Just back from Venice/Adriatic cruise, on Star: my 2 cents...

I think you're going to love it! September, ( and May) , are probably the best times to go, not as warm, still nice weather, and not as crowded. ( We have a kid in school, so our travel times are limited by her school and sports activities.)

More port descriptions coming up.

We were in Venice in the middle of September and had great weather. About the end of the month the news at home was awash with pictures/videos of tourists slogging through St Mark's annual monsoonal flooding.

Since the Canals in Venice are not quite pristine:eek:, one can only imagine the sewerage they were wading through!

Thank you guys. That's very useful information. I didn't know about the luggage that we cannot bring on our own out.

Happy cruising!

We were in Venice in the middle of September and had great weather. About the end of the month the news at home was awash with pictures/videos of tourists slogging through St Mark's annual monsoonal flooding.

 

Since the Canals in Venice are not quite pristine:eek:, one can only imagine the sewerage they were wading through!

...I'm afraid some things are better left to the imagination!;)

As they say... "all good things must come to an end"...

Split, Croatia-

We did ship's tour: Sibenik, Trogir, and Split, 8:15 AM- 3:45 PM.

Our tour guide was probably one of the best ones we had on the entire trip; spoke near perfect English, and knew lots about the US, as well as Canadian geography, history, etc. ...really put us to shame, as we knew so very little about Croatia.

All three towns that we saw, Sibenik, Trogir, and Split, were very charming, and would each individually make for a great day itinerary. I'm afraid this was another case of "too much to see, in too short a time!"

Most of the tour was spent being shuttled between towns; a quick walk along the main drag, and an in depth description and tour of each respective main churches...don't get me wrong, they were interesting, but sometimes it's easy to get "church over-load" when traveling in Europe: " Oh no, not yet another carved facade, and exquisite altarpiece, make it stop!!" Joking aside, we had no free time to explore the towns, or shop. We were again taken to a pre-selected lunch venue, prior to returning to Split.

Split is a fascinating town, filled with meandering medieval streets, gracious squares, and of course the piece de resistance; Diocletian's Palace, a sprawling complex that was actually build as the private residence of the Roman emperor Diocletian. It's pretty cool to see how parts of the palace were cannibalized, only to be incorporated into medieval and latter structures, the whole lot manages to coexist in harmony. The lower levels of the palace now serve as a market where one can purchase food, and souvenirs.

Again, the Croatian currency is the Kuna, ( not in the Euro zone), and the exchange rate is pretty favorable! One of the main entrances to Diocletian's palace was literally only a five minute walk from where the ship was docked....if I had to do it again, I would not waste my time trying to see squeeze in too much sight-seeing into the short allotted time. I would recommend sticking with Split, as there's plenty there to explore, and it's easily done on one's own, otherwise you'll end up running around the whole day, without time to enjoy the experience!

Fell in love with Montenegro and Croatia, and would love to return for a more in depth trip!

Throughly enjoyed your review. We are 45 days away from our cruise and have decided to forgo organized ship excursions in Kotor and Split. Based on your review we are looking forward to exploring these two ports on our own. Thank you 😊

Throughly enjoyed your review. We are 45 days away from our cruise and have decided to forgo organized ship excursions in Kotor and Split. Based on your review we are looking forward to exploring these two ports on our own. Thank you 😊

Enjoy your wonderful vacation, you're in for a treat!!

Thank you for all the great information. We are on the 8/27 sailing. My thinking is: Split, Kotor, and Dubrovnik we will do on our own. It looks like it will be crowded with other ships in Olympia and Athens, so we will do a tour through NCL, just haven't decided and am running out of time. (Sorry, I don't know the name of the website that posts what ships are in port, I found it here a while back). I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. It is our first cruise in 11 years and we are traveling with two teens.

Does anyone know if they still have a formal or meet the Captain night?

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Thank you for all the great information. We are on the 8/27 sailing. My thinking is: Split, Kotor, and Dubrovnik we will do on our own. It looks like it will be crowded with other ships in Olympia and Athens, so we will do a tour through NCL, just haven't decided and am running out of time. (Sorry, I don't know the name of the website that posts what ships are in port, I found it here a while back). I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. It is our first cruise in 11 years and we are traveling with two teens.

Try http://www.cruisetimetables.com

Does anyone know if they still have a formal or meet the Captain night?

 

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I don't believe they had a formal night per say, ( which is one of the things we find appealing about NCL), but they did have a night where you could dress-up, and I saw set-ups with professional photographers.

A few parting shots to sum up our trip:

-We enjoy NCL for it's casual vibe, and we especially like the smaller ships. This Adriatic itinerary was fantastic, and would like to do a similar trip, in the future, with perhaps a couple of different ports.

-suite vs. no suite. This was our second time traveling in a suite, and I feel that overall the suites on NCL are a good bargain: ( priority embarkation/disembarkation, exclusive breakfast and lunch at Cagney's/ Modernos, espresso machine in room, free room-service, afternoon snacks, etc...). If you have a good butler, they make you feel like a VIP!

We had an excellent one for our Baltic cruise, this year we had an inexperienced one, and we hardly saw her.

