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Review: Carnival Mediterranean 12-Night Cruise


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We recently completed the 12-night Mediterranean itinerary on the Carnival Breeze. Because CruiseCritic was such a huge help for me in planning our trip, I wanted to write a review of our vacation in case it might be of help to others. :)

 

I'm planning on showing several photos of the Breeze and am happy to answer any questions about my experience on this ship. I realize it is no longer sailing in Europe, but the Caribbean, but I believe Carnival's new Sunshine ship as well as the Legend will be doing a similar itinerary to what I did. So I'll also try to touch on each of the ports and how we chose to spend our time there.

 

Our cruise itinerary was as follows:

 

1 Barcelona, Spain --- 5:00 p.m.

2 Monte Carlo, Monaco 9:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m.

3 Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy 7:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.

4 Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 7:00 a.m. 9:00 p.m.

5 Olbia, Sardinia 7:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.

6 At Sea --- ---

7 Dubrovnik, Croatia 7:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.

8 Venice, Italy 2:00 p.m. ---

9 Venice, Italy --- 7:00 p.m.

10 At Sea --- ---

11 Messina, Sicily 7:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.

12 At Sea --- ---

13 Barcelona, Spain

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We chose to fly into Barcelona 5 days prior to the cruise. We found an apartment online to rent for all of us.

 

It was my husband and I (both in our early 30's) and our 3-year old son traveling, as well as my mom and dad. We all love traveling and cruising!

 

We stayed in the Gothic Quarter in an apartment which proved to be in good walking distance to almost anywhere in the city! If you have any specific questions on Barcelona that I can help answer, please let me know! I've been to Spain a few times before, but this was my first time visiting Barcelona. It is definitely a very special city as you can see below:

 

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Can you tell me if the photos are working? This is the first time I've ever tried writing a review or uploading photos to CruiseCritic...

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I like that Itinerary hope it will b around in 2 years

 

look forward to your review

 

ANd Barcelona looks great we will be there in 9 months

Edited by jonbgd
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While in Barcelona pre-cruise, a highlight for me on this trip was definitely La Boqueria Market off of Las Ramblas.

 

I love taking photos, and I really enjoy cooking (and eating!), so this was a feast for the senses!

 

I definitely recommend doing a walking tour of this market. You don't need a guide or anything - just set aside an hour or two to wander through it. There are a couple of small bars within the market where you can order coffee, wine and small snacks in case you get hungry.

 

You'll find a variety of sweets, fruits, nuts, spices, fish, meats and also some random kitchenware for purchase.

 

For me, it was a highlight of Barcelona! I bought mainly cooking spices to make authentic paella at home!

 

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I know you're probably anxious to see the ship and hear about the actual cruise, but I wanted to share one last thing we did in Barcelona prior to boarding our ship...

 

I booked a tour of the Penedes Wine Region through Viator. I've only traveled with them once prior, and it was a winery tour of the Yarra Valley in Australia. I had such a great experience, I thought I'd give it another try.

 

It was approximately $75 each, and included tastings and three wineries as well as light snacks and round-trip transportation. It was one of the best days of our trip, and we all loved it!

 

A few pictures in case you're interested:

 

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We boarded the beautiful Carnival Breeze on September 19th. I felt so bad for people who were flying in that day and planning to do a bit of sightseeing in Barcelona prior to boarding. It started downpouring!

 

We always like to get to the ship and board as early as possible. In the past, we've been on board between 11am - 12:30pm , in plenty of time to have lunch on the Lido deck.

 

However, due to the downpour, our taxi took an extra hour, so we had quite a wait when we arrived at the terminal.

 

Since we had done quite a bit of wine tasting (see prior post), we had a few bottles of wine. I know Carnival allows one bottle per person in your check-in luggage, but I must say, they were not stringent about enforcing this AT ALL! In fact, we bought a bottle of wine in nearly every port and never made any effort to hide it. We got through security with no problems. I will say that this was definitely NOT my experience in Mexico or the Caribbean - they are on the lookout for alcohol like a bunch of hawks!

 

We probably waited an hour to get through security, wait in line for our sail & sign cards, and then wait with our boarding group number. Not too bad. We were very excited and the waiting area in the terminal had clean bathrooms - what more can you ask for?

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My initial reaction to the Breeze was that it was very very nice! I actually always enjoyed the garish designs of Farcus on previous Carnival ships, but this had a "classy" feel to it.

 

The Lido/buffet area was much nicer than any other Carnival ship I have been on. The atrium was very pretty, and we loved our cabin! We were in PortHole Cabin 1214.

 

Here are some photos of the ship:

 

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One concern I've heard from many people was with regards to crowds and long lines on the ship.

 

For us, it wasn't an issue. I felt the ship was very very large, and could easily accommodate all of the passengers without feeling too crowded and busy. I'm pretty claustrophobic and hate crowds, so I was pretty aware of this.

 

However, there are a couple of exceptions:

 

Guy's Burgers: I only tried this once (and loved it, but alas, it's quite a gut buster and definitely not healthy so I tried to stay away). I grabbed my burger around 11:45am or so. I passed back by about 45 minutes later, and there was quite a long queue. So, I'd recommend eating there in the "off hours".

