Carnival Breeze : Day 12 - At Sea

Last full day of the cruise! There are still a few things which we haven't tried so today is the day to cross them off the list!

First up, breakfast at the Blue Iguana cantina where they serve up breakfast burritos or soft shell chicken tacos with fried eggs on top :) we had the latter while watching John and Calvyn host the good morning show on the pool side big screen.

After that, ropes assault course which was fun but a little tame (clearly mainly aimed at younger kids)  but fun to be doing on a cruise ship!

Lunch today will be an Indian feast from Tandoor as we've not yet eaten there. Dinner tonight is with our New York dinner buddies at Cucina del Capitano. This is a dining options that costs $12 per adult and $5 per child. 

At 230pm today, Calvyn is hosting a "gender wars" show which should be entertaining, then it will be time to start to get our main luggage packed (any large suitcases need to be outside the cabin door by 11pm tonight)

The cruise has been amazing, the ship incredible and comparing it with Royal Carribean, I would definitely choose to cruise Carnival again. The only thing that I think didn't live up to the standard of Royal Carribean was the evening shows. In fairness we didn't go to them all but they were mainly just singing and dancing to different era's or styles of music each show. They also had a special guest pianist and vocalist (both of which we didn't go to) and the magician (who was a bit dire). Still,  the shows are one of the last reasons I would come on a cruise. Everything else has been amazing from the layout and facilities of the ship to the food and the crew. Every time you pass any crew member they all greet you like you're their best friend - ok, it's part of their job and I'm sure it's drilled in to them constantly - but it never seems forced or fake. The design of the ship from the marketplace to the lounges, pool areas, outside bars and eating areas and of course the awesome water park were all brilliant.

The 5D theatre was out of action for most of the cruise (they had to wait on a broken part to be flown out) but it opened up the other night so we went along. Cost was $7.95 each - a little steep really for a 20min show - but it was different and fun :) you wore 3D glasses and in addition the seats rocked back and forward, you got squirted with water and ticked with tubes down by your feet as well as having air blasted at you from large fans. Worth trying once :)

Obviously additional costs are where they make most of their money, the cost of the cruise itself is very reasonable (depending on cabin choice of course), but still a couple of things I feel are way overpriced. Firstly - photos. They take every possible opportunity to take photos of you and they take some great snaps but the costs are excessive. The cheapest is $9.99 each for one of their smallest prints, $11.99 each for medium sized ones (taken at dinner times) up to an eye watering $21.99 for the larger photos taken at the specially set up photo areas (about 8 of them on board with various backdrops). We initially selected 3 of these that we had taken, until I found out it would cost us $65 for 3 photos! We ended up taking one (plus we got a few of the smaller ones from previous nights). It must cost them pennies to print these photos (ok, so hundreds go to waste that are not purchased) but the prices they charge are ridiculous.

The other thing that is very expensive is excursions. The guides are very good, transport excellent but the prices are very steep. Of course you're not forced to take them, you could try and organise something yourself, but it's not so easy to do so, you can't be bothered cause you're on a holiday where you don't need to think and lastly, if anything goes wrong on something you've organised yourself and you end up late - the boat won't wait! The dearest excursion we took was at Naples. This involved an hour on the bus from Naples to the Amalfi coast, a private charted boat from Amalfi to Capri, lunch at Capri,  a public ferry from Capri back to the port and a brief shuttle back to the ship. Cost for 4 people = USD $1200! Lunch would surely have cost no more than $200 for the 4 of us with wine, the price for the ferry back from Capri was 5 euro each, not sure how much a public bus would cost from naples to Amalfi? Also no idea how expensive the tours are in the first place and how much Carnival is creaming off the top. Certainly all the tours were very good, nothing to complain about the content/quality/organisation - be nice to see some cheaper options though!

I remember the excursions being expensive with Royal Carribean as well but I'm pretty sure that Carnival was considerably dearer. Certainly definitely something to factor in when choosing who to cruise with/where to go.