...Choice of suites: we had a family suite, on deck 12, on our last trip; great location, very roomy, floor to ceiling windows, no balcony. This year we had initially picked the same thing, but decided to put in a bid for an aft balcony suite, our bid was accepted 3 days prior to embarkation...the aft balcony is less spacious than the family suite, however, the views from the balcony were to die for, especially when leaving Venice!!!:hearteyes:

Public service announcement coming up:

I had read about this issue on this same board, and after our third day, I figured we were in the clear...NOT, we were sitting out in our lovely balcony, leaving Katakolon, when my DH was abruptly hit by something, we initially thought it might have been bird poop, but it turned out to be ash/ soot from the engine? It got all over his shirt, all over the lounge chairs and the floor of the balcony:(

We called our room steward, who cleaned it up, I had a feeling he had seen this before...on each day after that, we saw evidence of ash on our balcony. So, I would cruise in a suite again, but not in an aft suite on 10! Why pay good money to be covered in ash?

-Venice:

A beautiful, pricey seductress...nothing is cheap here, might as well know this in advance and succumb to her charms! :D We stayed here a couple of nights, prior to our cruise- the hotel we used had a great location, just behind Piazza San Marco, ( Luna Baglioni Hotel), but it was crazy expensive, and did not even include breakfast, at 800 Euro a night :eek:. ( We booked 3 months prior to our cruise, and lots of other hotels were booked solid...My advice would be to book 9-12 months out, if possible, and look for suggestions in the port section of this board...I know you can do better!!)

-If you have an extra day, you can catch a vaporetto, at the San Marco station, for the lagoon islands of Murano, famous for it's blown glass, and Burano, famous for it's lace, and picturesque colored houses, it's only about 20 Euros per person, and Burano, is especially nice!

-My splurge advice in Venice would be to take a private water taxi from the airport to the center of Venice, much faster than the vaporetto water bus, gorgeous views, and some hotels have their own water taxi docks, so you won't have to schlep your luggages all over creation!

You can also rent them to do a private tour of the Grand Canal.

- Best view of the Grand Canal/ Venice from on high:

You can wait in line, and climb the bell-tower in San Marco, but the best view, it's actually free to date, and near the Rialto Bridge...if in the San Marco area, follow signs to Rialto Bridge...just prior to the bridge there's a shopping mall called Fondaco dei Tedeschi,

go up to the terrace, for fabulous views! We went right before it closed, and had some great shots, at twilight! I would check times on their website, for the terrace closes an hour before the rest of the shops.

- If staying in Venice overnight, get up early for uncrowded pictures of the city...you would only have to share the place with the natives and the pigeons, before the hordes of day trippers arrive! :)

....We have a short Disney cruise, planned for December, but no other cruises in the near future. Might have to fly to Europe for a wedding, next summer, so that would be our "big trip".

I am looking at cruises for Summer 2019, and might "shake it up some"...intrigued by the Yacht Club concept, on MSC...can't wait to hear the reports from Seaside and Seaview, or might even try Oceania or Azamara...

Thank you for all of this valuable information!!!

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Thank you for all of this valuable information!!!

 

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You're welcome, thanks for following along!:)

Thanks for sharing your review! I learned some good info for our upcoming trip in Sept. I will take your advice & do Croatia & Kotor on our own.

Thank you for the advice on taking a private taxi boat from the airport to our hotel. Luckily our hotel has a private boat dock so we should not have to drag our luggage anywhere as we can hopefully stop directly at the door of our hotel. My husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed following along on your review. Thank you for all the hard work that it takes putting one together.

Thanks Oceanlover11 for your reviews. I'm sailing on the 13th.

Loved your reviews! Thanks for sharing!

We spent some time in Venice on a land vacation last year. If you're only going to be in Venice for a couple of days before the cruise, I'd advise you stay near the train station. You can walk to anywhere in Venice from there or take the vaporetto (water bus) down the Grand Canal and save having to schlep your luggage all over Venice (or pay for a water taxi which can be pricey). We stayed at a hotel called the Hotel Abbazia which was lovely. The rooms were small, but air conditioned (which is not always the case in Italy) and they served a lovely breakfast that was included.

Thanks for the info, sailing July 23 Greek Isles cruise. Did you happen to notice (or utilize) a wine package? We didn't get UBP (opted for Canadian at par due to our limp dollar). It seems some lines are discontinuing wine packages, selling only by the glass or bottle.

You can order wine in advance of your trip. We usually order 3 bottles of wine that are in our room when we get onboard. Price is usually around $40-$45. You can drink those in your room or taken them to dinner.

Enjoyed your in depth reviews...taking notes! Thank you for sharing!

Can't wait to cruise on Oct. 29!

What a great review you posted, with so many valuable tips! We're not sailing until august next year (!!)) but I'm taking your tip to heart to start early booking hotel rooms for our pre-cruise stay in Venice.

Thanks again, your story is not only very useful and valuable, but also very funny!!

:D

Great job- thanks so much! We are boarding the Star this coming Sunday, but staying in Venice for a few days first. I did a number of screen shots of your fantastic reviews so we ca reread the before the ports! Best wishes - Sue & Bill

Thank you Oceanlover11 for your review. We leave out on the Star in just under two weeks. Do you perhaps remember your Butlers name?