we'd do this same cruise again and we recommend it to others, just be wary of the food quality and all of the walking on cobblestones.