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

[luckybecky]

We tried out the Thrill Theater during the afternoon. We really enjoyed it and would return several more times during the cruise. Movies are around 15-20 minutes. I do not think the $7.95 price tag is worth it if you are only going to go once. However, I think it is absolutely a good deal to get the $14.95 unlimited pass if you’ll go a few times. This is a kid / family –friendly activity, but even as adults travelling without kids, my husband and I thought it was great fun and went back several times. Shows run about every half hour. They had several shows that rotated on different days. We never had to wait in line. The theater seats about 20. “Planet Earth” had cool underwater photography, but the “thrills” part was just so-so. The Spongebob movie had fun thrill effects and a cute storyline. It was paired with a Happy Feet movie. There were about half a dozen different features alternating on different days. Our favorite was a roller coaster ride.

 

 

 

 

We went to the Marriage Show with CD John in the afternoon. It was very funny. Don’t miss it.

 

 

 

We also checked out the “hidden” forward decks. Here’s the entrance to one of them:

 

 

 

 

These forward decks aren’t hard to find, just go to the front of the ship on the upper decks and look for the exit. However, apparently a lot of people don’t know they are there. John posted a photo on Facebook of people standing 4 or 5 deep on the Lido deck watching the entry into Venice. Later in our cruise, we would be on Deck 10 forward for this event, snapping photos with some other people, but nothing like the crowds on Lido. Here it is on our sea day:

 

 

 

 

Below, you could see the crew area:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

Around 6pm, John made an announcement that we would be disembarking a sick passenger. Soon, a boat (Italian Coast Guard?) appeared on starboard side. By 7pm they (and we) were on our way. I never heard what happened to the passenger and hope everything turned out OK.

 

 





 

 



 

 



This was our first Elegant Night. I’m sorry I slacked off on taking photos. My few attempts at food porn turned out badly. The dining room was more crowded and hectic than on other nights. I did not notice anyone who was inappropriately dressed. I know there have been some threads here where people claim their dinner was “ruined” by someone wearing a tank top or whatever. I didn’t notice this being a problem at all. People all over the ship looked fabulous. Our server this night was not really very attentive (maybe just was overworked, the dining room was busy), but my prime rib was great. Paul said his tiger shrimp cocktail was just OK, just your basic shrimp cocktail.

 

 

 

We went to the comedy show at 9:45 but weren’t terribly impressed. We loved the Punchliner Club in general and went several times, but on this night we left early.

[luckybecky]

Tuesday, July 3. Dubrovnik! This proved to be one of my favorite ports. If you had asked me throughout my life all the places I wanted to travel, Dubrovnik would never even have come to mind. But it turns out to be one of the most marvelous, beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I hope you’ll get to go there. If you do, make sure to check out the Dubrovnik thread here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=984351&page=60

 

 

 

Dubrovniktravellady is a wonderful resource, and Terry from Ohio also is very helpful and has fabulous photos.



 

 

Here is the first thing I saw when I woke up this morning and looked out on my balcony:



 

 



 

 



How cool is that?!



 

 

We did not plan a formal excursion here. Based on advice on the Dubrovnik forum, we planned to do the “panoramic” taxi ride which you book on the spot. Two other couples from our roll call joined us. The six of us split the cost of two cabs. The cabs are not large, you will only be able to comfortably fit 3 people, 1 in front, 2 in back. As soon as we walked off the boat, there was a lady hawking the panoramic ride for 50 euro. That price is per taxi, not per person, and gets you a roughly one hour drive. There was absolutely no difficulty arranging this, and no need to book in advance.

 

 



Our driver was wonderful. He was very articulate and knowledgable. Told us all about the area, the civil war, the sights. He even asked what we thought about the Affordable Health Care law, which was in the news after having just been upheld by the US Supreme Court. Interesting that he was following this: if only we were as well-informed about what is going on in the rest of the world. He spoke excellent English. The driver you get will be the luck of the draw. There are many taxis lined up to offer this service.

