Carnival Magic review with pictures!!!

[stacycakes1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2012 by stacycakes1

[stacycakes1]

After a few photo opts we finally arrived at the leaning tower. We were some fo the first people to arrive that day which was great because it allowed us to get some great pictures! The sky was also SO blue and makes these pictures even better!

For those of you planning on stopping here you can go up to the top of the leaning tower if you book it ahead of time. We really didn't think this was necessary so we just walked around and took your usual (and you will see some not so usual) pictures holding up the tower. We spent about 30 minutes here which was just enough time to get what you needed from the experience.

Here are some of the photos we took...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our First attempts at "holding up the tower didn't come out that great...

 

 

[stacycakes1]

We switched sides and had much better results!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my three favorites!!!!!! (LOL)

 

 

 

 

 

More to come tomorrow night as my mother-in-law will be heading home then... See you all soon!

[KrystalWaters]

ack! You gave me a tease!:p

Looking forward to tomorrow :)

[Sophia2007]

I am so excited that I ran across your review. My high school junior daughter is going to Paris and Florence tomorrow on a school trip. Your pictures and experiences are giving me a taste of what that lucky girl will experience!

 

Thank you so much!!:)

[Rudyard]

Great review and pics! Better late than never! I really liked the pics of Barcelona. I've never been there but have been to Madrid twice. How to make it to Barcelona one of these days :)

[courtb13]

We switched sides and had much better results!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my three favorites!!!!!! (LOL)

 

 

 

 

 

More to come tomorrow night as my mother-in-law will be heading home then... See you all soon!

 

 

That last one is pretty great!! When you just glance it really looks like he is carrying it!!

[GRAMMYTAN]

Great review and wonderful pictures. I have done this cruise itinerary twice and heve it booked again this year on the Breeze. Like you I would love to live in Rome. The picture where your husband is sitting on the ground "holding" the Pisa in his lap is the best one I have ever seen of this nature. Those kind of staged pictures look easy to set up, but they really take a lot of work and a very good eye to capture.

Oh, and congrats on your marriage. Can't wait to see the rest of the review.

[Pjsgal]

Love it.... Subscribing!!

[rathertravel]

Your review is great! Paris is my favorite city in the world and that lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower is one of my favorite places. Lots of good memories. I'm on the Breeze in October on a similar itinerary so you're adding to my anticipation of the cruise. Thanks so much.

[YankeeFan4Ever]

This is a really fantastic review! Thanks for taking the time to post it! :)

[jetsfan]

My DH and I will be married 25 years next year and we are doing this cruise. An earlier poster said if you find someone who makes you laugh out loud then life is good. Four kids later, some sad, good, and bad, we are still laughing.

 

I love your review and have been taking notes on My IPad. Can you explain your flights and how you had a layover but continued on? Where did you buy your city pass?, and in general how were the weather temps? Our anniversary is in May but we are flexible. I may have more questions.

 

Congratulations to the two of you, and may you always feel the joy for each other that you had on this trip.

Edited March 22, 2012 by jetsfan

[DenDenDen]

Great photos, Stacy. Looks like you really made the most of your trip!

[cantwaittwogo]

Wow how amazing

[happy tink]

You have me on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next port. Congratulations on your marriage & writing skills.

 

My 11 year old son and I (dad has to work) are sailing on the Breeze, same itenary Aug 2, 2012. One bummer is we will be in Rome on a Sunday. I understand that the Vatican is closed. :(

 

I wanted to ask you if you felt secure in Barcelona? I'm a little cautious about being alone in Barcelona with my son; will be staying one night before cruise and one night after.

 

Thank you for writing this and sharing your photos. I have so many questions about the ports and I'm sure they will be answered as your journey continues.

 

Linda from So Cal

[stacycakes1]

Hello there! Congratulations on 25 years!!!! I hope Paul and I are as happy as you when we get to that point:) SO glad you are getting some great info for your trip next year from this! Here are some answers to your questions and please feel free to ask many more if you have them!

 

Can you explain your flights and how you had a layover but continued on?

