Jewel of the Seas Review
A fabulous itinerary on a great ship!
Rating by category
Additional details
This was our 15th cruise on our 5th different cruise line (Celebrity, Carnival, NCL and Holland America). We’ve always liked Royal and went on this ship in February to the Caribbean and wanted to do a Mediterranean cruise.
We flew from Canada the week before the cruise and spent three days in Munich and then four days in Rome. Took the train to Civitivecchia the morning of the cruise and started walking to the pier with 8 other cruisers. When we couldn’t find out how to get there, we realized we had to get on a port shuttle bus to take us to the cruise shuttle buses to take us to the terminal Very confusing port with insufficient signage to tell people how to get to the ship.
Embarkation – Once we got there, the embarkation was very quick and smooth.
Cabin Review
Ocean View Balcony
The cabin was extra spacious with a larger balcony. Lots of room for 2 people. Would book it again.
Port Reviews
Rome (Civitavecchia)
So many things to see and do in Rome. We did the hop on/hop off bus and went to the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Vatican, etc. The crowds were big and the line ups were long so we skipped some of the tours but did others where other tourists don't go. The Church of San Clemente (near the Colosseum) has an underground museum dating to 200 AD. Fascinating!
Taormina (Messina)
We walked around Messina. The square with the church and clock tower was beautiful! They do a show at noon everyday with music and moving characters which was really nice. Other parts were ok but a lot of graffiti and garbage everywhere. They need to clean up their streets.
Mykonos
We walked around Mykonos and had a drink by the water. Beautiful island.
Athens (Piraeus)
Athens was cleaner than I expected but there is grafitti everywhere. Such a shame to see ancient buildings and beautiful newer buildings covered with tags and political statements. Food was great!
Naples
I was disappointed in Naples. It is very run down, with garbage and grafitti everywhere. We did the hop on/hop off bus and liked the Museum grounds at the top of the hill the best (clean and less crowded). The pizza was amazing!!!