Live-ish report.Vista, Trieste to Athens June 1-12 2024

[daydreamer62]

As I'm a first time Oceania cruiser I thought I'd try my best to post a semi live report on our cruise on Vista which begins in Trieste next week . It is an 11 night cruise ending in Athens.

Before I start I think it's relatively important to give some background info on my and our situation which is a little different to most of the reports I've seen.

 

Firstly we are from New Zealand so European travel requires a very long plane trip (28 hours in our case via Dubai on Emirates. 

We are in our early 60s. I am a cooking technology tutor. My job is literally teaching cooking in high tech appliances such as steam combi ovens and I'm a true foodie. My husband and I also love wine and do a lot of local travel to vineyards all over New Zealand. Regardless of both these things I'm no food or wine snob . If I don't have to cook it, then I usually try to enjoy it from the most basic to the most upmarket meal . 

 

We have travelled fairly extensively mostly on land based trips but we have done 2 previous cruises. A Princess Mediterranean cruise in 2015 whichb we went into with fairly low expectations, not really knowing if we were'cruise' people (we loved every minute and it's rates right up there with our favourite trips) and a Viking River cruise in 2019 which we liked a lot but felt we might have appreciated it more if we had been 10-15 years older. (Mainly because of   the lack of ability to do independent excursions making it a lot slower paced than we were used to. 

On the other hand it was very relaxing, a car difference to our fast paced independent trips. 

 

We are travelling this time with 2 other couples. Neither of who have done much international travel and one who has never been to Europe at all.  I think they wanted to come with us because I am an 'organiser' and I would do the hard yards of research for them. 

 

Now I could well start off this report with a negative viewpoint because we aren't actually taking the trip we booked. I had booked my dream cruise itinerary from Barcelona to Southampton going around the south of Spain, Portugal and western France with overnights in Seville and Bordeaux. It literally ticked so many of my bucket list items. Flights were booked Leave was approved.. .. final payment was made and then of course the Houti started doing what they do in the Red Sea and the Insignia couldn't get to Barcelona in time..  I was so disappointed.. we could have kept the flights as is and done a road trip but my husband wanted a no driving holiday.. the last one we did was a month driving through France.. so I looked for another cruise.

I chose Oceania based on several points. First was the itinerary. Second was the price and inclusions. Simply More appealed to me . The upgrade price to premium seemed a good deal compared to other lines (I haven't upgraded yet..I may do it not.. I'll decide on the fly as it's such a port intensive itinerary I may not need it. .. I liked that I can bring on my own wine and spirits.. I love trying wines that aren't available to me at home and it's certainly not worth shipping to NZ . I also  loved the we had so many dining options included in the fare . The big bonus was I changed bookings during a sale and the new cruise was significantly cheaper than the original so we upgraded from an Ocean view to a veranda cabin and still got a sizeable refund (which we've spent, plus some on the 10 days after the cruise)

 

This cruise we are on  wasn't available when we had booked our original cruise. It had also been rerouted. If it had been we may well have booked it as it also ticks a lot of bucket list items . Croatia has been on it wish list, Matera was a big bucket list item for me, and Meteora wasn't on my list because I never contemplated that I would get there. We have been to several ports before but happy to return and see more.  So Oceania gave us an allowance toward flight changes. That covered the flight over a few days earlier with a change of arrival from Barcelona to Venice . We decided to keep the original flights home from London and spend 9 days in the south of France in our favourite village from last year Villefranche sur mer so we are flying from Athens to Nice, and will train from there to Paris and then Eurostar to London so that our travel companions can see more of Europe than they might otherwise. On booking, I immediately booked the excursion to Meteora which was very pricey and that used most of our SM credit. I then decided what other excursions we might like to take and found 3 more. The rest we would do independently. That was until I worked out if I booked 2 more cheaper excursions I would actually save a lot of money with the 25% discount. So I have booked 6 ship excursions.. I totally understand some might be less desirable but I'm going to take the chance. In the previous cruises we have had amazing experiences and some less than amazing and it's mostly dependant I feel on the guide. But regardless we can use them as easy transportation to the sight we want to see. 

 

So what could be a disappointment turned into excitement. .. Always look for the positive... 

