Zuiderdam Questions for Med. 9/08

[gooselace]

Am about to book the Mediterranean Tapestry (Barcelona-Venice) cruise 9/04/08 and have a bunch of questions:

Understand the Zuiderdam is scheduled for dry dock soon. Will it just be refurbished (some recent reviews suggested it was looking a bit worn) or retrofitted like the Westerdam, which we were on last month.

Am trying to decide whether to get the HAL transfers. Our flight should arrive around noon. We are supposed to be able to embark early afternoon. Will ship tours be available for the afternoon or will we need to make private arrangements? Or could we likely get a taxi at the airport that could give us a brief tour before taking us to the pier?

At the other end of the cruise, the ship overnights in Venice and disembark time is listed as 8 a.m. Is that the start or the end time? Is it likely we would be able to make a 9:40 a.m. flight? I understand that traffic is awful in Venice and have no idea how far the airport is. TA seems to think this is doable, but I'm dubious.

Only guarantees are available for the VE category veranda we prefer. TA also suggested a VB that backs up to one of the center elevators. Which would you choose?

[jtl513]

Understand the Zuiderdam is scheduled for dry dock soon. Will it just be refurbished (some recent reviews suggested it was looking a bit worn) or retrofitted like the Westerdam, which we were on last month. The re-fit will be exactly like what the Westerdam got, extending decks 6, 7, and 8, etc, etc.

Am trying to decide whether to get the HAL transfers. Our flight should arrive around noon. We are supposed to be able to embark early afternoon. Will ship tours be available for the afternoon or will we need to make private arrangements? Or could we likely get a taxi at the airport that could give us a brief tour before taking us to the pier? For a flight arriving around noon, I wouldn't plan on doing any pre-cruise excursions. If you want to see something of Barcelona, maybe you should change your arrangements and fly in the day before. That way you also have more leeway if there's any problem with the flight, and it will allow you more chance to adjust to the time change.

At the other end of the cruise, the ship overnights in Venice and disembark time is listed as 8 a.m. Is that the start or the end time? Is it likely we would be able to make a 9:40 a.m. flight? I understand that traffic is awful in Venice and have no idea how far the airport is. TA seems to think this is doable, but I'm dubious. I think your TA is out of her/his gourd! :eek: No way would I plan on a flight out of any European airport before Noon. (I believe that the 8:00a would be the start of debarkation.)

Only guarantees are available for the VE category veranda we prefer. TA also suggested a VB that backs up to one of the center elevators. Which would you choose?The VE has a smaller verandah than the VB (4.5' deep vs 6' deep) but the verandahs of the two VBs next to the glass elevators (6082 and 6091) are about 50% visible from the elevators. I would not want one of them. On our 3 Vista cruises we booked VE or VD guarantees and were assigned a VA in a nice location each time. I would book the VE guarantee.

[gooselace]

Thank you for your helpful responses. Pretty well confirmed what I was thinking, except for the one about Barcelona. Maybe I didn't make clear that we are arriving and embarking the day before departure. We board on the Sept 4; the ship stays overnight, and departs at 4 p.m. on the 5th. So I was hoping there might be an afternoon tour, maybe the Barcelona Sights & Flamenco show that we could do on the 4th, and take a morning tour on the 5th. Yes, we'd be tired, but can sleep late the next day as don't arrive in Monte Carlo until noon and are there until 11 p.m. and might even skip that port.

The same is true in Venice. Arrive 10 a.m. on the 16th, disembark on the 17th, which may be why the TA thought we could get off the ship earlier. Still dicey.

[jtl513]

Thank you for your helpful responses. Pretty well confirmed what I was thinking, except for the one about Barcelona. Maybe I didn't make clear that we are arriving and embarking the day before departure. We board on the Sept 4; the ship stays overnight, and departs at 4 p.m. on the 5th. So I was hoping there might be an afternoon tour, maybe the Barcelona Sights & Flamenco show that we could do on the 4th, and take a morning tour on the 5th. You're right, I didn't understand the situation there at all! :) Still, landing at noon, by the time you get your baggage and get to the ship it'll be 1:30p at least. Personally, I'd just take a taxi over to Las Ramblas and stroll a bit on the 4th. (It's almost a walkable distance, but you'd have to cross a large highway somehow. We looked at walking over and decided not to try. It may be doable, but I don't know how or if.) Or maybe you could do a "dinner and Flamenco' type of excursion.

On the 5th I'm sure HAL will have some tours available, as they do pre-cruise excursion packages. We liked the "Gaudi's Barcelona" tour very much because we got to go into Sagrada Familia, while other excursions just saw it from the outside. A young couple at a dinner table next to ours did the "Barcelona by bicycle" and didn't like it because there were too many slow riders!
The same is true in Venice. Arrive 10 a.m. on the 16th, disembark on the 17th, which may be why the TA thought we could get off the ship earlier. Still dicey. Remember for an international flight the airlines want you at the airport 2 hours before departure with post 9/11 security. Even if you could do an Express departure and get off the ship 7:00a - 7:15a, a 9:40a flight would be very tight IMO.

[gooselace]

Thanks again for more good advice. We may have to find a hotel in Venice (expensive I'm sure), as any flight plan that doesn't involve two plane changes and/or one airport change means leaving VCE in the morning. Silly me, I thought it was great that HAL was providing an overnight at each end of the cruise. Turns out to be more of a hinderance. :(

[MercedMike]

Check our trip report at
http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/holyland3.html
for some suggestions of a nice hotel, not too expensive, and fun things to do in Venice! It is well worth spending the extra day!

Have a GREAT cruise!

[gooselace]

Thanks for the hotel suggestion, Merced Mike. Looks like just the type of hotel my DH and I would enjoy if we ever go to Venice together. This trip i"m going with my cruise buddy, while he'is off to a fly-in fishing camp. But I'm saving that website.

Meanhile it looks like we've found a flight plan that doesn't involve Heathrow, CDG, JFK or doubling back from ORD. Haven't changed planes at ALT lately, but it could hardly be worse than aforementioned. AND 1 p.m flight out of VCE won't push us to get to the airport. Can you tell I've been checking a LOT (no, not that one) of airlines?;)