Jewel of the Seas Review (LONG) September 15-24, 2019, with travel pre/post cruise

[dani negreanu]

On 10/8/2019 at 9:04 PM, ROWSE said:

There is a bathroom at the bottom and of course I used it as my motto is "Never Pass a Potty"

and it was free.

 

Mine too ....😁

Santorini is sooo beautiful and you've captured amazing pics.

[ROWSE]

2 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Mine too ....😁

Santorini is sooo beautiful and you've captured amazing pics.

Nice to know another bathroom aficionado!  Santorini is breath taking!  Thank you for reading along!  

[ROWSE]

Athens Archeological Museum continued...

 

Probably my favorite part of the museum was seeing the Goddess statues.  First a picture of their description

 

 

Their hair is all different

 

 

 

 

 

After the museum it was off to the Panathenaic Stadium which is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble. 

It has hosted many Olympics. 

 

 

 

 

We were warned heavily by the tour guide that this is a MAJOR pick pocket area.  Thankfully everyone still had their belongings after seeing this site.

[ROWSE]

Athens continued...

We are now headed to a city overlook and our driver starts up this tiny narrow road heading upward.  There are some cars blocking from very bad parking on their part and our driver can't keep going as it would have damaged their vehicle because of tree branches.

We have to back down this little tiny road.  Kudos to the driver he did a great job.

We go to a lower area for the overlook.  Athens is one BIG city.

 

 

 

This is a look back at where we should have been.  The white building at the top is the real overlook.

 

Funny story was that when we pulled in there was a film crew there working and our driver parks right where they are shooting towards.  They have to come ask us to move.  Our friends we are with own a film company and this happens to them as well when they film.  We had a good laugh over it. 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by ROWSE

[ROWSE]

Athens continued...

Our next stop was the changing of the guards at the Presidential residence.  The traffic whizzes by

but it was fascinating to watch. 

[ROWSE]

Athens continued...

I had some issues with my post just before this one.  Apparently this site is not very fond of adding videos. 

Sorry my pictures were very tight together as it would not let me edit it. 

This was our last site seeing stop and now it was on to our free time in the Plaka neighborhood.  We would

rejoin Val and our driver later for a ride back to the ship.

The four of us found a great little place for lunch.

 

 

 

We enjoy some gyros, olives, and Sangria!  I am not sure if gyros always have fries in them here, but it was delicious

 

 

 

We had a view of the Acropolis

 

 

Our little waitress was the dearest gal and we had a lot of fun with her.  She brought us a yummy after dinner shot of a sweet drink and I think it was Mastika. 

There were hugs all around when we left. 

 

 

 

[iamcsm]

I am loving this review - and your pictures are awesome!

[ROWSE]

Athens continued...

 

After a wonderful lunch we four parted till we met again after some exploring on our own.  My hubby and I wandered checking out the Plaka area. 

 

 

We wandered across the street and could see this.  I totally had the wrong name on this earlier in my review but upon checking Google, this is in fact the Temple of Olympian Zeus.  Sorry for the mix up. 

 

 

We had really good views from outside but there was an entrance area down at the far end.

 

This wonderful archway was near us.  We ran into our friends here also.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by ROWSE

[ROWSE]

Athens concluded...

We all met our guide promptly at 3:45 and we were taken back to the ship.  It had been a wonderful day and

so much information given and sites seen it made my head swim!

My hubby had a long nap before I woke him up to go to the Diamond Lounge.  I really enjoyed those Margarita's

up there!

We met our friends for dinner.

 

 

 

 

My notes say service was a little sketchy tonight.  They happen to be doing the second waiters parade that we experienced this trip.  I think it takes a toll on them all and backs things up kitchen wise for them.  It is fun, but

I could easily do without it. 

 

We went to the 9:15 show of singer Gary Williams.  He was very good and we enjoyed it very much!  Earlier in the cruise we had turned our clocks ahead one hour, and tonight we turned it back, and tomorrow is a sea day so this was great news for all! 

 

[ROWSE]

September 22, a day at sea....

 

We slept till 8:00, and it felt great with all our early mornings we have had.  We decided to try eating in the dining room today for breakfast.  On this ship you can order off the menu, but there is also a buffet area in the middle of the dining room and that is what we ended up doing as no one came to take our order after 15 minutes. 