 

 



Our driver (in tandem with the other taxi in our little group) drove us over the scenic bridge and let us stop for photos, then up the hilltop where the cable car goes and more photo ops. You do not need to consider doing the cable car if you do the taxi ride. You’ll get views that are just as good, with personal “door to door” service in the taxi. Here is the Breeze in port and more photos from our scenic drive:



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

After the tour, the driver let us off near the gates to the old town. We walked the wall. It was not too crowded, but sweltering hot with little to no shade. I brought an umbrella for shade which was worth its weight in gold. At least bring a hat and bottle of water. Beautiful views with one stunning photo op after another. You’ll have to navigate quite a few stairs to make this walk. It cost 70 kuna each, about $12, and they take only kuna or credit cards (no euros).

 

 





 

 



 

 



We completed the walk back where we started, at the Pile Gate. Here’s a view of the main street looking from up above on the wall.



 

 



 

 



As you can see, there are lots of tourists on main street, but if you walk 20 feet down any side street, you will find them almost empty and very charming.

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

You really cannot get lost. The city is very small and quite walkable, so just wander around and see what you find. We found an outdoor market on a nice square called Gunduliceva Poljana and had lunch at a sidewalk café there. Paul had seafood pasta which was really good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Refilling our water bottle. We used these fountains in every city in Europe and the water was fine everywhere. No need to buy expensive bottled water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was another very, very hot day. Paul was ready to head back to the ship, but I was determined to find the Buza bars. It wasn’t hard. Just head in the direction of the wall on the seaward side, and follow along the wall till you find a hole in it. Like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

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.

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

Here’s a nice spot for a swim near the old port on the eastern end of the city.

 

 





 

 





Check out the guy scrambling up the wall like spiderman. He took a dive once he scooted out to the corner.



 

 





 

 

 

 

 

A little more about docking in Dubrovnik: We were the only ship in town that day. The main drag, and its typical tourist shops, were crowded but as mentioned, the wall and the side streets were not. Our cabbie said that there once had been as many as 13 ships of various sizes in port! The other driver for our group said there had recently been 9 ships and the crush of tourists had brought the infrastructure to a standstill. He said the city is considering rules to limit the number of ships. The cab ride back to the ship from Pile Gate cost 10 euro. There is also a shuttle bus available.

[luckybecky]

Sailaway was absolutely gorgeous. We went out on the forward deck just up the hall from our cabin on Lido deck; we had this spot almost entirely to ourselves with the most stunning views as we left Dubrovnik.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the MDR for dinner. Someone had spilled the beans that we were celebrating an anniversary, because our waitress brought us a dessert with a candle and sang Happy Anniversary to us. But it was embarrassing because she made us kiss for the entire duration of the song!

 

 

After dinner we went to see Ice Age in the thrill theater. It had great animation but I liked SpongeBob better. Then we donated $55 to the Casino before calling it a night. Here’s the full moon from our balcony, and the critter waiting for us when we returned to our stateroom.

 

 

[mo3011]

Hi there...

 

I have thouroughly been enjoying your review.. and the fabulous pictures....

 

We are sailing her (Breeze) in December... in the Carribean, but reading your information on your cruise is bringing back memories.. ( I was born in Europe, and have seen most of the locations you have posted about... many years ago, but nonetheless it is remarkable to see them all again through your thourough pictures and words.... I AM LOVING EVERY BIT OF YOUR REVIEW... as are many others)

 

I did notice early on in your review... you wrote about how you communicated for free with your kids, using the computers close to your cabin.....

 

"There were also a few computers just inside the door from the lido pool (heading toward the forward elevators), not far from our cabin. These were very handy, since I used the Carnival website forums (“Currently on Board” is free to use!) to keep in touch with my kids at home. "

Do I understand you correctly .. you were able to use the internet for free.. or did I misunderstand... If it was free... would you mind telling me how or what you need to do... I would love to be able to communicate with my kids when I go away as well... however I understood the internet prices to be quite a fee... Please let me know your experience with this..

