Jewel of the Seas - recent reports?

We're heading out on Jewel of the Seas for the 9-night Greek Isles cruise in a few weeks. I know that the first one or two Greek Isles cruises of the season just returned. It's a long shot, but was anyone on one of those and have any information?

Daily activities list?

Review of shows?

Did you tender in Mykonos and Santorini?

Drink menus?

Food reviews?

Which nights were formal nights?

Any information/opinions welcome!!

Hi, I have just been on the Greek Island JOS May 6th Sailing, first time cruise, and loved every minute. I will post a full review at some point shortly.

Quickly though - Food, drink and crew were great - Chops grill stood out as did Izumi! Tender is in Mykonos and Santorini, all very well organised! Emarkation and disembarking fine. Formal night was on the 2 sea days (days 3 and 8). Only did Mr and Mrs show which was really funny, theatre nice.

Following - we're on the Jewel in a few weeks (for the Western Med) and very interested in any reports!

The tendering in Santorini easy - requires you to take a funucular/cable car up and down tomgo to towns... Don't miss the ruins of Akrotiri - go with a private guide. It was amazing!! if u are on an excursion thru Royal there are busses and you don't take cable car once off tender. The ports entire cruise were wonderful. we had a great CC group and many of us planned private excursions which everyone innour group enjoyed doing that way... so small excursion sizes and less cost than thru Royal. if you need recommendations of private happy to share names. cruise was very port intensive and I need a post cruise vacation. or at least a few days of sleep and no walking!!! If Motown and Tenors are on your cruise..... put those 2 shows on your list. ps - remember anything you buy on board has 22% vat added. on board they were discounting dinners in the speacialy restaurants by 30%. those also are suject to VAT. No liquor bottles on sale on ship. No tobacco products on sale on ship. I prefer larger ships but larger ships can't do all of the ports on this iten.

Thank you!!

The tendering in Santorini easy - requires you to take a funucular/cable car up and down tomgo to towns... Don't miss the ruins of Akrotiri - go with a private guide. It was amazing!! if u are on an excursion thru Royal there are busses and you don't take cable car once off tender. The ports entire cruise were wonderful. we had a great CC group and many of us planned private excursions which everyone innour group enjoyed doing that way... so small excursion sizes and less cost than thru Royal. if you need recommendations of private happy to share names. cruise was very port intensive and I need a post cruise vacation. or at least a few days of sleep and no walking!!! If Motown and Tenors are on your cruise..... put those 2 shows on your list. ps - remember anything you buy on board has 22% vat added. on board they were discounting dinners in the speacialy restaurants by 30%. those also are suject to VAT. No liquor bottles on sale on ship. No tobacco products on sale on ship. I prefer larger ships but larger ships can't do all of the ports on this iten.

Did you happen to see if the internet had VAT added on as well? Buying it via the cruise planner doesn't add VAT so might be beneficial for me to get it before going in August (different itinerary but still out of Civitavecchia so I assume the same VAT rules).

Hi, I have just been on the Greek Island JOS May 6th Sailing, first time cruise, and loved every minute. I will post a full review at some point shortly.

 

Quickly though - Food, drink and crew were great - Chops grill stood out as did Izumi! Tender is in Mykonos and Santorini, all very well organised! Emarkation and disembarking fine. Formal night was on the 2 sea days (days 3 and 8). Only did Mr and Mrs show which was really funny, theatre nice.

Did they have Tetleys tea bags....:o ? When travelling with a elderly mother this is a serious question!

Did they have Tetleys tea bags....:o ? When travelling with a elderly mother this is a serious question!

Don't know the answer as I am not a tea drinker, but to be on the safe side, I would put a bunch of the "tiny little tea leaves" (remember the jingle?) in a a ziplock bag and bring them with you and your Mom! :D

Did you happen to see if the internet had VAT added on as well? Buying it via the cruise planner doesn't add VAT so might be beneficial for me to get it before going in August (different itinerary but still out of Civitavecchia so I assume the same VAT rules).

Anything and everything including internet to magnets you buy on board when the ship is doing only EU ports is subject to 22% vat. If you're planning to do specialty dining you will need to calculate what is the best financial option - our cruise had many 30% off offers on dining once on board, which still works out to save a bit of money over the 22% vat but you should check your pre cruise options. especially yhe BOGO... There is no way to know now what dining offers will or won't be offered on board. That being said, i don't know what the VAT rules are for passport holders from EU counties.

