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

[rhinomike]

Did you book any of your tours or did someone else? If you did can you post links to the tour companies. I think we want to do a private tour at every port.

[deladane]

Did you book any of your tours or did someone else? If you did can you post links to the tour companies. I think we want to do a private tour at every port.

 

I booked the tours we took in Naples, Rome, and Livorno through a company called Rome In Limo. All 3 tours were fantastic and I would highly recommend booking with that company. There is a realllllly long thread in the Italy forum on here that gives tons of great reviews in case you wanted to read a bit more about them. Their website is http://www.romeinlimo.com, and they have a ton of different itineraries for all the Italy ports (except Venice).

 

For Athens, Izmir, and Messina, other people on my roll call were in charge of booking those tours so I actually don't know the names of the companies we used.

[rhinomike]

Great. Thank you for the info. I will take a look.

[deladane]

By the time we got back to Ancient Ephesus, it was much more crowded. Bill did a good job of finding a tree where we could stand in the shade while he explained the history, but most of the time we were just out in the 90+ degree direct sunlight.

 

 

We spent about an hour and a half walking around, taking photos, and avoiding the heat in the sun.

 

 

 

 

Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory... notice the 'swoosh'?

 

As the morning went on, it got more and more crowded and hot (notice the people carrying umbrellas for shade?)

[deladane]

 

The Terrace Houses were inside a tent/building to keep the moisture out, so it was shaded in there but still quite warm. Luckily, even though the forecast said the high temperature would be 95 degrees, it was not humid so it felt more comfortable than Athens yesterday (which was 95 degrees with high humidity!) The Terrace Houses charged an admission fee above that of the entrance to Ancient Ephesus, but it was included in the cost of our tour so it was nice to see Bill paying for all of these tickets and we didn't have to take out our wallets. Here are photos from the Terrace Houses...

 

 

 

 

 

[Phlybice]

You pictures and subjects are the best I have seen on this website!

[pb19]

I booked the tours we took in Naples, Rome, and Livorno through a company called Rome In Limo. All 3 tours were fantastic and I would highly recommend booking with that company. There is a realllllly long thread in the Italy forum on here that gives tons of great reviews in case you wanted to read a bit more about them. Their website is www.romeinlimo.com, and they have a ton of different itineraries for all the Italy ports (except Venice).

 

For Athens, Izmir, and Messina, other people on my roll call were in charge of booking those tours so I actually don't know the names of the companies we used.

 

We heard only great things from those who used romeinlimo.

We used JoeBanana tours at least four times

1) Naples

2) Rome

3) Florence/Pisa

4) Messina

These were all great tours. I would HIGHLY recommend JoeBanana. The only probably we had was the size of one of the vans on one day... it was our trip to Messina. We had a mini-van filled with 8 passengers and a driver. That put three people in each of the three rows of seats. None of us are"tiny" people so we were pretty packed in that day. No need for seatbelts, we wouldn't have budged if we'd gotten in a wreck. LOL! All of the other days we had a larger 15 passenger type van so we had a little more breathing room.

 

In Turkey, we used TAYF tours. There were only 6 of us plus the driver in a very large van. We had plenty of room. I have to say this was my least favorite private tour. My husband says it was not the fault of the tour company, it is just that Turkey has such a different culture than Italy, so it didn't quite meet my expectations.(The Italian tour guides with JoeBanana really spoiled us for the most part!)

Our tour guide for TAYF was very nice and a very informative guide...he even arranged a wonderful outdoor lunch for us with authentic Turkish food that was really good. BUT, I really wanted to see The Terrace Houses and he told us that the line was too long (and it was too hot) and that we really didn't have time to see them...but then he stopped us at THREE different "shops" to "experience" their culture. We made stops to see a ceramics/pottery making display (with a chance to purchase pottery of course)...another stop where they made Turkish rugs (a little bit of a pressure sales type of thing) and then finally a stop at a leather shop where we were served drinks and given a private runway show for the six of us...of course this was also followed by time to shop for leather goods. None of it was really high pressure sales although the rug guys tried pretty hard to come down on their prices enough to get us to make a purchase. I can't say that I didn't enjoy the stops...they were kind of interesting...but I couldn't help but think we would have had time for the Terrace Houses if we hadn't made those stops to listen to the sales pitch. I would have rather seen the Terrace Houses. I've heard they are fascinating.

