Venice to Rome-looking for tips

[realproperty]

We are on the Venice to Rome cruise in May and are looking for helpful tips, particularly about the ports. We have been to Dubrovnik and walked the walls, had a great lunch and that was a delight. What about the other ports? Are there any standout ship excursions to take, is it easy to rent bicycles, or a car and is there anywhere outside of the port town that is a must see. We are early 60's, very active, energetic and not fans of bus tours unless it is the only way to get someplace worthwhile and in an efficient manner. We look forward to your ideas, tips, things to avoid, etc., while we do our own research as well. Thanks.

[6rugrats]

If you list your ports, you may be more likely to get useful information. Also, go to the Ports of Call forum for Europe on this board and you will find lots of discussion there.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

Edited November 26, 2013 by 6rugrats

[Hillskis]

We have done the Dalmatian Coast and Southern Italy on the Wind Surf. Here are my recommendations: Trogir & Split Cultural Tour; Murgo Winery in Messina (did it before it was a shore excursion) is a must; in Rovinj if you are into wine, go to a winery in Istria otherwise the Truffle experience is a blast; Kotor we did it on our own since we were there from 7PM to 7AM; in Capri go on your own. If you want the Blue Grotto get a boat tour on your own for at least 2 hours (Capri is best seen from the sea) but find out first if the seas are too choppy to get into the Blue Groto. Otherwise, after you get off the tender and walk out of the pier, turn right and get an all day bus pass with funicular included at the bus ticket office. Take the funicular to the main part of Capri for some shopping and then take the bus to Anacapri (sit or stand on the right side for a great view). In Anacapri take the chair lift to the top of Capri (best view in Southern Italy). Since you've been to Dubrovnik I would just go on your own.

[Jete]

Classic Italy and the Dalmatian Coast. You mentioned the tender from the ship to the island of Capri. Will we have to tender for all the ports on this itinerary or are there ports that we can disembark directly to land?

[Hillskis]

As I recall they used tenders at all the ports. They could have docked in Split but another ship was already there so we tendered. If the seas are too rough in Dubrovnik (near the old port) then they may dock the ship where the larger ships dock and bus you to the old city.

[BevnKent]

We are on the Wind Surf May 12 sailing. There are 4 of us. We are just now starting to research shore excursions. Would love to share what we find out. Will you share with us? Also, someone just started a roll call for our sailing. Shall we move the conversation to there?

[Charlotte girl]

Would love to share in the replys you receive. We don't go until July. Be sure to post about your trip when you return!!!! Have a great time!:)

[realproperty]

Of course, the ship is great. No food pictures or other nonsense from me. It is really about the ports.We did not do any ship excursions but those who did seemed happy. Some raves came from the wine tours and the truffle tasting tours. Some the ship's tours were pricey and involved getting on buses or vans and we were not interested in shlepping around. Rovinj is a small city and is easy to walk around. The highlight is climbing the hill to the tower and climbing the tower for the view. Lots of little shops to poke around in and a nice place for a quiet lunch. In Split, we went on line and for 45 euros each (of two) we got a private guide and tour. The highlight is the Diocletian palace. We found that the cost of the private tour wasn't much more than the ship's tour with a whole lot more people. Our guide also took us to the synagogue and gave us a bit of a Jewish perspective on the brutality of Diocletian. After lunch, we climbed the Marjan? hill for the view and the old Jewish cemetery. In Dubrovnik, we hooked up with Dubrovnik Walks which you can find on line for a 12 euro per person tour. It meets outside the Pila Gate at 10 am and whoever shows, goes. In the afternoon, we walked the wall. Even in May there were lots of people in Dubrovnik, lots of bus tours and we were the only ship in Port. Cannot imagine the place with a big cruise ship in port or into the summer. Would be like a mall before Chrsitmas. By the way, no great shopping in any of the Croatian ports so unless you like junky souvenirs, don't allocate time to that. Kotor is very small and the highlight is the trip through the fjord. We disembarked and headed straight for the ramparts and up to the top. A very good hike if you are in shape--wear sensible shoes. Great grilled fish lunch in the town. Messina is all about Taormina, and we hired a guide to take us there with 6 others. Nice views but basically a shopping street with high end shops mostly and an ancient ruin. Our guide took us up the hill to Castelmolo for lunch and that was a good option--quiet, authentic, not touristic. Capri was fine, been there, a bit of a snore, high end shopping and nice views. We did not explore for better views.

