Deciding on a cruise..

[SunFunCruiser]

Well, recently back from Alaska and spent almost two years researching the trip on this board. Everyone was so great and our trip was wonderful, I thought I would start here again.

Now, we have decided our next big trip is a cruise on the Med.

 

Facts:

 

It will most likely be Carnival

Most likely it will be as soon as school gets out up north, which will have to be after June 25. probably need to go right away.

It will be a large group of 25 family members.

We are all experienced cruisers, some have been to Europe, some not.

Preference will be to leave out of Italy, since a few of us will be staying there before the cruise.

 

That is about all I know.

Any suggestions on which ports? Where to start? maybe I can start planning from this. I'd like to be ready to book as soon as the rates come out.

 

Thanks so much!

[Keith1010]

If you prefer Carnival then I would suggest looking up the itinerary for the Carnival Freedom ship. It begins and ends in the port that seves Rome.

 

The itinerary includes the following:

 

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy ; Naples, Italy ; Dubrovnik, Croatia ; Venice, Italy ; Venice, Italy ; Messina, Sicily, Italy ; Barcelona, Spain ; Cannes, France ; Livorno, Italy ; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

 

You might want to consider arriving a few days early so that you can spend additional time seeing Rome, get over the jet lag and ensure that any flight delays to not affect you making it to the ship on time.

 

Now, there are lots of other cruises lines that sail the Mediterranean but since you mentioned that you would prefer Carnival that is where you might want to start. And the ports it visits are quite good.

 

Of course you could look up other cruise line itineraries to the Med such as Celebrity Cruise Line or Royal Caribbean or Princess just to name a few.

 

Keith

[alinehu]

We took the Carnival Freedom this summer to the Med,It was excellent!!!!!

We love it!

[cruz1234]

We did RC Voyager of the Seas a few weeks ago. We left from Barcelona and went to France and Italy on the cruise. It was wonderful..I did alot of research on the ports so I felt we got the most out of each of them.

In hindsight I realized a few things...

 

1. We arrived in Barcelona about 2pm the day before the cruise. We had jet lag and didn't get to see a whole lot in Barcelona. So I would arrive 2 days before the cruise. If your schedule and pocketbook will allow it.

 

2. Our cruise was very port intensive. We left on Sat. and everyday from Sun until Thursday we were in port, and we were off the ship the whole day sightseeing. We then only had 1 day at sea and we spent this trying to pack and get ourselves together to leave the ship.

We all said in hindsight next time we would try for a 10 day that had a couple of seas days in between so we could rest a bit and enjoy the ship.

 

3. We did 3 days at the end of the cruise in London, next time we will do all of our touring pre-cruise because by the time we got done packing and getting off the ship we really would have been content to head home. We were really tired..we made the best of our days in London but next time would do it pre-cruise.

 

These are just the things we found that we felt would have made our trip even better than what it already was. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone..but I really felt that after going all the way over there that we should have done a longer cruise.

 

Good luck with your planning :)

[SunFunCruiser]

Thanks for the tips so far.

 

Yes, we prefer CCL. It seems to work the best for us with a large group of people, various ages, some young children.

The Freedom looks good. Maybe that is a good start. I'm just not crazy about the size of that ship.It looks like I will only have two choices of CCL Ships.

How did the large amount of passengers work for you in the Med.?

 

Also, I'm not one to book excursions through the ship, in fact i don't think I have ever done that before. But, if you do, do you pay USD? Or Euro for them.

[SunFunCruiser]

Oh, how has the weather been at the end of June beginning of July? Does the 4th of July play into the trip at all? Knowng it's a US holiday, I was just wonderimg of there would be any effect in the Med. that week.

[cruisemom42]

Oh, how has the weather been at the end of June beginning of July? Does the 4th of July play into the trip at all? Knowng it's a US holiday, I was just wonderimg of there would be any effect in the Med. that week.

 

The 4th of July will not have an effect. However, prepare for it to be both very hot and very crowded any time from June through August. (Not intended to discourage you at all.....just better to be prepared!)

[SunFunCruiser]

The 4th of July will not have an effect. However, prepare for it to be both very hot and very crowded any time from June through August. (Not intended to discourage you at all.....just better to be prepared!)

 

 

UGH, that's what I figured. I don't have much choice in the dates. Half the family lives in the south, we get out of school end of May (would be the perfect time to go) and the other half lives in the north, where they get out end of June. Then we go back beginning of August. So, that is my window.

