Star: Venice - Barcelona - How long are we REALLY in each port?

[Travl Nut]

Question regarding those of us who are not planning on getting there a day early or stay late... how long are we really in each port (Venice & Barcelona)? Can we do TWO days of touring around? or do we just have ONE day?

 

Also, I have seen many posts from people who have done this trip.. but starting in Barcelona.

 

Just curious to hear what others have to say about starting out in Venice.

 

Thanks much!

 

Vicky:cool:

[HighRoller]

I did the Venice-Rome on the Star Princess this past April 10th and flew in 2 days before just because I didn't want to feel so tired. Although we did board the ship on that day and didn't leave the following day until 2Pm. You could use a water taxi for as many unlimited journey's into Venice's Piazza Saint-Marco for $10.00 USD charged to your on-board account. You can easily spend two days in Venice...so much too do! I guess from past experience I personally never like flying in on the same I board a ship.:cool: :eek: :cool:

[Travl Nut]

Thanks so much for the advice. So... basically you can book a tour on the first day... and maybe just buy the unlimited ticket to go back on the 2nd day and mull around?

[BJS]

Thanks so much for the advice. So... basically you can book a tour on the first day... and maybe just buy the unlimited ticket to go back on the 2nd day and mull around?

We are sailing from Vencie in Sept. and I can only tell you what choices we have but maybe this will help. The day you board, boarding time is at noon. Princess does not offer any daytime tours but they have several evening shore excursions offered: EVENING GONDOLA W/SERENADE @ 6:45 or 7:45 pm, SOUNDS & MELODIES @7:45 PM, GR CANAL/ST. MARK PRIVATE VISIT @ 6:30 PM. On the next day with a departure at 6PM there are many tours offered both in the morning and the afternoon.

not planning on getting there a day early

If you go directly to the ship keep in mind that you will have been on the plane all night and may be feeling very "jet lagged" and not want to do anything except sleep by the time you get to your room, or at least have a nap for several hours.

[BJS]

how long are we really in each port (Venice & Barcelona)? Can we do TWO days of touring around?

To answer when disembarking in Barcelona the ship is scheculed to arrive a noon and Princess does offer afternoon tours, or you will have this time to tour on your own, and the evening would allow time in port. The next day, I believe, disembarkation begins very early and any touring would have to be done after disembarking and before your return flight. If there are many flights late in the day Princess frequently offers tours before taking you to the airport but I do not know if this will occur in Barcelona and is generally not announced prior to sailing but rather after the cruise is underway.

[wwinfl91]

Last year on the Golden, Barcelona to Venice, we flew into Barcelona and after getting to the ship and eating lunch went to the cabin to unpack and collapse until dinner. The next morning we took a tour of Barcelona concentrating on the Sacred Family cathedral and got back to the ship around Noon. The ship sailed at 2 PM. We sailed into Venice early on a Sunday Morning, fantastic opportunity to take pictures, and docked between 8 and 9 AM. We then had a full day in Venice but part of that had to be spent in packing to leave the ship the next morning. The second day in Venice they started unloading people around 5 AM in the morning, for people who had early flights out of Venice. We left the ship around 9:30 and took the Princess transfer, a bus, to Marco Polo to store our luggage. We returned to Venice via the special airport waterbus service and got to our hotel around 11:30. We were able to get our luggage into our room and then went out to do some more sightseeing and have lunch. We stayed for a total of 3 extra days in Venice, Monday through Wednesday. Our flight home was on Thursday afternoon and we hoped to get some sightseeing in on Thursday morning but most of it was spent getting packed up and then getting out to the airport.

 

There is so much to see and do in Venice especially I would recommend trying to make some extra time for that city in particular. Barcelona was nice and I'm sure there is a lot more to see there than we saw but Venice is special at least in our opinion.

 

Have a GREAT next cruise.

[lephysteria]

Hi there,

 

We flew from San Diego to Atlanta, then to Barcelona for our flights. That was 15 hours. We started from our house at 8am, and ended up landing at 3am California time. We barely slept on the plane, and when we landed, we went to our hotel and laid down just for a minute, and slept for 4 hours. We took everyone's advice, and went early, and we're glad we did. You can arrive the day the ship sails, but you will be tired .. and you won't see as much .. but you will still have fun.

 

I agree with what everyone previously has said. You can take only the ship tours, but what happens if you book the ship tour, but your flight there is late. We had a late flight getting into Barcelona, because our Atlanta flight was late departing. Many flights that connected through Dallas were delayed due to bad weather.

 

To learn more about our adventure click here and you can read our Med Cruise review. We did Barcelona to Venice. I'm sure the only difference between our cruises would be the order of the ports. :)

[Travl Nut]

Thank you very much to all who replied. This has sent me into some serious reconsidering as to what we are doing. I booked my flight through Princess, and therefore, STILL don't know when we are arriving. I guess I will look into finding a hotel in each city.

 

Thanks again! I am SO glad I found this board!

 

BTW: Jen, I did read you recap over the past weekend and found it to be very informative. It feels as though you write with such ease, yet having the reader feel like they already know you ;) I guess it is because we are practically neighbors :p

[lephysteria]

BTW: Jen, I did read you recap over the past weekend and found it to be very informative. It feels as though you write with such ease, yet having the reader feel like they already know you ;) I guess it is because we are practically neighbors :p

 

I hope that my review really did help you. If you need help booking a hotel, I used http://www.Venere.com for the Barcelona and the Venice hotels. I would definitely stay there again.

 

Hey Neighbor, if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask! Also, follow the link in my signature to see pictures of the places you'll be visiting!