 

Ship tenders in most ports and no hassles, no lines and very easy. Swim deck was open but water was too cold for swimming. Private guides gave us a nice overview of the history and the recent history as well which was different from the news we seemed to get that it was religious based. Typical Windstar--understated, pretty good food, very nice people on staff and among the guests. It is a good cruise. Our weather could have been a bit warmer but they say the east side of the Adriatic is cooler than Venice and Rome. Expect lots of crowds. Venice was packed (as usual) with tourists, even in early May and Rome was as well. There are lots of tourists in the cities in Croatia, many on land tours, so if you are looking for some space, maybe look into some of the ship's excursions to get away from the crowds. Otherwise, be prepared for it. It is Europe inthe summer time. Have fun.

[Charlotte girl]

many thanks to "real property" for the detailed narrative about the trip down the Croatian coast. Hoping more people post about their experiences. What were your impressions of the Star Pride?? Some have expressed disappointment in the lack of outdoor experience on this ship and a crowded breakfast. Anyone???:rolleyes:

[Charlotte girl]

Great info for the Croatian ports. Anything more you can share? Going in July 2014

[realproperty]

one more thing, the Windstar docks at the San Basilio pier, not the main cruise terminal so don't go to the main terminal or you will be in the wrong place. I didn't look at our ticket to see the pier name and went to the main terminal figuring there was transportation to the ship which I saw a bit away from the main terminal. Had to backtrack which was complicated. The easiest way to get to the pier is water taxi or vaporetto which stops nearby. If you have heavy luggage, take a water taxi since you have a couple of bridges to deal with to walk to the pier. Otherwise, nothing stressful about embarkation, don't rush to get there since there is little to do on the ship in the afternoon before the ship sails other than booking Candles but that is no big deal either. Other tips: we did Dubrovnik Walks, and found great small group tours from Walks of Italy in both Rome and Venice.

[ducklite]

one more thing, the Windstar docks at the San Basilio pier, not the main cruise terminal so don't go to the main terminal or you will be in the wrong place. I didn't look at our ticket to see the pier name and went to the main terminal figuring there was transportation to the ship which I saw a bit away from the main terminal. Had to backtrack which was complicated. The easiest way to get to the pier is water taxi or vaporetto which stops nearby. If you have heavy luggage, take a water taxi since you have a couple of bridges to deal with to walk to the pier. Otherwise, nothing stressful about embarkation, don't rush to get there since there is little to do on the ship in the afternoon before the ship sails other than booking Candles but that is no big deal either. Other tips: we did Dubrovnik Walks, and found great small group tours from Walks of Italy in both Rome and Venice.

 

I know you are talking about the Star, but we went to the main terminal on the Surf. It was a last minute change, we were supposed to go to San Basilio. Just an FYI.

[realproperty]

ours was the windsurf at San Basilio so watch your ticket.

[ducklite]

ours was the windsurf at San Basilio so watch your ticket.

 

 

My itinerary said San Basilio, it was a last minute change made that day by the harbor master.

[BevnKent]

many thanks to "real property" for the detailed narrative about the trip down the Croatian coast. Hoping more people post about their experiences. What were your impressions of the Star Pride?? Some have expressed disappointment in the lack of outdoor experience on this ship and a crowded breakfast. Anyone???:rolleyes:

Hope I am not too late to help you. The 4 in my party shared a great tour of Messina/Taoromina with RealProperty, PlaneMad. Sicily with Mario was great and although some reviews said Mario used the 'F' word too much, he did not use it once on our tour -- must have read the reviews. In Rovinj we did the Windstar excursion "Istra Truffle Experience" It was fabulous - great tour of the medieval town of Motovun. Then they took us to an elegant restaurant where we had a multi-course meal of truffles with 2 wines served with the various courses. After, we had time to enjoy the town of Rovinj.

