BREEZEing through the Mediterranean 6/27 - 7/9/12

[Kelownacruiser]

Becky, which tour company did you use in Messina?

[DEERINH2O]

Becky

 

I agree with everyone. Thai review helped us make that final decision to cruise the med. thank you for your help with the euros and all it is actually very helpful and I'm printing it out to have a little guide. We are also pretty frugal we don't do the souvenir thing much. Just enjoy the ports. Thanks again

 

Kathy

[rwdtgb]

Becky thank you for taking the time to post such a great review. We are on the October 13th sailing and your review has really made us even more excited.

[lsp]

You just go through the doorway in the wall to emerge above the sea. The Buza bar toward the eastern end of town, near the Old Port, is great if you want to go swimming. We did not stop here because there was not an inch of shade anywhere, and it was just too hot to bake in the sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued in a westerly direction along the wall until we found the other Buza bar. Now that’s more like it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the menu. Prices were a little high. My glass of white wine was 37 kuna (about 5 euro), compared to a glass of wine at lunch which was only about 1 euro. (We found wine to be very, very inexpensive in Europe as long as you stay a little off the beaten path and don’t go to the tourist spots.) But here, you are paying for the gorgeous view.

 

 

 

 

We found this bar when we were on the Magic, 5/11, had read about it and followed the map trying to find it. It was closed that day, we got a picture of the locked gate. I love Dubrovnik. Your review is great, we will be on the Breeze in November for the Transatlantic.

[lifeisgoodPat]

Thanks again for your fantastic review. I will be so sorry to see your cruise end because I won't get anymore of your great photos and interesting facts.

[tursiops]

Hi Becky,excellent review and stunning photos,we are on the Breeze on 1st October,would like to know who your Messina trip was booked with? I think you have solved our "bringing wine on board" problem,as we are coming from the U.K. which is part of Europe we cannot buy drink duty free in the airport,so we need to stock up in barcelona,muchas gracias

[Froufie]

One more quick question - in regard to the 'wine/liquor' store at the port in Barcelona - do you recall if they also sold mixers or bottled water or soft drinks as well? (seeing as you were there quite a few times? :D:D)

[Igot2travel]

Oh no! The sun is soon going to set on this marvelous cruise! It seems like the time is flying by!

 

 

Becky, I agree with my 10/1 CC family, your review is fabulous and thank you for sharing it. The sunset is beautiful. May I make a copy of it for my screen saver for the next few weeks until we sail?

I sure hope we have quite a few of these and our weather will be as beautiful as yours minus the heat..:)

[ljvander]

Becky,

You definitely have a gift for writing and photography. Your review was so entertaining and informative. We are sailing on Oct. 1 and now am more excited than ever reading all you have shared. Thank you!!!

[buddylover]

Becky, WOW....what a wonderful review and the first one that DH has read from beginning to end......we will be on the Oct. 13 sailing and now we can't WAIT!!

[luckybecky]

Thanks everyone for all your kind comments. I'm so glad that all of you are enjoying our cruise! :D

 

Becky, which tour company did you use in Messina?

 

SicilywithMario.com I did not make the arrangements for this one. Another of our roll call members took care of it. We originally were booked in a van for 8, but when more roll call members wanted to participate, we were able to move up to a larger van. I believe our roll caller communicated directly with Mario who I guess is the owner of the company when she was setting this up, but our guide was a young lady named Laura. She was great!

 

One more quick question - in regard to the 'wine/liquor' store at the port in Barcelona - do you recall if they also sold mixers or bottled water or soft drinks as well? (seeing as you were there quite a few times? :D:D)

 

Honestly, I don't recall. We just breezed in, got what we wanted and were back out again in no time. I know they had the usual perfumes and cigarettes that you find in duty free shops. Paul says he thinks they had individual bottles of water or soda, but weren't selling them in bulk, like if you wanted to buy a case. Also the store was pretty small, not a big selection on the wine and liquor.

 

Becky, I agree with my 10/1 CC family, your review is fabulous and thank you for sharing it. The sunset is beautiful. May I make a copy of it for my screen saver for the next few weeks until we sail?

 

I sure hope we have quite a few of these and our weather will be as beautiful as yours minus the heat..:)

 

It sounds like you all have a terrific roll call going! I'm flattered that you would like to use my photo. Of course you are welcome to use it. Y'all should have fabulous weather, it won't be so hot. And I bet the tourist crowds will be smaller at that time of year too.

