Best of the Med

Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

AVillager

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 36

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

Verified Review

9 Night Western Mediterranean (Barcelona Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 20, 2013

Ship: Carnival Sunshine

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 1497

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

It's hard to choose a favorite spot, the entire experience was eye opening, historical, and beautiful. Here's a view of Barcelona, the old with the new shows how diverse this city is and it was the beginning and end of a great adventure.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Not bad, but not as good as other cruises. Would have like to see the menu follow the iternery ie. French, Spanish, Italian

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

We really didn't spend much time on the ship on this cruise so the activities were adequate.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Only 4 shows was disappointing.

Children's Programs

Didn't use, don't care

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Beautifully decorated, modern and not overly ornate.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

One of the largest staterooms we've had in 8 cruises.

Ship tip

For best food outside of the dining room, head right on through the Lido buffet toward the Havanna club. The Asian and Italian stations were excellent. Also a great place to get omelettes or eggs cooked to order for breakfast.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5

Marseille (Provence), France

5 out of 5

Monte Carlo, Monaco

5 out of 5

Take a public bus to Nice. Only E1.5 each way and beautiful ride, Nice is a charming French town. My favorite day of the entire cruise.

Thumbs Up 1

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

3 out of 5

Very crowded, we took a train to Florence but by the time we got there we really had to hurry to get back to the ship on time.

Thumbs Up 1

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

3 out of 5

Something to see once, but ridiculously crowded.

Thumbs Up 0

Naples, Italy

5 out of 5

Didn't have enough time to experience Naples as we headed out toward Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, fabulous!

Thumbs Up 1

Messina, Sicily

1 out of 5

Bad experience with "City Sightseeing Hop on/off Bus". DO NOT do this, it is a total rip off.

Thumbs Up 2

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

5 out of 5

One of the best places of the entire cruise, totally unexpected. Don't miss Cathedral Mallorca, I thought this was better than St. Peter's Basillica and no crowds!

Thumbs Up 2