Med Cruise on the Brilliance~ June 7, 2016 ~ My Diary

[CRUISEMAMI]

Everything OK?

 

I love the Venice posts: you saw much more then me! I went out on my own, because Bill didn't feel good; and I didn't want to leave him for too long!

If we went with you, this time, I wouldn't be able to go at all; so thank you for sharing this with all of us!!!

 

Only one pic with Ricardo????

[maxs mom]

Everything OK?

 

I love the Venice posts: you saw much more then me! I went out on my own, because Bill didn't feel good; and I didn't want to leave him for too long!

If we went with you, this time, I wouldn't be able to go at all; so thank you for sharing this with all of us!!!

 

Only one pic with Ricardo????

 

Everything is fine......we have to go work at our "country home" for a while. Repairs, renovations, and such. Nothing fun.

Edited July 13, 2016 by max'smom

[LA Law]

jane, I have not heard about freestyle pictures. Could you explain a little more about them. Do you go to the photo studio and what is the cost. Yours came out really well, thanks.

 

You have to be willing to be a little "wild and crazy" to have them come out well. Also you need to be able to get up off the floor! Lots of laughing goes on... It is really fun!

[wolfganghowell]

Great review as always. A Med cruise is on my bucket list - once I am out of the work world! This is the next best thing to being there! :)

[CRUISEMAMI]

Everything is fine......we have to go work at our "country home" for a while. Repairs' date=' renovations, and such. Nothing fun.[/size']

 

 

Ohhh..... Not fun at all: I know too well!

So glad that finally we got ours gone!!! It was getting to much for us old folks!!!!

[emoji107]🏻[emoji107]🏻[emoji107]🏻

[mpoole3]

WOW you have out done yourself, again! I just spent an hour reading every post. I'm looking to do this very sailing next year on the Brilliance and after reading this...Now I HAVE to go!

 

Question, you mention you used the same tour service for the first three ports? What was the name of them?

 

Can't wait to read more! Thanks for all the hard work on this post, I know how much work they take. :)

[joand452]

WOW you have out done yourself, again! I just spent an hour reading every post. I'm looking to do this very sailing next year on the Brilliance and after reading this...Now I HAVE to go!

 

Question, you mention you used the same tour service for the first three ports? What was the name of them?

 

Can't wait to read more! Thanks for all the hard work on this post, I know how much work they take. :)

 

Since Jane is "off the grid" for a few days...I believe she used Rome in Limo (www dot romeinlimo dot com

 

This trip is on our bucket list, too. Pretty high on the list, too, waiting for DH to retire!!

[SteveinPhilly]

Since Jane is "off the grid" for a few days...I believe she used Rome in Limo (www dot romeinlimo dot com

 

This trip is on our bucket list, too. Pretty high on the list, too, waiting for DH to retire!!

 

I wilol recommend that those thinking of going should plan to go in JUNE as Jukly and August will be brutally hot as well as crowded. We are so glad we went in June.

 

S

[txcowboy10]

Does anyone know Ricardo's email addy as the BOS Diamond concierge?? Thx

 

Mark

[cinnamon]

We are booked on this itinerary on Brilliance on 29th August next year. Wouldn't go in July or earlier in August. Much too hot for sightseeing. However, only Ravenna will be a new port for us.

[maxs mom]

Hi everyone. Checking in from McDonald's in the middle of nowhere! Glad to see some conversation goin on!!

 

Yes....for those lifestyle pics.....you have to be willing to get a little crazy......or not......it's up to you.....but they always come out well.

 

And Rominlimo is who we used. Send them an e-mail and Jany will call you back on the phone on her dime. SHe is wonderful to work with.

 

And Steve is absolutely correct......July and August are brutal!!! Have done that twice and the last time I thought I would simply perish from the heat!! And the crowds were horrible. May and June are God as well as October.

 

Check y"all later!