 

Thanks again to everyone who has offered such flattering comments. :)

[Baby_Bear]

One more compliment! I really loved the review - it was so well written and packed with such great and practical advice! I am on a very similar itinerary on the Breeze in 2 1/2 weeks (yayyy!) and seeing your great pics and all the tips you had makes me more excited but also answered so many of my questions! A huge thank you for taking the time and effort to post this, you have helped so many of us! I will write a review when I am back and hope to pass along any advice I can, just like you. Can't wait for your next cruise to read all about it!:D

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Thank You for posting! Great review!

[luckybecky]

:(

 

 

7/9 Disembarkation

 

 

We did self-assist. I’m really not sure why you’d do it any other way, but to each his own. If you let them handle your luggage, then you will be called to get off the ship at their pre-determined time, whether you are ready or not.



 

 

John recently did a blog where he talked about doing silent debarkation, instead of making announcements. Well, I sure wish he had done this for us. Instead, he was blaring VERY loud announcements every 15 minutes from 5:30am onward.



 

 

At 5:30am, we were jolted awake by John’s voice from the hallway at very high volume. He was nice as could be about it, but still, it was a rude awakening. We did not have to hurry to a flight, and were already completely packed. We could have slept til 7 and still been off the ship before 8. But no such luck. We rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Ten minutes later, another announcement. And another. Soon, I think it was a little after 6am, John added the in-cabin speakers to his announcements, again at VERY high volume. It was such a shame to end our cruise in this very unpleasant way.

 

 



Since sleeping was obviously out of the question, we dragged ourselves out of bed and went to the buffet. It was still very early, so we took our time and had a big breakfast. The buffet area was busy but we still had no trouble getting what we wanted and finding a seat. Then we sat around for awhile waiting for the debarkation line to go down. Eventually we joined the line. I’m not sure why we bothered. We should just have waited as long as possible in the comfort of the ship. Instead, once we got off the ship, we joined the herd standing in the taxi line. Here we stood with all our luggage for about 45 minutes before finally getting a cab. At least the area was shaded.

 

 



My advice, if you do not have a flight to catch, is to wait until the very last minute to get off the boat. Have a nice breakfast, get yourself a cup of coffee, and find a place to sit and people-watch or read or whatever (the pool was covered, so forget taking one last dip.) Why stand in those long lines if you don’t have to?

 

 

Debark only when they call security to throw you off. ;) By the way, there was no customs to deal with. We went through customs only on arrival back in the US.

 

 

[luckybecky]

We had planned to stay in Barcelona for one night post cruise. We did not want any stress related to getting to the airport from the ship on time. Heck, if you have already spent this kind of money on a 12 day cruise, one more night in a hotel is not going to break the deal. So we returned to the hotel Continental Palacete. After checking in, we went to try out the Hop On/Hop Off bus at Plaza Catalunya. I don’t remember what this cost, maybe it was around $20 per person? It was a good deal. You might want to consider the HOHO bus when you arrive in Barcelona. It might be nice to use this when you are still suffering from jet lag. Just hop on and be driven around the city. Take a hat to protect you from the sun if you sit up top.

 

 

We got on the bus and just stayed on for a long time, and got to see some parts of the city that we had missed during our pre-cruise time in Barcelona. We got off to see the Olympic Stadium and the cool-looking communications tower in the Montjuic area. Montjuic is a really pretty area of the city.



 

 





 

 





 

 





 

 



 

 



We got back on the HOHO bus and rode to the Barceloneta area. Got off and wandered around here for awhile. We were getting hungry so we decided to have some snacks and a drink, and found a place that looked promising, the Rosti Restaurant located at Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 51. Looks were deceiving. We were disappointed with the food and our server was surly. Avoid this place. We were right next to the beach, so even though we didn’t have our swimsuits, we decided to go for a walk along the shore and dip our feet in the water. Turns out we had found a topless beach! I avoided taking any close photos.



