The most recent cruise I took was with ATP and we went on the Crown Princess. The cruise started in Venice and ended in Rome with stops in Dubrovnik, Corfu, Olympia, Athens, Mykonos, Ephesus/Kusadasi, Santorini and Naples. Great ports of call, lots to see and do, and of course we got a screamin' good deal on Vacations to Go, thank you Joan.
I'll warn you right up front, I love Venice, Italy. I know there are plenty of people who do not really care for Venice, but for me, it is one of my favorite places. Todays blog will be about Venice, then I will get it out of my system and my next blog I will talk more in detail about the actual cruise, and other ports of call. I promise!
As I was saying, ATP & I flew in to Venice 3 days early. We were due to arrive at 1pm in the afternoon. Well, one small delayed flight along the way, and we ended up landing at 7 pm. For me, this was just fine. I find I do best when I land and am able to go to bed within 3-5 hours after I arrive. It takes about 19 hours in transient from the west coast, 3 flights. I get jet lag and will hit a wall after too little sleep while in route to my destination. Landing at 7 worked great. We had a 1 night reservation at the Venice Airport Courtyard, which was 5 minutes from the airport.
We got to the hotel, logged on the computer to let everyone know we arrived safely, showered, dinner, bed. Woke up after a good 8 hours sleep and we were on Venetian time!
After breakfast we visited the front desk. We had read on their website that you could purchase bus & Vaporette tickets at the hotel. [Vaporette is the water bus in Venice proper. There are no cars, just the Vaporette, Water Taxis & walking] The Airport and The Courtyard are not part of the Islands that make up Venice proper. We got our tickets, checked out and rolled our luggage across the street. We caught the bus easily and arrived at the Vaporette terminal. We had instructions from our hotel on which Vaporetto to catch and what stop to get off.
Imagine, you have your suitcase, the Vaporetto pulls up, passengers stream out, you and many others are in line to get on. You are standing on a dock, that moves, and you have to get on the boat/bus in a quick manner. This is where you are so glad you followed all the guide book directions to pack light!!
Seriously, you don't want to have to move a heavy suite case around Venice.
We decided to stay at the San Sebastiano Garden Hotel after surfing the web & getting overwhelmed at the number of hotels in the different districts! Ha! There are so many cool hotels to stay in. I had been to Venice twice before and stayed at the Metropole the first time I was in Venice and The Hotel American the second time. I enjoyed and would recommend all three. The Hotel American was probably my favorite. I really enjoy the Dorosoduro district of Venice and The Hotel American was a charming little hotel, perfect location, tasty breakfast, wonderful staff. Just the whole package was there.
I am in the hotel industry and I always enjoy seeing other hotels, unique hotels, old hotels, etc. Every place in Venice is so old. But most all the hotels have the same old world, old Venice style. Bright Venetian wall paper and Morano Glass Chandlers! Tiny elevators (if any at all), history all around you. It's amazing! That is why I would always recommend that you say in a hotel somewhere IN Venice because there is nothing quite like it!
Upon our arrival our rooms were not ready yet, but no problem, they checked us in and stored our luggage, and off we go! We had purchased tickets on line for the 2 hour walking tour of Venice, that included skip the line tickets to get in to St Marks Basilica. I had been to Venice twice before and never been inside of the Basilica because the long lines make me a bit crazy to tell the truth! This seemed like the perfect way to finally see the inside of St Marks!
The tour was not expensive and very much worth the ticket with the admission to St. Marks alone. Buy your tickets on line for this attraction, They have a limited number of people in each tour. And the tours fill up. People trying to buy tickets at the ticket window were disappointed, or waited on 'stand-by'. It is a nice tour and a great way to get a general overview about Venice & it's history. Next, it was time to eat
Perfect Lunch in Venice: small sidewalk cafe, pizza of your choice & a nice glass of wine. A little later as you wonder through Venice, getting occasionally lost, stop and have your daily gelato.
There are so many wonderful things to see & do in Venice. If you are doing this cruise or something simular to it, you will probably have 2-3 days in Venice. Enough to do a few things that will make you want to come back for more!
Venice Travel Tips:
See This: St Marks Square & the Basilica
Do This: A Gondola Ride
Ride This: The Vaporette
Eat This: Pizza
Drink This: The house wine
Don't Miss: Morano (the Island where they make glass
Find this: Your favorite small restaurant
If you take the walking tour with the skip the line ticket or just go on your own, do not miss St Marks square. You have to go twice - once during the day, once at night. At night time the square is like a fairy land. The stars are out and the restaurants with outdoor seating have live music. They also have expensive drinks and food, so don't necessarily feel you have to eat there. It is totally acceptable to stand behind the ropes and listen to the music.