It was nice, but the buffet upstairs had just about the same things anyway.

We did have this amazing seat, though.

 

My notes say we played a couple trivia sessions, which are always fun and walked a bit on deck.  This had to be the absolutely calmest water cruise we had ever been on.

 

We went up on deck and found our friends.  There was a Flag of Nations parade by the crew.

 

 

 

Th

 

There were about 68 countries represented by the crew on this cruise ship.  Amazing!

After enjoying this we challenged our friends to a game of miniature golf.

It was crowded but I think our friend took a short club to give himself a handicap.

 

 

I got in to a tight spot.

 

 

BUT I think I made the putt in...

 

 

We were playing the girls against the guys, of course, and the girls won!

 

We all enjoyed a fun lunch buffet and it was quite crowded but we found a seat outside.  We bid them farewell till dinner.

Edited October 9, 2019 by ROWSE

[ROWSE]

Day at Sea continued...

Since it was a day at sea, it was also dress your best night.  We learned that as Diamond status one of the perks was a free photo each.  What a lovely perk as we never get photos.

After a pre-dinner drink we went to have a little photo session.  There are many stations for photos!  This was the picture we chose from this photo shoot.  Thank you RCCL for this perk!

 

 

This is a reflection of...

 

 

this...

 

 

 

 

The Jewel of the Seas atrium has to be one of the most beautiful at sea.

 

While we were down on deck four we ordered a Gin Martini for my hubby and a Cosmo for me and upon walking away we had a bump into each other and my Cosmo sloshed on my shoes and a poor lady standing near.  I felt so bad for her, and if she should happen to read this, I am very sorry! 

It was one of "those" nights because at dinner my hubby's water glass gets knocked over and hits me too.  I think it was just to kind of wash out the Cosmo😂

 

After a good laugh, we enjoy dinner.  Loved those Indian selections off that little menu!

 

 

Tonight's show was a production show called City of Dreams.  I loved this one!  How these young

people can remember all the dances from three production shows is beyond me!

 

We learned that port time tomorrow is an hour later than we thought, but we have an independent day in Naples so it doesn't mess us up. 

Returning to the room we find this little guy...

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by ROWSE

[ROWSE]

1 hour ago, iamcsm said:

I am loving this review - and your pictures are awesome!

Thank you for still following along! 

[Hoopster95]

On 10/7/2019 at 10:38 AM, singinalot said:

so we just did Rhodes today and I’m looking forward to hearing what you continued on to do!

 

Hey singinalot... How's things? 😀

Great review ROWSE... following quietly 👍☺️

[ROWSE]

4 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

Hey singinalot... How's things? 😀

Great review ROWSE... following quietly 👍☺️

Thank you for reading along!  I am eager to hear how singinalot's trip is going as well! 

[DrivesLikeMario]

Really a great job on the review, Kitty!  Thanks so much for the names of so many of the sites we saw because we've forgotten!  It's helping me with my photo book!

[ROWSE]

September 23, port of Naples, Italy

 

I was excited today and woke up at 4:45 a.m.  UGH!!!  Just could not go back to sleep!  We went up to Diamond Lounge for breakfast. 

We were a bit bummed as our wonderful streak of fantastic weather seem to have come to an end.  It was very cloudy, BUT, it did get better as the day went on!  We had brought light raincoats just in case and we broke them out today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These ships are very colorful!

 

 

We saw our friends a deck below taking pictures.  We were not joining each other today and it was so fun at

dinner to hear each others adventures! 

 

[ROWSE]

Naples continued...

We were off as soon as we could be.  We walked out of the port area.  Apparently a bit later they made people ride a shuttle, but we were not told otherwise so we walked out.  It was not very far. 
Our goal was to walk to the Porta Nolana railway station.

 

Traffic was unbelievable and I am still not sure how we ever got across the main road running parallel to the port.

 

 

 

We did not get lost, and that is saying something, as that is our usual thing to do!  We found the station and bought our tickets for Sorrento although we would stop at Castellammare di Stabia for our first adventure.  The friendly gal in the picture helped us the whole time.

 

 

We are on the train!!!

 

 

View to outside as we whizz a long...

 

This train has many stops!  We are on the blue line.

