Jewel of the Seas - Suez Canal Cruise Review

In December 2019 we were on a 16 night 'Jewel of the Seas' cruise from Civitavecchia (Rome) in Italy, through the Suez Canal to Dubai. 
Below a review of the 16 days with pictures and videos.

This is not a review of the cabin or the ship, but rather a day to day review including the excursions in Messina, Santorini, Aqaba and Muscat. More pictures, videos and Cruise Compass will be added later.

First day is at the end of the blog. At the end of this blog page choose 'Older Posts' for the second page of the blog.
Last day at the top.

You're welcome to send me an email if any questions. 

Two videos from the cruise:

Link to videos from the Cruise (more to follow)

Day 1 - Civitavecchia, Italy
Day 2 - Messina, Italy
Day 3 - At Sea
Day 4 - Piraeus, Greece
Day 5 - Santorini, Greece
Day 6 - At Sea  
Day 7 - Suez Canal, Egypt
Day 8 - Aqaba,  Jordan
Day 9 - Aqaba, Jordan
Day 10 - At Sea
Day 11 - At Sea
Day 12 - At Sea (Gulf of Aden)
Day 13 - At Sea (Gulf of Aden)
Day 14 - PAt Seat
Day 15 - Muscat, Oman
Day 16 - Arrival Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Traveling Home

We arrived at Dubai Airport at 11 pm.
Check-in on LH631 from Dubai to Frankfurt and LH824 from Frankfurt to Copenhagen. 
The flight to Frankfurt departed at 01:50 - a nice view of Dubai as we departed - though a bit difficult to photograph. Seven hours flight with arrival in Frankfurt at 06:00 am
In Frankfurt, there was time for breakfast in the Lufthansa Lounge before the last hour's flight to Copenhagen, where we arrived after one hour at 9 am

Cruise Compass

Cruise Compass from the cruise

day 1 

I plan to scan and post all the 16 Cruise Compass. 

Until done please email me and ask for details.

Day 16 - Arrival Dubai

Early in the morning we sailed through the Strait of Hormuz and the final stretch to Dubai. 
Again today we saw whales and dolphins as we had breakfast on the aft deck. 
Followed the arrival into Dubai while having lunch - we were supposed to arrive at 1:30 pm, but it had a Costa ship in our berth, so we had to wait and were almost two hours late. 
Immigration in Dubai was very tedious - first we had to pick up our passport which we handed in when we boarded - then we had to go down to the terminal building for a face to face identification and our the passport stamped - they collected the passport and we got them back at 9 pm. 
In the restaurant we got Caesar salad and fish / lamb chops. 
At 10 pm we disembarked - we had bought a transfer from the cruise terminal to the airport.

Dubai Skyline

Goodbye to our waiters

Dubai skyline by night

Day 15 - Muscat, Oman

We arrived in Muscat, the capital of Oman at 7am - the city is surrounded by high mountains. 
At 08:30 am our Muscat excursion tour started. 
First to the city's old market, Mutrah Souk - In Dubai we previously bought nuts and spices, so we went in search of the street with spices - most shops sold local souvenirs, but by asking us we found a good store - and we could pay in Euro. Bought walnuts, cashews, nutmegs and saffron. 
Next we visited the Alan Palace where the Sultan lives - behind the palace there were some old Portuguese Al Jalali Fort and Fort Al-Mirani. 
After a tour of the old town, we drove to the new Muscat, where we saw the Grand Mosque and the opera. Muscat was a positive surprise - nice and incredibly clean city - and very friendly population. 
The afternoon went with reading, knitting, sun and exercise on the deck. 
After eating in the restaurant for 14 days, we decided to enjoy the good weather on our balcony. Got cheese and bread in Windjammer and enjoyed a bottle of red wine. 
Ended the evening with a tour of the ship.

Street in the old Souk

Spices

Buying nuts

Alan Palace

Grand Mosque

Opera

Goodbuyl Muscat

Dinner at the balcony

Evening at the deck

Day 14 - Arabian Sea

The day was total relaxation on the ship. Breakfast and lunch in Windjammer - overlooking the first bay of Aden before we sailed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into the Arabian Sea in the morning. 
The sea was very calm - a water with a lot of plankton/algae, many seabirds and fish - we saw fly fish, humpback whales and flocks of dolphins. 
In the restaurant in the evening we ate coconut fried shrimp, lamb shank and pavlova for dessert. 
We ended the evening with a walk on the deck in the full moon's glow before going to bed.

Fried Schripms

lamb shank

pavlova

Day 13 - Gulf of Aden

Heading east through the Gulf of Aden - incredible with almost sea views and fine sun - enjoy the sun on the deck and the fine weather, cafe latte and a great sunset from our balcony. Dolphins swim along the ship but difficult to photograph. 
Tonight we ate pumpkin soup and a New York steak.


Gulf of Aden Crossing https://youtu.be/WIsn5w9Q6Os

Dolphins along the ship

Sunset

A drink in the Lounge

Day 12 - Arrival of Santa

Granted - hard to get into the right Christmas mood with 25 degrees C - but Thursday was the day Santa Claus arrived at the ship for the benefit of little ones - there have long been Christmas trees and garlands in the Center and Christmas music is played everywhere on the ship but Santa's arrival as well as entertainment with Christmas carols in Centrum in the evening lifted the Christmas mood a bit. 
Tonight it was formal - for dinner we got a seafood risotto and fried chicken breast.

