Atlantis Med 2010 Venice - Athens; August 16 2010 (Celebrity Equinox)

[almostavirgin]

My Cabin Mate from Houston found this site and I'm sharing with everyone. Wish he and I had stumbled upon it earlier, but the info is still good - especially Venice's Top 11 Free Sights.

 

Enjoy and see everyone in a few days. :p

 

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-people-mover.htm

 

For some reason, even though I've tried to edit, the "people" in the above URL keeps coming out "...ple." Please use "venice-people-mover" as part of the URL when you check out the site. Strange.

 

 

The link works just fine as it is. Thanks for sharing Gary!

 

_Ray :)

[BostonBud]

It's really hard to stay focused when I have so much packing to still do. Since we're staying a few extra days after the cruise I'm still trying to decide how much clothes to bring. If you start bringing costumes it takes up half the suitcase and then there's the shoes!!!

 

Argh!!:confused:

[ToddVenice]

Is anyone else going to Mykonos for the remainder of the dance music festival after the cruise?

[sfgoguy]

Fellows, FYI, Venice is 9 hours ahead of SF time (6 hours ahead of NYC time), so set your watches and begin the acclimation to Italian time to minimize jetlag. Also, weather forecasts for the weekend in Venice show a 30% chance of showers. You might thow an umbrella in the carry-on and keep your stilettos packed till you're onboard the Equinox. :eek:

 

Two more days of work before I board that 747. Can hardly wait. :p

[Cyberman]

It's really hard to look forward to the cruiw when 4 days out from arriving in Vebice we find that Atlantis has cancelled our pre-tour accommodation and now the hotels are fully booked.

 

Our post accommodation is also a mess.

 

Moral of the story is NEVER book accommodation thru Atlantis.

[almostavirgin]

It's really hard to look forward to the cruiw when 4 days out from arriving in Vebice we find that Atlantis has cancelled our pre-tour accommodation and now the hotels are fully booked.

 

Our post accommodation is also a mess.

 

Moral of the story is NEVER book accommodation thru Atlantis.

 

 

This is terrible! Did Atlantis even give you a valid reason why your accomodation was cancelled?

 

This serves as a reminder to everyone that we should confirm our reservations before we head there. My biggest nightmare would be to be standing in the check-in counter with tons of luggages and be told that I have no reservation! :eek: :mad:

 

Hope you'll find another hotel to stay in, Cyberman.

 

-Ray

[Cyberman]

This is terrible! Did Atlantis even give you a valid reason why your accomodation was cancelled?

Apparently few people took the Atlantis pre-cruise accommodation and transfers package so they did not meet the minimums required by the hotels for the special pricing. Also the hotels apparently were offering much cheaper pricing on the Internet.

 

So when I got the email I went straight online and tried to book direct, yet they were both booked out, despite apparently having freed our reservations. Something doesn't seem right to me.

 

We are already heading towards Venice on trains across Europe, and it was lucky we happened to find wi-fi access, so found out about the massive problem within a day or two of their email being sent.

[almostavirgin]

Cyberman,

 

Don't let this spoil your vacation. Just look on the brighter side of things. In about 5 days, we'll be in that floating paradise called Equinox! :)

 

-Ray

[days@sea]

Hope you guys are having a great time.

Any news for us that are on the 2nd cruise after you? :)

Did they come up with a alcoholic drink package solution on board?

 

:)

[Cyberman]

The Venice to Athens cruise is great. Thoroughly enjoying it. The shows and plays are great. Great parties, etc. Fantastic ship and food and crew.

 

Soft drink package is available for $5 per day plus 15% tip. No alcohol packages, but I'm not sure the soft drink package was worth it as there are plenty of free drinks and juices in the oceanview cafe.

 

We're in Istanbul wt the moment. Wifi on ship is 65 cents per minute, but lots of free wifi in shore visits.

[days@sea]

Awesome! Thanks Cyberman.

I didn't think they'd come to a solution for unlimited alcohol.

Glad to hear you're having a great time. Try not to exhaust the crew too much before all of us get on in Athens for the second cruise :)

[BostonBud]

Well, we finally got back on Sat. We spend a few days in Rome after the cruise and I have to say that Rome was hotter (temperature wise) than any of the places we stopped at on the ship.

 

Any thoughts?

 

This was our first Med. cruise and had a great time. We miss being on the ship.

 

This was our third Celebrity cruise with Atlantis and the first one where Celebrity didn't offer any of the perks that they typically offer to Captain's Club members even though on the last day there was mention of Captain's Club benefits in the newsletter.

[relo]

We also enjoyed the cruise very much. We stayed until thursday in athens, also very hot :-). We booked the 2011 Med cruise on board so we will visit Rome next year.