In this photo are two new travel friends that we met on line via Cruise Critic. AY & SL, married one year and fantastic traveling partners. AY took this picture with his fancy new camera purchased for this trip. More fun with these two friends later in the trip.
The gondola ride. I know, you are probably thinking too touristy. But really you have to do this. Either day or night is good, but you need a good gondolier. Scope them out, they all hang out waiting for fares. It should be about 60 Euros for about 45 minutes. It's great to have people to share the cost with and a gondola ride in Venice is magical.
Get out there and ride the Vaporette. It's not hard, you can buy a all day pass, a 48 hour pass, whatever amount of time you'll be there. Then you can jump off and on as needed. Take the Vaporetto over to Morano - the Island they make all the glass. You can go to a 'factory to see glass made' it is kind of just a show these days, but still interesting. There are public display of glass art and many, many, glass shops, both large & small. It is fasinating to walk around and pop in and out of the different glass stores. All the artists have their own style. It is fun to go in to the smaller shops, some times you'll meet the artist running their own shop.
One of the really lovely ways to spend part of a day is to just wonder around the area you find yourself in. You really can't get too lost, you are on a series of islands. We liked to end our day with a little aimless wondering and when we would start to get hungry we would start to look for likely candidates for dinner restaurants. ATP swears that the best pizza of her life was found down a side street in Venice. The place had about 6 tables outside on the side walk. The pizza was spinach with ricotta cheese. Every restaurant claims to have the best Pizza, you just have to test as many as you can in the time allotted and make up your own mind. Just order a carafe of the house red and you will enjoy your dinner.
After 2 nights at the San Sebastano, it was time to board the ship, Crown Princess. Because I was feeling lazy, we splurged on a water taxi to get to the ship. Most cruise ships you board in the afternoon of 'Day 1' and they will overnight in Venice and not take off until late afternoon the next day.
We were lucky enough to have 3 full days in Venice. If you have 2 full days in Venice, you should be able get the above 'to do's" done. If you have 3 you can add in the Island of Burono or Museums, or Doges Palace. There are so many, many wonderful things to do, see, taste & enjoy in Venice, I will just leave you with this last piece of advice-- go and enjoy!
Until tomorrow,
Travel Safe!
 |
| photo by CJS |
I love Venice. I had been there before and had absolutely no problem going back. We flew in to Venice 3 days before we were due to board the ship. If you have never been to Venice, I highly recommend going early. The first reason is a practical one - if you plan on landing in Venice the same day that you are due to board the ship - what happens if there is a flight delay or missed connection? You risk missing the boat! :-) Make arrangements to go in a day prior to your scheduled boarding day, its worth it for less travel stress. However, if you can afford the time, fly in 2-3 days early and really see Venice!
 |
| Photo by CJS |
As I was saying, ATP & I flew in to Venice 3 days early. We were due to arrive at 1pm in the afternoon. Well, one small delayed flight along the way, and we ended up landing at 7 pm. For me, this was just fine. I find I do best when I land and am able to go to bed within 3-5 hours after I arrive. It takes about 19 hours in transient from the west coast, 3 flights. I get jet lag and will hit a wall after too little sleep while in route to my destination. Landing at 7 worked great. We had a 1 night reservation at the Venice Airport Courtyard, which was 5 minutes from the airport.
We got to the hotel, logged on the computer to let everyone know we arrived safely, showered, dinner, bed. Woke up after a good 8 hours sleep and we were on Venetian time!
After breakfast we visited the front desk. We had read on their website that you could purchase bus & Vaporette tickets at the hotel. [Vaporette is the water bus in Venice proper. There are no cars, just the Vaporette, Water Taxis & walking] The Airport and The Courtyard are not part of the Islands that make up Venice proper. We got our tickets, checked out and rolled our luggage across the street. We caught the bus easily and arrived at the Vaporette terminal. We had instructions from our hotel on which Vaporetto to catch and what stop to get off.
Imagine, you have your suitcase, the Vaporetto pulls up, passengers stream out, you and many others are in line to get on. You are standing on a dock, that moves, and you have to get on the boat/bus in a quick manner. This is where you are so glad you followed all the guide book directions to pack light!!
Seriously, you don't want to have to move a heavy suite case around Venice.
