JEWEL b2b (Greece/W Med) semi-live Aug24 - Sept14 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[Hoopster95]

Lots of ferry traffic this morning

 

 

Equinox or Silhouette?? Entering and docking in Messina

 

 

 

Nearing the end of the transit

 

 

 

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[tdtanc]

It's a great price for those who would have drinks all night for example partying after the lounge hours or during the day on a sea day at pool deck. I've bought each time before on prev cruises when available but not this time. The service from Ravi in the CL second to none on any CL... He had drinks waiting for us and would replenish even before we were finished the first drink. Truth be told one night we missed the magician headliner (luckily for us as we were told It was awful) and sat in the outer court of the CL with drinks so didn't need any after that. Last night we cancelled MTD all together and stayed In the CL eating apples and veggies (we were too full from out excursion) until 8pm music trivia so again no need for the card. Today sea day we can use our D+ BOGO and so forth if needed. We still have a bottle of wine in our room to pour a glass also.

 

Btw, both my gf and I walked in together at embarkation with 2 bottles of wine each... We walked in directly next to each other, through the the same scanner and guards... They didn't say a thing. So we could've had a 4 bottles this cruise, get off at Civitavecchia, and prob bring back another 4 bottles.

 

 

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Thats what I'm thinking. Except for the 2 sea days most time is gonna be spent in port and then getting back. Going to CL for drinks until dinner at 8:30 and then bed. We are still diamond so I don't think we have that BOGO free offer yet. Good to know about the wine. We will get two bottles pre cruise in Rome for sure.

 

Watching this Hurricane Irma stirring out in the Atlantic!

[cruiser1956]

Wow! Loving your review. Your photos are awesome. This makes me homesick for the Jewel. She is such a beautiful ship!

 

Diego and Ravi in the CL are fantastic! I'm sure they wouldn't remember us from February. Unless they recalled the person who fell down that small step by the door from the back of the bar! I swear I hadn't even had a full drink yet. I was wondering, if you had a spare moment to ask Ravi what he would serve to a person when they ordered a Mojito, but he did not have the proper mix? He made me a week of "specials" that I would give anything to have again. But of course I failed to ask him what was in it. Just a thought.

 

Have a great cruise....

[Hoopster95]

I was wondering, if you had a spare moment to ask Ravi what he would serve to a person when they ordered a Mojito, but he did not have the proper mix? He made me a week of "specials" that I would give anything to have again....

 

 

Oh Mojitos! Yum. I'll ask him

 

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

Breakfast & Mimosa at the CL outdoor patio, with view of Sicily

 

 

 

The backstage tour was about 20-25min, the Tutti salad bar lunch at MDR was the best ever... EVER! Next up... Bridge tour

 

 

 

 

The weather turned on us right after the bridge tour with super dark skies and a heavy rain. We also had a lot of ship movement throughout The late afternoon and all evening, but didn't stop us from having a fun final and yummy dinner (lamb shank... ****ake menu) at MTD

 

 

 

 

Rest of evening was final drinks and goodbyes to rupiah buddies, the usual Jazz set by the RCL singers in the Centrum and a little

Late night dancing before hitting the sack

 

 

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

We're at this moment

 

sitting at pool deck 11, having already cleared for the second sailing at 9:35am. We had set upon deck 12 for sunshine but a cloud has come over us and it's drizzling.

 

Consecutive cruiser turnaround couldn't have been any easier.... so very easy. Really weird to be on an empty ship! There's about 20 consecutive cruisers and I think we're all here on the poo deck. Wifi stil working from prev cruise.

 

Here's some early morning "empty ship" pics for you

 

 

 

 

 

The huge dark cloud above us is lifting and the 85 degree sun is finally coming out yay!!

 

 

 

 

Both RCL and Italian flags are flying, ready for the next 7 days and new friends to start embarking within the next hour

 

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

I wonder if Donna K is following this thread....

 

Could someone (Bob?) please post in the current Capt thread ... I can't find it with the app search tool....

 

Capt Dustin goes vacation Sept 10 and is taken over by current Staff Capt Patrick Jukes. They were doing inspection rounds around the ship and stopped to speak with us. Both are from the Vancouver area with Capt Dustin having lived very close by to my gf at one time so we had a very nice visit. They were gracious to take the time to speak with us for quite a while. it was really nice to see them going around the ship. [emoji4]

 

 

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[cinnamon]

Thanks for your comments on my Live Brilliance blog Hoopster. [emoji3]

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

First look at cabin 7546... A little weird in that the sofa sticks out as the wall in behind sticks outs maybe 6-8 inches. You definitely feel a little cramped walking past. We pushed the coffee table right to the mirror for more room

 

 

 

 

Cool oversized balcony... Full view forward and 1/2 triangle railing overtop the lifeboat cover looking back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Clarea]

... Could someone (Bob?) please post in the current Capt thread ... I can't find it with the app search tool....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1441813

[tdtanc]

Looks like you guys had a great first leg of your vacation. I have never done a back to back cruise. Had to switch rooms huh? Did you tour around Civitavecchia at all

[LPut714]

Just walking on deck 5 as we speak out to the helipad as gf takes a nap after a totally brilliant day in Katakolon/Olympia!

