On the Spirit Grand Med cruise right now

[elbarney]

As far as I could tell, there is no way to avoid the monorail ride—no walking paths that I could see. When you arrive to the Maritimma Cruise Center, signs point the way to the NCL warehouse where you will check in.

You can walk from piazzale Roma to the port, just follow the signals that indicate Tronchetto. From piazzale roma you start walking to the mainland(is the only road), and then turn left on the second, it's easy and not so far away, but it's a little climb,

It's the same to get back to the city.

[AF-1]

Yes the transport from the ship into Venice seemed somewhat complicated, I would recommend splurging on a water taxi. We used one from the airport to our hotel and it was 120 euros for the five of us. They handled our luggage and it was like James Bond arriving at our hotel. We stayed at the Locanda Vivaldi, a small boutique hotel right by St Marks Square, and we flew into Venice a day before the cruise so we had plenty of time to explore Venice on our own before boarding the Spirit. Charming hotel with its own restaurant for dinner on the top floor, and breakfast included in the morning. Also free Wifi, which my kids used, although we are from California and were nine hours back on time - though the excitement of being in Europe overrode any jetlag :-)

So if you debate over paying for a private water taxi in Venice, I say go for it! You will be glad you did, and you're only here once most likely.

Today we are in our last port, Toulon France. Beautiful countryside on our way to Le Castellet and then Sanary on our NCL excursion. Sad that it's our last day of the cruise. It has been the trip of a lifetime!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

good info; thanks for sharing. Did you book a water taxi in advance or go to the desk at the airport? Is the price of water taxi per person or per boatload?

[tmackel]

Thank you for the review. We leave on Sept 15! Can't wait! :)

[rocklinmom]

Hi AF-1, we didn't need to reserve a water taxi, we just walked to the water taxi desk in the arrivals lobby and a dispatcher arranges it for you. It was like 120 euros and that was for five of us, so if you are fewer people it will be less than that. The dispatcher took our payment (we paid in euros, I assume you could do a credit card too), then told us what dock number to go to. Then we walked out to the dock, about a five minute easy walk on a marked path. We found our dock number, the driver loaded our luggage onto the boat, and we were off. Easy.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[NEDDIE]

Thanks for all the information will be going on this cruise May 7th 2015.

[AF-1]

Rocklinmom. Thanks for the info. That will work great.

[danacline]

On our Spirit Barcelona -> Venice, the ship overnighted in Venice. We were able to get a shuttle (1-way or roundtrip) to St. Marks - highly recommended. It was $10 each way. Took all of about 10 minutes, with plenty of photo ops.

 

Once you get to St. Marks, it's a quick and easy walk to the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal. The shopping is much cheaper there (as is the dining). My son walked back to the ship from there, but had to walk along the highway from the train station to the port (he missed finding the People Mover).

 

I had a copy of the Rick Steves city guide to Venice (and Barcelona) - both come with removable excellent maps. Also, visit TomsPortGuides.com and download his port guides - PDFs - for free. They have truly excellent maps. We were able to use this info to find our way to the train station in Venice, all of the sights in Barcelona, Istanbul, and find our way (4 Euros) to and from Piraeus to the Acropolis in Athens. They also contain links to other free PDFs such as the Venice water taxi routes and the Athens metro.

[Cruisercl]

On our Spirit Barcelona -> Venice, the ship overnighted in Venice. We were able to get a shuttle (1-way or roundtrip) to St. Marks - highly recommended. It was $10 each way. Took all of about 10 minutes, with plenty of photo ops.

 

Once you get to St. Marks, it's a quick and easy walk to the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal. The shopping is much cheaper there (as is the dining). My son walked back to the ship from there, but had to walk along the highway from the train station to the port (he missed finding the People Mover).

 

I had a copy of the Rick Steves city guide to Venice (and Barcelona) - both come with removable excellent maps. Also, visit TomsPortGuides.com and download his port guides - PDFs - for free. They have truly excellent maps. We were able to use this info to find our way to the train station in Venice, all of the sights in Barcelona, Istanbul, and find our way (4 Euros) to and from Piraeus to the Acropolis in Athens. They also contain links to other free PDFs such as the Venice water taxi routes and the Athens metro.

 

Thanks so much!! We are on the Spirit in April 2015 and this info is very helpful. We are putting together our trip so any pearls of wisdom are great. It can a bit overwhelming, especially Venice.

[danacline]

I will eventually get around to posting a review here, but having been gone most of June, everything is still in turmoil. I started writing on the cruise but rapidly got distracted with life. And I still have several thousand photos to go through and organize...

 

If you have specific questions, post them here and I'll try to answer...

[duffymcduff]

Thanks for all the information will be going on this cruise May 7th 2015.

 

We'll be on May 7 2015 cruise as well! A roll call has been started.