So here we are..  We leave on Tuesday flying Emirates.( Economy  as we would rather do more trips for less cost than fewer trips and spend more) 17 hours flyimg Auckland to Dubai, 3+ hours layover and then 6+ hours to Venice. It's my third trip to Venice but I'm still looking forward to it. 

We have 2 nights booked at the Presaro palace hotel and then we will train to Trieste the night before we embark. 

 

I'll do my best to keep up to date posting and am happy to answer whatever questions I am able to. 

As you can probably tell, brevity isn't my strong suit!!

 

[Techno123]

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Are you going to spend a little of your time in the UK or is it fly straight home from London?

[daydreamer62]

3 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Are you going to spend a little of your time in the UK or is it fly straight home from London?

We have 3 nights in London . Very brief ..a taster for our friends. Both my husband and I lived in the UK in the early 80s and we have visited since as well.  Though I'd love to spend more time, especially to trace more of my family history in Cornwall and in Scotland.. it might have to wait to be a driving trip ( I also have extensive family history in Derbyshire and Yorkshire that I researched on our last trip

[Techno123]

1 hour ago, daydreamer62 said:

We have 3 nights in London . Very brief ..a taster for our friends. Both my husband and I lived in the UK in the early 80s and we have visited since as well.  Though I'd love to spend more time, especially to trace more of my family history in Cornwall and in Scotland.. it might have to wait to be a driving trip ( I also have extensive family history in Derbyshire and Yorkshire that I researched on our last trip

We are on the Vista in August - Montecarlo to Athens and surprisingly, visiting quite a few places we haven't been. Have only sailed O on Insignia so looking forward to enjoying a newer ship and reading what you think. I started a thread called finest cuisine at sea so if there are any standout meals (or anything truly bad) would you mind adding your thoughts there please? Keeps all the food stuff together

 

At least you have an opportunity to get out of the big smoke - Windsor is lovely (even if you don't want to visit the castle 😁) No Welsh roots then 😜

Edited May 23 by Techno123

[daydreamer62]

Yes actually, one 3x g grandmother was born in Monmouthshire. I've been unable to trace that branch back further than her parents though. I suspect her father who was a soldier was actually English but her mother was Welsh 

[Sthrngary]

3 hours ago, daydreamer62 said:

As I'm a first time Oceania cruiser I thought I'd try my best to post a semi live report on our cruise on Vista which begins in Trieste next week . It is an 11 night cruise ending in Athens.

Before I start I think it's relatively important to give some background info on my and our situation which is a little different to most of the reports I've seen.

 

Firstly we are from New Zealand so European travel requires a very long plane trip (28 hours in our case via Dubai on Emirates. 

We are in our early 60s. I am a cooking technology tutor. My job is literally teaching cooking in high tech appliances such as steam combi ovens and I'm a true foodie. My husband and I also love wine and do a lot of local travel to vineyards all over New Zealand. Regardless of both these things I'm no food or wine snob . If I don't have to cook it, then I usually try to enjoy it from the most basic to the most upmarket meal . 

 

We have travelled fairly extensively mostly on land based trips but we have done 2 previous cruises. A Princess Mediterranean cruise in 2015 whichb we went into with fairly low expectations, not really knowing if we were'cruise' people (we loved every minute and it's rates right up there with our favourite trips) and a Viking River cruise in 2019 which we liked a lot but felt we might have appreciated it more if we had been 10-15 years older. (Mainly because of   the lack of ability to do independent excursions making it a lot slower paced than we were used to. 

On the other hand it was very relaxing, a car difference to our fast paced independent trips. 

 

We are travelling this time with 2 other couples. Neither of who have done much international travel and one who has never been to Europe at all.  I think they wanted to come with us because I am an 'organiser' and I would do the hard yards of research for them. 

 

Now I could well start off this report with a negative viewpoint because we aren't actually taking the trip we booked. I had booked my dream cruise itinerary from Barcelona to Southampton going around the south of Spain, Portugal and western France with overnights in Seville and Bordeaux. It literally ticked so many of my bucket list items. Flights were booked Leave was approved.. .. final payment was made and then of course the Houti started doing what they do in the Red Sea and the Insignia couldn't get to Barcelona in time..  I was so disappointed.. we could have kept the flights as is and done a road trip but my husband wanted a no driving holiday.. the last one we did was a month driving through France.. so I looked for another cruise.