 

 



 

 



Eventually we made it back to our hotel, and we had our second meal at the tapas bar I told you about pre-cruise. It was delicious! One little thing… I was craving some healthy food after all the heavy eating of the past days. I asked if I could just get a green salad. The waiter assured me that this was no problem. Soon, a salad arrived that looked amazing with lots of fresh veggies, but it had a lot of tuna piled on top! I do not eat seafood, and had not asked for a tuna salad. So we called the waiter over and explained the problem. He told me, “but, that is the way we eat it here!” LOL It was apparently incomprehensible that I would not want seafood.

 

 



He did replace the salad, and made one special for me with no tuna, just veggies, and it was very good.

[luckybecky]

The next morning, we left extra early for the airport, not wanting to take any chances of delays. We rode the aerobus from Plaza Catalunya which was very easy and efficient. Your T10 ticket will not work for this bus. You’ll need to buy an aerobus ticket. There were English speaking attendants at the bus stop who can help you if you have questions. Upon arrival at the airport, we were informed that our flight had been cancelled. We were re-booked on a flight the next day. Delta put us up in a cheesy hotel with really bad food, the Fira Congress. I do NOT recommend that you stay here. Bad location, uncomfortable beds, stained linens, dirty walls. Ick.

 

 

 

We were bummed by our delayed flight. Although we did use the time to see a few more sights in Barcelona that we had missed the first time around, we had by now been away from home for over 2 weeks and we were ready to see our kids and sleep in our own bed. But we had another afternoon in Barcelona and we took the time to visit the MNAC art museum (Museu Nacional d’Art Catalunya) in the Montjuic area, and were glad we got a chance to see it. This visit is worthwhile not only for the art, but also the beautiful views of the city and the architecture of the building itself. I absolutely recommend you go here if you can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also went to the old bullring called Las Arenas at Plaza Espanya, which has been converted into a shopping center. For 1 euro, you can ride an elevator on the outside of the ring to the top. The price is refunded if you eat at one of the restaurants on top, or just avoid the cost by going inside and taking the escalators for free, all the way to the top for the views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at our hotel, we slept fitfully and were up very early to take the hotel shuttle back to the airport. Thankfully, our flight went off without a hitch this time. It sure was good to get home and hug the kids. My bed never felt so good!

 

 

 

So there you have it. I hope you get a chance to cruise the Breeze someday. Despite a few little quibbles here and there, she is a marvelous ship. The crew was fantastic. I never met an unpleasant person. There are all sorts of activities for every age group and interest. The ports are incredible. I can’t wait to go back.

[luckybecky]

Just a few more random comments…

 

 

 

I forgot to tell you about the safety briefing. It could not have been easier. Your S&S card will have an abbreviation telling what your muster station is. About half an hour before the briefing, John came on the intercom telling what the abbreviations meant. Our muster station was A4, which meant the Ovation Theater. We got there a few minutes before it started and sat in the comfortable seats to watch crew members demonstrate how to put on a life vest, and hear a few safety tips. It really was super easy and took only a few minutes. I’ve heard tales of how people are scrunched into hot, crowded decks but this was not the case for us.

 

 

 

Another random thought: although we had over 4000 passengers, the ship honestly did not feel crowded to me. We never had trouble finding a seat in the buffet area, or in the theater (although sometimes we had to sit in the back if we arrived late, as you would expect). The Punchliner comedy club was very popular and it did fill up, so you need to arrive early for that. And the pools would get crowded on sea days, but really, the ship generally did not seem crowded to me at all.

 

 

 

I’ve read threads here on CC about horribly rude people everywhere, kids running amok, and seniors in scooters running over people, parking in the hallways and ramming into everything. We did not experience any of these things. We had almost 900 kids on board, but I honestly don’t know where they all were. The place did not seem overrun with children.

 

 

 

If you are a regular on CC, you surely know that there is a 15% gratuity added when you order a drink. Well, make sure that your spouse, who does not read CC, also knows that! I didn’t know until halfway into the cruise that Paul was adding a dollar tip (on top of the 15%) every time he ordered a drink! Fortunately we weren’t buying many drinks since we kept our room well stocked with our own supply.