 

Super HIGhLY recommended is Katakolon Taxi with Andrew. Family run business, he himself had us in his Mercedes taxi for private tour. Olympia was awesome. Note the cross section of the pillar on the right is 5 1/2 feet diameter!

 

 

 

 

We were then taken to the Magna Greek Agritouristico farm... Family run and a tour just picked up by RCL this year per the owner Anna... They ave already been serving Hal, Regent and others.

 

The biggest surprise and one of the best parts of this cruise so far. I very highly recommend this. We had a full on lunch served to us all with homemade products... Olives are incredible, the wine even more so. Exquisite local homemade lunch. Just a totally awesome couple of hours with an amazing host and very caring family at every step.

 

 

We also had time to stop at the honey farm, another new stop on tours. Not as great as the Magna Greek farm but a decent stop for a short hour nonetheless. We were back onboard about an hour before all-aboard

 

 

 

After hitting up our room to freshen up, I was just now walking around the various decks taking photos of areas I hadn't yet taken

 

 

 

 

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Did you pre book your taxi with Andrew and also the Magna Creek farm-we won't be on the ship till next June but scoping out options. Cost of taxi, farm-Thanks

[Hoopster95]

Did you pre book your taxi with Andrew and also the Magna Creek farm-we won't be on the ship till next June but scoping out options. Cost of taxi, farm-Thanks

 

 

 

Yes, pre booked via email.

Super easy and excellent communication. Perfect English... He lived in Australia for many years

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

Sorry for the delay folks ... Lost my free Royal wifi (still from 1st cruise) on the first night and yesterday was a very long and full day. I'm currently tanning at Trottel Beach in Ajaccio making this post [emoji3]

 

 

 

...... However I digress. Let me share a few images from our Cannes stop yesterday. Our long day consisted of a private tour with "Provencetrips", We drove through Cannes and stopped in Nice for an hour

 

 

we drove through Antibes and Villaftenche, stopping at various view points. The TUI Discovery. Formerly Splendour of the Seas, was in Port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

I'll explain in the full review but tenders were delayed by about 1/2 hour this putting a time constraint on this long tour. We went directly to Monaco for only about 1 hour, 20 min... Too short and very rushed but beautiful nonetheless

 

 

 

 

We then rushed to Eze, the hi light imho for only about 1 hour... Could spend a whole afternoon there soaking in the view and atmosphere

 

 

 

We got back to the ship in plenty of time missing the rush hour on the highway.

Btw... 1st night Izumi was best dinner of both cruises so far, so much so we cancelled our final night at Giovanni's to go back to Izumi. Last night was Giovanni and was great as well.

 

Doing my best to answer questions so keep them coming an I'll keep trying to answer Trying to save iPhone battery... See Ya later folks!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Dremac373]

This is so awesome! Thank you for sharing and providing us with such great details of your days. Your pictures are amazing and can't wait until next Oct to head to Barcelona to board Symphony. Wishing you all continued safe travels.

[Hoopster95]

This is so awesome! Thank you for sharing and providing us with such great details of your days. Your pictures are amazing and can't wait until next Oct to head to Barcelona to board Symphony. Wishing you all continued safe travels.

 

 

 

You're welcome [emoji4]

Hope you're staying in Barcelona (said like a true Cataluyan local = Barth-e-Lima) minimum 2 days. Like New York, London, Rome... No way to see this city in only one day let alone a port stop.

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

The CL Diego recommended to us to

Grab an 8 euro round trip ferry across the bay to a beach called Piccanto. Also on that side is Plage D'Argent, my first pick had I decided this to be a full beach day.... Google them. Simply beautiful beaches.

 

While Ajaccio is a nice Mediterranean city, it does not hold a candle to most other port stops in the Med and there's very little to do and see in comparison. Bottom line: now that I've seen a bit of this nice town, I will never have to see it again. I would make this a full beach day or see the country side. Another couple in the CL had a private driver and they had a great day away from the town.

 

I also made a huge mistake today... Can't be perfect when traveling, things happen that's for sure! In my full review I hope to save everyone lots of time and especially money. Most of my Ajaccio photos are on my Sony hand held, so here's a few....

 

Place de Gaulle

 

Sipping Pastis, a local favorite aperitif, at a local bar.

 

Not exaggerating ... All aboard was 3:30pm and we were on at about 3pm. Pool deck was sea day PACKED with zero loungers available anywhere on decks 11 or 12. My guess is lots of cruisers stayed on board, and many more went on shore for an hour or two and came back bored and early for lunch.

 

 

 

No schedule this evening! We enjoyed time in the CL and went for a later dinner at the WJ... Disgusting may be too harsh a word, however it was unacceptable. After we both had a couple of bites of cold tasteless food, we left and chances MTD without reservations, we were seated right away and thankfully had an excellent hot meal from the Italian menu. The dining room has been great this cruise

[Hoopster95]

Barcelona is an amazing city that needs no introduction. A port stop is just not enough. This city requires a min 2 days to really see it, and I think that's not enough.