In Greece we used a company called,privategreecetours, they were excellent as well. All our private tours were wonderful...like I said in an earlier post the Carnival tour was our least favorite excursion. The private groups seem to be the way to go!

Just adding my two cents worth to agree with Dana, AGAIN. :-)

 

Denise

[pb19]

Dana, do you remember what the big hole in the ground was at The House of the Virgin Mary? I have a picture of it as well but don't remember what it was...

We got there at a good time of day, we had NO line, no wait at all to get into the house. But it was getting busy by the time we left there. We didn't really have any time to shop so I only got a quick glance of the things that were in the booths for sale.

I am still enjoying your pictures so much!!!!

Denise

[Sailor_Sally]

Thanks for a great review !

[deladane]

You pictures and subjects are the best I have seen on this website!

 

wow, thank you so much! :)

 

 

Dana, do you remember what the big hole in the ground was at The House of the Virgin Mary? I have a picture of it as well but don't remember what it was...

We got there at a good time of day, we had NO line, no wait at all to get into the house. But it was getting busy by the time we left there. We didn't really have any time to shop so I only got a quick glance of the things that were in the booths for sale.

I am still enjoying your pictures so much!!!!

Denise

 

I think that was a baptismal pool, but I could be wrong? All the facts are blurring together in my head at this point haha

 

 

Thanks for a great review !

 

Thank you!

[deladane]

When we exited the Terrace Houses, we spent some more time walking through Ephesus to see the Celsius Library, the marble streets, and the large amphitheater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[skye02]

Wonderful review! I've never really had a desire to do any cruise other than the Caribbean beachy ones, but your review makes me want to start saving up for this one. Also, your photos are fabulous. I can't wait to read the rest!

[deladane]

 

 

Looking back towards the amphitheater:

 

Sarcophagus:

 

After we exited Ephesus, Bill gave us 15 minutes to shop. He told us the stores outside the exit gate were cheaper than those immediately inside the gate, so I took his advice and went out to the stores. I loved the lamps but was afraid of how to transport them back home, so I decided not to buy one.

 

 

I saw signs for "genuine fake watches" in several stores in Turkey and I thought it was pretty funny... but no, I did not go into those stores!

 

 

I ended up buying a purse and a trivet, and I was able to bargain them down to 8 Euros for the two so I was happy with that (I think it was originally 6 Euros for each item).

[deladane]

Wonderful review! I've never really had a desire to do any cruise other than the Caribbean beachy ones, but your review makes me want to start saving up for this one. Also, your photos are fabulous. I can't wait to read the rest!

 

Thank you! It is definitely not the same kind of relaxing vacation you get when you visit the Caribbean, but it is such an amazing experience and something I think everyone should do at least once :)

[deladane]

Next, we went for lunch. In planning this trip, I read many reviews complaining of terrible experiences at pushy carpet stores who forced you to buy rugs after you ate their lunch. I did not want that to happen to us and ruin our day, so I was hesitant about making a lunch stop. Luckily, we had a fantastic experience! Bill took us to a school where students learn to make rugs. It was in the countryside with pretty views, and they were waiting for us to arrive.

 

 

 

They set up tables outside under the shade of a canopy, and served very good food for lunch. Appetizers included an eggplant dish, 2 types of salads, a yogurt mint dip (which reminded me of Greek tzatiki sauce), and bread. That was served family style, then they brought out individual plates with our entree of grilled marinated chicken breasts, rice, french fries, fried cheese, and tomato. We could buy a can of soda for 2 Euros, or wine and beer for 4 Euros, but the food was included in our tour price.

 

 

After we ate, we spent half an hour learning how they make the rugs, starting with getting silk from the cocoons:

 

 

 

[Scrap Addict]

Ephesus was my favorite stop on our Eastern Med tour a while back. So much more intimate than Athens. We didn't have an opportunity to tour the terrace houses, but they look amazing. Looks like I'll have to go back!

