Detailed Photo Review of Carnival Sunshine 12-Night Mediterranean Cruise 9/8/13

[deladane]

OK. This is all your fault. I came to this thread hoping to see photos of the ship.

 

And now, because of you and your need to re-post a thread I never saw the first time, I'm on the verge of booking the inaugural Vista itinerary.

 

And I haven't even seen the rest of your photos!

 

It's all your fault!!!

 

:p

 

hahaha I guess I should take that as a compliment?? ;) I take no responsibility for any cruises that are booked under the influence of my review... although if you do book the cruise, I expect to receive a commission from Carnival for my services lol

[deladane]

Can you tell me the name of the restaurant you went to in the Plaka when you were in Athens. We are going to start our cruise from there and we are staying in the Plaka and wanting some good recommendations.

 

The restaurant was called Hermion Restaurant. Here is a photo of the menu cover so you can see the English and Greek spelling of their name...

 

 

They were buried deep off an alley so it's hard to tell you exactly where they were located, but maybe you can ask at the hotel front desk if they know of the restaurant and can direct you there? The food was delicious and the outdoor patio was lovely, so I hope you find it and enjoy a nice meal there. Have a fantastic cruise!

[deladane]

Wednesday, September 18th - Livorno, Italy

 

Another early port day, another 6:15am wake up time, and another excellent burrito for breakfast! And again, we met our roll call friends in the lobby to get off the ship by 8am. Today would be the last of the 3 tours I organized with Rome in Limo, and we met our guide Rafaeli (Rafa for short) outside the port area with our oversized 8-person van. I think it was probably the same size as the 12-person vans we used in Athens and Izmir, but there were only 8 seats inside. It had a huge trunk space, so we suggested to Rafa that he should install a bathroom in the back haha

 

Once in the van, we drove for about 20 minutes to our first stop: Pisa! We arrived at 8:30am, and Rafa said we could have 45 minutes to walk around and take our photos. Since it was still very early, it wasn't crowded yet, but there were a few other tourists walking around. I really wanted to take the typical photo of holding up the Leaning Tower, but I was surprised to find out it is really hard to get the right angle for the photo! We kept walking around to different sides of the tower, and after about 30 minutes, I finally figured out a good place to stand to get the right angle for the photo haha

 

 

 

 

 

Miracle Square

[deladane]

Rafa went to college in Pisa, so he drove us around the town and pointed out some other sites besides Miracle Square, including the other leaning tower in Pisa at a church (although unfortunately, the angle is wrong to see it's lean in this photo):

 

 

 

After that, Rafa drove us an hour and a half into Florence. Most of the drive was on the highway, but we had a few moments with a view of the Tuscan countryside. Our first stop in Florence was Piazzale Michelangelo, with an amazing view over all of Florence. Rafa pointed out each of the major buildings, so it was great to get an overview of everything we would be seeing for the rest of the day.

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

 

 

 

Once we were finished taking our photos, we drove down into the city of Florence.

 

 

 

[indiaksue]

The restaurant was called Hermion Restaurant. Here is a photo of the menu cover so you can see the English and Greek spelling of their name...

 

 

They were buried deep off an alley so it's hard to tell you exactly where they were located, but maybe you can ask at the hotel front desk if they know of the restaurant and can direct you there? The food was delicious and the outdoor patio was lovely, so I hope you find it and enjoy a nice meal there. Have a fantastic cruise!

 

 

 

Thanks so much I am sure the hotel will be able to help me.

[deladane]

Our next stop was the Church of Santa Croce. Rafa dropped us off right next to the plaza, and we had 20 minutes to walk around the square. It was much more crowded here, with many large tour groups to dodge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

We got back in the van and drove through the city, and suddenly Rafa pulled up right in front of the plaza of Il Duomo! It was noon, and he said to meet him back at that spot at 1:45pm. He recommended a great little restaurant for lunch with pizza and paninis...

 

 

 

We spent the rest of our time walking around the plaza and shopping at the leather market. I found a leather purse that I really liked, and I was able to bargain the price down to half of what the vendor was originally asking, so I was happy with that. I also bought a leather bracelet and a few other things.

