Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Our Carnival Venezia B2B - 21 days of "Fun Italian Style" (with pics) - 9/23/23

Jamman54

By Jamman54,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

 Share

Recommended Posts

Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 hour ago, White123 said:

Loved your reviews pictures and comments.    Going on Venezia Jan 23.    Thanks again

 

 

Glad you enjoyed the review! Enjoy your cruise on the Venezia! 😊

 

1 hour ago, EllieinNJ said:

Always a good review.  82 more days until our Journey cruise on her 

 

Thanks so much for reading! Your time aboard her will be here before you know it! 😊

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Indiansbaseball

Indiansbaseball

Posted
Posted

As always, loved your review and Patty’s pictures ! I’m very excited to be cruising Venezia next year. Hubby wants to come in a few days early because he’s never been. That leaves me stressing over hotels and transportation…but not the ship ! 
Tell Patty thank you for her part in telling the story. Happy Sailing ! 
Jen 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

Posted
  • Author
Posted
5 hours ago, AmyJA said:

Well, that was fun! And it ended on a turkey ice sculpture on Thanksgiving week? Oh….wait…no waddle.😉

 

Much thanks to you both for the wonderful ride.

 

Glad to have had you on board with us, in January for real! :classic_biggrin:

 

2 hours ago, vanislandcruisers said:

Jeff - Another GREAT review by you and Pictures by Patti...Thanks for doing this!!!

 

Thank you so much for reading! :classic_cool:

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

Posted
  • Author
Posted
57 minutes ago, slavigne5577 said:

I have enjoyed your reviews. Patti has to be a very brave lady. She goes walking around those ports by herself. I would scared the entire time. She does a great job taking the pictures. Thank you for all the time you take writing  these reviews.

 

Thanks for reading and your kind words. Patti sticks near the crowds when walking around the ports, so no worries. :classic_cool:

 

17 minutes ago, Frank12 said:

Enjoyed the ride. Thanks!

Glad you enjoyed the review!  :classic_cool:

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

Posted
  • Author
Posted
11 hours ago, TNVolnteerCruiser said:

Thank you, Jeff and Patti!  I really enjoyed following along.  Now I feel the same sadness that your trip is over, that I feel when I have to debark.  Looking forward to your next one.

 

Thanks so much for reading! You won't have to wait long for the next one, we board the Celebration in a little over 7 weeks! 😃

 

3 hours ago, mcgore83 said:

As always, enjoyed your review!  Thanks for letting us join you and Patti!

 

Thanks. it was our pleasure! 😀

Link to comment
Share on other sites
carol louise

carol louise

Posted
Posted
On 11/21/2023 at 8:53 AM, Jamman54 said:

 

Always glad to see you posting. Thanks for reading! 😀

 

 

The coffee card is a punch card and it is free. After you buy 6 coffees, the 7th is free. 😄

 

Did you acquire the card in Java Blue? Is it good elsewhere on the ship? I ask because I enjoyed a couple wonderful cappucinos from the Frizzante bar during our cruise and wonder if those would count if I had a coffee card.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, carol louise said:

Did you acquire the card in Java Blue? Is it good elsewhere on the ship? I ask because I enjoyed a couple wonderful cappucinos from the Frizzante bar during our cruise and wonder if those would count if I had a coffee card.

 

I got the card at Java Blue and I also got all of my coffees there. I would think that they would punch your card at the other locations, but I don't know for sure. 😎

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Our final thoughts and ramblings.

 

I had promised myself that I would get this review completed before Thanksgiving, and I just made it under the wire. Well, actually I promised Patti, because my two laptops, printer / scanner, all of the cruise paperwork, etc, have lived on the dining room table since we returned home, and it is from here that I have posted the review. I need to get all this crap out of here if we’re going to have a Thanksgiving dinner!

 

First, we want to thank all of our Cruise Critic family for following, reading, and posting on this very long review, and hanging in there with us. It is greatly appreciated and the reason Patti and I will continue to do them as long as we are able.

 

We met quite a few Cruise Critic members during our time on the Venezia. We want to give a BIG shout out to Rich & Kathy, Charlie & Janice, Rhonda & Keith, Gail & DH, and Sylvia. It was a pleasure to meet all of you, and hopefully we’ll get to sail with you again in the future. I know that there were additional Cruise Critic members aboard that we didn’t get to meet, so hopefully we can connect sometime in the future.

