B2B Venice

We're doing a B2B this summer, Rome-Venice-Athens, on the Star Breeze. We arrive Venice early on Aug 4 and leave the following day. I'm wondering what the procedures/requirements are for disembarkation day even though we'll be staying aboard for the next cruise. Specifically:

Do we have to get off the ship by a certain time?

Can we stay aboard as long as we'd like?

If we can get off, can we get back aboard before official boarding time?

Why the questions? I know Venice is going to be hot as blue blazes in August, plus packed with people. DH and I were hoping to get up early, wander around in the early (cooler) hours, and then be back aboard around 11am to lounge away the heat & crowds. Feasible?

You can stay on or get off and get back on. Your choice. Lucky you!

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Just did a b2b on the Star Legend. When we embarked for the first cruise, we were given a seapass which we used for both cruises. We did not have to do anything on the change over day. After breakfast we got off the ship and took a private tour. When we returned, we went back on the ship. The only hangup was that we were told by guest services that we did not have to attend the 2nd cruise muster drill. However, when the drill was held, we were told to go to the drill. Just went along. Not sure whether or not it was really necessary. We did have a problem using our OBC. About Half way through the first cruise, guest services told us that we had to use all our OBC during the 1st cruise. We wanted to book some excursions on the 2nd cruise. Guest services insisted that if we didn't use it during the first week, we would loose it. Crazy? We had bought the unlimited laundry. We rushed to buy some excursions. Not really what we wanted to do. Even at that, we still had money left over. A few days later, guest services told us that they had dpoken to the purser who decided that we could carryover $500 to the 2nd cruise. At that time, it was too late to cancel the excursions that we booked. We were stuck taking an exvursion that we never really wanted to do. Half way through the 2nd cruise, we got a statement that did not use our OBC. It had charges and did not show any credits. Back to guest services who said that they did not know anything. It teally looked like we lost our credit. Hunted down the purser. She said that they had to close out our account after the 1st cruise. She said that she posted a credit on our credit card and would post charges from the 2nd cruise. Sounded okay. After we got home, we got our credit card statement. It had a charge from Windstar and no credit from Windstar. Called Windstar cruises. It took conversations with several people to understand what happened. The ship posts charges to the credit card that we showed on the embarkation. The credit was posted several weeks later. It was posted to a different card which we used for the original deposit. It was correct. However, trying to figure out what had happened was frustrating. My advice is to seek out the purser Asap. Have a great cruise.

Just did a b2b on the Star Legend. When we embarked for the first cruise, we were given a seapass which we used for both cruises. We did not have to do anything on the change over day. After breakfast we got off the ship and took a private tour. When we returned, we went back on the ship. The only hangup was that we were told by guest services that we did not have to attend the 2nd cruise muster drill. However, when the drill was held, we were told to go to the drill. Just went along. Not sure whether or not it was really necessary. We did have a problem using our OBC. About Half way through the first cruise, guest services told us that we had to use all our OBC during the 1st cruise. We wanted to book some excursions on the 2nd cruise. Guest services insisted that if we didn't use it during the first week, we would loose it. Crazy? We had bought the unlimited laundry. We rushed to buy some excursions. Not really what we wanted to do. Even at that, we still had money left over. A few days later, guest services told us that they had dpoken to the purser who decided that we could carryover $500 to the 2nd cruise. At that time, it was too late to cancel the excursions that we booked. We were stuck taking an exvursion that we never really wanted to do. Half way through the 2nd cruise, we got a statement that did not use our OBC. It had charges and did not show any credits. Back to guest services who said that they did not know anything. It teally looked like we lost our credit. Hunted down the purser. She said that they had to close out our account after the 1st cruise. She said that she posted a credit on our credit card and would post charges from the 2nd cruise. Sounded okay. After we got home, we got our credit card statement. It had a charge from Windstar and no credit from Windstar. Called Windstar cruises. It took conversations with several people to understand what happened. The ship posts charges to the credit card that we showed on the embarkation. The credit was posted several weeks later. It was posted to a different card which we used for the original deposit. It was correct. However, trying to figure out what had happened was frustrating. My advice is to seek out the purser Asap. Have a great cruise.

We had same type of problem on b2b Barcelona/Rome/Venice on the Surf last year. Total mess and took too much of our time. Eventually it all worked out after we got home and had lots of email dialog. It just took up too much time and since b2b's are really being encouraged they need to work on getting this fixed. The rest of the 15 days was perfect though!