 

We booked an excellent 1/2 day tour (so that we can DIY the later half day) on line with Barcelona Day Tours. Helena was simply excellent, knowledgable and enthusiastic. Included was photo stops at Montjuic, various Gaudi buildings, and the main event was skip the line access to Parc Guell.

 

Looking down onto Plaza d'Espania from Montjuic

 

Posing in front of Sagrada Familia... Furiously being worked on finally as its to be fully completed by Gaudi's 100th anniversary of its start of construction (1926 - 2026). You can bet cruises and travel to Barcelona once this is complete will be expensive imo.

 

 

Park Guell... Gaudi was one crazy guy

 

 

 

Your over, Helena recommend several eateries to people on the tour depending where they were dropping us off... We chose to off close to Plaza Catalyuna and go to a place called El Nacional... Omg what a great suggestion for

Authentic chicouterie and tapas with many locals in an absolute beautiful building

 

 

 

Las Ramblas memorial to those killed a few weeks ago during the terrorist attack... At the top of Las Ramblas at Plaza Catalyuna

 

 

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

Las Ramblas

 

Gothic Quarter

 

 

The view from atop the Christopher Columbus monument tower at the base is Las Ramblas and at entry to port. 6 euro pp... Or for 8 euro taste some of the best Cava Wine in their cellar once you come down. No brainer!!

 

All aboard was 7:30pm and we arrived at 7pm. Headed to the CL and then MTD about 8:45. We had to wait with beeper in hand for about 20min... Excellent Indian chicken tikka, kidney bean curry and an eggplant dish with papadams and nan bread. YUM YUM YUM!!!!! So good. While waiting with beeper, the RCL orchestra played their "big band" set.... Glen

Miller when I took this photo (for Bob and any other Glenn Miller fans lol!)

 

Ok, that was a super busy day yesterday with no time at all to be on line or search for free wifi. I'm on Royal wifi now using the D+ benefit, having had a stupendous day in Palma de Mallorca (even with drizzle and clouds most of the day)

 

Going to get ready for CL, Chop's, welcome

Back event, 70's trivia at Schooner, headliner, then 70's event in Centrum.... Whew! Here's my view as I post, sitting at the aft end of the Safari Club during SailAway listening to live piano... I've never done this before... Really nice in inclement weather. Tomorrow's my b-day so chances are likely decent I won't be posting ... Savvy? (As Johnny Depp says in pirates of the Caribbean).

 

Anywho, ciao for now from Palma De Mallorca

 

 

 

 

 

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[waverley7]

Thank you for posting your thread! It's really nice to hear about and see your photo's.

 

I'm just a tad jealous I'm not there right now! ;p

[Virtopia]

OMG how did I miss this?!?! Subscribing so I can do a full read through when I get home [emoji5]

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

OMG how did I miss this?!?! Subscribing so I can do a full read through when I get home [emoji5]

 

 

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Hey Virtopia! Thx for following. Are you on one of your adventures at this time as well? [emoji1]

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

Chops last night (b-day eve)... Started with delicious Forrest mushroom soup & lobster bisque... I had delicious crab cake but gf had my newest favourite appy at Chops, awesome: Tuna tartare

 

 

Gf had usual excellent fillet & sides

 

Now that my ex-favourite "All Things Tuna" is off the menu as of 4 months ago, I have discovered my new fave entree:

The New Zealand Rack of Lamb....

 

Folks... This is NOT the same lamb as in MDR. Simply outstanding, food in Chips far superior to MDR from quality to presentation to meat vs. gristle to everything.

 

 

 

Unbeknownst to me, Chops had my b-day in the system and brought me a special chocolate lava cake... Yes they sang, I sang along too as did others around us. Fun

 

 

 

And this morning was cool too... Breakfast in cabin on the balcony. Diego also had red velvet cupcakes sent up and champagne. Super nice morning today

 

 

 

 

Better weather coming up today in Cagliari... Also up shortly is a D+ and up sail-in invite up at the country club deck 12 as we approach. We also had this for Santorini with superb hors d'ouvres and lots of champagne/cocktails. Never had this event before either, made the start of the day very special with most all of the officers showing up as well. Have a great day everyone.

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

But I digress!!!..... Palma De Mallorca has been my fave stop thus far. We were facing thunderstorms and rain all day, but only ended up having a couple of torrential showers at end of the day as we ran for the shuttle back to the ship. I have a few stories to tell about Palma, especially a really cool guy we met, Diego Martin, who told us his life story as we bought several leather goods/shoes in his Personal l store... Designer Shoes at 15 euro and 49 euro that are easily $300 back home. What a fun day and Palma is simply a gorgeous port.

 

Cathedral... World class and must see, equal to St Peters at the Vatican

 

 

Diego Martin and his store

 

Lunch at Placa Major

 

Ominous clouds rolling in with a Jewel off in the background

 

 

 

There... Up to date! Whew [emoji4]

Up today is Segway tour, walk around the old

Town, later embarkation around 6pm, a fun "selfie with the officers" event up at the Sky Bar 7:30pm, Izumi dinner with views of SailAway from deck 12, Quest & Latin fiesta.

It's gonna be a great day!!!! Later everyone

 

 

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