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

After 2 hours, we paid Libby, used the rest rooms, then got back in the van to continue our day. We drove for 30 minutes along the Amalfi Coast, with a brief stop to take some photos along the way.

Our next stop was Sorrento. Diego dropped us off and said we could have 2 hours to shop and eat lunch, and he pointed us in the direction of the stores. Tons of shops and restaurants lined the pedestrian street, selling every type of lemon product you can imagine- soaps, lemoncello, candy, candles, clothes, etc.

I made a huge mistake on this trip...my first cruise...my first trip overseas...and I did not listen to any of the videos that said PACK LIGHT!!!!

I packed WAY to much...I was so close to the 50lb limit going out that I had NO ROOM to bring home anything good. All these great things we saw, I could not purchase because I had no room to bring home...

Next time I will pack lightly so I can bring home MANY great things! LOL

I bought several souvenirs as we walked around the town, and I also bought a prosciutto and provolone sandwich for lunch.

There were also several gelato shops, but Diego told us to go to one called Gelato Primavera because it was famous for it's over 70 flavors!

I ordered straciatella and mint chip

I made a huge mistake on this trip...my first cruise...my first trip overseas...and I did not listen to any of the videos that said PACK LIGHT!!!!

I packed WAY to much...I was so close to the 50lb limit going out that I had NO ROOM to bring home anything good. All these great things we saw, I could not purchase because I had no room to bring home...

Next time I will pack lightly so I can bring home MANY great things! LOL

haha well that's just a good excuse to go back and do it all over again!!

When I took my Caribbean cruise in December, I only brought a backpack and a rolling carry-on bag, so I definitely didn't have any space for souvenirs. I figured, I was spending most days at the beach and wouldn't want to buy anything anyway (and I was right!) When I planned this Mediterranean cruise, I knew there was no chance I could spend that many days in Europe and not do any shopping, so I kept my big suitcase down to 35lbs and had extra space in my carry on bags too, so I could bring home lots of goodies!

I am really enjoying your review. We did a similar cruise several years ago and would love to do it again. So nice that you could share this experience with your Mom. Best wishes to you on your move and new job.

I am really enjoying your review. We did a similar cruise several years ago and would love to do it again. So nice that you could share this experience with your Mom. Best wishes to you on your move and new job.

Thank you!

Hi again.

Your review just keeps getting better and better.

Incidentally, I have a red Fiat Panda almost identical to the car on the left in this photo:

They don't sell the model in the US, but as you might have noticed, it's quite popular in Italy.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying your words and pictures. Thanks again.

I loved those carpets and your photos of Pompei. That is one place I really want to see. Do you thing the two hours was sufficient time to see everything?

Excellent review! I just discovered it so have a lot of reading to do :). Do you remember how much the tix price for the wall in Dubrovnik was? Thanks. We are doing almost the same trip on the Regal Princess in Aug/14 so this review will be a great help.

Hi again.

 

Your review just keeps getting better and better.

 

Incidentally, I have a red Fiat Panda almost identical to the car on the left in this photo:

 

 

They don't sell the model in the US, but as you might have noticed, it's quite popular in Italy.

 

Anyway, I'm really enjoying your words and pictures. Thanks again.

I loved checking out all the tiny cars all over Europe! Sadly, I didn't get to ride in any of them, but it was still fun to look from the outside hehe

I loved those carpets and your photos of Pompei. That is one place I really want to see. Do you thing the two hours was sufficient time to see everything?

Considering that we wanted time to enjoy Sorrento and Positano on the same day, we had to limit our time in Pompeii to just 2 hours. If we were doing a land trip or could have somehow had more time to spend in Pompeii, I'm sure we could have filled an entire day exploring the ruins. The one thing I wish we could have spent more time looking at was the stone casts of the bodies. We only got to see one, and it was under glass and in a very crowded dark room. I have seen photos from other reviews where people saw many more of them and I think that would have been interesting, but I guess we just didn't have enough time for that in our limited 2 hours. Overall, I thought Pompeii was the best of all the ruins we saw on the cruise :)

Excellent review! I just discovered it so have a lot of reading to do :). Do you remember how much the tix price for the wall in Dubrovnik was? Thanks. We are doing almost the same trip on the Regal Princess in Aug/14 so this review will be a great help.