 

I talked about the ship itself right at the beginning of the review, but I want to bring up a few points that didn’t concern us, but might bother some people. First, about the mid ship pool. Being enclosed as it is, there is a lack of space for sun loungers, and there are no hot tubs there. Patti and I almost never use the pool or hot tubs on the ships, unless we are in the Havana Area on certain ships, so this doesn’t bother us. But if you are a sun worshiper, and enjoy the pools and hot tubs, your choices are limited. There is also the aft Burano Pool area, but with a ship that carries 4K passengers, it may be tough finding a spot.

 

The second thing I want to talk about is the Terrazza Carnevale, which is the Havana Area equivalent on this ship. We had an opportunity to walk back here twice, and it is a beautiful area, but without a pool we would not book a cabin there. That’s just us. Some of our Cruise Critic friends had cabins back there and loved it, so to each their own. Overall, we loved the décor on the Venezia.

 

Let’s talk a little bit about the food experience. We are not foodies by any means. We know that the food served in the MDR’s is banquet quality at best. Before Covid, Patti and I would almost always eat our dinners in the MDR. After cruising resumed, we found that the experience in the MDR had changed. Luke warm food and slow service, which is not always the servers fault, became the norm. We quickly realized that most of what is served in the dining room was available up at the buffet. Why spend two hours eating dinner in the MDR, when you have the same food, hotter, as much as you want, in much less time?

 

We went to the Canal Grande Dining room during the first leg of our B2B, and it was the same old thing. We were there for almost two hours, and we never even got our desserts. We did not return for the rest of our time on the Venezia.

 

We ate twice at IL Viaggio and we loved it. We thought that it was better than the Cucina del Capitano equivalent on the other ships. We had one dinner at the Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse which was great, and we ate once at the Bonsai Teppanyaki which was awesome. We ate at Bonsai Sushi five times during our three weeks on the Venezia. We just love that place! We did have the Seafood Shack one time, but the rest of our meals were from the Lido Marketplace, the Deli, or Pizzeria del Capitano. We did not go hungry!

 

The entertainment on board was very good. We enjoyed the Quora String Trio, Music & Magic, Regie, and the Venezia Rockband. We enjoyed all of the stage shows that we went to see in the Teatro Rosso. Being on a Journeys cruise you get to see a lot of the fly in Variety Acts, and all of them were good. Patti doesn’t go to the Comedy Club, but I got to see eight different comedians during my time on board. In my opinion, some were good and some were not, and I gave my ratings during the review. Please remember though, like food, comedy is very subjective. What I find funny, you may not, and vice versa. Each comedian has to have some talent, or they wouldn’t be there. A couple of events that you shouldn’t miss because they are not on any other Carnival ships, is the Captain’s Venetian Toast, and the Festa Italiana.

 

All of the crew on board that we encountered were excellent, except one, so we want to give some shout outs. The first is Captain Enzo. What a nice guy, and he is very approachable. The fact that he approached me and chatted for five minutes left a huge impression on me! The next was Cruise Director Joey Boyes. We had never seen him before this cruise, but boy was he good. He was very approachable and friendly, and we got to know him pretty well by the end of our cruises. Blessing, our first room steward was awesome. Our friend Zora at the Amari Bar was fantastic as usual. We have been on quite a few ships together. Valentina at the Lobby Bar, and Andrea at the Frizzante Bar were awesome as well. As for Edy, he did make our bed and keep our room clean. Nothing less, nothing more.

 

Overall, the weather during our cruises was very good. Yes, the weather on the New England / Canada leg was a little cool, but that was to be expected. The weather for the Journeys cruise was perfect, even a little hot on some days. Other than the hour thunderstorm we had in Aruba, the rest of the time it was sunny. The worst weather was in New York. Embarkation, turnaround, and debarkation days were all cloudy and rainy.

 

We enjoyed all of our ports of call, especially Barbados and St Lucia which we hadn’t been to before. We had some all-inclusive days, a cabana day, some sight-seeing days, and a couple of beach days. What we thought was pretty cool was that at each of our seven ports of call on the Journeys cruise, the Venezia was the only ship in port that day. Even in St. Maarten and St. Thomas which usually see multiple ships every day, the Venezia was the only one!

 

My mind has gone blank, so if you have any questions at all we’ll be more than happy to answer them for you. If I think of anything else, I’ll be sure to post it.