I chose Oceania based on several points. First was the itinerary. Second was the price and inclusions. Simply More appealed to me . The upgrade price to premium seemed a good deal compared to other lines (I haven't upgraded yet..I may do it not.. I'll decide on the fly as it's such a port intensive itinerary I may not need it. .. I liked that I can bring on my own wine and spirits.. I love trying wines that aren't available to me at home and it's certainly not worth shipping to NZ . I also  loved the we had so many dining options included in the fare . The big bonus was I changed bookings during a sale and the new cruise was significantly cheaper than the original so we upgraded from an Ocean view to a veranda cabin and still got a sizeable refund (which we've spent, plus some on the 10 days after the cruise)

 

This cruise we are on  wasn't available when we had booked our original cruise. It had also been rerouted. If it had been we may well have booked it as it also ticks a lot of bucket list items . Croatia has been on it wish list, Matera was a big bucket list item for me, and Meteora wasn't on my list because I never contemplated that I would get there. We have been to several ports before but happy to return and see more.  So Oceania gave us an allowance toward flight changes. That covered the flight over a few days earlier with a change of arrival from Barcelona to Venice . We decided to keep the original flights home from London and spend 9 days in the south of France in our favourite village from last year Villefranche sur mer so we are flying from Athens to Nice, and will train from there to Paris and then Eurostar to London so that our travel companions can see more of Europe than they might otherwise. On booking, I immediately booked the excursion to Meteora which was very pricey and that used most of our SM credit. I then decided what other excursions we might like to take and found 3 more. The rest we would do independently. That was until I worked out if I booked 2 more cheaper excursions I would actually save a lot of money with the 25% discount. So I have booked 6 ship excursions.. I totally understand some might be less desirable but I'm going to take the chance. In the previous cruises we have had amazing experiences and some less than amazing and it's mostly dependant I feel on the guide. But regardless we can use them as easy transportation to the sight we want to see. 

 

So what could be a disappointment turned into excitement. .. Always look for the positive... 

So here we are..  We leave on Tuesday flying Emirates.( Economy  as we would rather do more trips for less cost than fewer trips and spend more) 17 hours flyimg Auckland to Dubai, 3+ hours layover and then 6+ hours to Venice. It's my third trip to Venice but I'm still looking forward to it. 

We have 2 nights booked at the Presaro palace hotel and then we will train to Trieste the night before we embark. 

 

I'll do my best to keep up to date posting and am happy to answer whatever questions I am able to. 

As you can probably tell, brevity isn't my strong suit!!

 

@daydreamer62 Love the way you gave us all background, the why you made the decisions you made.  My first Oceania Cruise was a 10-day Mediterranean Cruise on the Riviera, November 2023.  Lots of the same ports as you will go on.  My next cruise is very, very similar to what you outlined, on the Vista but October 2025.  

 

I just came back for many of the places you outlined.  I took my adult Daughter on a Father/Daughter trip to Europe for 10 days.  This trip was Air, Land, Bullet Trains.  It was interesting, exhausting and sold me on future trips for me should be cruises.  I also realized as much as I enjoyed my daughters company, I would have rather been with my wife and friends as was the case on our Oceania Cruise in 2023.  

 

My only advice is always have realistic expectations.  We all or on a floating hotel on the sea.  As a foodie myself, I found the food to be very nice.  Some hits and misses as one would expect.  My expectations was never a 5 star food experience and so I was rarely disappointed.  The bottom line, we were NEVER hungry. 

 

I also loved the ability to bring wine and sprits onboard.  There are many contributors that LOVE the activity of shopping for Wine and Spirts at each point.  The take this activity very seriously and enjoy the fruits of their labor.  I personally just wanted to buy two wines in each port for the stateroom.  My wife loves wine but it never is GREAT wine, just good wine.  

 

Enjoy your trip and I look forward to your feedback.  If you have any specific question from a fellow first time Oceania Cruiser, just ask.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[daydreamer62]

@Sthrngary I read your reports from your first Oceania cruise with great interest and really appreciated the efforts you went to with your 'manual' for first timers which I downloaded and printed for my travel mates so thankyou! 