[SteveinPhilly]

The sailing after ours (7/1/16) just returned and I thought I'd share a comment or two there Jane. First off the Capt did the same thing as he did for us. He was never around and every night he came on and MUMBLED and no one could understand him.

 

The REAL surprise was that the efficient (every 15 minute) FREE shuttle they provided us in Ravena is now a PAY shuttle at $22US RT. A cab cost 22E and could hold 4-5 people so that was a better option at $22E each way. But this was a shock to folks. Even worse than the $25/day Venice shuttle. I did alert the folks sailing next week to complain up front and maybe it'll change.

 

Steve

[FUN33]

The sailing after ours (7/1/16) just returned and I thought I'd share a comment or two there Jane. First off the Capt did the same thing as he did for us. He was never around and every night he came on and MUMBLED and no one could understand him.

 

The REAL surprise was that the efficient (every 15 minute) FREE shuttle they provided us in Ravena is now a PAY shuttle at $22US RT. A cab cost 22E and could hold 4-5 people so that was a better option at $22E each way. But this was a shock to folks. Even worse than the $25/day Venice shuttle. I did alert the folks sailing next week to complain up front and maybe it'll change.

 

Steve

 

Where would you take a shuttle to in Venice?????? We always walk from the ship right into town. Once you get into town all you do is walk all day anyway - a shuttle really doesn't do anything for you.

[celebrity]

Where would you take a shuttle to in Venice?????? We always walk from the ship right into town. Once you get into town all you do is walk all day anyway - a shuttle really doesn't do anything for you.

 

Thank you for this info. Will be taking this itinerary in Sept. Never been there so will it be an easy to understand walk into Venice?

Feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Thanks for any tips you can offer.

[SteveinPhilly]

I guess you all heard about the tragedy today in Nice, where a huge truck with terrorists plowed into the crowds on the beach watching Bastille Day Fireworks! Dozens were killed. So sad.

 

And to think that we were there a month ago on the same boardwalk. I still have those photos.

Steve

[SteveinPhilly]

Where would you take a shuttle to in Venice?????? We always walk from the ship right into town. Once you get into town all you do is walk all day anyway - a shuttle really doesn't do anything for you.

 

 

It depends where you dock. The BOTS was last one in so we were in aDock that took 20 minutes to walk to even the people mover. (I posted a video of that walk). RCI was SELLING shuttle tix for $25/day to get you directly to St Marks Square a good 45 minute walk even if you walked fast. The PROBLEM with that - for our cruise was it was still a 20 minute walk to the SHUTTLE!

 

Yes, you can easily go without a Vaparetto ticket but all your photos will be from land. And with the short time in Venice, it makes no sense IMHO to walk to SMS and then walk Back and do that each day. So, that's why.

 

But RCI mislead folks with the shuttle because of distance and not letting them know it was an EXPRESS ONLY.

 

S

[SteveinPhilly]

Thank you for this info. Will be taking this itinerary in Sept. Never been there so will it be an easy to understand walk into Venice?

Feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Thanks for any tips you can offer.

 

Don't be. I suggest you watch m 4 venice videos to give you a feel for how to get around. Also, I don't know how old you are or your physical shape. That's what really decides how you get around Venice. I can walk a lot but prefer to ride when I'm covering same territory and want to use my seeing and photographing time to it's best.

 

S

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

The sailing after ours (7/1/16) just returned and I thought I'd share a comment or two there Jane. First off the Capt did the same thing as he did for us. He was never around and every night he came on and MUMBLED and no one could understand him.

 

The REAL surprise was that the efficient (every 15 minute) FREE shuttle they provided us in Ravena is now a PAY shuttle at $22US RT. A cab cost 22E and could hold 4-5 people so that was a better option at $22E each way. But this was a shock to folks. Even worse than the $25/day Venice shuttle. I did alert the folks sailing next week to complain up front and maybe it'll change.