Not too worried about hot, being from FL, although cool would be lovely.

 

Is there a way around crowded?

[cruisemom42]

UGH, that's what I figured. I don't have much choice in the dates. Half the family lives in the south, we get out of school end of May (would be the perfect time to go) and the other half lives in the north, where they get out end of June. Then we go back beginning of August. So, that is my window.

Not too worried about hot, being from FL, although cool would be lovely.

 

Is there a way around crowded?

 

 

I have a few thoughts:

 

1) Pack your patience. It will be crowded and there will be times you'll have to wait in lines, on traffic, etc. If you go into it already resigned, it will help.

 

2) Don't plan too much into a day. Do your research and figure out what you really want to see, then prioritize even further, especially if you are doing things on your own. Leave the site you are least excited about for last, in case you run out of time.

 

3) Be flexible. If you want to spend more time having a leisurely lunch or just relaxing on the beach (with kids, I image this would be a big plus!), then just do it. You are only going to get a "flavor" in each port -- hopefully one that will make you want to return for a longer stay.

 

4) If you really want to maximize what you can see/do in a day (for instance, in Rome) then seriously consider booking a private guide/driver. Yes, it is expensive, but you will get much more out of your day than either going on a ship tour or trying to do it on your own. Smaller ports definitely lend themselves to doing things on your own, however.

 

Good luck!

[alinehu]

We were worried about the size of the ship too , but we didnt have any problem, not anything that you would encounter in any other cruise or cruise line.The ship is perfect for groups of different ages there is entertaiment for all and the places we saw were amazing.This time of the Freedom we went from June 6 -18. About the heat It was ok for us we live in Puerto Rico (80 -82 at the most)It is worst at home, believe me and different with the humidity, but the mornings and specially nights were chilly.The first time we went to the Med it was from June 15 to July 3. I wasnt that bad either. July and August are the worst month for crowds and heat . Another good thing is that both times in June it didnt rain not one day,all the days were beautiful!!

About crowds, do your homework there are some ways and tricks to avoid that. A great suggestion for you would be DO Private tours!! With a large group is going to be much cheaper than cruise tours we did that both times with a group of 14 the first time and a group of 10 this time. They know the best times to go to some places,You are going to get inside the Vatican without doing the line, the would make reservations at museums for you to avoid lines , etc. I highly recomend this!! It worked great for us. Our trip was perfect!! Please ask if you have other questions.

Check this websites for private tours They are excellent!!

http://www.benvenutolimos.com

http://www.driverinrome.com

Ps Everything on the cruise is in US dollars;)

[SunFunCruiser]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

I do totally agree with not over scheduling. This is a tip I used when doing our Alaska trip and it was a great tip! We were exhausted just doing what we did, I couldn't have imagined doing more. Some of us did more than others.

 

Okay, so it's worth it to do private tours even with the ship excursions being in USD, good to know.

 

I guess we'll deal with the large amount of people on the larger ship, but I'll still hold out hope that they will put out a "Spirit" class ship by then;)

 

Okay, I'll take any other suggestions, maybe what you think is most importatnt to visit at each port?

 

Ugh, it's so hard to start over planning another trip. lol

[alinehu]

About whats most impt to visit in each port it will depend on what the other that have been already to those places saw but I would recomend;

Rome- Stay pre cruise that is a most !! Vatican is a must, colisseum, pantheon, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Fontana de Trevi etc, etc.You can do it with a private tour.http://www.driverinrome.com You can choose one of the tour or do something custom made. Or take the metro.

Naples- Amalfi Coast stunning!! I highly recomend Umberto and Giovanni Benvenuto for a private tour.Also Pompeii

Venice- You can do on your own

Dubrovnik- WOW!! Old City. walk the walls!!

Messina- Taormina

Barcelona- Gaudi, Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, Mountjuic, Las ramblas. In Barcelona we also had a wonderful guide Jose Soler http://www.pepitotours.com

Cannes - You can do Monaco-St Paul de Vence- Eze

Livorno- Florence and Pisa We also did private tour with any of these 2 companies.They would make reservations for the Galleria and the Uffizi.

These are my suggestions :p

[SunFunCruiser]

I'm filing all your info in a folder. This is how I planned the Alaskan adventure.

I have no idea what is at any port, so no expectations. I've only been to France in Europe.