Thank you! The tickets to the city wall cost 90 Kuna (which is about $16 USD) and they only accept Kunas or credit cards. They do not take Euros. You still have quite a while until your cruise, but I hope you enjoy the planning phase! I booked this cruise 9 months before we sailed, but it was so much fun to plan out all the details that it really extended the cruising experience :)

Diego met us at the arranged time, and we drove along the Almafi Coast to Positano. The drive was beautiful, and we stopped at another view point on top of the hill to see the coast before descending into the town.

Diego dropped us off in town and said we could have 1 hour to walk around. I walked all the way down the hill and down 85 stairs (yes, I counted!) to the black sand beach. The views were amazing, and it was worth the work out.

This is one of my favorite photos from the entire trip. He was painting the church up on the hill:

Now it was time to head back up the stairs...

The lemons are HUGE... just for reference, these are my sunglasses!

It was only 85 steps down??? Seemed like a whole lot more than that on the way back up!!! :-)

I love these pictures. Yours are so much brighter than mine were of the same places. My pictures of the hill are no where near as colorful as yours. And we saw the same man painting...not sure if it was the same painting or not...awesome shot! This was one of my two favorite days! Pisa day and Pompeii day were by far the best! The views both those days were spectacular!

It was only 85 steps down??? Seemed like a whole lot more than that on the way back up!!! :-)

I love these pictures. Yours are so much brighter than mine were of the same places. My pictures of the hill are no where near as colorful as yours. And we saw the same man painting...not sure if it was the same painting or not...awesome shot! This was one of my two favorite days! Pisa day and Pompeii day were by far the best! The views both those days were spectacular!

haha yea, I actually counted the steps as I walked up because I was curious... it was 85 steps, but that's not counting all the uphill ramps!!! That's probably why it felt like it was more ;)

Diego was always aware of the time and knew that all aboard was at 6:30pm, so he said we had to leave Positano by 3:45 in case there was traffic. We got back to Naples at 5pm, so Diego drove us around Naples briefly and let us walk around the town square for 10 minutes.

When we got back to his van, Diego had bought us a little snack- he said it was Naples' version of a canoli. It was a pastry with an orange cream filling. It was okay, but I didn't think it was worth the calories haha Diego then drove us back to the port, and he gave us a bottle of lemoncello to share on the ship. Overall, this was one of my favorite days of the entire trip, and I hope to someday have the opportunity to return to the Almafi Coast and spend more time exploring!

We took very fast showers and arrived at dinner a little late at 6:15pm, but it was fine. We got to watch the sail away at 7pm as we ate dinner.

Udon noodles with seafood and chicken as a starter

Escargots

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Dessert menu

Amaretto cake

Sunset as we left the port of Naples

No one knew any details about the show for tonight except that it was called "Man of Steal." It turns out, the performer was a master pick-pocket and he was the best solo performer of the cruise! He was very funny and a unique entertainer. After the show, we went back to the cabin to rest up for Rome and my favorite towel animal was waiting to greet us!

I am loving your pictures, especially of the Amalfi coast and poisitano - it was one of our favorite ports and unfortunately, due to camera issues, one we had no pictures of. Great review!

I am loving your pictures, especially of the Amalfi coast and poisitano - it was one of our favorite ports and unfortunately, due to camera issues, one we had no pictures of. Great review!

Thank you! The Amalfi Coast is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen... I don't even think the photos can capture it!!

We booked direct flights on Delta from JFK to Venice and home from Barcelona, and we upgraded to the economy comfort seats because we wanted a little more leg room and a power outlet. I guess that's it for the planning phase, so up next will be a little review of various aspects of the cruise :) Please let me know if you have any questions along the way!

