Jewel of the Seas Review
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The Jewel is a pretty ship, especially the atrium and the glass elevators. Refurbished in 2017, it is still in good condition. Our cabin, 1540 was a junior suite. It was roomy and comfortable, with a couch and a club chair and ottoman and a balcony with two lounge chairs and two chairs and a table. There was a walk in closet and so much shelf space and so many drawers several remained empty after we unpacked. We had anytime dining and found the dinners in the main dining room were good. The service was very attentive. The breakfasts in the main dining room and Windjammer were just soso, nothing special. We did a package of three specialty restaurants. The food in Giavanni’s Table, Izumi and Chops Grill was all good. We found the entertainment was somewhat lacking. Two of the production shows were good. The headline performers were the Barricade Boys. They were very good but it seemed a copout to have them perform twice. Every night there were two shows, at 7 and 9:15. It was surprising that on the last night there was only one show, and it was at our dinner time.
The solarium is a pretty room. The swimming pool was surprising in that it immediately got to 5”9” of water, no shallow end.
The Solarium Bar did not have a banana daiquiri which was surprising. At the pool you have to show your room key to get pool towels and upon returning them or you will be charged, which seems like a low class way to do things, compared to Celebrity for example. There were several trivia games during the day but generally it did not seem like there was much to do during sea days. Our cruise director “Cruisin Susan” was on stage after shows to basically inform us of the activities coming up. Not much personality. The staff we saw all over the ship was very nice, always with a smile and greeting.
Cabin Review
Junior Suite Accessible
Our cabin, was a junior suite. It was roomy and comfortable, with a couch and a club chair and ottoman and a balcony with two lounge chairs and two chairs and a table. There was a walk in closet and so much shelf space and so many drawers several remained empty after we unpacked.
Port Reviews
Alesund
Bus tour around town and to a church. People were upset the tour did not include admission to the church, which was a nominal fee and should have been included in the expensive excursion. Went to a museum with an interesting boat house with Viking boats.
Flam
Took an excursion on the Flam railway, the steepest railway in Northern Europe. Disorganized tour with lots of waiting and lines for train. Lots of scenery with mountains and waterfalls. Some of the views were not great, particularly if you were on the wrong side of the train. Nice stop at a hotel with good waffles and jelly.
Geiranger
Beautiful views of mountains, fjord, waterfalls. Breathtaking scenery. Took an excursion to Herdal Farm. Interesting talk at farm. Bought the delicious, fresh goat cheese, plain and dill.
Akrafjord and Langfoss Waterfall, Haugesund
Nice views. Waterfall not as full as usual because of less rain this summer. Stopped at a farm for lunch with delicious, fresh homemade delicacies including lox, sausage, ham, cheese, salad and jelly. There was confusion with what was offered on this excursion. We signed up in advance of the trip and the day was supposed to include a visit to a native arts and crafts exhibit. Instead, we were taken to a national monument. Apparently the offerings were changed if you signed up on board. In addition the timing of things was inappropriate. For example, there was not enough time at the farm and too much time at the monument.
Very disorganized tour. Poor time management. First they took us to Lillisand where we had a half hour to shop or look around. We had to be back on the bus at 9:55 am, but many of the shops in town don’t open till 10. Not much to see in Kristainsand on the bus part of the tour. Then we boarded a small, older boat. The worst was we sat in the boat not moving for about 45 minutes, just rocking back and forth in the cold wind because they would get us back too early if we moved.
Olden
Took a cruise on Lake Loen. Gorgeous scenery with mountains, water, waterfalls, glaciers. Stunning.
A pleasant boat ride. Stopped at a hotel for delicious waffles, jelly and sour cream.