 

 

 

 

Anyone have any idea what this sign means? haha

[deladane]

 

 

 

[deladane]

We pre-purchased tickets to the Academia to see the David at 2pm. Rafa helped us exchange our vouchers for real tickets, escorted us into the museum, and told us to meet him back at the van in 45 minutes. We wandered through the museum and spent a few minutes admiring the David. I thought it was well worth the price of admission to see the David statue in person. It stands 33ft tall and is truly huge and breathtaking. You are not permitted to take any photos in the museum, but some people were able to subtly sneak a photo of the David (wink, wink!) After seeing the David, we went into the room with hundreds of plaster casts. This room was a pleasant surprise, and I found it very interesting to admire so many sculptures.

 

We left the museum and met up with Rafa, and he drove us to an area of the straw market. He told us to find the boar at the far side of the market and that legend says rubbing its head will make you return to Florence. He also told us where to find the duplicate David status in the Piazza Vecchio so we could take legal photos. This straw market sold the same purses for the same prices as the other leather market that was closer to Il Duomo, so I was glad I did my shopping earlier when we had more time.

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

I think this was also when we were supposed to see the Ponte Vecchio, but Rafa only gave us 30 minutes, so there wasn't enough time to go there. We did drive by it several times during the day and I was able to take several photos from the van, but it would have been nice to take 15 minutes to get to walk through it and see some of the shops (although I have heard they are very overpriced, so it isn't likely I would have bought anything anyway!)

 

 

Our last stop of the day was at a local gelato shop on the other side of the river. They had about 30 flavors to choose from, and they were very inexpensive at 1.50 Euros for 2 large scoops in a cup. It was a delicious way to end the day before our hour-long drive back to Livorno.

 

 

 

We arrived back at the pier around 5pm for the 5:30 all aboard time. We quickly got changed and went straight to dinner.

 

 

My all-time favorite appetizer: Escargots!!

 

Seafood platter

 

Chateaubriand

[deladane]

Dessert menu

 

Apple and nuts baked in phyllo pouch

 

Double Roasted Pineapple

 

We sailed away 40 minutes late (they had paged 5 names on the overhead to call guest services, so we assumed they must have contacted the ship and the captain waited for them, although we will never know for sure), and when we did, it was very rocky. At 8pm, Noonan came on the overhead speaker to announce that the Latin Nights show had to be cancelled due to the rough seas because it was not safe for the dancers to perform. He rescheduled Latin Nights for tomorrow night, and instead, one of the dancers did a one-man show. He was fantastic!! He is very funny and we noticed he was the lead singer all week. You could tell he was improvising, as it looked like his wardrobe was one of the girl's skirts from the Motown show, but he had 6 or 7 shows that he sang while dancing all over the theater and interacting with the audience.

 

 

After the show, we very carefully walked back to the cabin and packed so we could enjoy our last night on the ship tomorrow night.

 

 

Up next: France!

[isismommy]

Great story telling and pictures! BTW, what did that sign mean??? :confused:

[deladane]

Great story telling and pictures! BTW, what did that sign mean??? :confused:

 

Thank you! and I really don't know what that sign meant lol A few people thought it meant "No Graffiti" but I'm not sure.

 

Just noticed you're going on the Sunshine in a few days! Have an amazing cruise!!!

[Dutch Diver]

I hope this review will be helpful to those sailing on similar itineraries on the Vista next summer...

 

It certainly is. We're booked on the Vista inaugural cruise and we'll certainly use some of your suggestions (like the Plaza Hotel in Mestre). Thank you! :)

[isismommy]

Thank you! and I really don't know what that sign meant lol A few people thought it meant "No Graffiti" but I'm not sure.

 

Just noticed you're going on the Sunshine in a few days! Have an amazing cruise!!!

 

Thank you!!! I'll miss your posts while I'm gone but I'll make sure I catch up when I get back!!!:) thanks again for doing such a great review!!!

[deladane]

Thursday, September 19th - Marseille, France

 

Knock, knock, knock! I woke up to a knock on our door at 6:56am... it was the room service delivery at 6:56am! My alarm was set for 7am, and the requested delivery window was 7:15-7:30am, so it was quite a surprise for them to arrive before I even woke up! I got dressed, and when I got up to Lido deck, they were removing the towel animals from all the lounge chairs. I was soooo disappointed! I had read tons of reviews on Cruise Critic when other people posted photos of the towel animals taking over every lounge chair on Lido deck, so I was looking forward to seeing it in person. Apparently, it was so windy that the towel animals were blowing away, so the staff was cleaning them up and I never got to see it. Today was not getting off to a good start!

