12 Day Spirit Mediterranean Cruise Review (September 2014)

[tmackel]

Friday, Sept 26 Venice, Italy

Up around 6:30 to run and again get lounge chairs at favorite spot since we don't arrive in Venice until 2:00 p.m. Breakfast at Ruffles Buffet-Terry is getting to know the sweet, smiling, very happy gal at the Egg Station---2 eggs over easy please! By now she knows his order AND how far he has run every day. :) Staff on this ship is very nice and all make efforts to say "hi", I know it is probably required but think it’s a nice gesture; they also speak very good English--more so then our previous cruises in the Caribbean. Relaxed on loungers along with Cindy and DA -again!

Went back to room around 10:00 am to start the dreaded packing. We stay in port at Venice till tomorrow and have to be off ship by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, luggage has to be outside our room by midnight tonight. My suitcase is over 50# and Terry has a few pounds to spare so will need to adjust them once we get to our Venice Hotel.

About 1:00 we started arriving in Venice, it took about an hour to get through the harbor. The views off our balcony were unbelievable. The ship passed right in front of St. Marks Square. We were told this might the one of the last times a cruise ship will pass this close to the city.

We are off ship by 2:00 and head to get on public water bus-(15€ round trip)--as was the rest of the ship as it is the cheapest form of transportation to take us to St. Marks Square and Rialto Bridge area. Terry researched how to get to St Marks from our port. He really needs to change his job to Travel Agent---He does excellent work! Got on water bus and made a few stops till we arrived at St. Marks Square. We sat with Preston and Chelsea as well as our Ohio friends on the water bus. Everyone had the same idea! WOW- were in awe with Venice-there are 2 main canals and it’s amazing to see the canals act like highways with water/bus taxis!

Off the water bus we go and head straight to St Marks Square –it’s beautiful. Full of tourists! We check out the area because we have a scheduled tour of St Marks Basilica tomorrow at 11:00. Found our meeting spot and off we go in search of the Rialto Bridge. We don't have a map-we are in no hurry /no need to be back on ship until tomorrow morning by 8:00 a.m. Terry read/heard from Rick Steve to "throw away the map and get lost in Venice" so that was our plan. There are arrows/markings on buildings directing you to the sites so we found that extremely helpful. Venice is a maze of brick streets and water canals with many bridges to cross. We had a blast just walking and exploring the beautiful city. Found the Rialto Bridge relatively easily----it too is a beautiful site. Amazing how old this bridge is. There are many little local shops and restaurants and you also see Sepphora, Coach, Calvin Klein, etc. ask Terry. After some shopping we stop at a little cafe on the canal for some pasta, bread, beer and wine. Very Good!

Since we need to be at our tour by 11 on Saturday and we are not sure how to get to our hotel on Saturday, we decide to find our hotel and The People Mover tram on our way back to the ship. This we know will save us much time/anxiety when we leave ship on Saturday. Terry's research said to book hotel close to port ( he did) because it is difficult to haul luggage on water buses, crossing bridges, etc. the best way to get to our Hotel area was to get on the People Mover (a tram). We find people mover and pay 1.30€ each to take us to Hotel area. Very easy so far. Terry remembers Hotel Best Western Olympia is a few blocks "this way". A few blocks later!! There it is! We are happy because there is only one bridge to cross with luggage and the walk" wasn't that bad". It’s getting late and time to head back to the ship. After a late night snack and finishing packing were ready for bed.

Last night on the ship, where did all the time go.

Arriving in Venice, Views from our balcony

Edited December 5, 2014 by tmackel

[tmackel]

Arriving in Venice, view are from our balcony

 

 

 

 

 

[tmackel]

A few more from our balcony

 

 

 

 

 

Were here!!!!!!!!

[tmackel]

Our day in Venice

 

 

Water taxi (not water bus)

 

St Marks Square

 

St Marks Church

 

St Mark's

[tmackel]

More from Day 1 in Venice

 

Walking towards to Rialto Bridge

 

View from the Rialto Bridge

 

Finally the Rialto Bridge

 

Rialto Bridge

 

Grand Canal

[tmackel]

More from Day 1

 

Can't until tomorrow so we can do this!

 

Don't know where we are but this is fun!

 

Lost in Venice.

 

 

[tmackel]

Final set of photo's from Day 1

 

Ate dinner here.