Carnival Breeze : Day 11 - Messina

Today we're on the island of Sicily, in the port of Messina. The excursion we have booked for today takes us to Taormina (about 50 min) where we wander round the beautiful but small town, check out the roman/greek amphitheatre and the fantastic views of the coastline. After Taormina we head to another village for lunch before heading up Mt Etna. They take you up to the visitors centre - basically as high as you can go by bus - you can go higher by cable car and 4WD. I had expected to get closer to live craters but the excursion was limited to walking around old ones and viewing the extensive lava flows from 2001 and 2002. The have to rebuild the roads, visitors centre and cable cars every 10 years or so when they get wiped out by lava. Purchased some of their local spirit speciality which they call "firewater"- 70% alcohol!

On leaving Mt Etna it was just straight back to the ship as departure was earlier today,  at 4pm.

As we had an early lunch today (and used to eating tons constantly ;) we had some pizza burgers with our customary late afternoon cocktails (I will miss those!) and then chilled out playing cards then rested back in the cabin. We popped back up to the marketplace about 9pm for dinner then went to the guest talent show at 10.30pm. The main reason for attending this show (for me anyway) was because John Heald was hosting the show and you know you're in for a great time if John has anything to do with it. I would go as far to say that he would be one of the reasons I would cruise with carnival again rather a different cruise line (of course he's not on every cruise they release a timetable every few months of which cruise director's are going to be on which cruise). John is the senior cruise director not just on board the ship but for the whole company.

Anyway, first up 3 guests singing, they were pretty good, clearly not the first time they had done such a thing before. The second part of the show was the real treat though. John got the whole audience involved in telling a bedtime story with certain parts of the story triggering a required response from the audience. In addition, 3 people were chosen from the audience to act out the main characters in the story. Quite simply the funniest thing I've ever seen live!

We received our debarkation luggage tags today which quickly brought home the nasty realisation that the cruise was nearly over - no more warm sunny days, no more water slides and afternoon cocktails in the sun by the pool, no more being waited on hand and foot with a constant supply of fantastic food prepared for you :(

The ship arrives in Barcelona at 5am (day after next) and we are scheduled to leave the ship between 630 and 715am - a horrible early start just to add insult to injury. I went to guest services to see about changing the time zone we have to be off by (latest is 800 to 845am) but was told there was no room in that zone but that we could leave our luggage to be taken off in the earlier time slot but leave a little later ourselves. Our flight is not until 14.20 so we don't need/want to rush to the airport.

Tomorrow sea day - last full day on board :(

Carnival Breeze : Day 10 - At sea

Another sea day today - been so nice to have a number of these :) another lie-in and late breakfast this morning.

John and Calvyn do a morning show each sea day that can be viewed in cabinet and on screen at pool, it's very entertaining! I've just found out today that you can order a dvd or their 4 morning shows for $24.95. You can also order a cruise dvd which shows highlights of the cruise on board - various outdoor parties and such ($29.95) as well as an excursion dvd for each of the ports of call ($24.95). What's nice about the videos is that they are specific for this cruise (the royal Carribean one was just a generic dvd rather than for the actual cruise you were on).

This afternoon's entertainment included beach pool games, miss carnival Breeze and the third and final episode of Hasbro game show.

Lunch will be a late one today - perhaps some pizza. Tonight's is the second formal night.

As a side, I must mention the declious soft serve ice cream and frozen yoghurt self service that are available 24x7. I'm not sure I've ever consumed so much ice cream in a week, I can't help but grab one every time I go past, seem to manage at least 3 or 4 every day :)

The crowds on sea days have been fine, in fact for the whole cruise it has never seemed overly busy. There are usually no queues at all for any meals/snacks. The only problem is trying to find an outside deck chair! The big problem is people reserving towels are hardly ever using them.  They did make an effort at policing this morning. People were advised that chairs could only be held for a maximum of 40min after which staff would remove their stuff for collection later. I'm not sure how long they did this and why they stopped (perhaps too many irate passengers?!) but it wasn't in operation by lunchtime and still a lot of the seats were unused just covered in towels and other stuff. At least we have a big balcony which gets sun for quite a lot of the day (depending on ship direction).