We flew to Europe on Air France on their free stopover program. The program includes a free stopover in Paris either on your way to or on the way backfrom your final destination. You can stay in Paris for however long you want during that stopover as well, we stayed two days. To find the program just google "air france free stopover" and you will be directed to the special page to look up flight prices with that as an option. Air France also had the best times and least amount of stops in other cities and the prices were comparable to the other airlines. If we had used another airline to go to Paris and then had to book another flight or train ride from there to Barcelona it would have cost a fortune so this was very afordable. Hope that answers your question!

 

Where did you buy your city pass?

We purchased our Paris city pass a the Viator website. There are two types and we got the one that included the metra passes, Seine river tour and the bus tour. When we added up the cost of all the individual places we went and the cost of riding the metra as much as we did (we rode the Metra everywhere, it is easy to use and can take you anywhere in the city) we saved money! The passes also let us walk right in/on to everything with no wait so even if we didn't make-up our money those days it would have been worth it just for that reason alone. Once you purchase the tickets you pick them up at the Hard Rock when you get there.

 

In general how were the weather temps?

Weather was fantastic! We went in the beggining of July and it was beautiful. It ranged from high seventies in Paris to the eighties and nineties in Italy. We were never uncomfotable and dressed in summer clothes the whole time with light sweaters for at night.

[stacycakes1]

You have me on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next port. Congratulations on your marriage & writing skills.

 

My 11 year old son and I (dad has to work) are sailing on the Breeze, same itenary Aug 2, 2012. One bummer is we will be in Rome on a Sunday. I understand that the Vatican is closed. :(

 

I wanted to ask you if you felt secure in Barcelona? I'm a little cautious about being alone in Barcelona with my son; will be staying one night before cruise and one night after.

 

Thank you for writing this and sharing your photos. I have so many questions about the ports and I'm sure they will be answered as your journey continues.

 

Linda from So Cal

 

Hi Linda!

 

I do have say that Barcelona to me was the most "shady" of the cities we were in. There seemed to be a little more pick pocketing, etc... going on there. I do think though that as long as you stick to the main areas when walking around should be fine.

 

If you are really nervous I suggest booking a tour so you are with others and staying in a hotel that is either close to Las Ramblas or one that has shuttle service to the area so you aren't trying to find transportation on your own then 9Las Ramblas is also very close to the cruise port).

 

Also, if you are nervous about pick pocketers, I personally purchased a travel cross strap pocket purse that has a wire in the strap so pick pocketers can't cut it off your shoulder and take it. It also locks onto your table when you eat. I felt very safe using this and didn't have any problems.

 

I realized once there it really is not much different then the big cities here like Chicago and New York. Just be aware of your surroundings and you should be fine.

[andr3a]

This is a great review! I keep checking back to see if you've posted more. :p Thanks for sharing!!!

[pbxtech]

Thanks for sharing. DW and myself are really enjoying the review and pictures

[GRAMMYTAN]

This is a great review! I keep checking back to see if you've posted more. :p Thanks for sharing!!!

 

Hi I noticed you are fairly new to CC and wanted to tell you that when you find a great thread like this that you want to follow, you can use thread tools to subscribe then from the dop down menu select email notification. You will receive ann email everytime someone posts to the thread.

This is a very good review and great pics.

[stacycakes1]

Hello all, I'm back after a lovely visit with my mother-in-law!

Soooo, on to Firenze (Florence for all of you Americans, tee hee)!

Once we were done taking pictures in Pisa we all loaded back into the Sprinter and Fabrizio had us back on the highway in no time! We were excited to be making our way to Florence, which is supposedly one of the most beautiful cities in Italy and was home to the Jersey Shore gang for a couple of months (lol, I’m sure they love us Americans even more now after they stayed for a while).

Our drive was full of beautiful views of Tuscany and Fabrizio gave us the low down on the history of Florence and the many things it is most famous for today. Tanner, Pat’s teenage grandson, took a particular interest in the Ferrari part of that conversation as you would assume most teenage boys wouldJ

Our plan for our time in Florence was to stop at the Piazzale Michelangelo for some pictures of the city, to visit the David at the Accademia, have a traditional Italian lunch, do a little shopping and visit the Dumo (quite a bit to fit into one afternoon but very doable when with Rome-in-limo).

