Review: Jewel of the Seas Western Mediterranean

[cruizeblues]

Eze is a really beautiful Medieval village built on the top of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. There are shops and restaurants at the base as well as a place to park, but if you want the best views, you have to climb up into the Garden at the top. Our driver dropped us off and said to meet him back in about 2 hours. That gave us time to explore, shop and for lunch

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

It's neat how the little shops and cafes are tucked into the old fortress.

 

Here's a tip for the ladies. The I wore the Clarke's sandals that I have on in this picture throughout all the touring and walking in Rome as well as all of the ports. I put more than 5 miles a day of walking (probably more) up this steep hill, over cobblestones, even the beach and my feet were completely comfortable (maybe a little hot & tired). I've worn these for years, they are more comfy than sneakers!

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

To get up to the top you have to pay admission, I think it was 8 euro each. Well worth it for the beautiful views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

We made our way back down on the shady side, saw a little man-made waterfall and drinking fountain. Perfect timing! It was about 94 degrees and sunny, we were really working up a sweat! We had some time to kill but weren't really hungry but we did want something cold to drink. We found a place at the bottom, Pinocchio's, that had a guy out front making crepes and frozen drinks. We ordered a ham & cheese crepe and enjoyed sitting in the shade [emoji3]

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

It was time to meet our driver and head back to Cannes. We took the highway back which was not very scenic. Our guide dropped us off just outside the port so we could walk around a bit, we were pretty tired though and made our way back to the tender. At this point jumping in the Solarium pool with a frosty cocktail sounded like a great idea!

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

Took some pictures of the lovely Jewel of the Seas from the tender

 

Back onboard and we headed straight for the pool! Cooled off, had the frozen cocktail of the day (nifty glass included). Loungers by the pool were scarce as chair hogs were out in full force so we decided to head down and enjoy our aft for a bit.

 

 

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

Here's one for the guys, Check out these yachts!! Holy Moly!! [emoji15]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

Relaxing as we sail away from a very memorable day in Cannes.

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

Chops for dinner tonight, it was compliments of our travel agency, otherwise it would cost about $70--well worth it! Our waiter greeted us with a big smile and wished us a Happy Anniversary ( weird since we had not told them ) we were seated at a great table by the window. We both had the filet mignon, which was cooked perfectly and assorted side dishes to share. Everything was great and we were stuffed, then our waiter brought us this, yummm! It looked prettier, but DH started digging in before I could snap the picture

 

 

After dinner we wandered around, listened to a band in the Safari Club, watched a "Twist" dance contest in the Centrum and decided to call it a day. This guy was waiting in the cabin for us.

 

Up next: Tuesday, Ajaccio, Corsica

 

 

 

 

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[JD2001]

really enjoying i also really enjoyed hoopsters we are going on the jewel and doing rome in june of 2019

[JD2001]

we have an aft cabin for this cruise in june 2019 awsome cant wait

[lola2013]

I am loving your review! Our group of 14 will be sailing on JOTS next May with four days in Rome pre-cruise. We are also staying near Piazza Navona and are mostly early risers so will definitely be out & about before the crowds wake up!

We have five aft cabins on deck 9...directly above where you were. The people that booked late weren't able to get those prime locations, but there's plenty of room for all of us on those balconies!

Looking forward to your next destination.....

Thanks for the info.

 

Susan

[missymac]

Thank you so much for your detailed review! Sounds like a fabulous time. We will be on the Jewel of the Seas next year with a cruise that ends in Rome, so thanks for the helpful hits. :)

[cruizeblues]

Tuesday: Cagliari, Corsica 7 am - 4 pm

 

After booking this cruise I spent a ton of time researching Rome, then moved on to plan Barcelona and then Cannes. I had so many questions, and a bit of anxiety because I wanted to make sure to see as much as possible in these cities in the short time we had. So when I finally started to plan for the island ports I got lazy and figured we could just wing it and go to a beach and relax or wander around downtown on our own. This is really unusual for me, I always plan something for every port. Even if it is a beach day I try to include kayaking, paddle boarding or something. Considering how busy we were the past three days, having no plan really wasn't that awful. Also, port hours were 7 am until 4 (all aboard at 3:30) which doesn't really leave a lot of time to do much. So we had a leisurely morning; slept in and went to the windjammer for breakfast at about 10. I think that every person on the ship had the same idea because the WJ was packed! One change since my last cruise that I loved, at the egg/omelet station they take your order and give you a buzzer that goes off when it's ready :) then you can go load up on everything else and come back when your omelet is ready! I really enjoy a freshly made bacon and cheddar omelet! We found a nice seat in the outside section and enjoyed the view while we ate.