 

Steve

 

I did send an email to Michael Bayley this morning - done "Oreo style" where I put compliments on both "ends" and concerns in the middle, and the fee for the shuttle after knowing due to the internet/this forum that it was free the last time the ship sailed the itinerary was definitely one of my concerns. I sucked it up and bought it as there really wasn't a price difference for me being solo - and at least using the shuttle I could use some OBC - and I'm not expecting anything in response to the letter in terms of money back. But it does seem like the company could have eaten the cost of it for this season and then done some negotiation for next season.

 

I saw a LOT of families walking to the beach next to the cruise port that day, and I'm willing to bet that the shuttle charge (whether they knew about it having been free prior or not) had a lot to do with that.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

It depends where you dock. The BOTS was last one in so we were in aDock that took 20 minutes to walk to even the people mover. (I posted a video of that walk). RCI was SELLING shuttle tix for $25/day to get you directly to St Marks Square a good 45 minute walk even if you walked fast. The PROBLEM with that - for our cruise was it was still a 20 minute walk to the SHUTTLE!

 

Yes, you can easily go without a Vaparetto ticket but all your photos will be from land. And with the short time in Venice, it makes no sense IMHO to walk to SMS and then walk Back and do that each day. So, that's why.

 

But RCI mislead folks with the shuttle because of distance and not letting them know it was an EXPRESS ONLY.

 

S

 

Just as a note on the shuttle from the 7/1 sailing...

 

We were docked at 107/108, and the spot for the shuttle WAS closer than the people mover - so I guess it depends on the berth where you are docked in terms of the distance.

 

The description of the shuttle in the Compass was pretty clear that it went from the port to "two bridges from St. Mark's Square" and mentioned no other stops - so to me that's pretty clear it's "express". Maybe the description was different on your cruise? Or there were just a lot of people whose reading comprehension was on vacation mode?

 

The one major advantage of it for me was that it allowed me to use OBC that wasn't going to be refundable and I really wasn't using for that much else on the ship rather than spending money I'd set aside for souvenirs. But again, I was traveling solo and only used the shuttle for one day as I had an excursion the previous day.

[SteveinPhilly]

Just as a note on the shuttle from the 7/1 sailing...

 

We were docked at 107/108, and the spot for the shuttle WAS closer than the people mover - so I guess it depends on the berth where you are docked in terms of the distance.

 

The description of the shuttle in the Compass was pretty clear that it went from the port to "two bridges from St. Mark's Square" and mentioned no other stops - so to me that's pretty clear it's "express". Maybe the description was different on your cruise? Or there were just a lot of people whose reading comprehension was on vacation mode?

 

The one major advantage of it for me was that it allowed me to use OBC that wasn't going to be refundable and I really wasn't using for that much else on the ship rather than spending money I'd set aside for souvenirs. But again, I was traveling solo and only used the shuttle for one day as I had an excursion the previous day.

 

As I said it had to do with how close. The other thing was - as Jane found out when she used it (I think) - that if you wander to say Rialto and want to get back to the ship - you had tto go back to SMS. We felt that for 22E for 24 hours, we could just head to nearest Vaparetto stop and get on. And on the second day we took to Murano which you couldn't do on the "shuttle"

 

As far as non refundable OBCs, I don't know how much you had but we use ours up on the Gratuities about $360 and on a few glasses of wine. The rest was all a REFUNDABLE $250 which they credit back to my credit card. We only had an O/S cabin and so got $300 from our TA , $150 from RCI and $100 from RCI with our open-ended certificate (purchased before they dropped the value of booking next cruise on board :))

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

As I said it had to do with how close. The other thing was - as Jane found out when she used it (I think) - that if you wander to say Rialto and want to get back to the ship - you had tto go back to SMS. We felt that for 22E for 24 hours, we could just head to nearest Vaparetto stop and get on. And on the second day we took to Murano which you couldn't do on the "shuttle"

 

As far as non refundable OBCs, I don't know how much you had but we use ours up on the Gratuities about $360 and on a few glasses of wine. The rest was all a REFUNDABLE $250 which they credit back to my credit card. We only had an O/S cabin and so got $300 from our TA , $150 from RCI and $100 from RCI with our open-ended certificate (purchased before they dropped the value of booking next cruise on board :))

 

Each person is entitled to make her/his own decisions based on what is right for her/him. And no one should be made to feel bad for opting to do things differently.