So, this is all a big help. I'm off to a great start already and it's only been one day! I love this board! Thanks :0

[alinehu]

:eek: Sorry to keep talking but Im very passionate about this things, I love every minute of my cruises to Europe! I would also recomend reading the blog of the Carnival Freedom cuise director John Heald to know more about the ship and ports of calls.http://johnheald.wordpress.com/

[SunFunCruiser]

:eek: Sorry to keep talking but Im very passionate about this things, I love every minute of my cruises to Europe! I would also recomend reading the blog of the Carnival Freedom cuise director John Heald to know more about the ship and ports of calls.http://johnheald.wordpress.com/

 

That's prefectly fine!! I appreciate it!!

If you ever need help with Alaska or Disney let me know! lol

[suezcruise]

Hi SunFunCruiser:

 

We sailed on Carnival Freedom's sister, the Liberty last summer. This was a 12 night cruise that left out of Rome, with ports of call in Naples, Venice, Croatia, Sicily, Barcelona, Cannes, and Livorno, back to Rome.

 

We sailed in mid June and even then it was hot and crowded. The ship itself was huge and sailing at full capacity, but did not feel crowded. There are four formal dining times which helps. There were two show times, but we always found a good seat. Even at the buffet there were never long lines. So I would not worry about being on such a large ship.

 

We chose to sail with Carnival for several reasons. The first one being value. The second, the wonderful ports of call. Third, the ease of finding roundtrip air out of Rome.

 

I have copied my review of our cruise:

 

Just back from 12 night western mediterranean cruise on the Carnival Liberty.

After booking this cruise over a year ago, these boards have been so helpful to me in planning our trip, I just wanted to add my two cents, and maybe help some of you.

 

I will post a full review of the ship on the Carnival review board. We are a family of six celebrating our son's high school graduation. Two grandparents, two parents, and two teenagers, 18 and 16.

 

We do not have an unlimited budget and after careful planning and with the help of these boards, we planned for three private tours and the rest of the ports we did "on our own".

 

This cruise was roundtrip from Rome (port of Civitavecchia). Leaving on June 12, 2006.

 

PORTS OF CALL;

 

NAPLES - 6/13/06 - 7am-6pm; Sunny 78 degrees;

 

This was our first port of call and our first private tour booked with http://www.seesorrento.com. The owner of this tour company is Mr. Marcello Maresca, who was very prompt in returning my emails. He was already booked for this date with fellow cruise critic members on our same cruise, however we got one of his drivers, Guisseppe.

 

Guisseppe met us promptly on time on the pier with a sign with our name on it. He drove a new and air conditioned Mercedes van with picture windows for touring. He had an accent that took a little time for the ear to get acclimated to, but that added to the charm of this tour. Guisseppe was very informative about local culture, history and points of interest. He was a very kind and warm gentleman who made a special effort to help my parents in and out of the van at each stop. He kept mentioning that the day was ours and anything we wanted to do, just let him know. We drove off from Naples over to Sorrento where Guisseppe lives. Stopping for lots and lots of photo opportunities! This town is beautiful, full of lemon trees and olive trees as well. These were the most gigantic lemons we had ever seen, approximately the size of grapefruits.

 

We continued on and over approximately 1,029 hairpin curves and turns. The views are simply breathtaking. The beautiful aqua-marine sea below, with rock cliffs rising out of it and little postcard villages clinging to it's edges after every turn. A word of warning, if you are prone to car sickness, take your meds before beginning this tour. Our daughter thought she had outgrown this malaise, but unfortunately it came back. Guisseppe was very understanding, stopping for water and dramamine, which helped her after about 20 minutes.

 

Continuing on to a ceramic factory inside of a cliff's cave. Then on to the town of Positano. Staight out of a postcard, beautiful! Then on to Amalfi.

This is where the best prices are for ceramics and limoncello.

 

Then we went up to Ravello and on to San Giovanni for a most memorable and deliciouso lunch ever had!!!! We met Marcello and his group there. We ate Al Fresco in a cannopied garden with a magnificant view of the valley and sea below. This was three course lunch with ever-flowing local wine and generous portions of locally grown produce for salads and appetizers, cheeses wonderous bread, olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pastas, topped off with several desserts and lucious and chilled limoncello! Even the table linens were beautiful. AHHH la Dolce Vita! For sure!

 

We then headed off to Pompeii where we were met by a private and credited tour guide named Francesco. He was a wonderful guide who really did bring Pompeii to life! He is a professor with two master degrees and is very interesting to listen to, very informative, answers all questions and seems to truly enjoy giving the tour! We were here for about two hours.

