Voyager - Venice to Rome, 10/17-24/12

[WesW]

Forgap/Jennifer & Georges, we really like the new Avatar, is that St. Marks square in the background..no matter y'all's love beams with your smiles.

[forgap]

Yes, Wes, that is San Marco in the background on sail away, pic courtesy of Jamie Logan who was kind enough to take a GREAT snapshot. And, if you haven't noticed, I'm copying you! You're a fabulous travel role model!

[OrpingtonT]

Also, Jennifer, CC has a Picture posting Test thread that is helpful to try first to hone your pix posting skills, pls see

 

 

 

I hadn't known about this Test thread. It is remarkably useful in many ways. You are a fount of knowledge, Wes. Many thanks.

[g0ingn0w]

Forgap thank you for posting your review. I was on the same cruise and was wondering how to thank the CC community for all the assistance provided prior to the cruise. I hope you don't my adding onto your post but I thought it might help others to have one more viewpoint even if it overlaps a bit with yours.

 

We flew to Venice on the 14th and connected through Frankfurt. The connection time was less than an hour. I was pretty embarrassed to be the last person on the Lufthansa flight and it was 30 minutes late for departure but I was running through that huge airport. My husband and I got separated while departing the United flight and he managed to get on the right bus and to the departure gate in a few minutes. Forgap's advice is sound...try to get a 90 minute layover.

 

We stayed at the Hilton Molino Stucky. I was disappointed I didn't get to meet any of the CC roll call participants in the rooftop bar but I did have a delicious chocolate martini while I wrote some post cards up there the night before departure. They really should serve food up there though. The hotel was fine but we weren't crazy about the location. Two best things were the proximity to the cruise ship and the view from the roof. Worst things were the 24 euro burger, 20 euro chicken cesar salad and waiting for the shuttle. That said, Venice was wonderful and I'd love to go back.

 

Registration was painless. We went over to the ship about 1:30 and there was no line. They did confiscate the letter opener I purchased but it appeared in my state room on the last day as promised. We also headed straight to La Veranda for lunch and luggage was delivered while we ate. We went to our room and met our steward and unpacked. We were very pleased with the stateroom.

 

Destination Services was our next stop. We'd been waitlisted for the Ultimate Florence (incl the Accademia) excursion($129pp) and wanted to see if anything had changed. We were offered Florence's Finest ($269pp) which included the Accademia, Uffizi and lunch). We've never been to Florence so we signed up for it excited about the prospect of going to both museums.

 

We went on the same excursion in Dubrovnik as Forgap but sounds like we had a different guide. Matilda was our guide. She was 14 when they bombed Dubrovnik in 1991. She shared her perspective of the conflict and made it clear it was not a religious conflict. Her insight and personal view made it interesting. I would have liked more time to walk the walls but there simply wasn't time. Croatia is beautiful and we enjoyed our tour.

 

Corfu was also beautiful. We rode a tour bus up some narrow roads and cliffs to a restaurant with wonderful views. Then we visited a monastery. It was interesting and we got some nice photos. The sunrise as we arrived was stunning.

 

In Taormina we contacted a local dive shop, Dive Siciliy and went scuba diving. The owner, Alex met us at the pier with equipment. His boat was already at the marina. We spent the surface interval at a restaurant on the beach and met his family, had awesome pizza and watched a Dolce & Gabanna photo shoot.

 

I booked this cruise specifically for the itinerary which included the opportunity for us to see Capri and Positano without having to make that drive along the coast. We tendered into Sorrento and then took the hydrofoil to Capri. We ate lunch when we got there and then spent time in Capri town. We spent so much time traveling we didn't have time to go to Anacapri and take the chair lift up to see the views. I was disappointed and really sorry I didn't go into Sorrento but I was dying to see Capri. This was about the time I remembered Travelcat's comments about the free excursions. I was starting to feel like part of a cattle call.

 

The next day was Positano which was just gorgeous and my favorite port. There isn't much to do except stroll, shop and eat...heavenly. We tendered into Amalfi and then took a ferry to Positano. I wish we'd had more time in Positano but we hopped on the ferry back to Amalfi and took the tour of the old church because my husband is into old churches. Wish I could have gotten more shopping in but overall I was pretty happy. Totally made up for the previous day.