 

We arrive at our station and our adventure is to ride the cable car here up to Mount Faito.

 

 

You buy your ticket in the train station and come back out to the tracks and it is back by that little clock

 

 

The view of the cables and the area made these almost magical!

 

 

We really like the workings of things so we check out the inner area of the cable car

 

 

 

I am standing eager at the gate and it will open just a couple minutes before the cable car leaves.

The gate is to the left of me in the picture.  Then we go up the stairs. 

 

 

[ROWSE]

Naples continued...

We boarded the cable car with 4 other people.  It was a thing you stood up in all the way up.  It was magnificent sun at the bottom but sadly, the top was shrouded in clouds.  A bit sad as we would have been able to see Mt. Vesuvius and Sorrento, but still, it was magnificent anyway.

 

 

 

Up we go...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A look up just before we are engulfed in clouds. 

 

[ROWSE]

Naples continued....

We reached the top of Mt. Faito and of course there are no views as we are in the clouds.  There is a cute little restaurant up here.  In Italy, but they have some Mexican Food!!!

 

 

We see there are trails all over up here from this map.

 

 

Just to walk a little we take one...

 

 

I just love this picture of my hubby in the clouds!

 

 

We decide to head back down and use our train ticket before the 180 minutes is done.  The tickets are good for that long on the the trains.

Coming back down...

 

 

 

 

 

Once we hit the bottom we head for the train and have to run but we make it on the next one that just pulled in.

We are headed for Sorrento now!

[bobmacliberty]

Great review so far.  Loving your pictures.  It seems like you have the perfect arrangement with your friends...enjoying time together AND time apart.  We like to socialize but also like to do our own thing.  We are on a nearly identical itinerary next September.  Between your review, and what I'm anticipating is another great review from @singinalot, I will have a lot of planning research done!

[ROWSE]

A video of us descending Mt. Faito.

[ROWSE]

8 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Great review so far.  Loving your pictures.  It seems like you have the perfect arrangement with your friends...enjoying time together AND time apart.  We like to socialize but also like to do our own thing.  We are on a nearly identical itinerary next September.  Between your review, and what I'm anticipating is another great review from @singinalot, I will have a lot of planning research done!

Thank you so much!  We have cruised with a couple set of friends multiple times, and that has always been how we do it.  Sometimes we do excursions together, but more than not, we do our own things and then have a sharing time at dinner.  Works fantastic for all of us!   I am excited for you for next September, I wish we could do it again!  I am excited to see singinalot's review too! 

Edited October 10, 2019 by ROWSE

[ROWSE]

Naples continued...

The Cable Car ride was 16 Euro each round trip and it looked like you could also drive up and there seemed to be a trail going all the way down that we could see as we descended.  That would be a hard walk up but maybe down would work.

Earlier when we got on at Porta Nolana station there was no one on the train.  The train pulled just a short distance to the main station and everybody and their dog got on, but still no one had to stand....BUT now getting on the train was joining in with the other sardines!  It was about 11:00 I would guess.  We could hardly move!

So glad to get to Sorrento in a few stops.  We wandered, and map reading proved to be a problem again, but somehow we found a lovely piazza area and looking down we realized that is exactly where we wanted to be to go down to sea level to catch the ferry later back to Naples!  SCORE!!

We were ready for lunch!!  Neither my hubby or I snapped a picture of the name of the restaurant, but it was the best pizza I have ever eaten.

We were seated and had some wine and little snacks they gave us to tide us over till our pizza arrived.

 

 

our view...

 

 

 

 

I went to the bathroom and it was farther inside...

 

 

Our pizza had arrived...

 

 

 

A lady next to us was nice enough to take our picture...  Cheers!!

 

[ROWSE]

Naples/Sorrento continued...

After this magnificent lunch break it was time to head down to the sea.  Amazing this was right beside us.

 

 

 

Down I go...

 

 

 

Very narrow!  It was a two way street!

 

 

Can you imagine having a house on the edge of this?

 

Buses came this way too!

 

 

 

This was a really cool experience!

[ROWSE]

Naples/Sorrento continued...

Once down at the water's edge, and after buying our 2:00 Ferry ticket's which were 13 Euro each, we were able to enjoy the beauty of this rugged coastline!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There happen to be a gelato shop calling our name over here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2019 by ROWSE