 

In Split, my husband and I took the Windstar excursion to Krka National Park. Friends had told us that the national parks in Croatia are a must-see and I agree. Our only disappointment was that the weather was bad in May (overcast and slightly rainy) so the water was not the turquoise blue you see in the pictures. Check websites for Krka pics. We got back in time to do the major sites of the city of Split on our own. The other couple we were with chose to do the city tour from Windstar and enjoyed it.

 

In Dubrovnik, the 4 of us hired a private guide and did a slight customization of one of their standard Dubrovnik tours. I can highly recommend http://www.dubrovnikshoretours.net Co-owner Josip was excellent in setting up the tour and co-owner Stephano was an excellent guide. We were met at the port, taken on a walking tour of the city including walking the wall. Then they took us to the top of the mountain (by car, although cable car is available) - great views. From there we went to the ancient town of Ston for a tour, then to a winery for a private tasting. We then chose to do a seafood lunch in Ston versus having it at the winery. The seafood was fabulous.

 

In Kotor we did the Windstar walking tour excursion, but I think you can do this on your own. After, we walked along the harbor and had a fabulous lunch at Galion.

 

Next stop was Messina which RealProperty told you all about. Highlight after that was evening BBQ on deck of Wind Surf and stopping the ship near the volcanic island of Stromboli where we could see the volcano erupting.

 

We had planned to do Capri on our own but while on the ship decided to sign up for the Taste of Capri and Blue Grotto excursion. I think this was a great way to do it. The Blue Grotto was beautiful in spite of the gloomy weather. At the top of the island each person had the choice of taking the chair lift to the top for great views (our travel companions did this) or do the tour of Villa San Michelle (the option we took). Loved the Villa - very interesting with great views. We then had a wine tasting with some munchies followed by a little time at the port of Capri before returning to the ship.

 

When we arrived in Rome, we had a private driver take us to Ostia Antica - a terrific ancient site - then on to our hotel in Rome. The driver was arranged for by the private guide we used in Rome for other tours. OUr guide was Barbara Bruno who I can highly recommend, but at this late date I doubt that she is available. If you want to see the Colosseum, it is critical to have pre-arranged tickets and a must are the separate tix for the Hypogeum (underground) and 3rd tier tour which you can get ahead of time only by calling. Also, if you want to see the Vatican an absolute must is to pay for a pre-general public opening tour (prior to 9am). While you will be seeing the Vatican with a lot of other tour groups, it is a thousand times better than what you will see if you wait to do the sites during general public hours. We used ItalyWithUs and had tour guide 'Francisco of San Francisco'. He was so knowledgeable., and we got to see the highlights of the museum, the Sistene Chapel and St Peter's. When we had to circle back through some of the sites to get to St Peter's we were amazed at the cattle-car like environment after the museum, etc opened to the general public. I don't know how they saw anything! While in Rome before the cruise my husband & I wanted to see Pompeii and Vesuvius. Did that via Viatours. They were great.

 

My husband & I had done Venice before so we just got there the day before the cruise and went to the Peggy Guggenheim museum. Early in the am I took a vaporetto to St Marks and other sites to take pics before the crowds arrived. During those 2 days, we found that the vaporetto pass was good, and we used it to get to the ship at San Bassilio. But the crowds now might be greater, making it much more difficult to get on the vaporetto with your luggage.

 

Hope all this helps, feel free to contact me at bevhellman@hotmail.com

[Charlotte girl]

Thanks so much for the details on your experience! Very helpful! You are clearly stronger walkers than I am because of my back problems, so I will not be taking walking tours, but it was great to know what options there are!:)