[rocklinmom]

Well, I spent an hour typing a full review of this cruise and after hitting submit the screen went blank and it disappeared to the computer gods. I didn't write it down beforehand because that takes too long, and I type faster than I write, so needless to say I am annoyed that no one will get to read it.

So if you have any additional questions about this cruise, please ask me here.

[seemsee1]

Hi Rocklinmom! We were on the same cruise as well! I think I remember seeing you & your family most mornings down for breakfast in Cagney's. We were the couple that sat in the center all of the time. :-)

 

Great review! And for those reading, I agree this trip is amazing! We had the Virgo Suite (10018) and as others have said, it will be hard to ever sail any other way.

 

Ryan was very helpful and our butler Josephine was great also. We didn't use them for a lot of things but rest assured if you need something, they will make it happen. VIP check in (5 people in cue vs. 500), early boarding and early disembarking, Cagney breakfast and lunch was perfect for me.

 

Never had an issue with dinner reservations (and almost always received a window table).

 

FYI, a couple of times we ordered breakfast to be brought to our suite and ordered from the Cagney's Menu! Crabcake eggs Benedict tastes even better from your suite.

 

For those of you wondering about NCL excursions vs private or DIY...

 

We did all of the above on this trip. Rocklinmom is correct when she says that NCL's excursions are very well organized and you can just sit back and let them handle everything. Is it more expensive than a private or DIY? Absolutely, but for some of the ports we thought it was best to go with NCL.

 

NCL tours

Pros: Relax; no stress about what time to get back to port. No stress about where to meet, where to go, how will I do this or that.

Possible Cons: Usually more expensive. Usually larger groups.

 

Private tours: You can find reputable companies through this website, forum members and other sites.

Pros: Cheaper. Sometimes smaller groups.

Possible Cons: The ship is not obligated to wait if you are late. Although the chances of returning late seems rare if the tour is well organized, if you stress easily, this could put a damper on your tour.

 

DIY: Some of the ports were small areas and/or the excursion time was very short so we decided to just go out on our own.

Pros: Can be the least expensive. The most flexibility. If you plan well, you can reach some of the popular attractions well before the large tours and get in and out before it gets congested.

Cons: If you don't do your homework you could miss an attraction. This can easily be avoided if you communicate well on this forum and if you make some friends on board.

 

I'd suggest if you want to totally relax and not worry about anything and not concerned about the cost, then NCL. If you are an avid traveler already and independent by nature anyway, private tour and DIY will be fine for you.

 

Please ask any questions. I would love to be as helpful as many on here were when we booked.

[seemsee1]

One other thing...

 

I loved having the two sea days in the beginning. Gave me time to enjoy the suite, explore the ship and leisurely adjust to the time change.

 

We arrived a day before embarkation and toured Venice (DIY) and stayed and extra 2 days after in Barcelona (DIY). Hop on Hop off bus in Barcelona is great.

[seemsee1]

OMG Rocklinmom! We even stayed at the same hotel in Barcelona! Hahaha! And as I talked to my wife, she also reminded me that your family on the same Tram in Venice going to the ship too. :-)

 

The Hilton was great. And the mall across the street was great too. How about all of the dogs in there?!!

 

Again, loved your review and gave me an opportunity to relive a great trip.

[rocklinmom]

Hi seemsee1, that is so funny that we were at the same Barcelona hotel too. Yes my kids loved the mall, and all of the dogs walking through it. They should allow that in California I think. I also liked the grocery store in the mall, we had fun cruising the aisles. My daughter still has a chocolate hippo that she bought there and is trying to save.

I'm glad you liked my review, I was finally able to get it to post a week later! So you guys were in Cagney's at breakfast too? Sometimes it was just my husband, when the kids and I wanted to raid the chocolate croissants and waffles outside on the deck. I didn't want them to wipe out the Cagney's buffet, LOL.

Are you guys planning another NCL cruise? I am wistfully looking at the Star in Scandinavia next summer. Trying to see if I can make it work, mainly paying for it! Glad to hear from someone who was on our cruise :)

[seemsee1]

[quote name='rocklinmom']Hi seemsee1, that is so funny that we were at the same Barcelona hotel too. Yes my kids loved the mall, and all of the dogs walking through it. They should allow that in California I think. I also liked the grocery store in the mall, we had fun cruising the aisles. My daughter still has a chocolate hippo that she bought there and is trying to save.
I'm glad you liked my review, I was finally able to get it to post a week later! So you guys were in Cagney's at breakfast too? Sometimes it was just my husband, when the kids and I wanted to raid the chocolate croissants and waffles outside on the deck. I didn't want them to wipe out the Cagney's buffet, LOL.
Are you guys planning another NCL cruise? I am wistfully looking at the Star in Scandinavia next summer. Trying to see if I can make it work, mainly paying for it! Glad to hear from someone who was on our cruise :)[/QUOTE]

I've actually been toying with the idea of another one next summer. I didn't consider the Scandinavian one but that sounds interesting. I'll have to look at the itinerary.