Bra_BE2014 Posted September 24, 2014 Author #51 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I was a bit nervous about going to Venice as I had nothing booked in advance for transport. I did posted a thread on the Venice forums asking for advice and I received lots of great advice. We decided that the best and cheapest option was to take the water bus from the terminal to piazza San Marco as our hotel was on a street adjacent to the square. You can check this website to see the routes http://www.alilaguna.it/en When leaving the ship, we saw a white booth written 'TICKETS' right next to the building where we were supposed to collect our bags. So I figured that was the right place to go to buy our tickets, hahahahaah! I'm so smart :eek: The lady on the booth only spoke Italian and the people in line were having a hard time. So when it was our turn i smiled and made 'two' with my hands. aha asked 'bags'? I showed her 2 again and said 'piazza san marco'- mission accomplished, she smiled back and said 'thanks' with a nice italian accent. I already knew it was EUR 8 per person and EUR3 per big bag, so I didn't need to wait for her to try to explain the price, whewww! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted September 24, 2014 Author #52 Share Posted September 24, 2014 From there, it was a bit of a walk. There are plenty of signs and boards all over the cruise terminal showing the direction to go to catch the water bus or the water taxi - Note that the water bus is EUR8 and the water taxi EUR100!!!! We walked around 10 minutes but it felt like an eternity because we were carrying our luggage. Thank God for luggage on wheels! There was a long line but thankfully the water bus was very big and could accommodate everyone. Your bags need to stay at the entrance, an employee arranges them all neatly while people can move forward and take a seat inside. It was a short ride until piazza san Marco, it felt like 5 minutes. The city was crazy full of people, much more then we anticipated. So the first order of the day was to find our hotel and get rid of our luggage. We walked around a bit but couldn't find it; so I stopped at a beautiful jewalry shop to ask directions as it was empty. The lovely lady was super helpful and phoned the hotel for us to ask for directions. It was such a lovely gestured, we thanked her a thousand times. After that, it was easy, there it was: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted September 24, 2014 Author #53 Share Posted September 24, 2014 It was very well recommended on trip advisor and it was actually one of the cheapest that was right next to the square. The location was superb, in front of a gondola stop and in the middle of the fancy shops street - so there we were, surrounded by Versace, Prada, well, a girl can get used to it :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oreosmile Posted September 25, 2014 #54 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I really enjoyed reading your review. Glad you had such a good time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted September 25, 2014 Author #55 Share Posted September 25, 2014 DAY 8 - Disembarkation day (cont) Yep, I'm still going to bore you with our last overnight in Venice and finish off with some after thoughts, thank you for putting up with me if you made it this far :D So after we found our hotel, it was still too early to check in but it was okay to leave the bags there. The staff was very friendly and asked us to come back after 2PM to check in. It was around 11 PM, so we decided to go exploring and grab some lunch. We wanted to get a bit away from the square and try to find a small, authentic italian-food place. we walked around until we found a suitable place. We didn't regret it, it was great - touristy but great! I chose to have a Gnocchi ao vongole and my mom took Gnocchi bolognese. We each had a prosecco to toast our fun times at the cruise. Now it's the moment to confess that I was a bit disappointed with the ship's Tiramisu. It tasted good, but it wasn't what I imagined it would be. Don't get me wrong, I ate the whole thing, hahaha but somehow I expected a more artisanal feel to it. So I felt morally obligated to order a tiramisu and it was all I could dream of! Just look at this beauty!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted September 25, 2014 Author #56 Share Posted September 25, 2014 With our bellies full we continue dot walk around until we found some famous sights like the Rialto bridge. It was then that we learned why it was so super crowded that day: it was regata storica, a gondola race taking place in the main canals of Venice. That killed our plan to take a water bus to murano because in the afternoon the main canal would be closed for the race. So instead, we had fun walking from bridge to bridge to discover colourful gondolas gathering for the race!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted September 25, 2014 Author #57 Share Posted September 25, 2014 It then started to get really, really, super crowded! On top of everything, the film festival of Venice was also ongoing, so after a while we stopped enjoying the sights and just concentrated in navigating the sea of people on our way back to the hotel. We did stop for Ice cream on our way there, so that marked a total of 8 ice cream balls each for the week, hehehehe, yummy! By now it was 5:30 PM so we could check in and go to get freshened up. We were so exhausted and we were not really feeling like fighting the crowds again so we went to sleep - I kid you not - and only woke on on the next day at 7 AM for breakfast :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted September 27, 2014 Author #58 Share Posted September 27, 2014 DAY 9 - Return to Belgium We woke up feeling refreshed after having a much needed long rest. Our vacation was officially over (boooooo) and all left to do was breakfast and take a taxi to the airport for our 11:30 AM flight. I can't recommend enough this hotel Violin d'oro, it was total silence during the night and very peaceful in the morning. It had a main building and an annex - we were actually staying in the annex so we walked a few seconds through a picturesque alley to get to the main building for breakfast. There were lots of choices and we indulged in a little goodbye feast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted September 27, 2014 Author #59 Share Posted September 27, 2014 We were instructed by the receptionist to alert her to call for our taxi before check out so it would be ready when we left. We decided that a water taxi was the best, fastest option, specially because there is a taxi stop in front of the hotel. It was expensive: 2 people and 2 big bags for EUR 130 but it was worth every