Thanks so much...

LOVE LOVE LOVE your review.. and it is not too long.. It is perfect... We are all reading it with anticipation:)

Thank you

Maria

[pe4all]

 

I did notice early on in your review... you wrote about how you communicated for free with your kids, using the computers close to your cabin.....

 

"There were also a few computers just inside the door from the lido pool (heading toward the forward elevators), not far from our cabin. These were very handy, since I used the Carnival website forums (“Currently on Board” is free to use!) to keep in touch with my kids at home. "

Do I understand you correctly .. you were able to use the internet for free.. or did I misunderstand... If it was free... would you mind telling me how or what you need to do... I would love to be able to communicate with my kids when I go away as well... however I understood the internet prices to be quite a fee... Please let me know your experience with this..

Thanks so much...

T]

Just jumping in to this wonderful review to answer your question - if you go to the CCL site and go to "Funville" you and your family can sign up before you leave, and you can communicate with them for free - as long as you don't mind everyone and their brother reading what you wrote!!:D The Funville site doesn't need a package as it is a free service provided for CCL members. If you want a more private method of communicating, then you may need to purchase internet time- which I heard was less expensive than on other CCL ships. And you can also call from your cabin for $1.99 per minute - much more reasonable than the $5.95 per minute they used to charge!

[ibcnusoon]

Great review, loving the photos and stories!! We are thinking of a Med cruise for Summer 2014, looking forward to hearing more!

 

Dubrovnik looks stunning!

[NYRsHOCKEY]

What a fabulous review! This is getting me super excited for my cruise on The Breeze in 43 days!

Thanks so much for sharing with us and I look forward to reading more.

[GRAMMYTAN]

I am enjoying your review and pictures. We have done this itinerary twice (2007 and 2009) and are going again in October on the Breeze with a follow up in Rome. You are right about the Vatican tours. It is always packed with tourists and a guide is a must. If you ever get to do this again, try going in late April or in October. The weather is so much nicer then. I am afraid I would not have been able take the heat in the summer.

PS - just a heads up, the bridge in Florence is called the Ponte Vecchio and is often called the Gold Bridge with all it's gold shops. The Rialto Bridge is in Venice. :)

[luckybecky]

Hi there...

 

...

I did notice early on in your review... you wrote about how you communicated for free with your kids, using the computers close to your cabin.....

 

"There were also a few computers just inside the door from the lido pool (heading toward the forward elevators), not far from our cabin. These were very handy, since I used the Carnival website forums (“Currently on Board” is free to use!) to keep in touch with my kids at home. "

 

Do I understand you correctly .. you were able to use the internet for free.. or did I misunderstand... If it was free... would you mind telling me how or what you need to do... I would love to be able to communicate with my kids when I go away as well... however I understood the internet prices to be quite a fee... Please let me know your experience with this..

 

Thanks so much...

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE your review.. and it is not too long.. It is perfect... We are all reading it with anticipation:)

 

Thank you

 

Maria

 

Thanks for the compliments, Maria! As Pe4all said, the Carnival forum called "Currently On Board" is located in the Funville section of their website. It can be accessed from any computer on the ship. I started a thread before we left and instructed my kids to check it regularly. It works exactly like the forums here, so anyone can read it, but that was no big deal to us. You will have to register on their website just like you do here, and so will your family if they want to be able to post. Just a heads up, their website can be buggy and slow. My daughter got a little frustrated with it a few times. But it's free and you can't beat that!

 

...

PS - just a heads up, the bridge in Florence is called the Ponte Vecchio and is often called the Gold Bridge with all it's gold shops. The Rialto Bridge is in Venice. :)

 

Oops. :o You are right, of course. We would get to see the Rialto Bridge a few days later in our cruise. See, I think the heat fried my brain! ;)

[luckybecky]

7/4/12 Happy Fourth of July! Uncle Sam was on board for photos and John wished everyone a Happy Fourth during his announcements. We went to the omelet station for breakfast. Omelets are really good! They will also make fried eggs to order for you, and if you are trying to eat healthy you can get an egg white omelet (who are you trying to kid – you’re on a cruise for goodness sake!).

 

 

 

We were approaching Venice around noon and went to our favorite spot on deck 10 forward. There were quite a few people here this time, but it was still easy to get a good spot at the railing for photos. It took about 1 ½ hours to get docked from the time we came through the Moses (MOSE) project gates.

 

 

 

Pilot boat:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOSE project:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Port, built in 1726, now mostly underwater

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

A couple more photos of our entry into Venice:

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s our tugboat

 

 



 

 



The Ruby Princess and Celebrity Silhouette were also in port.



 

 



 

 



As we finished docking, everyone who had been watching our entry into Venice decided to eat all at the same time, including us. This was the busiest I ever saw the Lido buffet, but the lines moved quickly and we still were able to find a seat. The buffet area is very large and seating is generally no problem. Sorry, I have only one picture of this area, thought I had more but I can’t find them now. (This photo was taken on a less busy day, not when we entered Venice)

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

Venice was our second overnight stop. We were scheduled 2pm Wednesday to 7pm Thursday. We disembarked with no waiting at 1:45. It was about a 15 minute walk down the pier to the People Mover which for 1 euro will take you Piazzale Roma. The line for the people mover was short. If it is long, you might as well just walk to the plaza; the ride is very brief. The machine to buy tickets has an English option but wouldn’t take our 5 euro bill. It took our credit card after a few tries.

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

From Piazzale Roma, you can catch a vaporetto (water bus), but we just started walking. First, we paused to buy a vaporetto pass for later. You can get a pass for 24 or 36 hours which will save you money if you plan to use the vaporetto more than three times. For now, we headed off on foot to explore. Like Rome, we found it very difficult to follow a map. Often, the “streets” shown on the map are little more than narrow alleys no wider than a sidewalk. They twist and turn, often ending in dead ends. But no harm done. Just keep meandering around and soon you’ll find something beautiful to look at!

 

 





 

 





 

 





 

 





 

 

 

 

To my great dismay, I had unknowingly gotten a fingerprint on my camera lens sometime during our day in Dubrovnik, so many of my photos from that time forward had a blurred spot on the right half of the photo. I was so sorry to discover this when we got home. Word to the wise: clean your lens occasionally! :(

[luckybecky]

We found Campo San Barnaba, with its church which was featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

 

 



 

 



And here I am standing at the very spot in the square where Kathryn Hepburn fell into the Canal in the movie Summertime (you must watch this film before you go to Venice!)



 

 



 

 



We made our way to the Peggy Guggenheim museum and spent a pleasant couple of hours here. This is a must for art lovers. Very impressive collection of 20th century artists like Pollack, Dali, Calder, Picasso. The A/C didn’t hurt either. ;)

 

 

Somewhere along our walk we saw this. It’s a shame they have to remind people to behave!

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

We finally reached St. Mark’s Square! It was very hot and we were tired of being on our feet, so we sat at one of the cafes on the square, knowing we would pay a premium for the privilege.

 

 





 

 





 

 



 

 



Our wine was served with olives and potato chips



 

 



 

 



We had an uninvited guest at our table!



 

 



 

 



The prices started at 8,50 euro ($10.50) for their cheapest glass of wine, or 40 euro for a bottle. In addition, they charge 6 euro per person just for you to sit down if there is music playing. In their defense, they handed us a card when we sat and pointed at the explanation of the music charge so there would be no surprise when we got our bill. Notice the music supplement:



 

 



 

 



As Paul said, hey, it is St. Mark’s Square! Don't worry about the price. You have to sit here at least once in your life! Just enjoy a bottle of wine and think how blessed you are to have this chance.

[luckybecky]

After a good long break at the cafe, we were back on our feet for more sightseeing. We walked across the square to the Campanile. At this time of day (well into evening) it was not crowded. The line only had a few people in it and took no time at all. We paid the 8 euro per person fee (no credit cards) to ride the elevator to the top. Just as we reached the top, the bells started to ring. The elevator doors opened and we stepped out into the deafening clanging of the bells right above our heads! It was pretty awesome! My photos don’t do justice to these huge bells, but here they are ringing as we arrived at the top of the tower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note that when we went back to the square the next day around noon, the line to enter the Campanile was very, very long, perhaps 100 people. We went at 6 or 7 in the evening and had no line at all. There are gorgeous views from here.

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

Then we walked past the Doges Palace…

 

 

 

 

 

…And the Bridge of Sighs

 

 

 

 

 

…then down a lovely walk along the water and past a park. If you go 100 yards from St Mark’s Square, you’ll leave the crowds behind.

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

We found a café on Via Garibaldi. There were actually a number of cafes on this street. My advice to you (along with asking hotel staff for recommendations as already mentioned) is to go to the busiest place on the street. Do NOT go into the empty café, thinking you will be seated quickly. Yes, you’ll get seated, but there is probably a reason the place is empty. So we bypassed several other cafes and sat at one of the few open tables at Osteria al Garanghelo. It was good. I got the tourist menu for 14 euro, included salad, lasagna for a first course, chicken for main course. Paul had seafood pasta (his favorite, he ate this everywhere). We had a very generous pitcher of wine, sorry I can’t remember the price but it was very affordable. However, this restaurant charged a 12% service charge. Many other restaurants have no service charge at all.

 

 





 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Via Garibaldi where the restaurant is located, one of the few streets that actually was wide like a real street (but no cars)!

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

We had scenic stroll back toward St Marks Square and the Grand Canal where we would board the vaporetto on our way back to the ship.

 

 





 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

On board the vaporetto… well, not so pleasant. Very hot and crowded. This is NOT the romantic Grand Canal cruise you have dreamed of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The vaporetto let us off at Piazzale Roma. We walked back to the ship rather than taking the people mover. In the dark, we got a little confused about which way to go but made it back without too much trouble. It was too bad the Breeze had to dock at the very farthest point on the pier. After a good long walk, we made it back and went right to our stateroom, exhausted.

[luckybecky]

July 5, Thursday

 

 

The Celebrity Solstice joined us in Venice today. We went to Piazzale Roma in the morning and boarded the vaporetto which again was very hot and crowded. It’s utilitarian, not engineered to be a fun ride. You can try to be first one on so you can get a seat in the open air at the very front or back, but there are very few of these seats available. Here's a photo taken from our seat on the vaporetto.



 

 



 

 



We arrived at St. Mark’s Square with our advance reservation. Thank goodness we had reserved online. This costs only 1 euro. The line to enter St. Mark’s was very, very long. The advance reservation entry had no line whatsoever. We just walked up and showed our ticket to a security guard (weren’t even sure if we were in the right spot) and he waved us right in. I don’t think that it would be worth it to wait in the very long line in the summer heat if you do not have reservations. Book here: http://www.venetoinside.com/en/saint_mark_s_basilica/



 

 

The tour of the Basilica did not take very long. The path through the church is roped off. There is no opportunity to wander around at leisure. You just follow the line through the designated path. The no photography rule did not seem to be enforced, but be discreet (no flash). I believe there are areas you can tour for an additional cost (the main basilica is free, aside from the 1 euro advance reservation cost if you choose). We did not tour these additional areas.



 

 





 

 





 

 

 

 

 

There was a very long line at the Doges Palace and the crowds in the area discouraged us from trying to see this site. Later, another member of our roll call told us that it wasn’t crowded inside and they enjoyed the visit (I think he pre-booked tickets).



 

 

We started walking again, making our way to Rialto Bridge. It was very, very crowded as you can see. We took a couple of photos and moved on.