 

And now for our future cruise plans. On January 14th 2024, we will be on the Celebration from Miami again for a 7 day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. This will be even more special as its “The Tribe” cruise, (IYKYK), so we’ll be meeting up with a whole bunch of the Cruise Critic Family. We can’t wait!

 

On April 14th 2024, we will head back to Port Canaveral for B2B cruises on the Vista to the Eastern and Southern Caribbean. We have the same Havana inside cabin booked for both legs. Two weeks of the “Havana Experience”. Sweet!

 

For our fall cruise, we were originally going to be boarding the Pride in Baltimore for a 14 day Journeys cruise to Greenland and Canada. Because of the problems that the Legend had tendering there, and even getting to, we decided to cancel. We love the Pride, but we just didn’t want to take the chance. Instead, on August 31st 2024 we will once again be boarding the Venezia for B2B cruises from New York City. The first will be a seven day cruise to Bermuda, followed by a seven day cruise to Canada. To top it off we have learned that our favorite Cruise Director, Lee Mason, will be joining the ship the day that we get on!

 

Our cruises for 2025 are shaping up like this. On March 31st 2025 we will be heading to New Orleans to board the Valor for B2B cruises to the Western Caribbean. After getting off the Valor we will be heading over to Galveston and on April 12th 2025 we will be boarding the Jubilee, also going to the Western Caribbean. These are two ships that we haven’t sailed on, and two homeports that we’ve never been to. We are planning this as a mega road trip. There are so many details to hammer out, but we have a lot of resources here at Cruise Critic that will help us out with this.

 

Finally, on September 26th 2025, we will be heading out to Seattle to board the Carnival Spirit for a fifteen day cruise to Hawaii. We’ve never been to Seattle, so we’ll fly out a few days early to check it out.  Will any of you be sailing on any of these cruises with us? If not, we’ll be bringing these cruises to you!

 

Before I end this, I have to thank my beautiful wife Patti. I couldn’t do these adventures, or these reviews, without her. She is my best friend, my rock, and a heck of a photographer!

 

Speaking of photography, the photos you see on these reviews are only a small portion of all the photos Patti takes during our cruises. If you would like to see the whole package, there is a link in my signature for our Cruise and Vacation albums. Feel free to check them out if you are so inclined.

 

Now I get to clean off the dining room table, so until next time, which will only be a couple of months, may you have blue skies and calm seas!!!

  • Like 14
  • Thanks 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

To help anyone who wants to look at a particular port or day during these B2B cruises, I have listed the day, and the post that  particular day started with. We hope this will speed up the search process.

 

Day 1  -  Embarkation Day   (Post # 3).

Day 2  -  Sea Day # 1   (Post # 124).

Day 3  -  Portland, Maine  (Post # 171).

Day 4  -  Saint John, NB   (Post # 230).

Day 5  -  Halifax, NS   (Post # 263).

Day 6  -  Sea Day # 2   (Post # 307).

Day 7  -  Turnaround Day   (Post # 344).

Day 8  -  Sea Day # 3   (Post # 371).

Day 9  -  Sea Day # 4   (Post # 405).

Day 10  -  Grand Turk   (Post # 418).

Day 11  -  Sea Day # 5   (Post # 437).

Day 12  -  Oranjestad, Aruba   (Post # 444).

Day 13  -  Willemstad, Curacao   (Post # 475).

Day 14  -  Throwback Sea Day # 6   (Post # 523).

Day 15  -  Bridgetown, Barbados   (Post # 548).

Day 16  -  Castries, St. Lucia   (Post # 570).

Day 17  -  Phillipsburg, St. Maarten   (Post # 630).

Day 18  -  Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas   (Post # 653).

Day 19  -  Sea Day # 7   (Post # 687).

Day 20  -  Sea Day # 8   (Post # 694).

Day 21  -  Sea day # 9   (Post # 709).

Day 22  -  Debarkation Day   (Post # 715).

 

Let me know what you think. 

Edited by Jamman54
  • Like 8
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

Posted
  • Author
Posted
37 minutes ago, blarko said:

This review has got to be one of your best…I’m sure it will only be outdone by  the Tribe cruise 😄.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and Patti 🦃

It certainly was one of the longest! The Tribe Cruise will certainly be epic! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! :classic_smile:

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...