Venice and the Po

[SOShrink]

I don't know why there is such hesitancy on the part of so many people I've talked to about joining us for the Venice and Gems of Northern Italy itinerary. What am I missing here? People retort "We've already been to Venice twice", or "the ship is docked in Venice for 4 nights". Seriously? Is that so bad? How bad can it be to be moored a short walk from Piazza San Marco with boats passing by from the Lagoon to and from the Grand Canal? Or sitting on the sun deck gazing at Castello on one side or the Giudecca or Giorgio Maggiore on the other? Is it not exciting enough to dock in little port villages such as Chioggia, Taglio di Po, Porto Viro and Polesella? Yes, we have all been to Venice before. But how many have been to Verona, Ferrera, Padua, Bologna or Ravenna? Anyway, my plan is to go on this trip in April, and to report back to you not only the details of the trip but some of the philosophical issues I have raised above. Please let us hear from more folks who have gone on this trip already or who will be. Sorry if I sounded like a walking advertisement or a bit defensive, but it does surprise me that you don't hear as much buzz about the Po Delta as other River cruises.

[Talisker92]

The main reason is that the PO is not as navigable as the Danube or the Rhine. The river is very marshy and there is nothing to see, as the towns are not built up on the river.

To see the cities you mention involve bus trips of some length

[nana541]

Apparently it is not really a river cruise but rather a floating hotel that changes location.

 

 

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[4774Papa]

I don't know why there is such hesitancy on the part of so many people I've talked to about joining us for the Venice and Gems of Northern Italy itinerary. What am I missing here? People retort "We've already been to Venice twice", or "the ship is docked in Venice for 4 nights". Seriously? Is that so bad? How bad can it be to be moored a short walk from Piazza San Marco with boats passing by from the Lagoon to and from the Grand Canal? Or sitting on the sun deck gazing at Castello on one side or the Giudecca or Giorgio Maggiore on the other? Is it not exciting enough to dock in little port villages such as Chioggia, Taglio di Po, Porto Viro and Polesella? Yes, we have all been to Venice before. But how many have been to Verona, Ferrera, Padua, Bologna or Ravenna? Anyway, my plan is to go on this trip in April, and to report back to you not only the details of the trip but some of the philosophical issues I have raised above. Please let us hear from more folks who have gone on this trip already or who will be. Sorry if I sounded like a walking advertisement or a bit defensive, but it does surprise me that you don't hear as much buzz about the Po Delta as other River cruises.

We love Venice, but have been there six times. We don't plan to return. It is a wonderful city.

 

Verona, Ferrera, Padua, Bologna or Ravenna are great cities, We have been to all, but the Po is just not the best river to cruise on. Suggest a land trip.

[cole]

The reason we changed our Po cruise to Douro cruise was that we figured we could book a hotel in Venice and see the other cities either on tours or by driving there ourselves for far less cost. When we book a river cruise (and we have done 5), we truly want to cruise a river.

Cole

[orchestrapal]

The main reason is that the PO is not as navigable as the Danube or the Rhine. The river is very marshy and there is nothing to see, as the towns are not built up on the river.

To see the cities you mention involve bus trips of some length

 

+1

Great area to drive and visit all the cities mentioned but the PO is not at all impressive or even interesting.

[notamermaid]

Hello SOShrink,

 

Apparently it is not really a river cruise but rather a floating hotel that changes location.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

nana541 is sort of correct and CroisiEurope - for example - does not advertise this itinerary as a river cruise, at least not in the German catalogue. To take their itinerary as an example, cruising on the river Po is about 80 kilometres, going back the same way, so 160 kilometres in all. Add to that cruising the lagoon, which is impossible to figure out in distance covered. "Floating hotel" comes very close. Getting to the furthermost cruising stop on the Po takes you about two hours by car from Venice. Actual cruising is only on 4 or 5 half days, no cruising at night.

 

An interesting note is in the small print to that itinerary: the ship seems to be on open sea for a short distance, during which time no passengers are allowed on board. I wonder if that is a tiny section to get from the lagoon to the river Po? The mouth of the Po is not in the lagoon, the Po has a delta of forests and marshes. Thre are some lovely landscape photos on Panoramio.

 

The itinerary is nice though IMO, covering some culturally important towns. If Venice appealed to me I would consider it. I just think such an itinerary is not worthwhile exploring if you have to travel thousands of kilometres to get to it.