 

OVERALL; This tour was one of the highlights of our entire cruise! Marcello and Guisseppe made us feel so welcome to their beautiful country side. They truly love what they do and love to share it. We felt so pampered. Would love to return for at least a week! Hopefully.....someday soon!

 

COST: This was our most expensive tour, but worth every penny! Private tour from 7:30am-5:50pm was a total of $550 Euros for all six of us. Lunch was $20 Eu. each, again well worth it, and guide to Pompeii was $100 euro which we split with the three tour groups Marcello had, and again well worth it. Entrance to Pompeii 8E each.

 

TIP: If you are prone to car sickness, please take necessary meds half hour before beginning this trip. Also, Pompeii is very hot and no shade so wear hats and bring cold water(can be bought outside of entrance). Also, bring extra film or memory sticks/cards. There are so very many photo opps on this trip!!!!!

 

SHOPPING: Best prices for the lovely blue and yellow ceramics (Amalfi coast colors) are found in the town of Amalfi, with lots of different little shops. We bought our limoncello here in pretty ceramic bottles hand painted with lemons on them.

 

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After a day at sea, next stop:

 

DUBROVNIK, CROATIA - 6/15/06 - 7am-7pm; Sunny 73 degrees:

 

This port is lovely, and about two miles from the old town Dubrovnik. There was one other ship in port. The ship had a shuttle for $10 euro roundtrip. We saw some people walking it, would be a long hot walk back at the end of the day though.

 

As soon as we entered the Pile Gate entrance to the city, we purchased tickets to climb the wall, approx. $6 euro each. Kuna is the money here, and I have converted prices to euro. They do accept Euro at most places though.

 

We made our way up the steep steps to get up on the wall and started walking toward the sea. What spectacular views of the sea, the red clay roof tops of town below and panoramas of the entire surrounding area. There are several places to purchase water, gellato, postcards up on the wall. There are also about four areas that have steep steps all along the wall. There are exits to get off the wall at several places as well. After making our way around the entire wall, with lots of photo stops, we made our way down into the city. A lovey city, but crowded with tourists. The shops seemed all the same and very touristy. Labels on lace and other products were from China and India. The thing to do here is eat. There are hundreds of cafes here on every alley and corner. The fancier ones seem to be in the back of town, there also some outside of the walled city on the water front. We chose to get lost on the back alleyways and had pizza and local beer at a little outdoor cafe. Total cost for six, 40 Euros. Quite a nice rest for the feet and enjoyment for the belly as well.

 

OVERALL: This is a lovey place. You would have enough time here to do a half day excursion into the countryside and return to the old town for walking. We would love to return, and would probably venture out into the country side next time.

 

TIP: If you want to walk the wall, get there as early as possible. It gets crowded and is mostly a single file pathway around. Also the sun gets hotter as the day goes by. Be aware that there are several areas of steep stairs to climb here. We all did fine, some of us in flip flops. There are resting spots on the wall to sit and enjoy the views.

 

SHOPPING: The old town shops seemed very touristy, with many products coming from China and India. We did purchase a local wine for dinner that evening, and a little heart(symbol of Croatia). Also there were several vendors set up near the ship. We found the best prices right here and they do take Euros for sure. I purchased little hand embroidered sachets filled with lavender and a hand crocheted doillie here for the best price as compared to the town.

 

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VENICE - 6/16-17/06 Overnighting here 2pmFri-5pm Sat; Sunny 77 degrees;

 

 

Well, what can I say. Venice is truly a magnificant city. How awesome to see it arriving by cruise ship. It took almost two hours to pass the city to dockage. The views are incredible from the starboard side when entering and port side when leaving.

 

The ship was docked in a commercial port about two miles from Venice. There was one other cruise ship in port and several ferries. Our ship offered a shuttle service for $10 roundtrip to the area where you can catch water taxis. There is also a Vaporetto service about a block and a half from the ship's dock. This is $10 eu round trip, bringing you right into the Piazza San Marco.

 

We took the Vaporetto in and wow, amazing the Piazza San Marco! The magnificant buildings, famous cafes, hourdes of tourists, and thousands of pigeons, almost overwhelming to the senses! We decided to do Venice on our own, equiped with AAA spiral guide.

 

I was a little dissapointed with the dirtiness and overwhelming crowds of tourists,(just like us though).

 

We did a required first-timer gondola ride. It was wonderful, with a very nice Gondolier who tried to sing for us and was very informative about the history of the area. We went out the Grand Canal and saw the Bridge Rialto, did several back canals and saw Cassanova's home and several major sites.

