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European Cruise Port Reviews- pretty long

luvz2run2000
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  • 2 weeks later...
dancing

dancing

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Wonderful review thanks so much. One quick question. Why did you feel it was best to do all of your excurions on your own instead of booking through the ship? I know they can be very expensive but many people seem to worry about getting back in time? We have done both in the past but this is our first cruise to Europe and are wondering if we should just do as you and many others have done and contact a local tour company.

Thanks

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3girls

3girls

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We stayed in Hotel Mozart-Vivaldi Suites which was down the street from the hotel. We had our daughter with us and stayed in a triple. It was huge! Flat screen tv...internet in our room and room service for breakfast. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

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Caligirl72

Caligirl72

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I am not having any luck with the website for tickets to St. Mark's showing any availability anytime between now and the end of June. Could this ticket reservation option be discontinued or do you think the site is just down? I wouldn't think everyday at every time would be booked.

 

Secondly, could anyone give me an idea of the per person price range for Raffaele?

 

Thanks!

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barb61s

barb61s

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I am not having any luck with the website for tickets to St. Mark's showing any availability anytime between now and the end of June. Could this ticket reservation option be discontinued or do you think the site is just down? I wouldn't think everyday at every time would be booked.

 

Secondly, could anyone give me an idea of the per person price range for Raffaele?

 

Thanks!

 

Caligirl, what site are you trying to book through ?

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yldwest

yldwest

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Posted
I am not having any luck with the website for tickets to St. Mark's showing any availability anytime between now and the end of June. Could this ticket reservation option be discontinued or do you think the site is just down? I wouldn't think everyday at every time would be booked.

 

Secondly, could anyone give me an idea of the per person price range for Raffaele?

 

Thanks!

 

We went on the Western Med cruise last Oct & I pre-booked tickets for St Marks via the website...I was not able to see or book tickets until about a month before our departure.

 

As an FYI- here's a quote out of Rick Steve's 2007 Venice book..."Those with a bag to check actually get to skip the line. Here's how it works: Drop by Atgeneo S. Basso. leave your bag (for up to one hour) and pick up the tag. Two people per tag are allowed to go to the basilica's gatekeeper and scoot directly in (ahead of the line). After touring the church, come back and pick up your bag."

 

Our dinner mates actually did this & said it worked out great...we wished we had done it as even with our reservation slot there was still a line that we had to wait in for about 15 mins before entering- which beat the 1 hour + line for people w/out reservations but it would've been nice to walk right in.

 

If you're facing the front of the church, the bag check was back along the left side of the church.

 

Have fun! We loved Venice!!

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Mike Andrews

Mike Andrews

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Caligirl, what site are you trying to book through ?

 

The website is http://www.basilicasanmarco.it or http://www.alata.it or you can book tours including the Doges Palce Secret Itineraries Tour through http://www.weekendavenzia.it the Venice Tourist Office is http://www.turismovenezia.it

 

Other useful sites are

 

http://www.venicecard.com

http://www.vtp.it

http://www.actv.it

http://www.venicebanana.com

http://www.veniceairport.com

http://www.alilaguna.com

http://www.chowbellabooks.com

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  • 2 weeks later...
luvz2run2000

luvz2run2000

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  • Author
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Wonderful review thanks so much. One quick question. Why did you feel it was best to do all of your excurions on your own instead of booking through the ship? I know they can be very expensive but many people seem to worry about getting back in time? We have done both in the past but this is our first cruise to Europe and are wondering if we should just do as you and many others have done and contact a local tour company.

Thanks

 

We did one ships excursion in Croatia because we couldn't find anything similar on our own. We prefer to do private excursions for a number of reasons. We can control the plan for the day, we can pick our tour mates, we can see a lot more in the same amount of time as a ship tour, and nice (but not important) it usually costs less.

 

We picked reputable drivers/guides that had good reputations on this site and Trip Advisor. Since they make a large part of their livings from cruise passengers it's to their benefit to get the passengers back to the ship in time. We arrived back at the ship at the time we requested or even earlier in all cases.

 

I think it comes down to your personal comfort level. Some people are willing to pay more (and see less) in order to have the comfort of being on a ships tour. We were willing to take a slight and considered risk to see/do everything we wanted to do. We went on a repo cruise through the Panama Canal last spring and did all private tours as well.

 

If you do your homework you should be fine.

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jaxcruise

jaxcruise

Posted
Posted
I am not having any luck with the website for tickets to St. Mark's showing any availability anytime between now and the end of June. Could this ticket reservation option be discontinued or do you think the site is just down? I wouldn't think everyday at every time would be booked.

 

Secondly, could anyone give me an idea of the per person price range for Raffaele?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Could I please have the website address

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  • 2 weeks later...
Crusier98

Crusier98

Posted
Posted
I am not having any luck with the website for tickets to St. Mark's showing any availability anytime between now and the end of June. Could this ticket reservation option be discontinued or do you think the site is just down? I wouldn't think everyday at every time would be booked.

 

Secondly, could anyone give me an idea of the per person price range for Raffaele?

 

Thanks!

 

Have you tried calling,out group leader rang the booking office direct and made the reservations

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tomko2

tomko2

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Posted

Luvz2run, Wonderful Review!! My printer is struggling to print the whole thread off because I want your review (should have copied and pasted it).

Anyway, what time of year was your cruise?

Many thanks

Kathy:)

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