We decided to stay at the San Sebastiano Garden Hotel after surfing the web & getting overwhelmed at the number of hotels in the different districts! Ha! There are so many cool hotels to stay in. I had been to Venice twice before and stayed at the Metropole the first time I was in Venice and The Hotel American the second time. I enjoyed and would recommend all three. The Hotel American was probably my favorite. I really enjoy the Dorosoduro district of Venice and The Hotel American was a charming little hotel, perfect location, tasty breakfast, wonderful staff. Just the whole package was there.
I am in the hotel industry and I always enjoy seeing other hotels, unique hotels, old hotels, etc. Every place in Venice is so old. But most all the hotels have the same old world, old Venice style. Bright Venetian wall paper and Morano Glass Chandlers! Tiny elevators (if any at all), history all around you. It's amazing! That is why I would always recommend that you say in a hotel somewhere IN Venice because there is nothing quite like it!
Upon our arrival our rooms were not ready yet, but no problem, they checked us in and stored our luggage, and off we go! We had purchased tickets on line for the 2 hour walking tour of Venice, that included skip the line tickets to get in to St Marks Basilica. I had been to Venice twice before and never been inside of the Basilica because the long lines make me a bit crazy to tell the truth! This seemed like the perfect way to finally see the inside of St Marks!
 |
| St Marks Square, from the ship. Photo by ATP |
The tour was not expensive and very much worth the ticket with the admission to St. Marks alone. Buy your tickets on line for this attraction, They have a limited number of people in each tour. And the tours fill up. People trying to buy tickets at the ticket window were disappointed, or waited on 'stand-by'. It is a nice tour and a great way to get a general overview about Venice & it's history. Next, it was time to eat
Perfect Lunch in Venice: small sidewalk cafe, pizza of your choice & a nice glass of wine. A little later as you wonder through Venice, getting occasionally lost, stop and have your daily gelato.
Venice Travel Tips:
See This: St Marks Square & the Basilica
Do This: A Gondola Ride
Ride This: The Vaporette
Eat This: Pizza
Drink This: The house wine
Don't Miss: Morano (the Island where they make glass
Find this: Your favorite small restaurant
If you take the walking tour with the skip the line ticket or just go on your own, do not miss St Marks square. You have to go twice - once during the day, once at night. At night time the square is like a fairy land. The stars are out and the restaurants with outdoor seating have live music. They also have expensive drinks and food, so don't necessarily feel you have to eat there. It is totally acceptable to stand behind the ropes and listen to the music.
 |
| St. Marks at night |
The gondola ride. I know, you are probably thinking too touristy. But really you have to do this. Either day or night is good, but you need a good gondolier. Scope them out, they all hang out waiting for fares. It should be about 60 Euros for about 45 minutes. It's great to have people to share the cost with and a gondola ride in Venice is magical.
Get out there and ride the Vaporette. It's not hard, you can buy a all day pass, a 48 hour pass, whatever amount of time you'll be there. Then you can jump off and on as needed. Take the Vaporetto over to Morano - the Island they make all the glass. You can go to a 'factory to see glass made' it is kind of just a show these days, but still interesting. There are public display of glass art and many, many, glass shops, both large & small. It is fasinating to walk around and pop in and out of the different glass stores. All the artists have their own style. It is fun to go in to the smaller shops, some times you'll meet the artist running their own shop.
One of the really lovely ways to spend part of a day is to just wonder around the area you find yourself in. You really can't get too lost, you are on a series of islands. We liked to end our day with a little aimless wondering and when we would start to get hungry we would start to look for likely candidates for dinner restaurants. ATP swears that the best pizza of her life was found down a side street in Venice. The place had about 6 tables outside on the side walk. The pizza was spinach with ricotta cheese. Every restaurant claims to have the best Pizza, you just have to test as many as you can in the time allotted and make up your own mind. Just order a carafe of the house red and you will enjoy your dinner.
After 2 nights at the San Sebastano, it was time to board the ship, Crown Princess. Because I was feeling lazy, we splurged on a water taxi to get to the ship. Most cruise ships you board in the afternoon of 'Day 1' and they will overnight in Venice and not take off until late afternoon the next day.
We were lucky enough to have 3 full days in Venice. If you have 2 full days in Venice, you should be able get the above 'to do's" done. If you have 3 you can add in the Island of Burono or Museums, or Doges Palace. There are so many, many wonderful things to do, see, taste & enjoy in Venice, I will just leave you with this last piece of advice-- go and enjoy!
Until tomorrow,
Travel Safe!
 |
| Photo by CJS |
Another lovely trip. Wonderful pictures.
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