The cost for six was $80 euro total for a 50 minute ride.

 

We then ventured over the Rialto and got lost in the various "islands". The prices seemed better on this side and it was less touristy. Kids wanted masks and this is where we purchased them, about $15 euro each. Also purchased Murano glass wine stop for about $15. The Murano glass can be found every where. We chose not to go over to murano Island.

 

The grandparents chose to go back to the ship for dinner, the rest chose to stay in Venice for the evening and eat there. The grandparents got the better end of the deal here. We knew about the surcharges for the famous cafes at San Marco and on the grand canal. We chose a cafe a little off San Marco, and were completely ripped-off! They served us items we did not order, the items we did order were much higher on the final bill than on the printed menu, there was still a surcharge and our "lovely" waiter reminded us when handing over the bill, that the tip was not included. My glass of wine was a whopping 23 Euro(one glass, not a bottle!). Yes, we were taken!

 

The next day we got an early start. I had a pre-arranged "secret tour" of the Doges Palace. Made by calling this number in Italy several months in advance: 011-39-041-520-9070. They gave me a booking number, which you had to present, but no surcharge. We just made our way to the ticket counter, avoiding the long line outside the Palace, the price for this tour was $16 each, only $3 more than the regular entrance price. The private tour also included a palace tour. The secret tour gets you into the eaves and roof tops of the palace that the general public does not have access to. Our guide was very nice and very informative on the whole history of Venice as well as the Doges Palace. We learned of the govenment and the comings and goings of the infamous Cassanova and his escape from inprisonment here.

This tour was the highlight of Venice for us and the palace was incredible.

 

OVERALL: Glad to get see Venice, would probably not go back unless part of a cruise iteniery. Disappointed in the dirtiness and extrem crowds! And the bad restaurant experience. Venice was also very hot and humid.

 

TIP: Eat meals on your ship, you can survive walking Venice on Gellato. Do take a Gondola ride, negotiate price before hand. Try to get inside at least one historical building. Just get lost on the back alleys and avoid the crowds if possible.

 

SHOPPING: Everything in Venice is very expensive. Masks and glass can be found at every turn. If you must buy, do so, then don't compare, inevitably you will find a better price some where else. Also, our ship offered Murano items once we pulled out of port for much better prices.

 

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After a day at Sea:

 

MESSINA, SICILY; 6/19/06; 7AM-5PM; Sunny 81 degrees;

 

This is a commercial port right in the heart of Messina. You could walk the town from the ship. There was one other cruise ship in port and lots of ferries.

 

This was our second private tour booked with: http://www.sicilylife.com. I was a little wary, after reading several recent negative posts on this board. Not to worry, we had a very nice and handsome tour guide here named Alessandro.

He met us on time on the pier and drove a new VW van with air conditioning and tour windows. Again, he mentioned over and over that the day was ours and anything that we wanted to do or wanted to see, just let him know. He lives in Taormina.

 

We headed for Mt. Etna in the early morning to beat the tour buses. The trip up is amazing, seeing the paths of lava flow on the mountain sided. We made it up to the Silvestre crater with only one tour bus there. Alessandro walked the crater with us giving us all of the history and telling of the views below. Husband and son opted to walk up to the top of the 2002 erruption.

While the rest of us headed to the very little restaurant/bar/shop/restroom place. Word of warning here: with only one tour bus parked the line for the ladies room took about half an hour. Also, most restrooms in all of Italy/Europe do not have toilet paper so come prepared.

 

The little bar here was offering free samples of Compari and orange juice and their local Volcanic liquer. Wow, that stuff could cure the common cold and all else that ails you! We did make a purchase of a small bottle of the Volcano Liquer with tiny horse and cart (symbol of Messina)on the top.

 

After heading down from Mt. Etna, we went on to stop at the lovely Murgo estate and winery. Alessandro gave us a full tour of the winery, champagne production and what a lovely view. This was a wonderful stop. The locals were filling up their private bottles directly from the wine vat. I asked if I could take a picture, they were more than happy to accomadate me and seemed happy to be in the pix. We purchased wine here for our dinner that evenig and more for our cellar, as this is not imported into the US. Also bought catcus honey here and on site pressed virgin olive oil.

 

Next off to Taormina. Alessandro asked us if we would like a leisurely typical sicilian lunch for about $30 eu each, lasting about 2 hours, or would we like to do lunch on our own. We chose lunch on our own in the lovely town. We found a cafe off the beaten path and had pizza and local wine for about $40 for all six of us.