cent! We needed to be at the airport 2 hours prior, so 9:30AM. The receptionist suggested we took our taxi at 9AM because it was around 30 min to the airport. It was a great way to say good by to Venice: watching the city slowly wake up from the water in our private water taxi! Here you can see our driver in action and the interior of the boat: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted September 27, 2014 Author #60 Share Posted September 27, 2014 We checked in, walked around window shopping the beautiful designer shops inside the gate area and boarded our plain. Our flight only took 1h:20min to get in Brussels airport where we collected our car to drive home. THE END! - Still to come: I will sum up our first time cruiser experience and MSC impression with some bullet pointed after thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmoMondo Posted September 27, 2014 #61 Share Posted September 27, 2014 We checked in, walked around window shopping the beautiful designer shops inside the gate area and boarded our plain. Our flight only took 1h:20min to get in Brussels airport where we collected our car to drive home. THE END! - Still to come: I will sum up our first time cruiser experience and MSC impression with some bullet pointed after thoughts. Thanks again for sharing your experiences with us. I've really enjoyed joining you on your journey day by day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexkrn46 Posted September 27, 2014 #62 Share Posted September 27, 2014 loving your review, a Fantasia was our first MSC cruise and Danellia was our CD glad to hear she is still on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted October 1, 2014 Author #63 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Thanks again for sharing your experiences with us. I've really enjoyed joining you on your journey day by day. Thanks, it means a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted October 1, 2014 Author #64 Share Posted October 1, 2014 loving your review, a Fantasia was our first MSC cruise and Danellia was our CD glad to hear she is still on board. I'm glad you liked it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted October 1, 2014 Author #65 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Sorry guys, I didn't mean to drag this on but life and work got in the way: I'll finish off the final thoughts by the weekend! Cheers :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted November 10, 2014 Author #66 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Well, I'm in the process of choosing my second cruise and it's so funny how travel agents try to push you the 'fantastica' experience or higher. I have no intention of doing that :D This cruise I had 'bella' experience and it was excellent. Okay, so I didn't have room service for 'free' - but hey, why would I want room service with a whole ship to explore? Also I had a lower deck balcony....which is just perfect I had less motion then high up and I was only 1 flight of stairs away from the main action!!!!! So beware new cruisers, try to think for yourself if those things are important for you! Have a great week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmoMondo Posted November 11, 2014 #67 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Well, I'm in the process of choosing my second cruise and it's so funny how travel agents try to push you the 'fantastica' experience or higher. I have no intention of doing that :D This cruise I had 'bella' experience and it was excellent. Okay, so I didn't have room service for 'free' - but hey, why would I want room service with a whole ship to explore? Also I had a lower deck balcony....which is just perfect I had less motion then high up and I was only 1 flight of stairs away from the main action!!!!! So beware new cruisers, try to think for yourself if those things are important for you! Have a great week! I've Lways thought it weird that the evidently best and most expensive cabins are in the absolutely worst location should seas be rough. Had a suite a few times but top deck at the front is the last place you want to be when the ship is rolling and pitching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thompsolonian Posted November 12, 2014 #68 Share Posted November 12, 2014 I enjoyed your review. My wife and I will be sailing on the Divina from Miami in February, From what I have read I am certain we will enjoy it! I wish i could afford flying out to do one of their Mediterranian itineraries, hopefully in the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted November 22, 2014 Author #69 Share Posted November 22, 2014 I enjoyed your review. My wife and I will be sailing on the Divina from Miami in February, From what I have read I am certain we will enjoy it! I wish i could afford flying out to do one of their Mediterranian itineraries, hopefully in the future! I'm sure you'll have a lovely time! The Divina will be in the med soon again, so I might take a chance on her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted December 25, 2014 Author #70 Share Posted December 25, 2014 Marry Christmas and Happy new year everyone with lots of cruising :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prix_Ineedanurgenttan! Posted July 3, 2015 #71 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Thanks for the tips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghockley1981 Posted July 25, 2015 #72 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Thanks for sharing, I haven't found a lot of trip reports for the Fantasia (maybe I'm not looking in the right places) so I enjoyed reading yours. Thanks for spending the time sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bra_BE2014 Posted July 28, 2015 Author #73 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thanks for sharing, I haven't found a lot of trip reports for the Fantasia (maybe I'm not looking in the right places) so I enjoyed reading yours. Thanks for spending the time sharing. There is a great review written by Elmartellama, I believe this is the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2060313 Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghockley1981 Posted July 28, 2015 #74 Share Posted July 28, 2015 There is a great review written by Elmartellama, I believe this is the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2060313 Have fun! Thanks very much , that's was really useful :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindabodrum Posted February 9, 2016 #75 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Fantastic review, feeling really confident with choosing Msc , Preziosa med cruise on 26th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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