Venice * Hotel Carlton * NCL Spirit

[thunefeld]

The NCL Spirit Southern Europe * Eastern Mediterranean Cruise

October 26-Nov 6, 2013

Venice > Greece > Turkey > Western Italy > Barcelona

 

We arrived in Venice the day before our cruise boarded so that we could get a feel for the city and gauge how many days to spend on a return trip. Because we had only one night, we booked a room at Hotel Carlton on the Grand Canal, just a 5-minute walk from the Pizzale Roma bus station where the People Mover is located to whisk you to the cruise terminal. The Hotel Carlton is located 2 hotels east of the bus station, directly across the footbridge to the train station. I cannot imagine a more convenient location for cruisers. The cost was $300 USD per night, but, hey, we are in VENICE for crying out loud, how can you NOT stay on the Grand Canal?

 

AIRPORT TO THE HOTEL CARLTON: We booked a shared water taxi on-line for 27 Euros each (54 euros for two). venicelink dot com

http://www.venicelink.com

 

After getting off the plane, we proceeded to the water taxi booth in the airport terminal as directed by our confirmation. We arrived at the booth at about 3:15 and waited only 15 minutes until at 3:30 we were given directions to walk as a group (of 8) to walk to the boat landing (an 8 minute walk on level sidewalk sloping gently downhill to the water). The water taxi driver whisked us to the Grand Canal in about 15 minutes. We entered the canal from the northwest, so the Carlton Hotel would have been the first stop. Instead, the driver took us past the Hotel Carlton and all the way to the most distant hotel right next to the Rialto Bridge – so within an hour of arriving in Venice we were looking at the Rialto bridge! What a bonus - a “free” canal cruise as soon as we arrived! It was awesome riding down the canals so soon after our arrival.

 

We have read TripAdvisor reviews on the Hotel Carlton complaining that the rooms were too small and the views out the windows unsatisfactory. We booked the least expensive room via TripAdvisor price-comparison service (Hotels.com or Bookings.com or some-such) and found our room more than adequate (and we own a Bed and Breakfast in San Diego and are very fussy).

 

The check-in process at Hotel Carlton was efficient, warm and cordial. The lobby and breakfast area was elegantly decorated and furnished. Our quiet room on the side of the hotel was spacious enough for 4 suitcases and a queen bed with room to spare. The walls soundproofed covered by a rich fabric brocade giving it an old world elegance. The windows actually opened so that we could bring the sounds and smells of Venice into the room. The Murano Glass Chandelier was feature typical of the tasteful décor. The spotless all-marble bathroom was beautiful with new modern fixtures, great bath and shower.

 

The free, full breakfast was far more than we expected with a big buffet of hot and cold food;, particularly unexpected (and delicious) was the rich coffee with steamed milk (cappuccino) brought to our table by a warm and accommodating staff. The 4 cups of coffee alone would have cost $20 anywhere else in Venice! As Siskel and Ebert used to say, Two Thumbs Up!

 

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner next door at Ristorante Da Nino, right on the Grand Canal. The waiters don’t speak much English, but, hey, that’s half the fun! The food is genuine Venetian. Ann’s Shrimp was awesome, and Terry’s olive oil and garlic spaghetti was to die for.

 

The Hotel Carlton will check your baggage for you until you decide to embark. Check out time was, I think, noon, so we spent the morning walking walking walking and came back to the hotel at 11 a.m. to pack and check out. We walked out bags over two bridges to the Pizzale Roma and the People Mover, then pulled them from the People Move to the NCL Spirit. The distance from the People Mover drop off in the cruise port was nearly half a mile pulling luggage along service roads. We discovered that there is a free shuttle (from Pizzale Roma?) after we got there, something you may wish to check out. We were hot and sweaty by the time we got our luggage to Spirit.

 

The check-in process (at about 1:30 p.m.) looked onerous, but the lines were surprisingly fast and the whole process took under 30 minutes from luggage drop off to issuance of our cruise cards. We opted to walk back to Venice to spend every last minute there until we had to board at 7 p.m. Without luggage we just walked from the terminal to the city, about a 25 minute brisk walk each way.

 

Terry Hunefeld & Ann Dunham

Inn At Moonlight Beach Bed & Breakfast

San Diego

 

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Our post of our Istanbul “On Our Own” adventure!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36086839#post36086839

 

Our post of our Athens “On Our Own” adventure:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36083644#post36083644

 

Our post of our Izmir-Ephesus NCL Shore Excursion

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36087284#post36087284

 

Our post of our Mykonos, Greece “On Our Own” visit:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36087446#post36087446

 

Our post of our Napoli - Naples - Pompeii - Sorrento Italy NCL Shore Excursion

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36087629#post36087629

 

Our post of our Napoli - Livorno – Pisa - Florence NCL "On Your Own" Bus Transport Shore Excursion

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36087973#post36087973

 

Our post of our Toulon France “On Our Own” visit:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36088045#post36088045

 

Our post of our Barcelona Spain visit:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36088220#post36088220

 

 

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PORTS OF CALL ON YOUR OWN:

 

If you’re on an NCL shore excursion, the process for disembarking for one of their paid shore excursions is streamlined, straightforward and efficient like all of the processes on NCL. This is quite a feat considering that there are sometimes thousands of cruisers getting off the boat to board dozens of different buses.

 

However, if you wish to do your own thing, and be among the first off the ship, here is a tip: For example, we wanted to do Athens “on our own” and it was our first port of call – so we had no experience with the disembarking process. We wanted to be in the first group off the ship to “beat feet down the street” to get to the metro and to the Acropolis when it opened at 8 a.m. to beat the crowds because Rick Steve said that the best time to be at the Acropolis is before the tour busses disgorge throngs of tourists at 10 a.m. He was dead-on correct!

 

BEWARE: NCL Spirit arrived at the cruise terminal at 6:40 a.m. We were told by two different NCL employees the evening before that there would be an announcement as to when we could disembark, so to be “waiting in our room” or in a “public area” until the announcement. We were discouraged from queuing up near the stairs or elevators prior to the announcement. When we had not heard anything by 7:20, we wandered down to see what was happening only to find that disembarkation had begun 25 minutes before! I inquired why (again asked 2 separate NCL employees) who replied that the ship does not make announcements before 8 a.m. So, there you have it… if you want to be first off before 8 a.m. on an NCL cruise, you need to be aware. My motto after this misinformation was to ask multiple different NCL employees the same question until I got the same answer THREE times. That seemed to work okay.

[katiepe]

I am not sure if we were on the same cruise?? October 25 from Venice to Barcelona NCL Spirit 2012.

We were off the ship by 715am in Athens. We didnt ask we just went down after we realized the ship was docked. There wasnt a line up at all.

I am curious though about the free shuttle. We looked all over Piazzale Roma for the "mythical" free shuttle. We didnt find it. There was a free shuttle within the port area to take to the ship terminal depending on what time you arrived off the people mover.