This was our first cruise and today I tried to enroll for the Captain's Club online, but i only get a message that there isn't a qualifying cruise on record for me :-(. Sent an email and waiting for their response.

[sfgoguy]

Someone, somehow took this of us sailing out of Venice. Brings back great memories of a great vacation.

 

Enjoy. ;)

 

[almostavirgin]

Someone, somehow took this of us sailing out of Venice. Brings back great memories of a great vacation.

 

Enjoy. ;)

 

 

 

Hi Gary,

 

Mistakenly approached someone on the boat, thinking it was you.

 

Too bad we didn't get to meet in person.

 

Enjoyed the trip, and still missing it. There should be a withdrawal support group for this cruise. :(

 

-Ray

[sfgoguy]

Hi Gary,

 

Mistakenly approached someone on the boat, thinking it was you.

 

Too bad we didn't get to meet in person.

 

Enjoyed the trip, and still missing it. There should be a withdrawal support group for this cruise. :(

 

-Ray

 

Ray, there were so many men, so many ship venues (the Equinox is wonderful - better than I expected) and so many happening events that I'm not surprised our paths didn't cross. It was a fun (but not relaxing) vacation. I'm glad I returned home on Thursday and didn't report back to work until Monday. I needed the "decompress" time.

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise and "lost your virginity." :eek:

 

I did not sign up the the August '11 cruise - didn't like the timing (too late in August for me) and was tepid on the ports (which, I understand, are in flux, anyway). I'm looking at RSVP's July '11 Barcelona/Barcelona cruise instead. It's only 7 nights and on a smaller ship (the Nieuw Amsterdam - about 2,000 passengers). But, I love Barcelona and will add several extra days (pre- and post) to make it an enjoyable vacation.

 

Keep in touch and happy cruising, Ray. ;)

[almostavirgin]

Ray, there were so many men, so many ship venues (the Equinox is wonderful - better than I expected) and so many happening events that I'm not surprised our paths didn't cross. It was a fun (but not relaxing) vacation. I'm glad I returned home on Thursday and didn't report back to work until Monday. I needed the "decompress" time.

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise and "lost your virginity." :eek:

 

I did not sign up the the August '11 cruise - didn't like the timing (too late in August for me) and was tepid on the ports (which, I understand, are in flux, anyway). I'm looking at RSVP's July '11 Barcelona/Barcelona cruise instead. It's only 7 nights and on a smaller ship (the Nieuw Amsterdam - about 2,000 passengers). But, I love Barcelona and will add several extra days (pre- and post) to make it an enjoyable vacation.

 

Keep in touch and happy cruising, Ray. ;)

 

Hi Gary,

 

I have to agree, Equinox was very impressive! Clean, classy, colossal!

 

I completely lost track of time the first few days, sleeping only a few hours a day, and had to force myself to eat, LOL. I actually lost 5 lbs during the cruise! :eek: (must be the late parties, miles of walking during the excursions, and the cruel heat!)

 

Too early to decide on the Rome-Barcelona summer cruise. I've never been to any of the ports in the itinerary, but I don't know if I can handle another Mediterranean summer! Is the Nieuw Amsterdam cruise a gay one?

 

Well, hope you have a relaxing long weekend Gary! Stay in touch.....

 

-Ray :cool:

[relo]

We liked our first cruise so much that we have booked the 2011 cruise onboard. The ship, atmosphere and itinerary were great. We like the 2011 itinerary also very much. Besides Barcelona we haven't visit one of the ports and most of them are on our to do list. We really hope that they don't change the ports again (they did that with this summer cruises and as a result we decided against a b2b and cancel the Athens-Barcelona cruise). But we won't be surprised if it happens (only hope they keep Ibiza, Corsica and Valencia at least this time).

According to the Celebrity website you can still book the cruise departing Rome on August 19 and the Equinox is still scheduled to depart Rome on August 29, while we are supposed to disembark one day earlier in Barcelona. Only time will tell :rolleyes:

[sfgoguy]

Hi Gary,

 

Is the Nieuw Amsterdam cruise a gay one?

 

-Ray :cool:

 

Ray,

 

RSVP is the sister company to Atlantis (both owned by Rich Campbell - well, with a couple of silent partners, I expect). Check out their website at www.RSVPvacations.com. They don't yet have the July '11 Med cruise up, but it's available for booking - I called and had a pdf of the cruise sent to me. RSVP's website does have their winter '11 Caribbean cruise up and it, too, is on the Nieuw Amsterdam, so you can get an idea of the ship.

 

The itinerary, as I recall, is Barcelona, Tunisia, Sicily, Rome, Florence, Marsailles, Barcelona with a sea-day or two thrown in. While I like more than 7 night cruises, I also like pre- and post-cruise days in cities I adore...and Barcelona's one of those. And - Can you say "Sitges," boys and girls? :)

 

Think about it, Ray. :confused:

 

Ciao!