 

I very much enjoyed Verona on a land trip.

 

So, safe travels and enjoy your cruise, SOShrink. :) Which cruise line have you chosen? Please get back to report from your trip.

 

notamermaid

[papa B me]

SOShrink

 

I look forward to your review in April. Like you I was quite taken back by the negativity towards the Uniworld cruise from Venice. I'm looking forward to booking this trip when the 2016 Itineraries come out. I'm also doing the extension with them to Florence and Rome. I do believe that some of the negative reviews are a result of some people taking this trip as their first "River" cruise and are quite disappointed with the lack of cruising. I was trying to decide between a land tour of Italy or a "Luxury" ocean cruise of Italy. After my wonderful experience with Uniworld this year on the Rhine(a true river cruise) I decided that the Uniworld trip on the Venice Lagoon and Po with the extension gives me a little of the best of both worlds. I found even before reading the reviews and comments(which are helpful) here on CC that I was able to glean from reading their brochures and daily itineraries that this would include less cruising and more bus rides then a traditional river cruise. But in all honesty I see a good bit of bus, car, or train no matter how you do Italy. I just really like the all inclusive nature of Uniworld, the floating hotel concept, and the ease of planning and stress free environment that they provide. So again I look forward to your review and others comments who experiences as well. I understand that many prefer the do it yourself approach to Italy or a land tour vs this concept but isn't that the great thing about the world we now live in. There are so many different ways to experience it and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to travel.

[Talisker92]

Frankly,

Instead of taking this so-called river cruise, I would rather stay at a hotel in Venice, and taking day trips by train on my own.

When we were in Venice we loved finding restaurants on our own. If this is outside your comfort zone, stay on the ship.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

That's how I felt when I first saw this cruise. Long bus rides to places you can easily reach by train from Venice, or do a small circuit by car. Now I hear that the Po is not even scenic, and that you're not allowed onboard when they do the small ocean part of the trip.

 

I have similar misgivings about the Douro River trips, i.e., bus rides to most of the sights, short trip. But at least the Douro River is scenic, and they cruise during the day. And having been to that part of Portugal, I know how short the distances are, and how amazing some of these places are to see. Of course, that goes for Padua, Verona and the rest.

[acwmom]

My husband and I did the Venice/Po River Cruise with Uniworld in September, 2013. It was our first river cruise. (I won it from Uniworld's Facebook caption this photo contest). The Po River water level was down, so we were unable to cruise the river itself, but we cruised the Venetian Lagoon several nights. Were there bus rides, yes. Did we mind, not really. We did pass on the trip to Bologna, as we were docked in Chioggia, and decided to explore Chioggia instead. The beach was beautiful there. My husband and I took advantage of the "al fresco" dining on board 6/7 nights. The weather was perfect, and the crew retracted the roof. About 1/2 of the nights, we were the only ones there, and thus had our own private chef and waiter.

 

The crew and ship were top notch. I know it wasn't a true "river cruise", but it did wet our appetite for that type of cruising. In March, we will be doing Uniworld's Paris/Normandy cruise. Again, the Seine isn't a long river, but will be more river cruising than the Po.

 

I realize many of the cities in Italy can be reached by rail or car from Venice, but it was nice letting Uniworld handle all of the details.

[Host Jazzbeau]

The problem with DIY out of Venice is that you will need to pick a hotel close to the train station, rather than one with a more scenic location. We loved the view from the Hilton on Giudecca, but it would be very inconvenient for frequent day trips to the mainland.

[SOShrink]

Talisker92, I know what you and others are trying to say, but I assure you, most fellow cruise passengers I have traveled with, would not be outside their "comfort zone" staying in hotels, using rail passes for day trips, or finding local restaurants, etc. I mean, one could easily drive the Rhine or Mosel Valley and hop to Paris or drive from Prague to Budapest stopping in Salzburg and Vienna, etc. but we choose to go on the river cruises, for the convenience, the breadth of history learned on the excursions, and visiting some of those destinations we probably wouldn't get to, not to mention the comraderie of fellow passengers, all of which can be achieved on this Venice/Gems voyage. So what if it doesn't capture the dramatic scenery of the Middle Rhine River? If you read the day by day itinerary of the Cruise Companion about this trip, and the recent reviews of Kiwis58 and others, there is no way you could experience Venice, the Veneto and Po Delta in such a fashion on your own.....so please, don't tell me to "stay on the ship"!