 

 

 

Now, here are some of the things we missed out on. With 12 days on board, you’d think we would have tried everything at least once. But we spent a great deal of time sightseeing in port, and there is so much to do on board. Some of you will hopefully come back with a review and tell us about some of these places and activities that Paul and I missed:

 

 

 

*Dancing, including line dancing instructions, at the Breeze Bar

 

 

*Chilling at the Red Frog Pub

 

 

*The Piano Bar – this place looked popular, but we usually went to the comedy club in the evenings

 

 

*Karaoke

 

 

*Trivia games

 

 

*Meet the senior officers event (this was held at the casino bar on one of our sea days)

 

 

*Liquid Nightclub

 

 

*Library Bar – this looked like a wonderful quiet spot to spend a relaxing afternoon with a good book and glass of wine. We walked by but never stopped. They have special wine dispensers where you can purchase tastes (or a full glass) of different wines.

 

 

*Sushi – as noted, I don’t eat seafood, but Paul likes it. The Sushi place looked very popular and we often saw senior crew eating there. It had really nice décor.

 

 

*Bingo

 

 

*The Spa. I really should have gotten a day pass and tried it out, but when did I have time?

 

 

*The champagne art auction. We don’t recommend that you buy any art here! But there is free champagne!

 

 

*Movies on the big screen and popcorn at the Lido pool

 

 

*John and Calvyn’s morning show (we never had time to watch TV!)

 

 

*We also never went to the arcade, or tried the ropes course, mini golf, foosball or ping pong!

 

 

 

 

Can you believe we missed all that?! OMG, I’m going to have to schedule another cruise to make up for it!

[Pjnc]

At 1:00 the doors were opened to the guest room corridors. We went to drop off our things, but our room wasn’t quite ready. We just put the suitcase in the corner and went out to explore the ship while our steward, Pavlo from Croatia, finished getting everything ready. Pavlo was fantastic. A very nice guy, he worked hard every day from morning til night. He kept our room spotless with twice daily service, kept us supplied with ice (we did not have to ask), and left us cute towel animals every night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had read here on CC about a duty-free shop in the Barcelona terminal, and we decided to find out if what I had read was true. We disembarked and went back into the terminal. You have to scan your S&S card to get off the ship. We were obviously going against the stream of guests getting on board. The guy at the entrance just told us to be sure to check with him when we got back on. So we got off the ship and went to the duty free shop (on the 2nd floor in the terminal). We bought 2 bottles of wine, which we then proceeded to openly carry on board, no questions asked. We checked back in with the guy at the entrance and scanned our S&S card. After taking the bottles to our room, we repeated the process, but this time we bought 3 or 4 bottles of wine. Again, we re-boarded the ship with no questions. We ended up having enough to enjoy a bottle of wine almost every night on our balcony. The duty free shop also sells liquor. Selection is a bit limited, but you should be able to find something that suits you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up, I'll show you our cabin!

 

 

Hi

 

Great review and pictures. We will be on the Oct. 25th cruise and are arriving the day of have a Carnival transfer. Do you recall if the Duty Free shop had soft drinks? Pepsi is my soft drink of choice and due to our flight and transfer we will not be able to purchase any on the way to the ship. But we will be getting to the ship early and will most likely be able to get off and on again within the terminal and if they have any soft drinks get some.

 

Thanks for any suggestions

 

pat

murrells inlet, sc

[rathertravel]

Becky,

I'd like to add my thanks for the great review. I agree it was the best and most informative I've seen here. I am on the October 13th Breeze sailing and really appreciated all the information. 2 months and 4 days to go!

[disneygal94]

Becky, thank you so much for such a wonderful review! I did a similar itinerary on the Magic last year (no France, but we did do Monaco and Naples), and your write-up and pictures brought back so many great memories.

 

I had to laugh about your comment about street signs in Barcelona, because we had the same problem. We had a Rick Steves itinerary we were trying to follow, but we were having problems because we couldn't find the streets we were supposed to go to. I kept saying, "Why don't they have any darned street signs in Barcelona?" It took us a while to notice the signs were carved on the buildings themselves. LOL!

 

Thanks again for a great review. It looks like you had a marvelous time.

[countrygirlcruiser1234]

Great Review! Your pictures are amazing!!!! I'm sitting here going over it and wishing I could see all those amazing things.

[Irishlinny]

Becky, once again, thank you for this wonderful review!!! We all appreciate how much time you spent on it:) I think I would have died with the heat and the crowds...I give you a lot of credit. We went to Rome for 8 days in July back in the 80's and I remember how hot it was...but we had nowhere near the crowds you did.

