Venice DIY. What we did and unfortunately, didn’t do. (w/photos)

[CuTiAngel]

I’d like to share with you all what we did during our time in Venice for the Grand Mediterranean cruise in May. Our cruise docked in Venice overnight and sailed the next morning, so that the ship was like a floating hotel. We flew into Venice stopping in Detroit and Paris (CDG) with Air France and encountered flight delays with details in this post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=34078833#post34078833

 

Lesson learned: NEVER book a plane ticket with a transfer time less than 3 hours minimum at CDG.

 

Anyhow, with the delays, we were not able to arrive at Venice until around 8pm, the night before the ship set sail at 8am. What really bothered me at that point was: a romantic gondola ride for our (delayed) honeymoon was out of the window.

 

We found the ATVO fly bus ticket machines near the baggage claim, purchased the tickets and found the bus right across the street. We validated the tickets (outside of the bus), loaded our luggage to the compartment under the bus, showed the driver our tickets, and headed to Venice within minutes. It was 5 Euro per person.

 

After getting off the bus, I saw the modern looking bridge on my right, and to my left was the station of the PeopleMover. We purchased tickets at 1 Euro each at the machine. It was easy.

 

PeopleMover’s station entrance. The blue bus was the airport shuttle.

 

Our ship (Ruby Princess) docked at Marittima 117. Finding the way to the ship after getting off the PeopleMover wasn’t as easy as I thought, even though you could see the ship right there. Most people probably already boarded the ship and at around 8:30pm, the area was like a ghost town. The sign that says Princess was pointing to the left while the ship was to our right. We followed the sign and found out the road was blocked off by fences. We should have used common sense.

 

The original plan was to get to ship around 3pm and then go back to Piazza Roma to catch the #2 Vaporetto to see the sights along Grand Canal. We had to give that up and used the ship’s water shuttle to St. Mark’s Square. The ride was nice and our first to experience the water in Venice.

 

The water shuttle dropped us off about a 5-minute walk east of St. Mark’s Square, due to an event that took place that week. We passed by some hotels, fancy waterfront restaurants, parked gondolas and many street vendors. Then we saw the Bridge of Sigh, Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica.

 

When my friends showed me their trip photos of the Bridge of Sigh from last year, it was covered by wood-paneled advertisements. This time around, it was in plain sight.

 

My impression of the night time St. Mark’s Square was a lot of street vendors selling counterfeit products, and yoyo-like thing that got thrown into the sky. They let the thing fall on the ground with a bang. I got uneasy thus decided not to spend so much time at the square and looked for the Rialto Bridge. On the good side, St Mark’s Square was very romantic with the string music in natural “Dolby surround sound”.

 

It was around 10pm, and obviously, all the gondolas were done for the day. We found our way to the Rialto Bridge with the help of signs on the buildings.

 

The Grand Canal at night, from the Rialto Bridge

 

Around 10:30pm, most restaurants were closing up. We basically walked into one that was open on our way back to St. Mark’s Square. I didn’t pay attention to what the restaurant was called, and the receipt I’m looking at now says “Antichi Splendori”.

 

It was completely empty when we got seated. Patrons started coming in after us.

 

We ordered some fried calamari, which was very, very fresh, a plate of delicious spaghetti in cuttlefish ink, and a bottle of “aqua naturale”. The bread was lacking in comparison.

 

When the bill came, it listed the cover charge (2.5 Euro per person), a 10ish% of service charge (“servizio”), a 5 Euro bottled water, and the two reasonably priced dishes. The waiter discreetly came by to tell my husband that the tip wasn’t listed on the bill, the so-called service charge was actually government tax, and we were supposed to tip in cash. Sorry, I don’t buy it. I thought, if they were to fix the machine to print the percentage as the tax, I would tip extra as tips. It felt more like a scam than anything.

 

After the meal, almost everything was closed and we hurried back to take the ship’s water shuttle to return. Even though most guidebooks say Venice is a very safe city to walk at night, I would recommend you not walk around some dark alley away after 11pm.

[CuTiAngel]

Here are some more sights of Venice at night:

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, the Venice visit was a bummer. We didn’t get to see what we planned to see for the most part. Even though I very much enjoyed the sailaway of Venice the next morning and got to absorb the beautiful daytime scenery, I know I will definitely come back here one day.

 

Hope you enjoy reading the post! After I’m done with all the port DIY posts, I will put up the ship review with the links to these posts.

[DrmnOfMaui]

I'm so sorry you didn't get the Venice visit you had hoped for. I can feel the disappointment you must have felt. We are headed to Venice in late July and are flying in a day early. Our ship does not overnight, so we didn't want to take any chances of missing the ship, hence, we arrive the day prior to sailing.

You did get quite a lot done in your short time though! I'd love to see sail away pics if you have them!

 

And my daughter is thrilled with the shopping pictures you posted... the ones of the round pendants and earrings are exactly what we are looking for. I purchased her a pendant last November while I was in Rome, but she is very happy to see that she just might be able to add earrings!

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your trip!

[CuTiAngel]

DrmnOfMaui, those are some beautiful pendants, aren't they? Happy to hear that your daughter loves them and it'd be pretty neat to get a set!

 

The sailaway of Venice was gorgeous and yup, I took a bunch of photos. Will definitely put those up with the cruise review and leave a link here when it's done. :p

 

Have fun on your Mediterranean cruise in a few weeks!

[chipmaster]

At least you have an excuse for another cruise and a meal next to Grand Canal :o