 

I ate breakfast on Lido, then went back to the cabin to finish getting ready. Noonan came on the overhead at 7:45am and said that the ship had to sail slowly overnight due to the rough seas, so we would arrive in Marseille at 10am instead of 8:30am as originally scheduled. I guess we could have used those 40 minutes that we spent waiting in port for the stragglers yesterday!

 

Our original plan for today was to share a taxi with our friends to the train/bus station in Marseille, and to take public transportation in to Aix en Provence. Now that we only had a max of 7 hours in port, we got nervous about relying on public transit. We met up with our friends and 2 other couples, and the 8 of us talked about a Plan B. We decided to find a taxi for 8 people and ask the price for him to drive us straight to Aix.

 

We met at 9:30 on Deck 1 at the forward stairs because we knew it would get very busy with people waiting to get off the ship ASAP. Sure enough, there was a handful of people already there when we arrived, and tons of people lined up after us, so we were happy to be at the front of the line.

 

It took a long time for the officials to clear the ship, but we finally got off at 10:30am. It was soooooo windy on the dock that we nearly fell over! We went straight to the taxi stand and found an 8-person taxi van. The driver said it was 15 Euros per person to drive to Aix en Provence, so we thought it was a good deal and got in the van (Carnival offered a shuttle to the train station for 14 Euros round trip, but that didn't include your tickets on the train, plus that would take way more time, so we knew this was the way to go.) Once we were on our way, the driver Adam offered us a full day tour for 350 Euro (44 Euro each). We had not planned to do a formal tour today because we had just finished 4 straight days in busy Italian ports, but we thought about it and realized it would cost us 30 Euros each just for the round trip drive to Aix, so for 14 Euros more per person we could see a 2nd town, so we said okay!

 

It took us 25 minutes to drive from the ship to the center of Aix (the train ride alone would have taken 40 minutes, not counting the time to get from the ship to the station!). We tried to ask Adam questions about the history of the region and things we saw from the road, but his English wasn't great and he remained quiet for most of the ride. I guess that's what you get when you just hire a taxi driver for the day, and not a real tour guide! No worries- the price was right!

 

We got to Aix at 11am and Adam said he would meet us at that spot at 12:30pm. We were confident he would be there promptly because we hadn't paid him yet. Notice how cold I look in this photo... it was much cooler and windier in France than it had been for the last two weeks in Europe!

 

 

There is a big market on Thursdays along the main street in town, Cours Maribeau, so we did some browsing and a little shopping.

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

We also did a little bit of the Rick Steves walking tour. I just tried to soak it all in- it was such a beautiful little town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

Rick Steves recommended a fabulous pastry shop at the end of Cours Mirabeau. My goal for today had always been to eat my way through France, so I bought a chocolate croissant and 2 mini french macaroons in chocolate and raspberry as a mid-morning snack.

 

 

 

 

 

Adam picked us up as promised, and we drove 1 hour to Avignon. Since we only planned to spend the day in Aix, none of us researched anything about Avignon and we had no idea what to expect!

 

When we arrived in Avignon, we immediately knew we made the right choice. It was an incredibly charming medieval town, with beautiful old buildings and shops lining all the streets. Adam dropped us off in the town square at 2pm and told us to meet him at 3:15 for the drive back to Marseille. We spent our time leisurely walking around the town.

 

 

 

[deladane]

 

 

 

I was hungry for lunch, so we found a little take out restaurant. They had a bunch of lunch specials for salads, sandwiches, and pizzas with a soda and/or dessert. Continuing with my plan to eat my way through France, I got a flat bread pizza, a can of Coke Light, and a huge apple pastry all for 5.80 Euros! We sat on a bench outside on the street and enjoyed our delicious lunch while people watching.

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

Adam was waiting for us at 3:15, and he drove us to immediately outside the city walls to see the famous bridge.

 

 

 

After that, we started the long drive back to Marseille. Originally, Adam said we would have time to go to Arles too, but I am glad we skipped it because we got back to the port at 4:40pm for a 5pm all aboard time! Talk about cutting it close! We definitely would have missed the ship if we went to Arles too!

