Just back Millennium - Barcelona - Venice Any Questions?

[Cruise Junky]

This was the best cruise we've done....AMAZING!!!

 

Would be happy to answer any questions. We had two nights in Barcelona at the beginning and three days in Venice at the end. Ask away!

[Beckyy]

Glad you had a great trip. We are planning a Mediterranean cruise in 7/06. Have no idea what cruise lines to consider. Looks like most of the posts take Celebrity or Princess. Are those the best overall, pricewise and comfort--best buy for the money? Are you better off doing the excursions on your own? Is it a mistake to take the ship-sponsored ones? (The only cruise we have been on is Alaska). I have no problem using the internet, if that helps.

Thanks for the adice. Beckyy

[daviduk]

We are doing Barcelona - Venice on Grand Princess in August 2006. Ive sorted out the hotel for Barcelona but have you got any suggestions as to where to stay in Venice. We were there earlier this year and stayed in a very nice hotel in Venice Lido but next time we liked the idea of being closer to St Marks Sq.

[Cruise Junky]

Becky...we did a lot of research and found Millennium's itinerary just couldn't be beat. We loved it. We didn't do any ship's tours. We had friends that did in Naples and really enjoyed it. We had private tours in Villefranche (Sylvie - the best), Florence (Driver in Rome) Rome (Driver in Rome) and Athens (Spiros)...the other ports we did by ourselves. I would definitely recommend private tours. Try and find the roll call for your cruise and hook up with other passengers.

[Cruise Junky]

David:

We stayed at the Westin Europa & Regina in Venice and loved it. We were upgraded to a Junior Suite. However, we booked this using points and there's no way we could have afforded it. Even botton of the line rooms were around $500. We had friends who stayed at Locanda Orseolo and absolutely loved it. It's in a great location too, just behind St. Marks Square.

[daviduk]

I'd looked at Locanda Orseolo - it gets very good reviews but wondered if its a long walk with cruise luggage from the nearest waterbus stop. We can't get a water taxi because my wife wont go in one!!

 

 

David:

We stayed at the Westin Europa & Regina in Venice and loved it. We were upgraded to a Junior Suite. However, we booked this using points and there's no way we could have afforded it. Even botton of the line rooms were around $500. We had friends who stayed at Locanda Orseolo and absolutely loved it. It's in a great location too, just behind St. Marks Square.

[willy paul]

We stayed at the San Clemente Palace in Venice this past August for three nights. We booked it through Princess and it was a little pricey but worth every dollar. We had never been to Venice so we wanted the cruise line to handle the bags, etc and they did a great job. Met us at the airport and had someone deliver our bags to a water taxi that took us to San Clemente. San Clemente is in the lagoon and it has a very large pool and a small executive golf course. It was an old Monastary that has been totally rehabbed. It was great to take the 20 minute boat ride into Venice and then take it back and relax at the pool or just walk the grounds. They have their own fleets of boats ( mahogany and leather) that go back and forth to St. Mark's Square every 20 minutes all day. They were never really crowded. Our stay included a buffet breakfast that you could have in the dinning room or out in the beautiful ourtyard and service was 5 star. After Iclaimed our baggage at the airport I never had to handle the bags again. they wer delivered to the hotel and to our room, popicked up early in the morning and we didn't see them until aroun 1;00PM on the ship. Only way to go!

[Cruise Junky]

I'd looked at Locanda Orseolo - it gets very good reviews but wondered if its a long walk with cruise luggage from the nearest waterbus stop. We can't get a water taxi because my wife wont go in one!!

 

Ok, you got me on that one... why won't she go in a water taxi but will a water bus? The regular water buses aren't too happy if you're hauling a ton of luggage...they are the locals buses. One suitcase each wouldn't be much of a problem.

[daviduk]

She has this irrational fear of falling into the water! We tried water taxis this summer in Venice - one was fine but the other one she couldnt get on. Its all to do with the gap between the boat and the shore

 

Ok, you got me on that one... why won't she go in a water taxi but will a water bus? .

[Susan-M]

This was the best cruise we've done....AMAZING!!!

 

 

 

My thoughts exactly....it's hard to put into words how incredible it is! It's too bad that they've dropped Mykonos next year....although I know some people will appreciate an extra sea day instead.

 

Were your Santorini & Athens days changed, or did the webcam site have it mixed up.....I looked at the webcam one day when it said the ship was at Santorini, but the picture was Piraeus?

[Cruise Junky]

My thoughts exactly....it's hard to put into words how incredible it is! It's too bad that they've dropped Mykonos next year....although I know some people will appreciate an extra sea day instead.

 

Were your Santorini & Athens days changed, or did the webcam site have it mixed up.....I looked at the webcam one day when it said the ship was at Santorini, but the picture was Piraeus?

 

They did switch them...about six months ago I think. It seemed only for our cruise...have no idea why!

[Packing Light]

I have heard that in most of the Mediterranean countries, shorts are generally not worn by locals. We will be in Barcelona for 3 days as well as the itinerary for the Mediterranean cruises (Greek Isles, Italy, France, Turkey). I don't want to stick out like a sore thumb so what attire is appropriate? We are traveling in May 2006. Thanks.

[Cruise Junky]

I have heard that in most of the Mediterranean countries, shorts are generally not worn by locals. We will be in Barcelona for 3 days as well as the itinerary for the Mediterranean cruises (Greek Isles, Italy, France, Turkey). I don't want to stick out like a sore thumb so what attire is appropriate? We are traveling in May 2006. Thanks.

 

Shorts would be fine. I took two pair but didn't wear them, it just wasn't warm enough. Just wear them when you're not going in churches. Greece would be fine or walking around Barcelona. You'll love it. Most of the time, I wore capri's or khaki's.