 

Another crowded situation was during formal night (if I remember correctly). The watch and jewelry store outside the casino had some kind of promotion that drove people crazy! I mean people went nuts. I think it was $19.99 for a watch and matching bracelet or earrings. Anyhow, it didn't start until 7pm or something and people were lined up crowding the halls, desperate to get their $20 watch! You would have thought Bradley Cooper himself was there, people were so excited! Anyway, yeah, that made walking around very difficult and was a bit of an annoyance. But if you're in desperate need of a good deal, I guess it was worth it!

 

Lastly, waiting for the excursions in the morning. I rarely take cruiseline excursions, but we did two on this trip. The lines to get into the theater were pretty nuts, and it was very chaotic waiting to get out.

 

Other than that, we had no problems with crowds. We had "your time dining" and required a table for 5. We were immediately seated every night in the MDR.

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After boarding, we went to eat on the Lido deck.

 

This ship has so many more options for food than any other Carnival Cruise I've been on. We ate the typical buffet food for lunch, but later realized there was pizza, Indian food, BBQ, Mexican and Italian also available! Oh well, we were so hungry, we went straight for it.

 

One important note: The Carnival Breeze has an Italian restaurant called Cucina del Capitano. Reservations are recommended for dinner and the costs are $12 per adult and $5 per child. HOWEVER, they have a pasta bar at lunchtime which is FREE. You choose the types of noodles and sauce, meat, etc., that you want, and it is custom made for you at no charge! It takes a little bit of time to wait, but I'd definitely recommend it!

 

That evening we ate in the MDR. It was fun because the hostess at the front, Yvonne, had been our hostess on the Carnival Victory back in 2011! What a small world it is for cruise junkies!

 

Anyhow, we go on vacation to enjoy and have fun, and aren't looking for problems or things to complain about. That being said, I have to admit our service the first night was less than stellar. It took AGES to get our waiters attention, place our orders, and finally get our appetizers. A good 2.5 hours to eat. Yikes! Our 3-year old does great in restaurants, but after the first hour (mostly without food!), we let him start doing puzzles on the iPad!

 

The second night we had the same wait staff, and they were a bit better, but not much. They put us on a "quick" ticket because they thought we wanted to rush. And that being said, we ate and ordered at a more normal pace! Being American, I know we rush our meals and waitresses often bring us the bill while we're still in the middle of our main course. I do enjoy taking my time over a leisurely meal - but in this instance - leisure took way too long!

 

This was the first cruise for our assistant waiter though, so I didn't want to complain and get him in trouble. You could see they were still figuring out how to work as a team.

 

All in all, we were pleased with the food and the food quality, and the service just improved from there on out...

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Our first port on this itinerary was Monaco. I had been there once before, as had my parents, but it was a first for my husband and our 3-year old.

 

My mom and I planned to take the Eze & Menton tour through Carnival. At $49.99 per person, we thought it was a good deal, and a great way to visit some of the smaller hilltowns since we'd been to Monaco and Nice before.

 

The men all stayed on the ship, sleeping in, ordering room service, and playing on the water slides! Somehow the small villages and French markets didn't interest them (probably because they knew we'd be buying tablecloths, lavender sachets, and spices! :) Later that day, they ventured out to the Casino, losing around 50E or so each before deciding they had better return to the ship!

 

Our guide was a British woman who had moved to the Italian/French border (with her Italian husband) around 25 years ago. So, she knew the area well! She was very informative!

 

We had an hour or so to shop in the small village of Menton, walking through the market and taking photos. Below are some pictures from this village. It was along a beautiful corniche on the sea. The drive there was a bit windy, so if you get car sick, I'd recommend trying to board your coach first and sit in the very front (if those seats aren't needed for passengers with mobility issues). Pics from Menton:

 

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Next up: Photos of Eze and the scenery around the port of Monaco!

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After Menton, we journeyed to the small hilltown of Eze. It is a stone village overlooking the sea, and absolutely beautiful!

 

Unfortunately, it's quite commercialized and there were probably at least 6 - 8 other Carnival Coaches there when we arrived. Oh well, we still had an enjoyable time!

 

As soon as you exit the coach parking lot, there are restrooms available to the public for 50 cents. This is probably your best bet if you need the bathroom!

 

I spent a lot of time looking at the spice market before heading up into the village. Overall, it was full of pretty pricey souvenirs, many of which are most likely NOT made in France! But, it was so fun to see, and the old stone architecture was lovely!

 

I'd recommend this tour, not only for the 2 villages you visit, but the drive throughout. We saw Nice, Villefrance-sur-Mer, and many small hamlets in between. It was a beautiful morning! Pics below from the ship in Port as well as Eze and Villefrance-sur-Mer:

 

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fThanks so much for such an informative review, as well as the BEAUTIFUL pictures! I'm anxiously awaiting more. I'll be on the Carnival Sunshine June 16th!!

 

Glad you're enjoying it! You'll have a wonderful time on the Sunshine! I'm trying to convince my husband to book another one on that ship too! :p

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Great review so far! I'm on the August 30th sailing of the Sunshine with a similar itinerary. I will also be flying into Barcelona a few days before. Did you do any other tours while in Barcelona? Any recommendations for good restaurants?

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Right now i am I Eze with you and 20 instead of 53...and in heaven, your pictures capture the eternal beauty of there..i love Europe...thank you..I have to take a Europe and Hawaii cruise...and Carnival still has great intineraries and prices..thanks so much..sarah

Edited by sjn911
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