I am one who is reasonable in my expectations and tend to find the positive at least outwardly!  I've eaten in restaurants from the most basic to 5 star Michelin rewarded and generally enjoy my meal simply because of the company I'm in and that I'm not cooking it!  I also truly understand the limitations and difficulties of commercial food service over single meal home cooking so I can discount the negative reviewers who claim they could cook a meal at home better than the one they just ate on the ship/in the restaurant etc.  I'm a good cook.. and I regularly entertain for large groups at home and at work but that's completely different than providing thousands of meals a day .

 

I am quite lucky in that even though I'm a first time Oceania cruiser I have actually experienced a meal onboard. A few months ago our group of 6 were invited onboard Regatta while it was docked in Auckland 

One of my group has got talking to the regional sales manager at a sales event and he very kindly added us to a group of travel agents and media who were doing a promotional visit 

We got a tour of the ship and a 4 course lunch in the main dining room. 

I loved the ship. We would have been on the Insignia for our original cruise so it gave me an indication of what that would have been like. 

I think I will love Vista even more and I'm pleased we have the benefit of the larger cabin though we would have been just fine in the original Ocean view Insignia cabin. We are somewhat of the 'poor relations' of our group of 6  who are travelling in higher cabins than us but I'd rather save money and travel more, than spend more on one trip. 

 

Our lunch onboard Regatta was great. The service and friendliness of the staff even better.  None of the dishes were the best meal I've ever eaten (though all 4 courses were excellent) but the combination of the great service staff, the freely poured very acceptable wines, the company, and just being on the ship made it one of my most memorable and enjoyable meals this year. 

We had a set menu for all courses designed to show off the variety of Oceanias restaurant choices , crab cake I think  from Embers menu, (despite no Ember onboard) mushroom risotto from Toscanas menu,  a choice of  main course, either fillet steak or the miso glazed sea bass and a triple stacked very rich and decadent brownie for dessert.  All was great. The risotto and the sea bass being my favourites (all the others at our table chose the steak so I had a treat with the famous fish dish) 

This event really made me excited for what's to come.. not just the food but the excellent service. 

[osandomir]

7 minutes ago, daydreamer62 said:

@Sthrngary I read your reports from your first Oceania cruise with great interest and really appreciated the efforts you went to with your 'manual' for first timers which I downloaded and printed for my travel mates so thankyou! 

I am one who is reasonable in my expectations and tend to find the positive at least outwardly!  I've eaten in restaurants from the most basic to 5 star Michelin rewarded and generally enjoy my meal simply because of the company I'm in and that I'm not cooking it!  I also truly understand the limitations and difficulties of commercial food service over single meal home cooking so I can discount the negative reviewers who claim they could cook a meal at home better than the one they just ate on the ship/in the restaurant etc.  I'm a good cook.. and I regularly entertain for large groups at home and at work but that's completely different than providing thousands of meals a day .

 

I am quite lucky in that even though I'm a first time Oceania cruiser I have actually experienced a meal onboard. A few months ago our group of 6 were invited onboard Regatta while it was docked in Auckland 

One of my group has got talking to the regional sales manager at a sales event and he very kindly added us to a group of travel agents and media who were doing a promotional visit 

We got a tour of the ship and a 4 course lunch in the main dining room. 

I loved the ship. We would have been on the Insignia for our original cruise so it gave me an indication of what that would have been like. 

I think I will love Vista even more and I'm pleased we have the benefit of the larger cabin though we would have been just fine in the original Ocean view Insignia cabin. We are somewhat of the 'poor relations' of our group of 6  who are travelling in higher cabins than us but I'd rather save money and travel more, than spend more on one trip. 

 

Our lunch onboard Regatta was great. The service and friendliness of the staff even better.  None of the dishes were the best meal I've ever eaten (though all 4 courses were excellent) but the combination of the great service staff, the freely poured very acceptable wines, the company, and just being on the ship made it one of my most memorable and enjoyable meals this year. 

We had a set menu for all courses designed to show off the variety of Oceanias restaurant choices , crab cake I think  from Embers menu, (despite no Ember onboard) mushroom risotto from Toscanas menu,  a choice of  main course, either fillet steak or the miso glazed sea bass and a triple stacked very rich and decadent brownie for dessert.  All was great. The risotto and the sea bass being my favourites (all the others at our table chose the steak so I had a treat with the famous fish dish) 

This event really made me excited for what's to come.. not just the food but the excellent service. 

