This is the 13th cruise that my wife and I have taken, so we consider ourselves somewhat knowledgeable about cruises. We decided to take the Carnival Freedom because it afforded a reasonable price for such a long trip AND had one of the best itineraries for the Mediterranean area. We figured by upgrading to the penthouse category 12 cabin we would be afforded a great trip. We booked the cruise, along with four of our friends directly through Carnival.

We traveled to Rome on September 7th and stayed in the city at the Hotel Victoria. This hotel was a very nice place to stay, with small rooms but clean. The hotel staff was excellent and were extremely helpful with all aspects of our stay. Nicola, was just great and he recommended a few restaurants in the area, one of which was also recommended by a friend. We ate at two places and had excellent food and service. We were picked up on the 10th for the trip to the ship, which took about 1 hr.

Having booked private tours through "Road to Italy",prior to departure, was the only way to go, in our opinion, unless you like being "herded" around by ship tours and waiting for the slowest person on the bus. It was approximately $3100 Euros per couple, but we were picked up by professional chauffeurs at each port we selected and had English speaking guides that were extremely knowledgeable regarding the tour areas of interest. We had tours in Rome, Venice, Naples, Messina(Sicily) and Florence and had pickup at the airport, transfers to the hotel, then picked up again and taken to the ship. Upon completion of the cruise, they again picked us up at the ship(on time) and transported us to our departure hotel. When you consider what the cruise line is charging for tours with many people and limited time availability,our investment was very reasonable. We had a private meeting with the owner, not the staff,at the Murano glass factory and he handled our purchases, never once allowing any staff to assist. He also arranged to have his private boat pick us up at the ship and transport us to his shop and then returned us to San Marco square, which was our selection. Infact, when the cruise ship tour arrived at the shop, he took us into a private viewing area and brought into us the items we were interested in, so we didn't have any of the crowds. We spent over 2 1/2 hrs looking at beautiful pieces of art before finally making our selections. In Sicily, we had a private tour of a winery with the owner, then lunch with him and our guide. I could go on and on about all the other tours but I think you get the idea. This type of service was had at every port we visited. I would highly recommend this company or a similar one. Overall, having this type of service was very reassuring to say the least. Of course, you can always go about it on your own, which we know a lot of cruisers prefer, but if that's not the way you like to travel you should try private excursions instead of the ship tours. You'll never do ship tours again, at least in my opinion. Read more