Jewel of the Seas: Chania, Crete and Giovanni’s Specialty Dining

Today was our fifth consecutive port day and with both of us battling colds we were pretty tired so decided to make it a sea day in port.  Crete was the stop I was least excited about and I had never make any scheduled plans although did think we’d do self-walking tour of the port city of Chania.

Morning

We had a leisurely breakfast in the main drinking room where I had the Spanish omelette.

We then went to our room and got ready for a morning at the solarium pool.

When we got there, no one else was there and we had our pick of spots.

It never did get busy and was lightly populated when we left at noon for lunch.

Afternoon

I made an appointment for a massage for 2 pm and then we had lunch in the Windjammer.  Nothing exciting there except they finally had my favorite coconut cookies.

I went for my massage while Steve moved to the outdoor pool. The massage was very good and by the time I was leaving it was 3:30. There was a sell for some lotion and another service. But not a hard sell.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading in the cabin.

Giovanni’s Specialty Dining

Tonight we were having dinner at Giovanni’s specialty restaurant. We arrived right after 6 and were seated at a table next to the window.

Tonight’s scenery was spectacular as the we passed the rest of the island of Crete for some time.

We started with a bread basket which included some interesting and good tasting options.

Our bread plates if you will were filled with oil and balsamic oil. We were also given roasted garlic, sea salt and olives to enjoy with our bread although we didn’t use it.

Our waiter, Kevin, walked us through the menu and we made our choices. He also was kind enough to get my favorite cocktail, habanero grapefruit dacquiri, from the schooner bar right outside.

I started with pork belly….

Steve had caprese salad.

We both enjoyed them and then had the pasta course next.  Not surprising but Steve went with spaghetti bolognese.

I had the mushroom risotto.

the risotto was SOOO good; I restrained myself from eating every last bite so I had some room for dinner.  For our entrees we both ordered the filet mignon.

It was huge and I could only eat  about a third before giving up. Steve had all of his. It was good (not great) as were the sides with it.

Next was the dessert course. Kevin rolled over a cart with our choices including tiramisu, pana cotta, chocolate cake (which looked great) and cannoli.

Our choices were cannoli (me)…

and tiramisu.

We had coffees with our dessert. I loved the cannolis and Steve liked the tiramisu but thought it didn’t have the ladyfinger layer.

After dinner we went back to the cabin as the seas were getting rough and I wanted to take some medicine.   This guy was waiting for us.

By the time we went to bed, the ship was rocking quite a bit and it put us out!

Here is the Rhodes port tips (click for the full PDF).

Here’s today’s daily compass (click for the full PDF).

The daily offers (click for the full PDF).

If you missed the other parts of the recap the links are below.

Next Vacation: Greek Isles Cruise
Port Plans for Greek Isles Cruise
Jewel of the Seas: Pre-Cruise Travel Day 
Jewel of the Seas: Italy at Last
Hotel San Giorgio
Pre-Cruise Day in Civitavecchia
Jewel of the Seas: Embarkation
Jewel of the Seas: Messina, Savoca and Castelmola
Jewel of the Seas: Taormina and Messina
Jewel of the Seas: Sea Day 1
Jewel of the Seas: Mykonos
Jewel of the Seas: Chops Grille
Jewel of the Seas: Rhodes
Jewel of the Seas: Santorini
Jewel of the Seas: Athens Acropolis, Olympic Stadium and Changing of Guard
Jewel of the Seas: Athens Agora, Archaeological Museum and Temple of Zeus