How did you like the economy comfort seats? Did you think it was worth the extra money? Looking at booking that for my trip.

Love the review. Great pictures.

We booked direct flights on Delta from JFK to Venice and home from Barcelona, and we upgraded to the economy comfort seats because we wanted a little more leg room and a power outlet. I guess that's it for the planning phase, so up next will be a little review of various aspects of the cruise :) Please let me know if you have any questions along the way!

 

 

 

 

How did you like the economy comfort seats? Did you think it was worth the extra money? Looking at booking that for my trip.

 

Love the review. Great pictures.

Honestly, I keep going back and forth on if it was worth it to pay for the upgraded seats. One of the biggest advantages is that you get priority boarding in zone 1, but we booked with Delta AmEx credit cards, so we got priority boarding regardless. The seats have 4 inches of extra leg room... it was a noticeable difference (I flew on a similar Delta plane two weeks later in regular economy seats, and I could tell I definitely had more leg room on the Europe flights), but if the person in front of you reclines their seat, you will notice it despite that extra space haha

One thing I would highly recommend is that if you do the economy comfort, make sure there is at least one more economy comfort row behind you. We were afraid to be too close to the station where the flight attendants prepared their food, fearing it would be noisy when we were trying to rest, so we booked the last row in the economy comfort section. Unfortunately, what we did not think of is that the people in the row behind us didn't have any extra leg room... it was less than ideal to feel the knees of the man behind me digging into my back for the entire flight!

Tuesday, September 17th - Rome, Italy

The day had finally arrived! After months of planning and anticipation, I was finally going to Rome!!! This was obviously one of the ports I was most looking forward to when planning this trip. As soon as I knew my cruise would be going to Rome, I knew I wanted to see as much as I could in 1 day since I had never been there before. The problem was, my mom spent 4 days in Rome less than a year ago and she had no desire to repeat everything she just saw. It didn't take much time for us to realize that we should split up for this port day and each do our own thing. She ended up organizing her own tour with Rome in Limo, geared towards people who have been to Rome before (Jany even let her use the 50 Euro discount for booking multiple tours, even though I was also benefiting from that discount for my tour!)

I booked the Rome Highlights tour and found 7 people from the roll call to join me. Like usual, I woke up at 6:15am, ate breakfast on Lido, and met my group at 7:45am in the lobby. We met our driver Enrico just outside the port area at 8am. Enrico told us a tidbit that made me even happier I booked all these tours with Rome in Limo... he said that he and all the other Rome in Limo drivers arrive at the port 1 hour before our tour is scheduled to start! He had been in the port area since 7am even though we weren't supposed to meet him until 8am! He said that way, the drivers can discuss any traffic issues they know of, and if someone has problems with their van, they have time to get a new van before the tourists get off the ship.

We drove for 1 hour and 20 minutes from the port area in Civitavecchia into the city of Rome. Our first stop was the Pantheon. Enrico left us right next to it and gave us 20 minutes to explore. I listened to the Rick Steves audio guide as I walked around and took lots of photos. Sadly, it was an overcast day, and the light streaming in from the oculus didn't create the direct beam of light effect which I have heard sometimes happens. The room seemed brightly lit, and lacked the spiritual effect that I was hoping to experience.

Next, we drove to the Trevi Fountain, and Enrico left us a 5 minute walk away, pointed us in the right direction, and told us to meet him back at the van in 20 minutes. When we arrived, there were a few people there, but it wasn't very crowded. Of course, we all threw coins over our shoulder in hopes the legend would come true and we could all return to Rome someday!

Oh my, the Trevi Fountain was my favorite in Rome when I visited in May on the Carnival Sunshine. I am thoroughly enjoying & re-visiting these places with you on your fantastic review. I, too, used Rome in Limo for 3 tours in Italy. They are a top notch tour company. I can't wait for the rest of your day in Rome. Keep those pictures coming!!!