So glad you guys had a great cruise, and yes, you should book a cruise on the Breeze once she gets stateside so you can try all the things you missed;)

[JWGrayson]

Hi

 

Great review and pictures. We will be on the Oct. 25th cruise and are arriving the day of have a Carnival transfer. Do you recall if the Duty Free shop had soft drinks? Pepsi is my soft drink of choice and due to our flight and transfer we will not be able to purchase any on the way to the ship. But we will be getting to the ship early and will most likely be able to get off and on again within the terminal and if they have any soft drinks get some.

 

Thanks for any suggestions

 

pat

murrells inlet, sc

 

Hi Pat, She answered that for Froufie. Here is her response:

 

Honestly, I don't recall. We just breezed in, got what we wanted and were back out again in no time. I know they had the usual perfumes and cigarettes that you find in duty free shops. Paul says he thinks they had individual bottles of water or soda, but weren't selling them in bulk, like if you wanted to buy a case. Also the store was pretty small, not a big selection on the wine and liquor.

 

I think a bunch of us are interested in finding sodas and wine. The closest place I've read about to get sodas is off the Las Ramblas.

 

See ya back on our Roll Call! John

[Froufie]

Hi Pat, She answered that for Froufie. Here is her response:

 

Honestly, I don't recall. We just breezed in, got what we wanted and were back out again in no time. I know they had the usual perfumes and cigarettes that you find in duty free shops. Paul says he thinks they had individual bottles of water or soda, but weren't selling them in bulk, like if you wanted to buy a case. Also the store was pretty small, not a big selection on the wine and liquor.

 

I think a bunch of us are interested in finding sodas and wine. The closest place I've read about to get sodas is off the Las Ramblas.

 

See ya back on our Roll Call! John

 

Actually on another review/post I did see a pic of this shop with a sign outside advertising perrier or evian water I believe - which got me to thinking that perhaps they sold other 'mixers' or soft drinks - I have yet to get confirmation of this - but no worries - guess I will make sure to grab some in Barcelona before hitting the port! :)

[joytravels]

We had planned to stay in Barcelona for one night post cruise. We did not want any stress related to getting to the airport from the ship on time. Heck, if you have already spent this kind of money on a 12 day cruise, one more night in a hotel is not going to break the deal. So we returned to the hotel Continental Palacete. After checking in, we went to try out the Hop On/Hop Off bus at Plaza Catalunya. I don’t remember what this cost, maybe it was around $20 per person? It was a good deal. You might want to consider the HOHO bus when you arrive in Barcelona. It might be nice to use this when you are still suffering from jet lag. Just hop on and be driven around the city. Take a hat to protect you from the sun if you sit up top.

 

 

We got on the bus and just stayed on for a long time, and got to see some parts of the city that we had missed during our pre-cruise time in Barcelona. We got off to see the Olympic Stadium and the cool-looking communications tower in the Montjuic area. Montjuic is a really pretty area of the city.



 

 





 

 





 

 





 

 



 

 



We got back on the HOHO bus and rode to the Barceloneta area. Got off and wandered around here for awhile. We were getting hungry so we decided to have some snacks and a drink, and found a place that looked promising, the Rosti Restaurant located at Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 51. Looks were deceiving. We were disappointed with the food and our server was surly. Avoid this place. We were right next to the beach, so even though we didn’t have our swimsuits, we decided to go for a walk along the shore and dip our feet in the water. Turns out we had found a topless beach! I avoided taking any close photos.



 

 



 

 



Eventually we made it back to our hotel, and we had our second meal at the tapas bar I told you about pre-cruise. It was delicious! One little thing… I was craving some healthy food after all the heavy eating of the past days. I asked if I could just get a green salad. The waiter assured me that this was no problem. Soon, a salad arrived that looked amazing with lots of fresh veggies, but it had a lot of tuna piled on top! I do not eat seafood, and had not asked for a tuna salad. So we called the waiter over and explained the problem. He told me, “but, that is the way we eat it here!” LOL It was apparently incomprehensible that I would not want seafood.

 

 



He did replace the salad, and made one special for me with no tuna, just veggies, and it was very good.

 

Just are such a good writer and photographer, but if people didn't have time to open ALL your great pictures, I KNOW WHICH ONE everyone had time for....that nude beach, of course! Love your ongoing help on here...you're the best!

Where are you going next? If you're like most of us, you're dreaming of the next trip while on thelast one!!