 

Rush Hour :)

 

Which way is it to the ship?

 

This can't be the right way.

 

Thanks fishermen! We can see the ship! I told you we didn't need a map

[Tyskie]

GREAT review! Love all the pictures. We're doing the reverse itinerary (more or less) only on Princess this September. This will be our first time too :)

I know you are a runner but omg, running 5 miles before touring, you are good! :D

Curious, did you carry your passport off the ship in each port? We don't do that in the Caribbean but I'm thinking yes for Europe.

[tmackel]

GREAT review! Love all the pictures. We're doing the reverse itinerary (more or less) only on Princess this September. This will be our first time too :)

 

I know you are a runner but omg, running 5 miles before touring, you are good! :D

 

Curious, did you carry your passport off the ship in each port? We don't do that in the Caribbean but I'm thinking yes for Europe.

 

No we are not good at running were slow and steady. :D

 

The ship will collect your passports when you get on the ship, you won't get them back until the last day of the cruise. Make copies of your passport and carry them with you.

 

If by some chance you miss the ship, your passports will be waiting for you at the port office. :eek:

[seaofwonder]

Never carry passports! Always make copies :)

 

 

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[tmackel]

Re-living our Med cruise through your beautiful pictures! I'm surprised that there is no manual/key back-up system to get in the cabins. That really sucks! The Spirit looks beautiful! Your cabin looks nicer then the one we had on the Gem late Oct. Was it a balcony or mini-suite?

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your review!

 

Ours was just a regular size balcony room located in the mid ship deck 11.

[Bocadude85]

Love the review. We did this itinerary in April and loved it so much that we are doing it again for our honeymoon next October.

[tmackel]

Love the review. We did this itinerary in April and loved it so much that we are doing it again for our honeymoon next October.

 

 

I want to go again! Take ME!

 

Have a GREAT time!

Edited December 5, 2014 by tmackel

[b_cruise]

Great review. Couple questions please. We are sailing in July!!

 

1. What time should I get a deck chair on sea days?

 

2. If we took the tram to blue mosque, would we be able to get in? Would the lines be really long? I was thinking a cab but your story freaked me out, lol!

 

3. Did u get your foreign currency at atm's?

[dexddd]

More great pictures. We'll be sailing on the Spirit in about a year when she is back in Florida. Your spot by the kids pool is great - we hung out there a lot too. This time our room will be close to your spot so it will be a short hop from room to that area. I keep forgetting the special main pool area on the Spirit - thanks for the pics.

[tmackel]

Great review. Couple questions please. We are sailing in July!!

 

1. What time should I get a deck chair on sea days?

 

We got our chairs between 7 and 8am. They were marking chairs if you were not in them by 9am, but we never saw any crew act on it.

 

2. If we took the tram to blue mosque, would we be able to get in? Would the lines be really long? I was thinking a cab but your story freaked me out, lol!

I would take a cab again if I could find someone else to go with us.

I feel save in numbers. :D If your at the Blue Mosque by 10 you should be OK. There will be a line but it moves fast.

 

3. Did u get your foreign currency at atm's?

We bought all our euro's from our bank before we left. Worked out great! No standing in line at atm for us.

Edited December 6, 2014 by tmackel

[b_cruise]

Thanks..I'm going to post on roll call to share taxi!

 

Did you have lira for Turkey or euos?

[tmackel]

Thanks..I'm going to post on roll call to share taxi!

 

Did you have lira for Turkey or euos?

 

We used euros. We had a very active roll call and a lot of people were going to use the tram but after talking to them after the end of day not one of them use the tram. All used taxi's. It was a mess!

[tmackel]

More great pictures. We'll be sailing on the Spirit in about a year when she is back in Florida. Your spot by the kids pool is great - we hung out there a lot too. This time our room will be close to your spot so it will be a short hop from room to that area. I keep forgetting the special main pool area on the Spirit - thanks for the pics.

 

Our room was right down the hallway to. It was so awesome! Best location on the entire ship. Enjoy our spot! :D

[Nicagal]

Amazing pictures! Can't wait to get there! We will be doing the reverse trip with Princess in Sept!

 

Were you happy with the company you chose for your day in Athens? Still trying to research that stop.

 

Thanks for the great review! :)

[Reebster]

We used euros. We had a very active roll call and a lot of people were going to use the tram but after talking to them after the end of day not one of them use the tram. All used taxi's. It was a mess!

