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Spirit of Adventure Cruises | Holland America Cruises | Yachts of Seaborne Cruises | Voyages of Discovery Cruises | Other Cruise Lines

Wonderful scenery, great ship, nice people
Reviewed By: Hardwicke, Selby on 7th Sep 2008
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean Cruises	Times cruised before: 3-5
Cruise Ship: Jewel of the Seas	Sailed: August, 2008
Destination: Northern Europe	Age: 36-45

We've sailed before on RCL and also on Costa and had high hopes for this cruise as we'd read so many good things about Jewel of the Seas. We loved the ship. It had a real feeling of light and space and we adored the art. We suspected that the pictures were being changed in the corridor on the way to our cabin and proved it by day 5 by memorising the order of the scenes. We were very impressed with the attention to detail that saw them move pictures in the middle of the night! We'd booked for second sitting and, despite the fact that a number of americans complained about the lack of variety at dinner, we ate something different every night and the quality of the food was very good. We had one night in Chops which was the best steak we'd ever tasted - the service was exceptional. We had a night at Portofino for dinner, which was every bit as good as we remember it from Voyager, and we did the Murder Mystery there too which was lots of fun. Our balcony room was great and we were well looked after by Gregory. We had a bigger than normal balcony with our first ever sunlounger. We didn't go to many of the shows but enjoyed the ones we saw which were predominantly the musical based ones. We loved this itinery and thought the ports were pretty, clean and friendly. Biggest surprise of the cruise was Tallinn which we'd expected to be a bit grim but which was pretty and interesting. I took a lot of photos of the architecture including one of a drain pipe in the shape of a dragon! We took a couple of ship tours for St Petersburg because we were concerned about visas. Normally we sort ourselves out and enjoy wandering. The whole day tour included the Hermitage, lunch and St Isaacs as well as the Church of Spilled Blood. Unfortunately, some of these sites were repeated on our next day's walking tour so we could have chosen better. The Hermitage was fascinating, though huge and it was a real treat to see so many wonderful pictures at such close quarters. We enjoyed the tours but really felt that we hadn't seen the heart of the country. The sail into Stockholm was well worth getting up at 6am to see the sights and we loved Stockholm and spent lots! We had a great walk around the market and were really impressed with the selection of hot food available there as well as how lovely the fresh fruit and veg was displayed. Oslo was our favourite port as we moored right next to the smaller boats and we could walk off the ship and right round town. We didn't do much in Copenhagen and it was probably the only port that we wouldn't choose to go back to. The weather was kind to us and we only had rain on one day. Despite horror stories about potential high waves in the North Sea, the seas were really calm. We met some great people who really added to our cruise experience. If they're reading this, hello to Wendy & Kev, the newly married Ray (George) & Tara and the inimitable Denise, a lively lady from Australia. We loved this cruise. The ports were more interesting than most Mediterranean ports, the ship was beautiful, airy and never felt crowded, there weren't many children and the service was superb. Top marks!
Quality of Food
Ate in Chops, Portofino, the Tides Restaurant and the Seaview Shack
Entertainment

Shore Excursions

Staff
All the staff were great. Gregory took really good care of us in our cabin
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities

Cabins

Overall Rating

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Question by Hall, South Woodford London (19 Oct 08 15:23) about this REVIEW.

Hi, have just cruised on Independance has the wow factor, but to many casual nights, anyway thinking of doing this liner for a baltic cruise next year (have done that back in 2000 with splendour but splendour & Legend both a little old & need refurbish) and had like you say a balcony lounger! never had that again so my question is were on the ship were you? hope you do not mind this question!!! hope to hear back from you.

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Question by HALL, GREAT HARWOOD (21 Sep 08 20:28) about this REVIEW.

We have booked this cruise for June 2009. What do we need to do about visa's? Do we need them? We only intend to do excusions organised by Royal Caribean.

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Answer by Glanfield, Waterlooville (16 Oct 08 12:09) to a QUESTION by HALL (21 Sep 08 20:28)

We have just come back from a baltic cruise with Carnival, in St Petersburg we booked with Denrus and were looked after extremely well by our guide Ludmila who is a professor in art and her knowledge especially in the Hermitage was second to none. Also they are less expensive than ships tours with smaller groups and they completed all the paperwork needed. As long as you have booked with an official tour company( Denrus or Alla seem to be the best two) or your cruise line then you dont need a visa. Have a great holiday you will love St Petersburg.

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Answer by Carr, Bury, Lancs (26 Sep 08 19:18) to a QUESTION by HALL (21 Sep 08 20:28)

If your doing "Official Trips" booked thru RCL you DONT need Visa'a, however a colour photo copy of your passport is required at St Petersberg only on day ONE, RCL have this covered should you forget they will remind you when checking in and they have Photocopiers at hand to help you on your way. A wonderful ship and itinery have a great time.

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