 

Again, this little town with little streets was very, very crowded. We went up to the greek theater for about $6 euro each. Wonderfu views and very nice gardens. The shopping here was very touristy, however they do have a lot of lovely ceramic shops. I did purchase a little hand painted and signed nativity.

 

OVERALL: Loved this day with Alessandro. A tour with someone who lives where you are visiting is so much more informative and interesting than just doing it on your own! However, our cruise critics buddies took this same tour with the same company and a different guide. They did not have such a good day. So we were fortunate to have had Alessandro as our guide!

 

COST: $360 Euros for six of us, Very well worth it, ask for Alessandro.

 

TIP: Mt. Etna is 6000 feet up. Bring gum to chew for those ears popping.

And try to get up there first thing in the morning as the crowds just get larger as the day goes by.

 

SHOPPING: Again, very touristy shops in Taromina. We felt like our best purchases were at the Murgo winery. The local wine at dinner on the ship is a perfect way to end the day and port of call!

 

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Cruising by the Island of Stromboli in the evening. Captain slows down the ship. Cute little island with two villages on either side, huge crater in the middle, and she did "burp" for us, twice.

 

after a day at sea;

 

BARCELONA - 6/21/06 - 7am-5pm; Sunny 75 degrees;

 

This is a commercial port about a mile and a half from the bottom of La Ramblas. There were three cruise ships in port and many ferry boats and commercial ships. The ship offered a shuttle to the bottom of La Ramblas for $5 euro roundtrip. Once there, we hopped on the Bus Turistic for $17 euro each for all day fare, hop on / hop off. They have three bus lines that cover all of the main tourist attractions in Barcelona. The Green line is what you get on here. We made our way up to the second level with open air seating.

Headed past Columbus circle to the marina , aquarium, zoo, olympic village, and onto the red line up the pg. de Garcia to walk the Sagrada Familia.

 

Wow, La Sagrada Familia, never seen anything like it before. We opted to walk round the entire church noticing the little details. It was a hot sunny day in Barcelona and we decided not to wait in line to go inside nor to climb the towers.

 

Hopped on the red line to Parc Guell. This requires a lot of walking up steep hills and then lots of stairs to enter the Parc. Once up, incredible views of the city below. Lots of whimsicle architecture here as this park was designed by Gaudi.

 

After a long wait for the Bus Turistic we hopped on and stayed inside as it was very hot up on top. Grandparents chose to take the blue line back to the ship. They passed by the Spanish Village, Olympic stadium and Parc Montjuic. Said it was very scenic. The rest of us chose to take red line to the Rambla for walking and tapas. We walked around the Barri Gotic area, and onto La Rambla, very crowded, just window shopped and finally sat at cafe and had tapas and local beer before making our way back to the shuttle.

 

OVERALL: Barcelona is a beautiful and huge city. It's largeness makes it seem less crowded, but you cannot see it all in one day. I wish we would have stayed on the Bus Turistic in the early morning for an overview, it takes about two hours. In the afternoon it is very hot and buses and lines to get on the bus are very crowded.

 

TIP: know that you cannot see this entire city in just one day. Concentrate on one particular area. and take time to enjoy the cafes.

 

SHOPPPING: Just fast walking window shopping here, no time. Did grab a local wine for dinner that evening on the ship!

 

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CANNES, FRANCE - 6/22/06 - 9am-8pm; Sunny 84 degrees;

 

This is a tender port. The port uses their own tenders, and they went very smoothly, leaving about every 20 minutes.

 

Once in Cannes, we headed for the train station. Purchased roundtrip tickets to Monaco for $15 euro each. The train makes about 8 stops on route and it takes almost two hours to reach Monaco.

 

Monaco is a beautiful city. When we were there a horse jumping event was going on right down at the bay. Amazing to see these lovely animals jumping with multi-million dollar yachts in the background!

 

We made our way up to the palace in Monte Carlo just in time for the changing of the guard. Had not planned that. This is a beautiful little village up on the top of the hill. Wonderful garden trails with breath taking views of the mediterranean below. Wish we had brought a picnic, would have been a perfect place for one, with beautiful views and cool breezes, and amazing flora and fauna. This is also the cleanest place we have ever seen.

 

After making our way back to the train station we were hoping to stop at Eze, after talking with information was informed that the train only stops there every hour. So afraid of cutting our time too close, we chose to ride back to Cannes and just walk around.