 

We looked at the shops on the pier, but I didn't buy anything because it was all more pricey than at the market in Aix. We went back to the cabin to do a little more packing, and then went to our last dinner in the MDR. It was so sad to say goodbye to the people we spent the last 11 nights eating with!

 

 

Spring Rolls

 

Fried Shrimp

 

Dessert menu

 

Diet Apple Pie

[deladane]

After we finished eating, we said goodbye to our wait staff. They took great care of us all week, and they were very hard workers. This was our head waiter Hristo (Chris for short)

 

 

We went back to the cabin to finish packing and put our suitcases out in the hallway, then we went to the Fun Shops to check out the last night sales (but didn't buy anything because the prices were the same as they had been all week!) Last night, they cancelled the Latin Nights show due to the rough seas, and it was rescheduled for tonight at 9:30pm. At 9pm, Noonan came on the overhead speaker and I'll bet you can guess what he said! That's right, once again, the show was cancelled because the seas were even more rough tonight so it still wasn't safe for the dancers to perform. Instead, they moved the comedians from their usual lounge into the big show lounge, but we decided not to go. We just went back to the cabin and went to sleep early, since we had a busy day planned for tomorrow when we arrived in Barcelona!

 

[Bimmer09]

Thank you! and I really don't know what that sign meant lol A few people thought it meant "No Graffiti" but I'm not sure.

 

Just noticed you're going on the Sunshine in a few days! Have an amazing cruise!!!

 

I took it to mean no graffiti at first sight-makes sense.

 

That shop "Bechard"...those pastries and chocolates . Vive la France!

 

Thanks for showing me those yummy goodies!

 

Great review and pics.

 

Norris

[deladane]

Friday, September 20th - Barcelona, Spain

 

After 9 long months of planning and 12 incredible days in the Mediterranean, it was time for our cruise to come to an end. Debarkation announcements started at 7am on the overhead speakers. We had ordered room service for between 7:30 and 7:45am. At 7:35, I thought I heard a knock, so I opened the door, but they were knocking on the room next door several times as if no one was answering. They saw me come out but said it was not my food. We still had no delivery by 8am so I called the room service number and they said they tried delivering it but no one answered. I told them what happened and that they obviously tried delivering our food to the wrong room, so they said they would send up the food now. I was starving by this time, so I just ran up to Lido for one last breakfast burrito. I had planned to get room service because I feared long lines on Lido, but there was actually no wait for my burrito. Maybe people assumed it was closed and didn't try? Anyway, I was back in the room by 8:10 and the food arrived from room service around 8:15am.

 

We had zone 30 for debarkation, and were called to go down to the lobby to get off the ship right on time at 8:45am. We got our luggage and waited in a loooong line for a taxi for 45 minutes. The taxi cost 25 Euros with the meter running for a 20 minute drive to our hotel. We did a lot of research on where we wanted to stay in Barcelona, and decided to stay near Placa de Catalunya and the top of Las Ramblas at Hotel Lleo. It was a medium-sized hotel which included a fantastic breakfast, and it was relatively inexpensive compared to some of our other options. The lobby and hallways looked newly renovated and were very nice, but the room looked dated. The room had a mini-fridge, flat screen tv, WIFI, and a balcony and it was a nice size, but it didn't have very many outlets, so luckily we had multi-outlet power adaptors or we wouldn't have been able to charge all our devices each night.

 

 

 

 

Our room wasn't ready yet when we arrived at 10:30am, so we put our bags in the locked storage closet and went out to tour the city. We pre-purchased tickets for the red Hop On Hop Off bus online with 2-day passes. My plan was to ride the Green route today so we could see Park Guell. There was a 45 minute wait to board in Placa de Catalunya, and we could see the people waiting to board the Orange route had a similar wait. We were able to exchange our online vouchers for actual tickets right on the bus, but while we were walking to the bus stop, we passed a parked bus on the side of the road which is used as an office, so we had already exchanged our vouchers there.

 

This was the line for the Orange line:

 

Look for these signs on the sidewalk to know where to board the buses:

 

[deladane]

We spent the next 2 hours riding all over Barcelona and listening to the audio guide. They do provide you with earphones, but I would recommend you bring your own because theirs didn't look very comfortable. We sat upstairs and were able to take tons of photos along the way...