Thank you very much for your posts. Your positive attitude, which I like the most, will definitely help you to enjoy your first O cruise.

[Vallesan]

14 minutes ago, daydreamer62 said:

@Sthrngary I read your reports from your first Oceania cruise with great interest and really appreciated the efforts you went to with your 'manual' for first timers which I downloaded and printed for my travel mates so thankyou! 

I am one who is reasonable in my expectations and tend to find the positive at least outwardly!  I've eaten in restaurants from the most basic to 5 star Michelin rewarded and generally enjoy my meal simply because of the company I'm in and that I'm not cooking it!  I also truly understand the limitations and difficulties of commercial food service over single meal home cooking so I can discount the negative reviewers who claim they could cook a meal at home better than the one they just ate on the ship/in the restaurant etc.  I'm a good cook.. and I regularly entertain for large groups at home and at work but that's completely different than providing thousands of meals a day .

 

I am quite lucky in that even though I'm a first time Oceania cruiser I have actually experienced a meal onboard. A few months ago our group of 6 were invited onboard Regatta while it was docked in Auckland 

One of my group has got talking to the regional sales manager at a sales event and he very kindly added us to a group of travel agents and media who were doing a promotional visit 

We got a tour of the ship and a 4 course lunch in the main dining room. 

I loved the ship. We would have been on the Insignia for our original cruise so it gave me an indication of what that would have been like. 

I think I will love Vista even more and I'm pleased we have the benefit of the larger cabin though we would have been just fine in the original Ocean view Insignia cabin. We are somewhat of the 'poor relations' of our group of 6  who are travelling in higher cabins than us but I'd rather save money and travel more, than spend more on one trip. 

 

Our lunch onboard Regatta was great. The service and friendliness of the staff even better.  None of the dishes were the best meal I've ever eaten (though all 4 courses were excellent) but the combination of the great service staff, the freely poured very acceptable wines, the company, and just being on the ship made it one of my most memorable and enjoyable meals this year. 

We had a set menu for all courses designed to show off the variety of Oceanias restaurant choices , crab cake I think  from Embers menu, (despite no Ember onboard) mushroom risotto from Toscanas menu,  a choice of  main course, either fillet steak or the miso glazed sea bass and a triple stacked very rich and decadent brownie for dessert.  All was great. The risotto and the sea bass being my favourites (all the others at our table chose the steak so I had a treat with the famous fish dish) 

This event really made me excited for what's to come.. not just the food but the excellent service. 

The service onboard the Marina at the moment is one of the ‘stand outs’. Somehow you can forgive a slightly ‘off’ course when it’s delivered with a smile!

[daydreamer62]

We fly out in less than 24 hours. From New Zealand there is no quick way to get to Europe. I have tried multiple routes , via the US , via Singapore and via the middle East. To me via the middle East was the least painful. It's 17 hours and 5 minutes from Auckland to Dubai. That's just a very long stretch no matter what way you look at it but Emirates flies A380s on that route which to me seem less cramped than the alternative Boeing 777. From there is 6.5 hours this time to Venice. We have a 3.5 hour layover. I find it's better to bite the bullet and do it all in one hit.  No matter what way you look at it, any flight over about 9 hours is painful. If you fly from here to Singapore it's 12 hours.. Then you have another 12+ hour flight ahead of you. It's about the same if you stop in LAX. Once that long leg to Dubai (or Doha if flying Qatar airways) the second leg seems almost a breeze!. We don't fly premium economy or business mainly because we would prefer more trips. Premium economy was almost 3x the price of economy when we booked . So it's a matter of suck it up and deal with it. The end result is worth the pain. 

I have been asked to organise a meet and greet for more than 60 other passengers. I should have asked here first but my Oceania rep said it couldn't be organised till we were onboard. I've now emailed someone who apparently can help organise it before. It may well be too late! . 

I'll also supposed to organise a get together in Trieste for a smaller group so I did some research with Google maps Street view and found a bar/restaurant that looks like a good place for Apero , called The Pier (near the cruise port )  .I hope I can find it in reality!!