 

Florence's Finest got cancelled darn it but we got Ultimate Florence so we were still going to see the statue of David thank heavens. We asked the ship's concierge for reservations at the Uffizi to coincide with the free time on our excursion and bless her heart she got it done. We also lucked out and got on bus #1 in Livorno. Our guide Luca intentionally skipped the bathroom stop and got us to the Accademia in well under 2 hours. We met another guide, Sam and had a wonderful tour of the Accademia and walked to the river to see the Ponte Vecchio plus other city sights that escape me at the moment. We grabbed lunch with the group and then raced over to the Uffizi for our 1:30 reservation. We spent 2 hours in the Uffizi and I was done. Next time we'll be able to do Florence on our own and I'm going to get some shopping in (sorry to beat that dead horse so much).

 

We hired a private car for Rome. Our flight was at 4:45 so we needed to be at the airport by 2:45 for our flight to Germany. Disembarkation was a breeze. We had no problems finding our luggage or driver on the dock. We made our 10:30 am Vatican Museum reservation with 10 minutes to spare.

 

Overall I thought the excursion process was about as efficient as they could make it. That whole cattle call feeling is the only drawback but everything else was so nice it didn't ruin my vacation. I would do this itinerary again and with my lessons learned it would be near perfect I'm sure.

 

Food was great everywhere. Maybe we're not discriminating enough but we enjoyed every meal. Service was great. I have read complaints about slow service in Compass Rose but we didn't mind. Food arrived at the right temperature and we weren't in any hurry to get anywhere. Prime 7, Signatures and Sette Mari were all great. Maybe we got lucky or I read too many negative comments but we were not disappointed.

 

We were in stateroom 948. We felt the vibration but it didn't bother us for some reason. The walk in closet was a nice surprise. I don't think we'll ever be able to cruise without a balcony. The balcony was great. The weather was extraordinary. Just perfect every day.

 

We attended the art dealer's seminars and the enrichment lectures. We enjoyed those. We appreciated the Passages newsletter and read it religiously. We met some really nice folks. My massage at the Canyon Ranch spa lived up to their reputation. We went to a couple of shows and enjoyed the Krew's Capers the most. My husband really enjoyed the Coffee Connection and got his customized iced coffee drink every day with cookies or some other snack. I would cruise Regent again in a heartbeat but my husband is not a fan of cruises. This was our 2nd cruise in 22 years, the first being our honeymoon. He doesn't like having a few hours in each port so it's unlikely we'll be cruising again any time soon but if we did, he says he'd cruise Regent again.

 

I'm going to try to post a review soon. I have hundreds of photos but decided not to post any because there are already so many of these ports posted already.

 

Hope that helps some future cruisers. Email me if you'd like.

 

Thanks again to Forgap. Sorry about the length of my post.

 

Lis

driscollis@msn.com

[RachelG]

Thanks for your comments Lis. One suggestion for anyone staying at the Hilton in Venice in the future is to walk out the door, turn right, and walk along the canal a short way. There are some very fine Italian restaurants down there which avoids the $24 hamburger thing.

[WesW]

Echo RachelG's kudos, excellent & very thorough Mariner review..thanks for sharing.

[g0ingn0w]

Thanks for your comments Lis. One suggestion for anyone staying at the Hilton in Venice in the future is to walk out the door, turn right, and walk along the canal a short way. There are some very fine Italian restaurants down there which avoids the $24 hamburger thing.

 

RachelG is correct. After we shook off a little jet lag we did just as she advises and were rewarded with a lovely pizza and wine dinner for a very reasonable price. Best pizza ever and the red wine cost the same as a soda. The wine was also served at the proper temperature. Don't you hate getting red wine that's too warm?

 

I should have said the Hilton is a very nice hotel because it is. It wasn't fair to just gripe about the cost of a burger especially when I just got back from a wonderful vacation. Shame on me. I'll be more fair and balanced on trip advisor.

 

CORRECTION to my earlier review - My husband was disturbed by the vibration and would make the effort to move forward if given the opportunity.

 

Lis

[mythologist]

Thanks for posting your report and pics. We were on this cruise in May and loved it. Your Indian meal looks wonderful. We'll have to try that sometime!

[Cruisegirl6]

You are simply wonderful people and thank you for all your advice, suggestions and experiences and all the help you have given guiding us.

 

We are thinking the April 17th Venice to Rome, we prefer the October sailing starting in Rome so that we can fly in a bit earlier to spend a few extra days in Rome but the date doesn't work for my sister in law as she must be back to work the end of the month....she is an accountant and needs to close books.

 

I appreciate everybody's thoughts and thank you so much. I am leaning on this cruise....but still debating whether we will get to see all the things we would like to see. Decisions decisions....better to have this problem in life. ;)