Then we decided to get off the ship and walk along the coast in search of Trottel beach. Hoopster said it would take about a half-hour, and he was right.

 

This picture shows the port, if you turn left after the gate you can walk along the marina. The buses on the right are for the RCCL tours.

 

The first beach we came to, St. Francis Beach, was only about 10 minutes away. It wasn't the best beach I've seen, it was narrow and tiny pebbles instead of sand. Fairly crowded, I didn't see any bathrooms or chair rentals here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

 

So we kept walking along the shore, the view was beautiful!

 

 

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

 

The camera battery must have died again because this is the last picture we have from this port. We got to Trottel beach and sat on a bench in the shade for a while. This beach looked nicer, with a few restaurants and chairs for rent. We didn't stay long, only stuck our feet in the water. On our way back we made our way through the little town to look around. There was a nice little market and several shops and cafes but we weren't hungry because we stuffed ourselves at the WJ :) It was pretty hot, so we decided to go back to the ship and go for a swim.

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

Back onboard we headed for the Solarium pool and the frosty cocktail of the day. At 4 we went up to deck 12 to watch as we pulled out of port, I love being forward on deck 12 for sailaway.

 

Tonight is the first formal night, so both pool areas cleared out by 5 as early seating people left to get spruced up for dinner. We hung around in the Solarium for a while longer. We definitely enjoyed this pool more on this cruise than on previous cruises.

 

On the first formal night they have the Captain's reception in the Centrum. The Captain gives a little speech and introduces the officers; there is also free champagne :)

 

 

A few pictures from formal night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

Up next: Barcelona

 

 

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[cruizeblues]

we have an aft cabin for this cruise in june 2019 awsome cant wait

 

You are going to LOVE it!

[cruizeblues]

I am loving your review! Our group of 14 will be sailing on JOTS next May with four days in Rome pre-cruise. We are also staying near Piazza Navona and are mostly early risers so will definitely be out & about before the crowds wake up!

We have five aft cabins on deck 9...directly above where you were. The people that booked late weren't able to get those prime locations, but there's plenty of room for all of us on those balconies!

Looking forward to your next destination.....

Thanks for the info.

 

Susan

 

Thanks! You are going to have a great time!

[cruizeblues]

Thank you so much for your detailed review! Sounds like a fabulous time. We will be on the Jewel of the Seas next year with a cruise that ends in Rome, so thanks for the helpful hits. :)

 

You are welcome! We had such a great time, you will love it!

[cruizeblues]

Love the formal pic! Hope you framed that

 

Thank you! <3 we should!

[cruizeblues]

Apologies for the delay, getting back to work was hectic!

Wednesday: Barcelona, 10am - 8pm

If you have a tour booked, they will meet you at the dock. The port is about a mile or so from town, which is walkable, but it will probably take you at least 45 minutes each way and I wouldn't waste the valuable port time walking. There is a port shuttle bus that runs continuous loops into town and back for 6€ roundtrip. It drops you off near the base of La Ramblas, a tree lined tourist area where there are many shops, cafes and street performers. The Gothic Quarter and La Boqueria Market are also an easy walking distance from the shuttle drop off. You can also take the shuttle one-way for 3€ if you start out with a tour like we did and want to take the shuttle back, you can purchase your tickets at the bus stop which is very easy to find.

My son visited Barcelona during his semester abroad and he told me not to miss Park Guell and Sagrada Familia, so I looked for a tour that included these landmarks and also left time to wander around on our own. Based on positive reviews on Trip Advisor, I booked a half-day (4 hour) city highlights tour with Barcelona Day Tours. I figured that this would give us plenty of time afterwards to wander around on our own. They were very easy to work with via email, answered all of my questions quickly. Cost of the tour was 59€ per person plus 6€ pp for admission to Park Guell. This is a small group tour, with a maximum of 12 people, our group consisted of just 6. They picked us up at the port at 10:30 in a very comfortable, air conditioned mini bus. We had the option of being brought back to the ship after the tour or being dropped off in town. We requested to be dropped off at Sagrada Familia because although the tour stops at Sagrada Familia to see the outside, they do not go inside and we wanted to tour the inside as well. We enjoyed the tour, it allowed us to see things that we probably would have missed if we explored on our own.

 

 

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