So.. after some false starts and one cancelled cruise with a pretty decent replacement we are nearly on our way. 

[Sthrngary]

4 hours ago, daydreamer62 said:

We fly out in less than 24 hours. From New Zealand there is no quick way to get to Europe. I have tried multiple routes , via the US , via Singapore and via the middle East. To me via the middle East was the least painful. It's 17 hours and 5 minutes from Auckland to Dubai. That's just a very long stretch no matter what way you look at it but Emirates flies A380s on that route which to me seem less cramped than the alternative Boeing 777. From there is 6.5 hours this time to Venice. We have a 3.5 hour layover. I find it's better to bite the bullet and do it all in one hit.  No matter what way you look at it, any flight over about 9 hours is painful. If you fly from here to Singapore it's 12 hours.. Then you have another 12+ hour flight ahead of you. It's about the same if you stop in LAX. Once that long leg to Dubai (or Doha if flying Qatar airways) the second leg seems almost a breeze!. We don't fly premium economy or business mainly because we would prefer more trips. Premium economy was almost 3x the price of economy when we booked . So it's a matter of suck it up and deal with it. The end result is worth the pain. 

I have been asked to organise a meet and greet for more than 60 other passengers. I should have asked here first but my Oceania rep said it couldn't be organised till we were onboard. I've now emailed someone who apparently can help organise it before. It may well be too late! . 

I'll also supposed to organise a get together in Trieste for a smaller group so I did some research with Google maps Street view and found a bar/restaurant that looks like a good place for Apero , called The Pier (near the cruise port )  .I hope I can find it in reality!!

So.. after some false starts and one cancelled cruise with a pretty decent replacement we are nearly on our way. 

@daydreamer62 That is quite the trip.  However, you see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I fully understand your strategy on flights and having more trips.  You are to kind to organize a M&G.  All of this will work out.  Please give us all a update.  Drink lots of water on the flight.  Take lots of walks and bring a neck pillow.  That part of your trip you won't even remember once you step on board a lovely ship.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for doing you Live or almost Live Post.   Looking forward to following along.

 

[Eloise4Ever]

Wishing you safe travels Lauren. We will be arriving in Trieste on Friday before boarding Vista on Saturday. I will look out for you onboard as I have your photo to go on!

 

I will be interested to read your posts during the cruise and might post myself if you don't mind me crashing your report 😊.
 

[daydreamer62]

34 minutes ago, Eloise4Ever said:

Wishing you safe travels Lauren. We will be arriving in Trieste on Friday before boarding Vista on Saturday. I will look out for you onboard as I have your photo to go on!

 

I will be interested to read your posts during the cruise and might post myself if you don't mind me crashing your report 😊.
 

Absolutely!! Feel free . The more viewpoints the better!! We plan to board about 12:30 . I'll try and sort out the meet and greet . I was thinking of popping back of into Trieste for an hour or so but the weather forecast isn't inspiring so that might change

Edited May 27 by daydreamer62

[elmsliebev]

safe travels. We are trying Oceania (Regatta) for the first time in October from Tokyo to Singapore and have the long flights via Abu Dhabi to look forward to, though not as long as your flights of course.

 

Look forward to reading about your trip. What's the itinerary for the cruise? We did a few Croatian ports in October last year with P&O and loved them all, Zadar was particularly beautiful. 

 

We have happy memories of Villefranche as it is where my husband proposed!

Edited May 28 by elmsliebev

[Lastdance]

I do not envy you on those long flights; however, the reward will be great!  I must get to Trieste, as my dad always had so many fond memories that he shared many, many years ago.  Until I do, my first O cruise(TA next May on Vista)the second booking may not happen due to the money given for ship’ excursions.  Only time will tell.  I hope you have a lovely cruise and land experience.  Also, enjoy traveling with friends, as those moments are special!

[daydreamer62]

Well we have made it to Venice. Photo is the view from our hotel. Flights with Emirates from New Zealand all went to plan and we arrived a few minutes early along with all our luggage . I think I have mentioned before this is my third visit to Venice. The first time we arrived by cruise ship and it was a perfect way to arrive. Extremely emotional for me as it was a long held bucket list and that was our first European trip for the  30 years while we raised our family and couldnt afford much overseas travel.