[Got2Cruise]

Talisker92, I know what you and others are trying to say, but I assure you, most fellow cruise passengers I have traveled with, would not be outside their "comfort zone" staying in hotels, using rail passes for day trips, or finding local restaurants, etc. I mean, one could easily drive the Rhine or Mosel Valley and hop to Paris or drive from Prague to Budapest stopping in Salzburg and Vienna, etc. but we choose to go on the river cruises, for the convenience, the breadth of history learned on the excursions, and visiting some of those destinations we probably wouldn't get to, not to mention the comraderie of fellow passengers, all of which can be achieved on this Venice/Gems voyage. So what if it doesn't capture the dramatic scenery of the Middle Rhine River? If you read the day by day itinerary of the Cruise Companion about this trip, and the recent reviews of Kiwis58 and others, there is no way you could experience Venice, the Veneto and Po Delta in such a fashion on your own.....so please, don't tell me to "stay on the ship"!

SOShrink, enjoy your cruise! I'm sure it will be wonderful. I do agree with you that the average river cruiser wouldn't be able to deal with traveling independently. Based on the responses here on CC, most opt to have the river cruise companies arrange for the hotel and transfers even though better hotels for better prices are readily available. They want "all inclusive" down to paying the bus driver the tip. That's fine, to each their own. . .

 

I wanted a Venice and Greek Island vacation and dh absolutely refuses to go on a huge ocean liner after the peace and enjoyment of the river cruise experience. So. . .we are trying a clipper ship. . .is that choice for everyone? No but for dh and me, it looks like it will be a great fit. . . we will find out soon.

[Host Jazzbeau]

SOShrink, enjoy your cruise! I'm sure it will be wonderful. I do agree with you that the average river cruiser wouldn't be able to deal with traveling independently. Based on the responses here on CC, most opt to have the river cruise companies arrange for the hotel and transfers even though better hotels for better prices are readily available. They want "all inclusive" down to paying the bus driver the tip. That's fine, to each their own. . .

 

I wanted a Venice and Greek Island vacation and dh absolutely refuses to go on a huge ocean liner after the peace and enjoyment of the river cruise experience. So. . .we are trying a clipper ship. . .is that choice for everyone? No but for dh and me, it looks like it will be a great fit. . . we will find out soon.

 

Did you miss the "not" after "would" in SOShrink's post? You seem to have turned the meaning upside down! There's a vast difference between being unable to deal with traveling independently and being able to but preferring the convenience of a river cruise package.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Host Jazzbeau

[Talisker92]

The problem with DIY out of Venice is that you will need to pick a hotel close to the train station, rather than one with a more scenic location. We loved the view from the Hilton on Giudecca, but it would be very inconvenient for frequent day trips to the mainland.

All you have to do is find a hotel near a vaporetto stop the will take you to the train station.

[Got2Cruise]

Did you miss the "not" after "would" in SOShrink's post? You seem to have turned the meaning upside down! There's a vast difference between being unable to deal with traveling independently and being able to but preferring the convenience of a river cruise package.

 

I'm simply stating my opinion. Is that not allowed.

[SOShrink]

Happy New Year, everyone. Sorry, I didn't mean to start controversy. Talisker, I was just giving you a hard time, tongue in cheek and all that when I said "don't tell me to stay on the ship" so sorry if that came across as rude. Jazz, thank you for clarifying my position that most River cruisers are very experienced travelers who would not be uncomfortable in any travel situation. However I am also aware that there also travelers who need to be catered to and do not research their destinations and need the constant attention of the cruise director, etc. who indeed would not be comfortable taking a vaporetto to the train station and striking out on their own (actually, that sounds very exciting to me, and we have often traveled that way!)...

I have been on many River Cruises, and I realize that I like the experience of being docked in a town using the vessel as our "apartment" as much as the actual cruising part. So the idea of docking in Venice or returning to Venice each night can be appealing. Of course, I may feel differently come April!

[Second seating]

My husband and I took this cruise in the fall of 2013 we loved it even with the bus rides (which I view as sight seeing). We are well traveled with and without guides and are in Europe at least once a year. I love Uniworld for a number of reasons but my big thing is I am gluten free and they are the best!!!! One thing that was really special was the night tour of St. Marks Basilica and the pasta making in Bologna, the made fresh gluten free pasta for my lunch.

 

Second seating