[almostavirgin]

Ray,

 

RSVP is the sister company to Atlantis (both owned by Rich Campbell - well, with a couple of silent partners, I expect). Check out their website at www.RSVPvacations.com. They don't yet have the July '11 Med cruise up, but it's available for booking - I called and had a pdf of the cruise sent to me. RSVP's website does have their winter '11 Caribbean cruise up and it, too, is on the Nieuw Amsterdam, so you can get an idea of the ship.

 

The itinerary, as I recall, is Barcelona, Tunisia, Sicily, Rome, Florence, Marsailles, Barcelona with a sea-day or two thrown in. While I like more than 7 night cruises, I also like pre- and post-cruise days in cities I adore...and Barcelona's one of those. And - Can you say "Sitges," boys and girls? :)

 

Think about it, Ray. :confused:

 

Ciao!

 

 

Gary,

 

I won't be surprised if you turn-out to be one of Campbell's silent partners! :D

 

You have a point, the July '11 Med cruise itinerary seems more interesting. The only plus point for the Atlantis Aug '11 Med cruise is Ibiza, but I guess Sitges would compensate for that!

 

Thinking here! :confused:

 

-Ray :cool:

[relo]

We are just the opposite, we like the Atlantis itinerary cruise much more. Not really interested in Sicily and Marseilles and we like the fact that you start in another city then you end. We have already been several times to Barcelona, so maybe we add a day or two in Sitges.

[sfgoguy]

We are just the opposite, we like the Atlantis itinerary cruise much more. Not really interested in Sicily and Marseilles and we like the fact that you start in another city then you end. We have already been several times to Barcelona, so maybe we add a day or two in Sitges.

 

I like different cities pre- and post-cruise, too, guys. So, I'm thinking of flying into Paris or Madrid for the RSVP pre-cruise days and taking a bullet train to Barcelona to board the ship. Will stay in Barcelona/Sitges post-cruise and fly home from Barcelona. ;)

 

I've been to most of the ports Atlantis announced (with their caveat that the ports are subject to change). Corsica might be fun, but I think RSVP's Tunisia will be, too. And, I love Sicily so definitely don't mind a repeat of that. I've not been to Marsailles and don't expect to do anything there but the excursion to Provence. So, all-in-all, I do like the RSVP itinerary. I will miss the Equinox, though - if that turns out to be Atlantis's ship. But beware, they were touting a Celebrity ship for their March '11 Caribbean cruise and changed to RCCL! Ouch! :(

[BostonBud]

Yes they switched the ship in March, but I actually prefer the Serenade, it was my first cruise with Atlantis and it had a great layout. I've heard mixed reviews about the Summit which was the original ship touted.

 

We also rebooked for the Aug 2011 cruise. I really think the ports are great and hope it doesn't change unless they want to add another day back to Rome... Don't really care much for Barcelona so we will probably fly out after we dock. Still hoping for a 10 cruise....

[davemspec]

Hi Guys -

 

Welcome back! I have been on both the Solstice (sister to Equinox) and the Eurodam (sister to the Nieuw Amsterdam) and I can't advise you strongly enough to avoid the RSVP cruise on Holland America. The Eurodam - which we took from Copenhagen to Amsterdam this summer - was so old fashioned and difficult to navigate! Solstice was soooooo much nicer and I hope to sail on the Equinox or something of that class again in Europe.

 

Just my $0.02.

 

:D

[itsandreas]

We liked our first cruise so much that we have booked the 2011 cruise onboard. The ship, atmosphere and itinerary were great. We like the 2011 itinerary also very much. Besides Barcelona we haven't visit one of the ports and most of them are on our to do list. We really hope that they don't change the ports again (they did that with this summer cruises and as a result we decided against a b2b and cancel the Athens-Barcelona cruise). But we won't be surprised if it happens (only hope they keep Ibiza, Corsica and Valencia at least this time).

According to the Celebrity website you can still book the cruise departing Rome on August 19 and the Equinox is still scheduled to depart Rome on August 29, while we are supposed to disembark one day earlier in Barcelona. Only time will tell :rolleyes:

 

We book onboard too - just had too much fun not to come back! - but were looking for a pre/post cruise to extend our break. Emailed celebrity about the most likely suspect (8 August Rome/Rome sailing) to confirm that we could do a back to back seapass, luggage, drinks packages and the head office response was that they didn't have a record of the Atlantis Charter! They asked us to provide details of the ship, dates ports etc.

 

Hope atlantis and celebrity get there act together soon as we want to book the same suite so as to not have to pack/unpack on the change.