We are leaving Saturday for the 9 day Jewel cruise that leaves May 24. Were they charging VAT drinks? Also do you know if they offered the 10 drink cards? And if they did, what day was it first offered and how much was it?

I did not puchase any drinks so I cannot answer this. We did our alcohol drinking in the CL.

We are leaving Saturday for the 9 day Jewel cruise that leaves May 24. Were they charging VAT drinks? Also do you know if they offered the 10 drink cards? And if they did, what day was it first offered and how much was it?

I'm looking at my bill now (was on May 6) and it appears the drinks only had the 18% gratuity. Just noticed we got an $18.25 refund per person for "Govt Port taxes/Fees" which I assume is for Turkey.

Saw them selling the ten drink cards later in the cruise; they were selling the drink packages for the first three days.

Cheers,

we had a great CC group .

Agree! I miss everyone already

I'm looking at my bill now (was on May 6) and it appears the drinks only had the 18% gratuity. Just noticed we got an $18.25 refund per person for "Govt Port taxes/Fees" which I assume is for Turkey.

 

Saw them selling the ten drink cards later in the cruise; they were selling the drink packages for the first three days.

 

Cheers,

our 18.25 per person was posted to our seapass. yes it was because of no Turkey. i started calling to ask about the refund the day after the port change was announced and was told it would be taken care of on board - because the cruise was sold out it could not be accessed. When I got on board Guest Services said they had to check with Miami..... so after several days there was resolution.

Agree! I miss everyone already

I am still on Jet lag time...

Haven't yet done the laundry (no water in our building yesterday when I had the energy...) I am consoling myself from cruise withdrawal by finalizing plans and creating spread sheet for our Sydney to Honolulu cruise on Radiance in April 2018.

I'm looking at my bill now (was on May 6) and it appears the drinks only had the 18% gratuity. Just noticed we got an $18.25 refund per person for "Govt Port taxes/Fees" which I assume is for Turkey.

 

Saw them selling the ten drink cards later in the cruise; they were selling the drink packages for the first three days.

 

Cheers,

Great news, thanks for looking. I hope we have as good of a cruise as your group apparently did.

Did they have Tetleys tea bags....:o ? When travelling with a elderly mother this is a serious question!

No, it's London Tea Company with multiple choices including black, black decaf, earl grey, breakfast, chamomile

No, it's London Tea Company with multiple choices including black, black decaf, earl grey, breakfast, chamomile

Ugh thanks!!

They had Tetley when I was on her in November! Someone has drunk the ship dry.....:confused:

Packing supplies now....:o

The tendering in Santorini easy - requires you to take a funucular/cable car up and down tomgo to towns... Don't miss the ruins of Akrotiri - go with a private guide. It was amazing!! if u are on an excursion thru Royal there are busses and you don't take cable car once off tender. The ports entire cruise were wonderful. we had a great CC group and many of us planned private excursions which everyone innour group enjoyed doing that way... so small excursion sizes and less cost than thru Royal. if you need recommendations of private happy to share names. cruise was very port intensive and I need a post cruise vacation. or at least a few days of sleep and no walking!!! If Motown and Tenors are on your cruise..... put those 2 shows on your list. ps - remember anything you buy on board has 22% vat added. on board they were discounting dinners in the speacialy restaurants by 30%. those also are suject to VAT. No liquor bottles on sale on ship. No tobacco products on sale on ship. I prefer larger ships but larger ships can't do all of the ports on this iten.

Please share your recommendations of private shore excursions. I have 7 travelers.

Please share your recommendations of private shore excursions. I have 7 travelers.

If you are traveling soon he may be booked -

Santorini (with excavations at Akrotiri)

Kostas

santoriniguides@gmail.com

I have recommendations for the other port stops we did...

Have you checked with others on your roll call to see what your fellow cruisers have arranged?

I'm going to try something new for me - attaching the daily compass. Here is my attempt for day 1, wish me luck!

Day 1 front.pdf

day 1 activities.pdf

I'm going to try something new - attaching the daily compass. Here is my attempt for day 1, wish me luck!

Hmmm. . the quality is pretty bad, I think. I can try to scan at a higher resolution if they are not legible. Also, anyone know how to attach as a picture instead of a link?

I'm going to try something new - attaching the daily compass. Here is my attempt for day 1, wish me luck!

Looks good. You could even scan at a slightly higher resolution if you like.

Day 2 at a higher resolution

Day 2 front.pdf

Day 2 activities.pdf

Going crazy with the scanner now! Days 3-6:

Day 3.pdf

Day 4.pdf

Day 5.pdf

Day 6.pdf