[swim4lifekac]

Dana, do you remember what the big hole in the ground was at The House of the Virgin Mary? I have a picture of it as well but don't remember what it was...

We got there at a good time of day, we had NO line, no wait at all to get into the house. But it was getting busy by the time we left there. We didn't really have any time to shop so I only got a quick glance of the things that were in the booths for sale.

I am still enjoying your pictures so much!!!!

Denise

 

I remember it being a Baptismal pool as well.

[pb19]

Thanks, somehow I thought it was a baptismal pool but the more I looked at it the more I had my doubts...didn't look deep enough. Oh well, they might have done sprinkle baptisms instead of dunking baptisms. :-)

[Jenna1983]

Great review so far. I miss Europe so much. I really hope Carnival returns in 2015, so I can make another trip. We were on the itinerary before you and it was such a wonderful trip overall.

[hiplbl]

Thanks Kathy! I actually just spotted you in the background of one of my photos in Athens ;) It was great meeting and touring with you and Joel!

 

Kathy, we wanted to email or FB you and Joel, but we do not know your last name or email address. Can you email me the info? I want to tell you what a great time we had with you, and I have several pics of the 2 of you that I could tag. email me

hiplbl at aol dot com

 

 

Thanks Dave! I might not have as much energy as I would like, considering the 10 hours of sleep I got each night this week still wasn't enough to recover from my cold, but writing the review is a fun distraction from the real world :)

Loving memories of the tours we took together Dave. And LOVING having a new gaming buddy in your beautiful blonde!!

[hiplbl]

We're you or your mother exhausted after the cruise? We are planning a Europe trip. We are thinking 1 week sightseeing before the cruise. Then the 12 day cruise. Then another week sightseeing. 4 weeks total. Me, my wife and 4 boys. Ages 14 to 18. Is that too much? I am worried we ill be exhausted.

 

Her mom here! Yes, exhausted, but exhilarated. Try to plan some down days, laundry days, etc. Cruise is very port intensive, so you will be tired. You will be away for so long, that you can plan some very leisurely days in between. ALso, bring lots of over the counter meds. Everyone on the ship had colds, etc, and we knew and had cold pills, advil etc. Much harder to find in European stores. BUt if you have the time for a trip like that...go for it! The memories overtake the exhaustion!!

[rhinomike]

Her mom here! Yes, exhausted, but exhilarated. Try to plan some down days, laundry days, etc. Cruise is very port intensive, so you will be tired. You will be away for so long, that you can plan some very leisurely days in between. ALso, bring lots of over the counter meds. Everyone on the ship had colds, etc, and we knew and had cold pills, advil etc. Much harder to find in European stores. BUt if you have the time for a trip like that...go for it! The memories overtake the exhaustion!!

 

Thank you for the advice. It is greatly appreciated. We will take lots of meds with us.

 

We have spent the last few weeks planning. It is all booked. We will be in Europe for a month and visit 12 different countries. I hope it isn't too much or too long.

[Bluemoon319]

We got off the vaporetto at the Mazzorbo stop. The man operating the vaporetto said we should go towards the left to walk to the bridge to Burano. Along the way, we passed a small park small garden park which had a public bathroom. We continued along the path along the water until we saw the bridge, and we ended up near the Burano vaporetto stop. We crossed the bridge into Burano and walked through the narrow streets behind the houses until we found the water canal leading to the clock tower and the shops in town. Burano was very quaint, and I thought it was worth the trip. All the houses are painted in different bright colors and they reflected beautifully off the water.

 

 

 

 

It was a long day and we were exhausted by the time we got back. We went to sleep with excited anticipation for boarding the Carnival Sunshine the following morning!

 

Thanks for this wonderful review. I am enjoying it thoroughly. I had really wanted to do one of these cruises, but just couldn't afford it till 2014. Alas, no more Carnival European cruises. I am sad that I missed out, but happy for you and your mom that you were able to go. I am enjoying cruising vicariously through your review. Thanks.

 

I think these pics would make good puzzles. :)

[Bluemoon319]

 

 

 

 

Or maybe this one. Now that would be frustrating.

[Captain Carnival]

What - No Cat Pics!!!??? :D