 

 

We took the tram in Istanbul when we stopped here on a Jade cruise a couple of weeks ago and had no trouble. But you do have to have liras (20 lira bills or smaller only) to buy the tickets. Knowing this in advance, we had used an ATM in Kusadasi the day before to ensure we we had the liras and small bills for the tram's automated ticket machine. Also, you can use euros to pay for cabs/merchandise/etc., but be aware you will pay more. We purchased 50 liras worth of items at a shop in the Grand Bazaar. We were told we could pay 50 liras or 25 euros. 50 liras cost $22 USD on the day we visited, but 25 euros would have cost $31.

[Reebster]

Amazing pictures! Can't wait to get there! We will be doing the reverse trip with Princess in Sept!

 

Were you happy with the company you chose for your day in Athens? Still trying to research that stop.

 

Thanks for the great review! :)

 

We used a private cab driver in Athens two weeks ago and he was fantastic. I would be happy to share his name and information if you are interested.

[Nicagal]

We used a private cab driver in Athens two weeks ago and he was fantastic. I would be happy to share his name and information if you are interested.

That would be awesome thanks! More info the better!

 

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[Reebster]

That would be awesome thanks! More info the better!

 

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

We took the full-day tour with Vassilios Vassalos. He was absolutely fantastic. He met us at the ship and we got to visit every place we wanted, then he took us to a great spot for lunch. He knows where to stop so that you can get some amazing pictures, too. We joined another couple from our roll call so that we had four people, which drove the cost down considerably. Final cost was around 70 euros per person.

 

http://www.athenstours.gr/

[tmackel]

Saturday, Sept 27 Last Day Venice

No run today, ready to disembark ship ---We put tags on luggage for debarking by 8:20, we were on deck 7 by 8:00 and off ship by 8:15---found luggage quickly. NCL makes it very easy to arrive/debark ship-Were impressed! Some of the Staff from ship was standing at gate as we leave to say goodbye-We get to say Goodbye to our Waiter from Champagne Charlies---He said to remember him when we drink our Franzishaner /Pauliner Beer and remember him as "the Schiner". We get on People Mover (tram) like we are pros at this! Walk straight to Hotel and check in by 9:00. Can't go to room but they held our luggage for us and we set off on foot to get to St Marks for our tour. We arrive early for tour --yay we didn't get lost. J We decide to stop at a little cafe for Chocolate and Peach Marmalade Croissants, Hot tea for me, Coke for Terry. Didn't see Pepsi products Europe.

Arrive for tour-----it was about an hour long but it could have been shorter but our guide had to do bilingual tour in English and Italian. It is said that St. Mark's bones are buried here in the Basilica and our guide kept saying "if you believe". Terry and I didn't appreciate her saying this because we all want to believe, which is one reason this site is so meaningful. The church was very beautiful and glad we took the time to see it. When the tour was over we walk out of St Mark church only to find St. Mark Square is starting to flood. I guess it’s a daily accordance during high tide.

The rest of the day was spent walking the city, shopping, eating and of course taking pictures. We were keeping an eye out looking for George Cloney and all the Hollywood stars. This was the weekend for George Cloney’s wedding. No Luck!

When in Venice there are a few must things to see or do - St. Mark Square (√), St. Mark Basilica (√), Rialto Bridge (√), Doge’s Palace (√), Water bus (√), Eating fresh pasta (√), drinking local beer and wine (√), shopping (√), and a Gondola ride.

Gondola ride is next on our list of things to do, it was around 6:00 pm so we decided to start walking back to our hotel and along the way we would do the Gondola ride. There are Gondola boats everywhere, but which one was best? We picked one that was in the quite part of Venice, you know it has to be romantic because it’s our last night in Venice. Price for a 30 minute ride was 80€, pricey but when in Venice do what everybody else does. J The Gondola ride was nice and peaceful but I wish our boat guide had music to set the mood. Should have bought my iPod.

After the Gondola ride we stopped at a glass shop and bought some more souvenirs, we also had a delicious meal of brochette, lobster tail and pasta along with the local beer and wine. Best meal of the entire vacation! It’s getting late and time to head back to the hotel. We need to arrange our water taxi trip to the airport tomorrow morning. BOOO! What a GREAT DAY!

Our Hotel

Hotel Court yard

 

Our room

 

bathroom