There are two laundries on the ship with a number of large washers and dryers in each (in addition there are also ironing stations on each floor). You can purchase washing powder for the machines and the machines cost $3 (All paid with swipe card). We did a load early on the cruise and it was quiet, checking the laundry today, there were very large queues! So if you want use the laundry, don't bother on the last few days. There is also an option to have laundry done for you. You fill a reasonable bag up (enough for a few tshirts, vests, underwear etc....) and the cabin steward collects and returns washed and pressed either same day (if before 10am) or next day. Cost is $15 per bag or 5 bags for $50.

Carnival Breeze : Day 9 - Venice

This morning we arrived in Venice, what an amazing city to sail into. The ship cruises right past St Marks square. To get a good view while coming into port you need to be on deck or balcony at least 45min before arrival time. You want to be on the right hand side of the boat as it sails in and the left side as it leaves. Our balcony being on the right side was perfect for the arrival, for the departure we were up on deck 11 with the masses crowded on the railings.

It's hard to know when booking a cabin to work out which side of the boat its best to be on. Of course it's less important for the aft balconies and the corner ones like ours wrap around a little but still one side is definitely better than the other. For media cruises I would definitely recommend the right (starboard) side of the ship. Perfect location for Monaco, for Livorno and Rome it doesn't matter cause you're only looking at an industrial port, it was the best side for naples (although there are a number of possible places where the ship can dock), for Croatia either sides provided a good view (not of old town as cruise shops dock at main port on other side of old town). For Venice starboard is best cause you can then stumble out of bed in your robe and watch the city from your balcony. Not sure about sicily as that's tomorrow port.

While I'm on cabin recommendations, I believe that our cabin (6501) is the best on the ship. The corner aft balconies are only on decks 6,7 and 8. Our balcony extends along the back the most and wraps around slightly. On deck 7, the balcony does not go as far along the back but wraps further around the side. For deck 8 its like ours but smaller. So best balconies imho are 6501 (starboard) or the equivalent on the port side - but starboard best for port views.

Our excursion was at 845am so we had to meet in the lounge at 815am. I have been really impressed with the organisation of the excursions. You enter one side of the theatre and get handed a red numbered sticker depending on what excursion you're on. The number of the sticker indicates the group that will you will leave the theatre with and stay together for the excursion. The timings of the departures are all staggered and once buses are ready on dock, each group is called out, you then file out the other side of the theatre and off the boat. This way the queues to get off never seem big or take very long.

Our excursion today was Murano (famous for glass blowing), St. George's island (directly opposite St. Mark's Square and a gondola ride. The gondola rides are very expensive if booked separately, private prices quoted (negoiated by Carnival supposedly with discount) was 100 euro for a 30min ride for 2 people.

We hopped on a private boat from the ship and 50 min later arrived at Murano. Murano was interesting, they gave us a demo of blowing a glass and decorating it with colour and beads. The prices for large pieces are extortionate! Everything is handmade and looks very impressive (and prices include guaranteed safe delivery anywhere in the world). Some tumblers were tempting (360 euros for a set of 6) but I'd be too scared to ever use them! We bought a couple of smaller items from other shops on the island. I would recommend definitely shopping around as the place we did the tour with was the most expensive.

After Murano, we got back on the boat,  30 min later were on St. George's island with great views across the lagoon. After a small stop there we crossed the lagin and went for a 30min gondola ride. At the end of the excursion you had the option of staying in Venice and then catching a water taxi back to the ship later. We'd been to St. Mark's Square before so just headed back to the boat. Had tacos for lunch at the Blue Iguana canteen and then enjoyed a quiter water park while most people were still off the boat.

The boat left at 7pm and gave us an amazing view of the city on the way out (while sipping back our cocktails :)

For dinner we went to the Red Frog pub and had some Carribean "tapas". Each dish costs $3.33 and two each is more than enough. The guy that comes on later for live music is very good and we chilled our listening to the music and playing cards.