Cost of cruise!!

[SPacificbound]

everyone is so helpful on this board I am thinking perhaps you are all right. the land portion maybe we should do on our own. If we fly into Venice, we could stay in Venice for 3 nights then take train to Rome for 3 nights before we board cruise. florence will have to wait till another time. But now I worry about luggage?? How do we carry four suitcases all over?? I don't travel light and we are going on cruise for 7 nights so what do we do with luggage on train??

 

How about hiring someone to drive us from a hotel in Venice down to hotel in Rome? (easy to put luggage in trunk) are there situations where this can work???

 

Rail travel is very easy and quite wonderful in Europe, and Italy is great by rail. Venice is best explored on foot and by water bus or water taxi. We skip the gondolas, considered it an unneeded expense. The train station is right on the Grand Canal. If you have not already paid for a hotel you could look at a Venice map and find a hotel not far from the train station.

Florence (again by train) is very walkable and with a map of Florence you can locate a hotel not far from the train station again. Unless one of you has mobility problems embrace the fun of exploring these wonderful cities without the annoyance of being herded by a tour guide. The internet makes it possible to do all of this planning on your own. For me the planning is part of the joy of travel. Have a great time!

[avazah]

It sounds like you are getting hung up over the fact that the cost of cruise is significantly less than the cost of the overall trip. In reality, you are getting a 7 day cruise and a 5 day land trip in Italy, correct? Cruises don't generally come with 5 day land trips, so you need to separate the cost of the cruise with the cost of the land trip in your mind... It sounds like you've had a lot of great advice on how to cut the cost, but in reality, it's really like you have two vacations rolled into one, which each have separate costs! The cost of the cruise isn't relevant to the cost of the 5 day land vacation :)

[Corby114]

Venice is an absolutely beautiful city to visit and explore. The Best Western Hotel Olimpia is a short walk from the Venice train station. Very nice rooms and a very wonderful staff. Three short bridges to cross. Very easy acess to Plaza Roma and a twenty minute walk to St Mark's Square.

[navybankerteacher]

everyone is so helpful on this board I am thinking perhaps you are all right. the land portion maybe we should do on our own. If we fly into Venice, we could stay in Venice for 3 nights then take train to Rome for 3 nights before we board cruise. florence will have to wait till another time. But now I worry about luggage?? How do we carry four suitcases all over?? I don't travel light and we are going on cruise for 7 nights so what do we do with luggage on train??

 

How about hiring someone to drive us from a hotel in Venice down to hotel in Rome? (easy to put luggage in trunk) are there situations where this can work???

 

Hiring a driver is pretty costly. You might consider flying to Rome - not to Venice -- airfare to Rome is generally a lot less. Then have one night in Rome, leave most of your luggage at hotel (hotels are glad to hold luggage for returning guests), take train to Venice for two days with small bag, stay two days, then back to Rome - possibly stopping in Florence for one night en route. It may sound complicated, but you might find savings in air fare offsets train fare, plus you can travel in Italy with just one small bag each.

[celyvabeach]

I think that your trip insurance is way too high. My DH, an adult DD and me are travelling to Europe in Oct, doing a 7 day E. Med cruise out of Venice then a land tour afterwards. Ten days in Milan and vicinities then to Prague for a total of 24 days. I took out a Travelex Travel Basic Plan with Insuremytrip. The main coverage I am really interested in is the Emergency Medical Evacuation but this package also covers trip cancellation,trip interruption,,travel delay and medical coverage all for $308.00 for the 3 of us.

[Steppy08]

I think the cost of the actual cruise is too much, but if you're in love with the itinerary and sail date then there's not much you can do.

 

We got a deal on our sailing on the Serenade. It was a 12 day Italy/Greece/etc. cruise, with a balcony.... for less than what you're paying for 1 person. Obviously there's different prices for different sailings/time of the year/etc.... but there you have it.