 

Cannes is lovely with beautiful designer shops. Daughter bought a nice sun dress off the main streets with more reasonable prices. Lots of nicely clad ladies walking around, always with a cute little dog in tow.

 

Walked past the Film festival center on way back to tender area.

 

OVERALL: Cannes is a lovely city, but we were glad we went on to Monaco which was the highlight here.

 

TIP: No taxis here in Cannes, did find one lone taxi and asked what the fare would be to Monaco, $130 euro one way. Train was very easy and only $15 euro roundtrip. Train was hot though, so bring bottled water for each way.

Also, Monte Carlo gardens would be a lovely place to picnic, wish we had!

 

SHOPPING: Everything here is very expensive. Fun just to window shop.

Enjoy a french pastry.

 

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LIVORNO, ITALY; 6/23/06- 7am-7pm; Sunny 74 degrees;

 

This is a huge commercial port. We had two other cruise ships in port. Did not see any taxis.

 

This was our last private tour booked with: http://www.sunflower-tours.com. With tour guide Giovanni. Giovanni met us on the pier promptly. He drove a nice new van, a ford I believe, with lovely individual air conditioning and nice touring windows. We drove straight to Pisa first thing to beat the tour buses.

There were only a few there. The leaning tower is awesome and we took the obligatory leaning pictures. Then headed off for Florence. Giovanni dropped us off right in the heart of the city. We were able to see all the sights in two hours, of course not entering any. I had booked a time to visit the Uffizi, but we opted not to do so this time. We chose to do the tuscany country side instead. Once again, this city was overrun with tourists! Once outside of the city we stopped at the overview and took some great shots of the Arno and Ponte Vecchio bridge and city below.

 

Off to tuscany. This was an amazing drive. Every where you looked was the scene of a beautiful vineyard, olive trees everywhere, rollings hills and picturesque villages and villas. We stopped in the quiant village of Greve for lunch, and had a wonderful time. More scenic driving and on to a winery at the top of a hill, called Castello di Gabbiano. Very nice wine tasting. Purchased some wine for dinner that evening and some for the cellar back home. They also had a lovely art shop here. Bought some hand painted and signed ceramics from the artist herself!

 

OVERALL: This was a wonderfull day. Giovanni was fantastic, very knowledgable and informative and kind, again asking us to tell him what we wanted to see and do. Would love to go back here and spend more time in a villa!

 

COST: $480 for the six of us, well worth it! Lunch $80 euros for pasta and Antipasta and wine for the six of us.

 

TIP: You must visit the Tuscan country side, it is amazing!

 

SHOPPING: Again not much time to shop. Wine was our purchase here.

 

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CIVITAVECCHIA, ROME, 6/24/06 last stop

 

Did the ships tour called Holy Rome. Be forewarned that there are extremely long lines to enter the Vatican on Saturdays. We waited in line for almost three hours. Was it worth it, yes for once in a life time viewing of the Vatican, museums and Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica.

 

This tour lasted about 6 hours and we were then dropped off at the airport Hilton. The Hilton offers a free shuttle into Rome running every hour. After freshening up and some lunch we took the shuttle in to Rome at 6pm. This was a very nice time to visit. The crowds had thinned down and the sun was fading making for really nice lighting for pictures. We walked by all the major sites in two hours and headed back to the hotel.

 

OVERALL: Would not do the ships tour, would have rather done it on our own, but that long line to get in the Vatican probably we would have skipped had we not already paid for it with the ships tour.

 

Rome was much better than anticipated. Maybe it was the evening hours that we toured the city, it had a lovely soft quality to it. Nice way to end the vacation.

 

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All in all this is a wonderful "once in a lifetime" experience. Although very expensive, it can be managed with some planning.

 

We went in mid June and I have posted temperatures for each port. We enjoyed very sunny days and moderate temperatures, mostly in the mid 70's, but it always seemed very hot to me. So to those going in July and August be prepared. Wear hats and bring bottled water. Also there seems to be very little air conditioning any where you go. There is never any ice served with drinks. You have to pay for water. Bathrooms are very hard to find, and when you do find one, you usually have to pay to use and then will find no toilet paper.

 

We found the local McDonalds to be our saving grace in the restroom department. They always had toilet paper and were clean and free. I also had purchased little travel rolls of charmin at Walmart in the travel section.

They came in very handy.

 

This is a fast paced, port intensive cruise, wonderful and memorable, though not very relaxing, save that for home. Enjoy the taste of each port. We found out where would like to go back and spend more time.