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Sparklplenty, If you want a nice day in a magical city stay away from St. Marks, Academia, ( and I adore art, a passion ) and the Rialto. From San Basilio where you will be, go over the tiny bridge, take the #2 vaparotto to Font Nuove, transfer to Burano/ Torcello, Torcello is the oldest island in Venice, 20 people live there. You have a beautiful ride on the Laguna, pass the cemetary island. Make a reservation at Locanda Cipriani in the gardens, magical. The oldest church in Venice is there with incredible mosiacs, Atilia the Hun's throne is there, a statuary museum. It is all so beautiful and serene. This tiny hotel has glorious gardens, great food, not cheap but it should not be, a true treat. That is the real Venice. San Basilio is a very convenient Vaparotto stop in an area that is not so convenient so it makes it easy.

St. Marks will be hot and horrible. What makes me crazy lately is in art museums people taking selfies in front of paintings. The Academia will be thick with people and selfies. Case in point I was there in May for the May 17 th cruise. I know Venice well, I had to walk through St. Matks to get to Giovonni e Paolo cathedral to see one of Bellini's greatest paintings. It s 2 city blocks from St. Marks. Well, 8 people in the cathedral, a Bellini, Titian and the horse in front was Michelangelo's teacher! No crowds. St. Marks you could barely get through the crowds. One day see the magic, for it is such an incredible place. We did the Venice to Rome, our 20 th with WS, absolutely glorious and the sail out was magical. My dream come through all with perfect weather and a red sunset as we sailed by. I hope you enjoy a city I adore. Happy Sailing.

Sparklplenty, If you want a nice day in a magical city stay away from St. Marks, Academia, ( and I adore art, a passion ) and the Rialto. From San Basilio where you will be, go over the tiny bridge, take the #2 vaparotto to Font Nuove, transfer to Burano/ Torcello, Torcello is the oldest island in Venice, 20 people live there. You have a beautiful ride on the Laguna, pass the cemetary island. Make a reservation at Locanda Cipriani in the gardens, magical. The oldest church in Venice is there with incredible mosiacs, Atilia the Hun's throne is there, a statuary museum. It is all so beautiful and serene. This tiny hotel has glorious gardens, great food, not cheap but it should not be, a true treat. That is the real Venice. San Basilio is a very convenient Vaparotto stop in an area that is not so convenient so it makes it easy.

St. Marks will be hot and horrible. What makes me crazy lately is in art museums people taking selfies in front of paintings. The Academia will be thick with people and selfies. Case in point I was there in May for the May 17 th cruise. I know Venice well, I had to walk through St. Matks to get to Giovonni e Paolo cathedral to see one of Bellini's greatest paintings. It s 2 city blocks from St. Marks. Well, 8 people in the cathedral, a Bellini, Titian and the horse in front was Michelangelo's teacher! No crowds. St. Marks you could barely get through the crowds. One day see the magic, for it is such an incredible place. We did the Venice to Rome, our 20 th with WS, absolutely glorious and the sail out was magical. My dream come through all with perfect weather and a red sunset as we sailed by. I hope you enjoy a city I adore. Happy Sailing.

This sounds good. Do you think it is possible to visit Burano on a half day mornings only? My ship overnights in Venice and leaves at 15.00 the second day. I would have only the morning of the second day to the visit to Burano.

You could make a day going to Torcello via Burano. Go to Burano in the morning, visit then get the Vaparotto to Torcello and have lunch, it is a 10 minute boat ride at most. Burano is crazy crowded, however, if you walk away from it all and get lost the colorful houses, mini canals are beautiful simply lovely. It is loaded with junk shops most of the lace in then is from China, a price too good to be true beware! The churches have some great art. The church of San Maritiono there is a Tiepolo. Beware of pick pockets! Because the Vaporetto was crowded. Everyone gets off on Bruano and no stays for Torcello. I was pick pocketed this time annoying to say the least but it would not deter my adoration of Venice. I made an error in my last entry it is Humbolt's throne not Atilia. Make sure you make a reservation at Locanda Ciprani long in advance. Do not get that Ciprani mixed up with the big one, use Locanda and Torcello. The ride through the Laguna is fantastic. So go early, less crowd on Bruano. This would make for a great day. If you are an early riser a wonderful ecperience is the Rialto Fish Market and market not on Sundays and Mondays. I go at 6:15, the heart of the town. In May before the WS cruise I went the were filming an ad with ballet dancers, the dancers were dancing amount the fish stalls. Wondeful. Seriously by 8-8:30 too late mobbed. Have fun, enjoy this remarkable city and I hope you have the weather we did. I would take this cruise again I enjoyed myself so much. Happy Sailing