So our first stop was the Piazzale Michelangelo for some pictures. I had read about this place on some of the port pages here on cruise critic and was very happy we were able to fit it into our day. It is a bluff that looks over the city and has the most beautiful view you could imagine. There is also one of the two replica statues of The David hanging out here as well.

Here are some of the pictures we took…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chasinraynbowz]

You have me on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next port. Congratulations on your marriage & writing skills.

 

My 11 year old son and I (dad has to work) are sailing on the Breeze, same itenary Aug 2, 2012. One bummer is we will be in Rome on a Sunday. I understand that the Vatican is closed. :(

 

I wanted to ask you if you felt secure in Barcelona? I'm a little cautious about being alone in Barcelona with my son; will be staying one night before cruise and one night after.

 

Thank you for writing this and sharing your photos. I have so many questions about the ports and I'm sure they will be answered as your journey continues.

 

Linda from So Cal

 

My DH and I were in Barcelona in October and never once felt uneasy. My mom and I walked to the local grocery and again, we were fine. As long as you stay aware of your surroundings, keep your personal belongings close, you will be fine!!

[stacycakes1]

There was a perfect view of the famous jewelers bridge...

 

 

 

 

 

And so we meet David, at least the replica of him....

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a pic of the original city wall that once stretched completely around Florence...

Edited March 23, 2012 by stacycakes1

[stacycakes1]

After taking a tremendous amount of photos on the bluff we headed out towards the city and to the Accademia to see the real David. We got a few shots of some of the beautiful homes on the way…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To get into the Accademia we had to make a reservation for tickets which Rome-in-limo had taken care for us ahead of time and we would just have to have our Euros ready to pay when we got there. When we got to the street that the Accademia was on we thought we had actually turned onto a side walk because there were SO many people in the street.

Here is a pic of what we were driving through…

 

Fabrizio found a spot to park and we all got out of the Sprinter. When we walked up the entrance we realized that there were two lines on either side of the entrance, one was for people with a reservation like we had and the other was for people with no reservation. The signs said that the reservation line was FOUR HOURS LONG!!!!! We all got very sad because there was no way we could wait that long and still finish our day.

Just as we were about to turn around Fabrizio walked up and asked what we were doing. We told him the line wait time and he shook his head and said “no, no, come with me.” He walked to the entrance and proceeded to greet all of the guards as if old friends. The guards stopped both of the lines from entering with velvet ropes and then ushered us into the Accademia in front of them! Once inside we realized that there was another hour long line to get through security. We all got in line and Fabrizio yelled at us again “no, no, this way.” We followed him over to a side door and when we entered we were right in front of the David!!!!!

We could not believe that not only had we skipped the entire line outside but we didn’t even have to wait in the security line! We all could not believe our amazing luck and were so thankful we were together on this amazing trip and that we were so lucky to get to see all the amazing things most in our situation couldn’t.

And… in case I haven’t said it yet, thank you Rome-in-limo you really are the greatest (you would think I work for them or something)!

 

Once inside Fabrizio gave us an hour to wander around and take in the sites (mostly of David’s behind, tee hee). There are absolutely no cameras aloud in here. There are guards everywhere and if they even see one out they confiscate it. We didn’t even want to risk that and lose any of our previous pictures so we kept our safely tucked away in its case.

[stacycakes1]

Once we were done in the Accademia (there is a lot of other wonderful art pieces and collections there also, not just the David) we decided we were hungry and we would love to have some lunch.

Fabrizio took us to a restaurant he said he eats at with his own family when he can and that the food was decently priced and delicious. We thought that sounded great. The name of the restaurant was Boccadama. When we got there there was a 5 minute wait. The staff brought us all a glass of vino while on the house for having to wait at all which was so super nice! We were seated at separate tables today which was actually nice for a change to get a little time on our own.

Edited March 23, 2012 by stacycakes1