Coffee at the balcony

Arrival of Santa...

... and Christmas Carols

Day 11 - Safe Haven

On our way through the southern part of the Red Sea on our way to Aden Bay, which we will pass for the next three days. We prepared for the increased safety on board due to the risk of pirate boats in the Gulf of Aden - there was the 'Safe Haven' exercise where we were briefed on how to behave in the event of encountering pirate boats in the Gulf of Aden. In the middle of the Red Sea, we met with a ship from NMG Maritime which brought on board additional safety equipment with a RIB craft. In addition to the usual RCCL security personnel, there are also security personnel from Protection Vessels International. 
Tonight we got Caesar salad, fried salmon and a birthday cake - RCCL has its 50th anniversary i 2019.

Loading safety equipment

Work done

Back at the mother ship

Day 10 - The Read Sea

We are now heading south through the Red Sea. 25 degrees C and a light breeze. The Red Sea descends between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It is 2,250 km long and has a maximum width of 355 km. The maximum depth is 2,130 m. To the north, the Red Sea ends in two narrow bays that enclose the Sinai Peninsula: the Gulf of Suez on the western side and the Gulf of Aqaba on the eastern side. On the west bank from north to south pass: Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea - on the east bank are Saudi Arabia and Yemen. To the south it connects through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to the Gulf of Aden and on to the Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea). 
A day of reading, knitting and the mandatory rounds on the deck - tonight we got salmon as starter and the saltimbocca we didn't get yesterday. We enjoyed the sight of a fine full moon over the Red Sea from our balcony.

Day 9 - Wadi Rum, Jordan

After breakfast, we were on an excursion to Wadi Rum. The tour started with a short tour of Aqaba, the only port in Jordan, with its history dating back to 4,000 BC. We continued up the mountains and into the protected desert of Wadi Rum with mountains of sandstone, rock caves and steep canyons. We stopped at Wadi Rum Station, where vintage train from the ore track was on display. After a short stop with a nice view of Wadi Rum, we drove to Captain's Desert Camp, a collection of Bedouin tents located in the middle of the desert. Here we were served lunch consisting of grilled lamb and chicken, lots of salads, fried rice, bread, tea and cakes. We saw several Bedouin cities and flocks of camels. Was back on the ship at 15. 
Tonight we got tuna carpaccio for starters - we ordered saltimbocca but were served a dish with pork - the chef discovered the mistake and promised us saltimbocca the day after - Key Lime Pie for dessert.

Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum

Bedouin City

Bedouin City

Bedouin City

Baking the bread

Lunch in the Bedouin tent

The lunch

Day 8 - Arrival Aqaba

We managed to get 7 hours late on our crossing of the Suez Canal. Instead of scheduled arrival at Aqaba in Jordan at 07 am, we arrived at 2 pm. According to the plan, we were to sail from Aqaba on Saturday night, but now we stayed overnight and all Saturday's excursions were moved to Sunday. This meant that instead of six days at sea, we only have five and the speed was increased so that we could arrive in Oman at the scheduled time. 
In the morning, we sailed the Red Sea and into the Gulf of Aqaba with the Sinai Peninsula on the left side and Saudi Arabia on the right. At the bottom of the Gulf is Eilat in Israel located on the left bank and Aqaba in Jordan on the right. 
Enjoyed the afternoon sun with a Cafe Latte on our balcony with great views of Eilat. For dinner we got a salad for starter and Gordon Bleu for the main course.

Eilat, Israel

Sunset over Israel

Walking on the deck

Day 7 - The Suez canal

We should have started crossing the Suez Canal at 04:30 am, but the canal had been blocked by a wrecked ship and we were therefore delayed for six hours -  anchored outside Port Said along with many other ships that were also going south through the canal - of which three Maersk ships: Kirsten, Mogens and Marchen Maersk. 
The Suez Canal was opened in 1869 and expanded by a parallel canal of 32 km in 2015 so that today it has a capacity of about 80 ships a day. The canal is a total of 192 km long - of which 163 km are dug canals - in the middle of the canal are Bitter Lakes. The canal is a military zone and along the canal were several military missions and checkpoints. Sinai desert on the left and Egypt on the right. At 10:30 we started our crossing - passing Port Said with heading south as the first ship in our convoy with Mogens Mærsk and Marchen Mærsk as the subsequent ships. At noon we passed the Al Salam Bridge, through the new extension of the Canal and past the El Ferdan railway bridge which is no longer in use. At 4 pm we reached Ismailia and sailed into Great Bitter Lake. The Canal is an impressive edifice and interesting to follow in what goes on along the canal; tugs, pilot boats, small car ferries, trains, very small fishing boats and all the other ships in the canal. Through the new channel, which has two lanes, we could see the upper part and chimney of the ships on the opposite road (to the north) behind the high sand walls. 
It got dark at 4:30 pm, so we couldn't follow the last part of the trip through the canal. Late in the afternoon we went to a cocktail party for those who have sailed many times with Royal Caribbean. At 9 pm we sailed out of the canal at the Port of Suez on our way to Aqaba in Jordan. A transit time of 10 hours. Tonight we got a salad for starters and substitute for redcurrants - a very dry white fish - not a good substitute

Entrance to the Canal

City along the Canal

Mogens Maersk

Al Salam Bridge

Al Salam Bridge

El Ferdan Railway Bridge

New Canal extension

.. with two lanes

North bound ship

Fishing boat

Military out look

Connection Canal