The second time was by car .. very unromantic underwhelming way to arrive .

This time we flew in and that was great. The views as we approached were amazing. 

Because we were a group of 6 we had organised a private water taxi to our hotel. That was fantastic. Highly recommended especially if you've never been to Venice before.

We are staying at the Presaro Palace hotel which is about 400 m from the Rialto bridge right by a vaporetto stop but has a lovely little garden out the front and was very quiet last night. 

It's an old converted mansion rises been decorated in Venetian style and is very comfortable but with the usual tiny inconveniences of old buildings such as needing a few more power points and better air conditioning but I'm not complaining at all. The bed is huge and very comfortable and that was the most important thing after 28 hours flying. 

We spent the remainder of yesterday getting lost in the streets of Venice before an early dinner and early to bed . Today our group is sitting splitting up with those who haven't been before doing guided tours. I have tickets to St Mark's as we hadnt been inside on our previous visits

 

The onboard meet and greet on embarkation day, for the Facebook group  was organised with emails in between flights. It was extremely painless and easy . I'm so pleased I got the correct contact from posting here on cruise critic.

Edited May 30 by daydreamer62

[Harters]

6 hours ago, daydreamer62 said:

We spent the remainder of yesterday getting lost in the streets of Venice

I think this is the best way to see the city. We've been several times and, of course, for us it's a "long weekend" place. Last trip, I found several walks online and we picked one to do each day - all three got us well off the beaten track, so barely another tourist to be seen for much of the time.

 

Are you spending any time in Trieste? My late father in law was stationed there in the very early 1950s as part of the postwar army of occupation, when he was doing his national service. Some years back, he returned on a holiday and  surprised himself about how much he remembered of the city. 

 

I'm looking forward to keeping up with your thread. We were on Vista a few weeks back for its transatlantic. Really enjoyed the ship and we booked a cruise onboard for next year, managing to bag the same cabin (in which we had none of the often reported soundproofing issues).

Edited May 30 by Harters

[daydreamer62]

We only have 2 part days in Trieste and the weather isn't looking cooperative but we will do what we can. My daughter in law's mother's family are from the city and have ac very interesting past where a warehouse on the waterfront was lost in a card deal gone wrong!

[maxamize]

Almost! 

[daydreamer62]

Hello from Zadar. Boarding yesterday was painless and fairly fast. We boarded at 12.30 we coincided perfectly with our 12 noon checkout from our hotel. We had spent the morning walking up to the Castle and church up the hill in Trieste and werec planning to go back out after boarding but I've had trouble sleeping since we arrived so we decided just to relax a bit. 

We had lunch at the terrace cafe which was very busy. I signed up for the premium drinks package but my husband decided he didn't need it. 

The food in the terrace cafe was good. I had a seafood stew with rice. The seafood was nicely cooked . 

Our room was ready at 2:30 and we are very happy with it. So far it's very quiet . 

I had organised a meet and greet for a social media group and that was very easy. It was held in Horizons and about 70 people attended.  

The ship itself is beautiful. I haven't had time to fully explore yet and may not get to because we are so busy with port stops . 

Dinner was in the grand dining room with a group of 10  from our meet and greet . Its a lovely room bit it was very busy and very noisy . 

Everyone enjoyed their food. I chose the hoisin duck salad and a crispy grilled sea bream .. I was just too tired for dessert unfortunately.. thankfully I actually did sleep last night.. the bed is comfortable and the room is peaceful. Ill try to post some photos shortly.

[daydreamer62]

[daydreamer62]

The internet by the way is very good. Uploading those photos was fast. It's easy to swap between devices. I have a tablet and a phone that I swap between easily. Logging in is easier return an iPhone than android but still fairly easy .

We have a very early excursion today at 7:30 . Breakfast options are waves grill and the terrace cafe or Baristas from 6:30 . I'm still not that hungry after yesterday but coffee is definitely required!!

[daydreamer62]

Also our excursion tickets said to note some changes to their itineraries. Nothing major for any and one positive change in that a visit to a rug demonstration was now not included. (I didn't want to do that anyway having done that with the hard sell approach in the past.

[ronrick1943]

Looking forward to follow your cruise via your posting.  Thank you so much for taking the time and your effort to posting.  Have a great cruise and safe travels though out you trip.