 

I was just pointing out that at least in our compasses it was made clear that the stop for the shuttle was two bridges from Piazza San Marco and that there was only one. As far as Murano, I did an excursion there - which I know makes me even more of a chump in your mind.

 

I didn't have a ton of OBC as I don't believe in travel agents so it's whatever I get from cruise line bookings. Since I prepay my gratuities (the amount I had wouldn't have covered them anyway) that was pointless. I had my own wine so that was pretty pointless. I don't do casinos, and I didn't want crap from the shops on board or the crappy pictures I didn't manage to escape from. There wasn't a whole lot of other stuff to use it on for me. So I made the choice that was right for me.

[ms8654]

 

 

 

 

 

 

In your second to the bottom photo, in the center of the shot is a brown building up the canal a bit. As most people would not know from looking at this photo, that building houses one of four remaining gondola builders in Venice. Your random thought for the evening.

[ms8654]

Can anyone tell me bc I'm new to this...can we rent a hotel in Venice if it's over night? Or do we have to be back on the ship at a certain time? Going back and forth would be tedious. I'm going end of October of next year and prices of Venice hotels are pretty good. Thanks for any answers.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I know a few people already weighed in on your question. thought I'd throw in my two cents. The one hotel is not located on the main island of Venice. If you are taking the vaparetto to SMS, it may take you a lot longer than if you had stayed on the ship. If it were me, I'd save the points and stay on these ship. It won't take you very long to walk to the people mover and then either walk from there or grab the vaparetto and head out for your day. I believe there is also an Aligilaguna stop close to where the ship docks. They are a bit more expensive for a day pass and have fewer stops but, if I recall correctly, have a bit less of a hike than getting to the people mover and then the vaparetto.

[ms8654]

Thank you for this info. Will be taking this itinerary in Sept. Never been there so will it be an easy to understand walk into Venice?

Feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Thanks for any tips you can offer.

 

Once you do it, it will make sense to you. It's easy, but can be overwhelming the first time.

 

Ships dock in different places. However, from reading Jane's review, when you dock, you will walk a little ways (follow the crowds) to a people mover. The people mover costs a few Euros one way. When you get off of the people mover, you can then walk everywhere. But if you want to get to SMS directly, you will want to take either the vaparetto or the Alilaguna. You exit the area of the people mover and walk toward the water. You then take the vaparetto (basically a bus on water) to whichever stop you want. If you research where you want to go and how many times you may take the vaparetto, it may be more reasonably priced to buy a 24-hour pass. Make sure to validate your pass each time you get on the vaparetto. It's a very expensive ticket should you fail to do so and get caught. I've never had an issue, so just a reminder. I've also bought the day pass just for the convenience of not having to worry about buying a ticket later. If you get stuck somewhere and there is no ticket booth, you can either find a tobacconist or a self service machine. You can also tell the conductor as you board that you need a ticket. If you go to the website, europe for visitors dot com, they have good information on using the water buses.

[maxs mom]

Daily check in from McD's! Hi Everyone.

 

So sad to hear the news from Nice! Sounds like that was the area where we spent our day. Yikes!

 

The reason we took the "shuttles' in Venice is because John has mobility issues with walking......can't do to much of it. He didn't even go the second day.You can certainly walk it, but that's not for me either. Our friends, Ann and Vic did, though. Believe me.....we got a lot of walking in on both days! But these fees for shuttles are horrible. Can't believe that about Ravenna. I understood that the town provided that shuttle in order to get shoppers in. I don't think we would have gone in to town if there had been that shuttle fee on our cruise.

 

Gotta run.......going home tomorrow,s o I'll be back with more review tomorrow afternoon! Thanks, y'all! it