[willy paul]

We just booked Sylvie for next year. What tour did she take you on?

[Cruise Junky]

She was Awesome! We asked for and got... Nice, we went to the flower market and drove along the Promenade...then off to St. Paul de Vence...(My favourite) we had lunch there and about 1 hour free time. We then went to Eze and finished at Monaco and Monte Carlo. On the way back to the ship, she drove us through Cap Ferret, pointing out Bill Gates, Bono's house amoung others.

 

She was the best tour we had. Even Daniel from Driver in Rome said she is the best tour guide in Europe.

[KruzinAl]

Great trip, would recommend Galaxy or Millie, Millie is more modern, but also first class service and food. MOre sea days are welcome. We stayed 3 days in Venice pre and 2 days in Rome post. Highly recommend the break at the beginning to get adjusted. We stayed at the San Simeon and were supposed to stay at the Canal and Walter but were relocated across the Canal to the ****onale. The San and Canal/Walter are 3* spots and highly recommend them. They are in the Santa Croce area, near the Termini and rail station. Handy to get to the airport and not too far to drag your bags. For a 16 day total trip, we packed light and brought two rolling carry-ons and 2 small backpacks. Just walked onto the ship, some people waited 5 hours for their bags to arrive. I think we were the only people with carry ons. You can do it, we did some minor laundry. Don't bring anything cotton to wash/wear as it won't dry. You're not there for a fashion show. I wore shorts on all the port stops, but 90% of the passengers did not. But who cares, I was cool and comfortable, wore zip-offs so covered up for churchs and mosques.

Anyway, a great time. I posted a review, but cc has not published it, Look for it soon on the Galaxy member Eastern med reviews. We also used many local guides and posted their contacts, but you can read the Europe threads for more contacts.

Have a great time.

Al

[hylasgirl]

You can wear absolutely anything in Barcelona and not stick out like a sore thumb. I have never seen such a mix of people like there are in Barcelona. What a strange but fun place. You could really wear anything. No one will notice you either way....

[cathi]

Anyone who wants the best itin in cruising will try to sail on the Millie's Barcelona-Venice or reverse. Did it in June this year and absolutely loved it! Will probably go back in a couple of years and do it all over again so we can do the things we didn't have time for this year.

I agree with Hylasgal you can wear almost anything (just wear something!!) in Barcelona. I wore shorts the whole time on our cruise but I did avoid religious sites as much as possible. The zip-off pants/shorts would be a great alternative except I like my shorts a little shorter than that.

As to tours, we did a mix of on our own and ship's tours. Loved going off by ourselves and thanks to all the great advice on this site found it very easy to do. We did the ship's tour of the volcano hike in Santorini and loved it. It would recommend that to anyone but we did the ship's tour to St Paul de Vence and wished we gone with a private tour operator or gone on our own. There is no right or wrong way to do shore excursions. Do a little research and then go with what feels right for you!!

[Aviendha]

Glad to hear you had such a wonderful time!

 

Could you tell me about your experience with Spiros? I've been reading mixed reviews of him lately.

[Cruise Junky]

Hmmm... we'll here's another mixed review. Friends we met on line booked him about 17 months ago...maybe even more. We were a party of four and Spiros guaranteed he'd be our driver. Then we wanted to add four more. Spiros gave us a choice... we could move to a larger vehicle to accommodate 8 and lose him as our driver, or just move to two cabs and we'd keep him. We opted for the two cabs...guess what? We didn't get him as a driver anyway! We got Michael. Michael was really nice, but that wasn't the point.

 

One of our really good drivers (not mentioning any names) said he thought George was better in Athens.

[tak2]

I'd looked at Locanda Orseolo - it gets very good reviews but wondered if its a long walk with cruise luggage from the nearest waterbus stop. We can't get a water taxi because my wife wont go in one!!

We stayed there a few days ago( same cruise as Cruise Junky )Fabulous place, but it gets booked up months in advance particularly with cruise passengers since so many of us read these boards!

I haven't timed the distance from vaporetto station to Locanda Orseolo, but from the shop ( Olivetti ) in San Marco where the street leads to Locanda it's a 2-3 min walk, just crossing a tiny bridge with only a few steps. As long as your luggage is easily rollable, it will not be a big issue.

We very much enjoyed the ship's Amalfi & Pompeii excursion, but that's because this one happened to be well organized( not all ship's excursions meet this standard) by the local tour company. Quality of ship's excursion vary depending on the local tour company.

[foxy92802]

How do you contact Sylvie? Does she have an email or web address for the tour in monte carlo/cannes/nice?

[Cruise Junky]

sylvie.di.cristo@wanadoo.fr

[twoofus]

This was the best cruise we've done....AMAZING!!!

 

Would be happy to answer any questions. We had two nights in Barcelona at the beginning and three days in Venice at the end. Ask away!

 

could u pleasse provide some more information on the private tours in rome and vill franche perhaps some contact information for those tour operators you enjoyed so much..

glad you had a great cruise we are on the mill. 11/18/ trans atlantic from barcelona

[ajpack]

I was with Cruise Junky on the Rome tour and we used Driver in Rome...

http://www.driverinrome.com/. We had Daniele for our driver and he was an absolute delight to be with for an entire day. He was informative and funny at the same time. We did the "Exclusive best of Rome tour". Prices are listed on their website. The Villefranche tour with Sylvie ....Cruise Junky gave her email address in the previous respose. I don't know her her website. She was an actual tour guide, not a driver, and she was superb. We went to the market in Nice, St. Paul de Vence, Eze, Monaco, the casino in Monte Carlo. Cruise Junky has a wonderful review of our cruise on this board and she gives a more detailed decription. Check it out..it's great.