 

Arrivederci for now! Enjoy!

 

Sue Z.

[Maryutah]

I can't give you comparisons, but we thoroughly enjoyed the Carnival Freedom, it was a great ship, and the itinerary was so amazing, I still can't believe i've seen Italy, Greece and Turkey! I never in my life said, hey, I want to see Turkey, and the two ports ended up being such amazing experiences, I can't believe I was there!

 

This is a very port intensive trip - the bars were empty by 11pm, with so much going on, folks needed their rest, but so much worth it!!

 

There are some pictures in my sig if your interested in seeing some of the ports we saw.

 

Funny thing, we started out looking at Alaskan cruises, no idea how we ended up in the Med! :D

[SunFunCruiser]

Suezcruise! Thanks so much, that is all great info!!

It really didn't seem like it was that hot when you went. I guess it's all relative to what you are used to. We would probably have to go on the one that is after the one you went on.

We have been on the Valor, another sister ship. Not my favorite class of CCL ships.

When do they let you know which ship goes there? Don't they usually have two out there??

 

MaryUtah, we just got back from Utah. It was beautiful, but I re-named it the "melt me" state. It was 104 one day!!

Alaska was dead by 10:00. lol You should do that trip someday. it was so beautiful! The flight isn't bad from where you are either.

[SunFunCruiser]

Sue Z.

I love how you included prices, that is a big help.

[suezcruise]

Hi SunFunCruiser:

 

You are welcome! You are right about the temperatures that I posted, they don't on "paper" seem that bad. However, out on the city streets it was hot to me. Living in North Carolina, it gets hot and humid in the summer here too. I feel for the cruisers that are on the Med. cruises right now with temps in the mid 90's.

 

We just got back from Utah, Arizona and Las Vegas, where it was a mere 117 -128 degrees daily. Now that is hot, no humidity, but like you said "melt me" hot. Beautiful though.

 

I guess as travelers we can hope for ideal weather, but we have to take what we get, and that makes up part of the whole experience.

 

I believe the Carnival Freedom is now sailing both the Western Med. alternatively with the Eastern Med. And it looks like the yet to be launched Splendor will be sailing the Northern Europe/Baltic beginning mid July of 2008.

 

What ever you decide, you will have a ton of memories of all of the ports, and a few of the ship, as little time is spent on the ship.

 

We did have a aft cabin. This was our first aft, and wow, it was fantastic back there. Felt kind of like we were on our own private yacht. We had two cabins side by side, that our steward opened the balcony doors, which made our two balconies even bigger. The view from the aft is splendid. Most fellow

"afters" gathered on their balconies for each sailaway from port with beverages lifted to toast a wonderful day.

 

Sue Z.

[SunFunCruiser]

 

I believe the Carnival Freedom is now sailing both the Western Med. alternatively with the Eastern Med. And it looks like the yet to be launched Splendor will be sailing the Northern Europe/Baltic beginning mid July of 2008.

 

 

We did have a aft cabin. This was our first aft, and wow, it was fantastic back there. Felt kind of like we were on our own private yacht. We had two cabins side by side, that our steward opened the balcony doors, which made our two balconies even bigger. The view from the aft is splendid. Most fellow

"afters" gathered on their balconies for each sailaway from port with beverages lifted to toast a wonderful day.

 

Sue Z.

 

So, I guess the week I pick will depend where we go.

 

Now, those AFT cabins, I know they were really popular on the Alaskan cruise, but we encountered some rough waters. Did you? If so, how was it? I am prone to sea sickness, but take Bonine during cruises, seems to work. I usually book midship deck 6.

[suezcruise]

Hi SunFunCruiser:

 

Our Mediterranean cruise with Carnival was our very first aft cabin. We usually are mid ship too. The Med. was very calm, and sometimes almost glass like.

On the evening we were sailing to Barcelona the seas were slightly wavey, and you could feel it slightly.

 

Our formal dining room table was aft at a window, and we never felt any seas, vibrations, nor tableware even shaking, our waiter said the Mediterranean is one of their favorite cruises to work due to the calm seas.

 

I will also say, that the Carnival cruise right before ours could not dock in Livorno Italy due to rough seas, so you really never know.

 

Sue Z.

[windycitymom]

We also did the Carnival Freedom June 6th sailing and LOVED it!! Our teenagers had a great time in the 02 Club. Nothing but great things to say about this cruise. I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat.