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

[flyballdogs]

We were RCCL cruisers, but taking princess regal in june because dates and itinerary fit better, so if your son and girlfriend on same cruise 6-19 -2014 sailing what a coincidence. If you did all the sightseeing with a bad knee, we should be good to go -what a trooper!! This is a bucket list trip - can't wait, especially after reading about your adventures and seeing pics

[heatherbelle]

I have just found this. Thanks for sharing it brought back lots of happy memories of my cruise on the Sunshine.

[ucfalli]

Great review! Unfortunately we were a part of the Sunshine Castaways... enjoyed though reading your review and looking forward to a European cruise in the future

[deladane]

Great review! Unfortunately we were a part of the Sunshine Castaways... enjoyed though reading your review and looking forward to a European cruise in the future

 

 

I have just found this. Thanks for sharing it brought back lots of happy memories of my cruise on the Sunshine.

 

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed reading it :)

[bling19572010]

I just returned home from 17 fabulous days in Europe, and I wanted to take the time to share my experiences with all of you. Every night of the trip, I jotted down a few notes of what we did each day, so I plan to write that up as a journal style review, and I will include tons of photos along the way! Also, I will make all my posts in a larger purple bold font to make it easier to find my posts in case you don't want to read other peoples replies. But first, a little background info...

 

I am 31 and have cruised 3 times before (twice on Carnival, once on Celebrity- see my reviews below for details on those sailings) I started planning this cruise in December after returning home from my last cruise. I have always wanted to go to Italy, and I love cruising, so I decided to combine the two and take a Mediterranean cruise. I looked at the itineraries on several cruise lines, but found there was no deal as great as this itinerary. It was a 12-night cruise (which I liked because I wanted to make it worth spending over $1000 on airfare), and it started and ended in different ports (which was great because I could have a few extra days to explore those 2 cities). I also liked that it would be on a newly renovated ship, but several months after the inaugural cruise so all the kinks should be worked out. Here is the itinerary for the cruise: Venice, Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir, Sicily, Naples, Rome, Florence, Marseille, and Barcelona.

 

The day before I planned to book the cruise, I called my mom to tell her about my plans. She has never been on a cruise before because my dad gets sea sick, so she invited herself to join me. The next day, we called Carnival and booked an inside cabin midship on deck 7. I was happy with that location, knowing the benefits of a centrally-located cabin 2 decks below Lido, 2-3 decks above the nightlife entertainment, and sandwiched between 2 cabin decks, but mom really wanted a window. We agreed to watch the prices and if an oceanview cabin became the same price as our inside cabin, we would switch. We booked early saver, and I checked for price drops nearly every day. That was in the last week of January.

 

Then the Triumph incident happened! While that was an unfortunate situation, and I felt badly for the passengers involved and all of the people who had to change their vacation plans during the repairs, I was thrilled at what it did for our cruise fare! By the end of March, we got $800 back off the original cruise price! Thank goodness we booked early saver!!

 

Around the same time, Carnival decided to extend the original 7-week dry dock transformation of the Destiny into the Sunshine in order to make more thorough upgrades to the ship's mechanics. This meant canceling Sunshine's first 2 sailings. I had originally joined the roll call for my sailing back in January, and up until this point, it was fairly quiet and had very few participants. We were still over a half a year away from our cruise, and were just starting to plan excursions. When the Sunshine cruises were cancelled, many of them decided to change to our sailing. All of a sudden, we had an extremely active roll call! These "Sunshine Castaways" as they called themselves were at a very different phase of their planning as they had already booked all of their excursions, and were ready to fly to Europe in 3 weeks. When they rebooked onto the September sailing, they needed to find new groups for their tours, so this was when I was able to set up my own tours.

 

I never take ship tours as I think they cost more money, see fewer sites, and are more crowded then the private tours. Instead, I prefer to research each port and find a private excursion company. I used Cruise Critic to find people to join me on each tour. I will go into the details of each tour when I get to the daily trip journal part of this review, but I will just briefly mention that I organized 3 tours with Rome in Limo for Naples, Rome, and Florence, and we joined tours organized by other roll call members for Athens, Izmir, and Messina. We decided to do Venice, Dubrovnik, Marseilles, and Barcelona on our own without formal tours.

 

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!

 

Hi deladane....I can't wait to begin reading your European cruise journal. Thanks so much for taking the time to write and post your experiences. I do have a question....I am looking at a similar cruise as yours but I will be taking my 82 y/o mother and 78 y/o father. My mother is in a manual wheelchair and cannot walk. What ports did you visit that would accommodate a manual wheelchair? Thanks for much and I'm looking forward to hearing from you and appreciate any input you can offer!

[Emperor Norton]

Excellent Review Pics - we visited the same exact ports yet we both seem to have seen some similar and also very different things! Still no cat pics....:rolleyes:

 

I've been reading the report and thought I could help you with some appropriate cat pictures (the first was taken near Merchants Row the second the mensroom sink).

 

Hungry cats

 

And a sinkful of kittens

 

OP: Thank you for taking the time and effort to write up and post the pictures from your trip.

Edited January 3, 2014 by baychilla

[deladane]

Hi deladane....I can't wait to begin reading your European cruise journal. Thanks so much for taking the time to write and post your experiences. I do have a question....I am looking at a similar cruise as yours but I will be taking my 82 y/o mother and 78 y/o father. My mother is in a manual wheelchair and cannot walk. What ports did you visit that would accommodate a manual wheelchair? Thanks for much and I'm looking forward to hearing from you and appreciate any input you can offer!

 

Depending on what you want to do with your day, I'd say almost every port can be wheelchair accessible. I would try to avoid most of the ruins, since they are filled with uneven surfaces and unpaved roads (ie: the Acropolis, Ancient Ephesus, and Pompeii). I am fairly sure all of the museums will be WC accessible, so places like the Vatican and most of Barcelona will be easy to get around. Florence, Dubrovnik (aside from the top of the city walls), Messina, and Marseilles will all be easy for you to plan because they are mostly flat and paved cities.

 

One concern I would think about is how you would manage in Venice. The only form of public transit is on small boats which are difficulty to get on and off for people who walk- I am not sure if they have any WC access. And the rest of the city is accessed by crossing bridges, but most of those bridges have stairs (as opposed to a flat sloping curve) so they also would not be WC accessible.

 

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have a specific site in mind that you are unsure about visiting and hopefully I can offer some more advice :)

[3ssn]

I spent yesterday evening reading this thread. Wow that is a great review. Thanks a lot!

[MISSSNOOPYGIRL]

This is the best review I've ever read! Thank you! I was fascinated by some of your pictures! Especially of the dead pope and that funny women's bathroom sign!

[hsaroya]

You have no idea how much this review is helping me plan my Aug Med cruise. Between you and Shelldil, I feel like 90% of my planning is done!

 

For Dubrovnik, you needed no local currency at all, other than the candle? The taxis will take cash Euros? Entry into the wall? What about buying snacks, gelato, etc?

 

Where is the best place to look for small trinkets and souvenirs - at port or in city? Will they take Euros?

 

Thanks!

[hsaroya]

Any idea of the average price of the earrings in post 788?

 

Thanks!

[librarylady19]

What a fantastic review Dana - so descriptive with amazing photos too! I can tell you did a massive amount of research for your trip.

We are taking our first med cruise, on Azamara, on May, visiting some of the same places you did (Athens, Sorrento, Pompei, Rome and post-cruise in Florence) so your review was very helpful.

 

Thanks again for sharing your experiences with us.

[deladane]

I spent yesterday evening reading this thread. Wow that is a great review. Thanks a lot!

 

You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed reading it :)

 

This is the best review I've ever read! Thank you! I was fascinated by some of your pictures! Especially of the dead pope and that funny women's bathroom sign!

 

haha I am still a bit weirded out by seeing the dead Pope, but it is certainly a unique memory! And I wish they sold that bathroom sign in the gift shop bc it still cracks me up whenever I look at it lol Thanks for reading along :)

Edited January 5, 2014 by deladane

[deladane]

You have no idea how much this review is helping me plan my Aug Med cruise. Between you and Shelldil, I feel like 90% of my planning is done!

 

For Dubrovnik, you needed no local currency at all, other than the candle? The taxis will take cash Euros? Entry into the wall? What about buying snacks, gelato, etc?

 

Where is the best place to look for small trinkets and souvenirs - at port or in city? Will they take Euros?

 

Thanks!

 

Any idea of the average price of the earrings in post 788?

 

Thanks!

 

hmmm I'm not sure which earrings you are referring to because there is no post 788 (yet lol) If you are asking about the earrings from Dubrovnik, I"m not sure what the exact pricing is because I only asked about the very small ball charms for a necklace (waaaay smaller than the ones shown in that photo, they were a little smaller than a marble) and those cost 50 Euros without a chain.

 

As for the Kuna (Dubrovnik's local currency), the cab drivers took Euros so that wasn't an issue. The vendors at the tent in the port area all took Euros too. We paid for the walls on credit card because they only take Kuna (no Euros) or credit card. When we bought a quick bite to eat, we had to put that on the credit card also because they wouldn't take Euros at that restaurant. So I guess if you did want to pick up some Kuna, you would have places to use it, but we found it was much easier to use Euros when possible, and to use our credit cards everywhere else (we had cards that don't charge a foreign exchange fee), and that way we wouldn't be left with extra unused Kuna at the end of the day. Hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions :)

[deladane]

What a fantastic review Dana - so descriptive with amazing photos too! I can tell you did a massive amount of research for your trip.

We are taking our first med cruise, on Azamara, on May, visiting some of the same places you did (Athens, Sorrento, Pompei, Rome and post-cruise in Florence) so your review was very helpful.

 

Thanks again for sharing your experiences with us.

 

Thanks, and you're welcome! :) I'm glad you found my review helpful for the ports you will be visiting. I saw in your signature that you were on the Celebrity Summit less than a month after I was in 2010! Looks like we have similar taste in port-intensive cruises haha

[bling19572010]

Depending on what you want to do with your day, I'd say almost every port can be wheelchair accessible. I would try to avoid most of the ruins, since they are filled with uneven surfaces and unpaved roads (ie: the Acropolis, Ancient Ephesus, and Pompeii). I am fairly sure all of the museums will be WC accessible, so places like the Vatican and most of Barcelona will be easy to get around. Florence, Dubrovnik (aside from the top of the city walls), Messina, and Marseilles will all be easy for you to plan because they are mostly flat and paved cities.

 

One concern I would think about is how you would manage in Venice. The only form of public transit is on small boats which are difficulty to get on and off for people who walk- I am not sure if they have any WC access. And the rest of the city is accessed by crossing bridges, but most of those bridges have stairs (as opposed to a flat sloping curve) so they also would not be WC accessible.

 

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have a specific site in mind that you are unsure about visiting and hopefully I can offer some more advice :)

 

Thanks for the wonderful review you posted! I have really enjoyed reading it. Also, thank you for your comments/suggestions in response to my questions. I have a lot more research to find accessible excursions.

[S.C.]

Loved your review thank you for taking the time for it.

 

I have a question about your Piazza Day Bag. Is the strap comfortable? I noticed in some of the pics the strap seems to sit right at your neck line, is that how you like it or does it slide up there? I just ordered one since it was a great price on sale so figured I would take the chance. Been eyeing that bag for quite sometime and just wasn't sure about it since the strap does not look comfortable.

[deladane]

Loved your review thank you for taking the time for it.

 

I have a question about your Piazza Day Bag. Is the strap comfortable? I noticed in some of the pics the strap seems to sit right at your neck line, is that how you like it or does it slide up there? I just ordered one since it was a great price on sale so figured I would take the chance. Been eyeing that bag for quite sometime and just wasn't sure about it since the strap does not look comfortable.

 

The reason the strap looks like it's sitting so high is because I have it adjusted to the shortest length possible. I wanted to keep the purse as close to me as possible to avoid pickpockets, and I didn't want the strap to be too long and have the bag hanging behind me where I couldn't keep track of it. As a result, it wasn't the most natural (or fashionable! lol) way to wear the bag, but I felt more secure like that. If you adjust the strap a little longer than that, it probably won't sit so high on the neck line. I will say that the strap is rather wide and a little rough on the edges, but I never felt uncomfortable with it :) I hope that helps and that you enjoy your new bag!

[Hiker09]

Dana - Thanks so much for taking the time to post this great review. This will be a great help as I plan my med cruise for this summer ... lots of the same ports. And also thanks for posting so many photos; you have a terrific eye!

[S.C.]

The reason the strap looks like it's sitting so high is because I have it adjusted to the shortest length possible. I wanted to keep the purse as close to me as possible to avoid pickpockets, and I didn't want the strap to be too long and have the bag hanging behind me where I couldn't keep track of it. As a result, it wasn't the most natural (or fashionable! lol) way to wear the bag, but I felt more secure like that. If you adjust the strap a little longer than that, it probably won't sit so high on the neck line. I will say that the strap is rather wide and a little rough on the edges, but I never felt uncomfortable with it :) I hope that helps and that you enjoy your new bag!

Thank you :)

[deladane]

Dana - Thanks so much for taking the time to post this great review. This will be a great help as I plan my med cruise for this summer ... lots of the same ports. And also thanks for posting so many photos; you have a terrific eye!

 

Aww, thank you! :) Let me know if you have any questions while you continue your planning, and have a great time on your cruise!

[bling19572010]

Do you have any Itinerary and Planning docs that you wouldn't mind sharing? Thank you so much!! ;)

[deladane]

Do you have any Itinerary and Planning docs that you wouldn't mind sharing? Thank you so much!! ;)

 

While I was planning the trip, I took notes from all the info I learned on Cruise Critic and copied and pasted the info into a Word document. That document is several hundred pages long so I can't really post it all on here, but I mentioned most of the important things in my review. Please let me know if you have any specific questions about any of the ports or specific parts of planning that I can help you with :)

[bling19572010]

While I was planning the trip, I took notes from all the info I learned on Cruise Critic and copied and pasted the info into a Word document. That document is several hundred pages long so I can't really post it all on here, but I mentioned most of the important things in my review. Please let me know if you have any specific questions about any of the ports or specific parts of planning that I can help you with :)

 

Okay. Thank you. I'll be in touch.

[gbntmom]

Dana -

 

Thanks so much for a fantastic review! I was on the NCL Jade with my Dad in November 2013 and just came across your review. I know how much time & effort it takes to write one (just finished my own) and how it does let you relive the trip again! I am planning a cruise with my DD (18) for her high school graduation gift coming up this June. Thanks for all of the great info about Barcelona, as that is where we will be spending some time after the cruise. Many thanks and happy travels!

 

Janet