( if you are planning on doing this the second day and you do have to be back by 15 hours, you probably do not have time to have lunch, you can visit both islands, remember the vaparettos are slow. To get back to the boat by 15 you would have to leave either island by 13 at the latest. Count on double the time with Vaparottos.)

Early in Venice is always better.

Thanks!

Strenz, thank you so much for these detailed suggestions! It sounds like you and exactly the sort of traveller we are. We adore art as well, but refuse to struggle cheek-to-jowl for a glimpse of xxx. Would much rather find a little church with some forgotten masterpiece. BTW, I just made reservations for lunch at Locanda Cipriani...so excited! Love the idea of being away from the crowds. Thank you thank you thank you!

Sparklplenty, You will love Torcello, I wish you a glorious day. If you like early rising go to the Rialto at 6:15 in the am to see the market and the fish venders preparing for the day, best time at the Rialto. There is a cute and simple coffee place there for your morning cappuccino. Have fun make sure you let me know how it was. Enjoy sailing out of Venice, simply beautiful.

We recently did a b2b Barcelona Rome Venice. I agree, the carryover of credits and once was a nightmare. First we were told we could carry over, then we were told that because it was below $100 we couldn't. Complained so they said they would check with Seattle. Check with Seattle are you kidding? What's the policy. Add to that the young lady at the desk was snippy. I've been doing this for a long time was her comment. That may be but doing it wrong for a long time is not an asset. Two days before the end we had a $435 credit. I knew this was wrong but kept quiet because of the prior agrivation. The next day the credit was $75. No explanation for the change.

The whole system is screwed but when all was said and done the screw ups were to our benefit. Hope the same applies on the next cruise.

Agree that b2b needs a policy explaining how to use the OBC. guests need to know before embarkation any restrictions. Before sailing I asked my TA to contact Windstar about OBC. I had read prior postings about problems. My TA said that Windstar told him that our OBC could be used anytime during the 15 days. Windstar Seattle and the guest services/purser on the Star Legend don't share the same ideas. It was very stressful. Hesitant to book another b2b cruise on Windstar.

So me help here, as newbie to B2B cruises, is this issue simply in regard to OBC? So if one were to either limit their OBC or spend it in the first half, then there wouldn't be an issue? Again, no insult intended; truly am asking from a place of very little knowledge... For this cruise we have a modest 200pp OBC, but it's for the 2nd half of the cruise. Should I make a point to spend it as soon as possible into the 2nd half?

You're fine with a $200 OBC. Some of us have had large price reductions in fares or fare specials that result in large OBC amounts. It may be hard to spend in 1 week but not over 2.

Its been a bit of an issue as there has been conflicting information between Seattle and ship's front office people. Just a little first world aggravation.

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Just to be safe, when you embark for any cruise ask guest services how much OBC , when it can be used, and what it can be used to pay. Sometimes, the OBC is missing. We had an experience on a Viking cruise where we had been told by our TA that we had $600 OBC. Reception told us we had $100. Big mistake? I had my cruise confirmation with us. Viking did not believe us nor would they contact our TA. We sent email to our TA who confirmed the amount. Viking would not budge. TA reassured us that we had the $600 OBC and that he would sent us a check for $500. Not sure where the mistake was made. When we got home, the check was in our mailbox. I love my TA.

On one of our Venice trips we purchased the Chorus Pass:

http://www.chorusvenezia.org/en

it gives access to a long list of churches and you can get a map. We had a fun day trying to find as many of them as we could - some were off the beaten path.A great time and many treasures we wouldn't have otherwise found.

That sounds like a great tour for those of us who are passionate about art. Missing a few churches but a very nice selection I will put that in my Venice folder. I have always said that the churches are better than the Academia Museum with hords of people and their selfies, churches have less people, do not allow any cameras and art where it was painted to be. Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the great idea of the Chorus Pass, Milepig! We love the authenticity of churches and, to quote Strenz, "Art where it was painted to be."