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

[dani negreanu]

So just over the bridge we found another trattoria that looked ok' date=' so we stopped in there to have dinner.

 

 

Jane, enjoying your review and photos very much, appreciate the time you take for doing it.

 

Sooo, as I'm looking at the photos, I see the trattoria "da Roberto", which was in front of our Venezian hotel (if you look above the "Pizzeria" up on right you see ANA (which is part of FontANA hotel).

 

While this place was great for people watching in a quiet street, we didn't much care for the food/prices :mad:

 

Thank you for bringing back wonderful memories, Dani :)

[sgregel]

Steve,

Thanks for the info. It's reassuring that so many people speak English in Barcelona. Navigating the airport and the city on my own was my biggest concern. I'll definitely sign up for the roll call and hopefully get in on some private tours. I'm excited.

Sandy

[sgregel]

I'm going solo in September and I'll have a full review when I get back! I'm a bit nervous but more excited as this is my bucket list trip.

Can't wait for your review. I'm interested in your perspective as a solo traveler. My plan is to go in September next year. The weather is supposed to be nice in September.

Sandy

[LA Law]

So Jane asked me why I wasn't commenting on the thread... Honestly, I have just been enjoying it because who gets to travel with close friends who take all the pictures and document perfectly all that happened??

 

Lucky us!

 

We are grateful to have Jane and John as good friends. As Jane explained, we meet on the Brilliance in 2007 on a Panama Canal cruise. We have kept in touch and shared good times and bad over the last nine years. There are others in our little group who were unable to make this trip with us. They were really missed!

 

To summarize: We had a fabulous time because this was a great cruise with an incredible itinerary and we went with great friends! Ditto to everything Jane says!

 

Andrea

[SeeUsoon@Sea]

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.

 

 

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[SteveinPhilly]

It's amazing how you can be on the same cruise and have totally different experiences.

 

 

And why the geloto place in Nice (Finicchio's) had 90 flavors! The only ones who have the "same" experience are those who take the cruise line "official" shore excursions (like a mule train, those 50 passenger busses roll on :cool:)

[dani negreanu]

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.

 

I didn't overnight in Venice, but in Istanbul, Maui & Kauai, we could come and go as we pleased :).

 

(Tourist) Venice is not big. We've walked many times from S. Marco to the train station, which is near the cruise terminal (there r signs), took us about 45-50 min.

 

You can take also the vaporetto (there is an "express" line with less stops), and also a less frequent line (Alilaguna) whose last stop is the cruise terminal /airport (stopping at S. Marco too).

[SteveinPhilly]

Would you mind including a link to your review here? I'd like to see your video, as well.

 

! :(

 

Joan: i didn't do a review (actually I'm a reviewer - DVDs and music - in my non-travel life:cool:) but I spent a lot of time taking videos and putting together videos of my stills. It was easier than writing a critique (though I did have some things to say about ship issues and personnel - mostly the Captian who was rarely around the ship or giving reports. (But I was on cruise for the PORTS!).

 

I have 15 or so videos of the ports on You tube and yesterday - or day before - I posted the link to one and from there you can find all the others. Some short - some longer). i do these for me so I can watch on my large screen TV using Youtube. So scroll back.

[DavyJoneses]

Fun photos...thanks.

[SeeUsoon@Sea]

I didn't overnight in Venice, but in Istanbul, Maui & Kauai, we could come and go as we pleased :).

 

 

 

(Tourist) Venice is not big. We've walked many times from S. Marco to the train station, which is near the cruise terminal (there r signs), took us about 45-50 min.

 

 

 

You can take also the vaporetto (there is an "express" line with less stops), and also a less frequent line (Alilaguna) whose last stop is the cruise terminal /airport (stopping at S. Marco too).

 

 

 

Thank You!

 

 

 

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[TLC535]

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.

 

 

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You can :D

[SteveinPhilly]

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.

 

 

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YES, you can absolutely stay the night off the ship. In fact if you get a good rate (make sure it’s cancelable until you leave home) it’s a great idea. Remember Venice is your only NIGHT off the ship. The crew will log you out with your sea pass when you get off ship, but doesn’t look for those not back until 30 minutes before sailaway the next day when you leave.

 

And it’ll take you at least 30 minutes to get back to ship and 30 minutes to get back to Venice. In fact there wasn’t even a show in theater Venice night. I think they showed a movie. So, great idea – go for it!:):)

 

Jane, your Venice photos are great and you did see different things. If you thought the water taxi was expensive, it’s good thing that the three of you didn’t sit down to listen to the band you saw. Talk about sticker shock! (There are two competing cafes with orchestras on opposite sides of SMS.

 

BTW, for those following Jane’s diary who are going to Italy, I remind all that if you sit down to drink your coffee or pastry anywhere in Italy, the price will TRIPLE over your standing to consume. :eek: BUT , also remember that the only FREE WC’s are in cafes – otherwise have a euro ready to use one. :cool:

[SeeUsoon@Sea]

Thank You everyone for answering my question! I do have lots of points thru Marriott and there's 2 places (Boscolo Venezia & JW Marriott Venice) that have great Spas and restaurant. Just a thought.

Also Jane.... I just called to change my balcony to the starboard side! Thanks for that advice.

 

 

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[SteveinPhilly]

Thank You everyone for answering my question! I do have lots of points thru Marriott and there's 2 places (Boscolo Venezia & JW Marriott Venice) that have great Spas and restaurant. Just a thought.

Also Jane.... I just called to change my balcony to the starboard side! Thanks for that advice.

 

 

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It's your decision but - if you are on the Ship the rest of the time, I'd probably use the bed at the Mariott but pass on the Spa and Restaurant and dine out in a local Venitian Restaurant not run by a hotel chain. You really have only about 15 hours over 2 days (assuming you plan to sleep and Venice is such a unique place that being inside a hotel (no matter how upscale it is) would not be my preference ;)

 

But, yes, you don't need to stay on the ship.

 

S

[maxs mom]

Wow! Lots of good conversation this afternoon! Looks like everyone's questions have been answered so I will continue.

 

After lunch....we wandered some more trying to find our way back to San Marco. We just followed the signs on the buildings and found our way back. In the meantime, it was fun walking through the little squares and alleyways that we came upon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2016 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

More wandering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Happy Bee]

Not to hijack this amazing review but Steve in Philly,would you mind sharing a link to your youtube video's as I am sure many (including me) would love to check them out ;)

 

Terri,

 

Just finished reading it today :)

[maxs mom]

Finally we found our way back to San Marco. We got there from the complete opposite direction from the way we set out. I should have done a map my walk thing so we could see exactly were we walked!! Of course, by that time.....we were ready for some gelato!!!

 

 

Andrea was looking for a t-shirt for her son. She found a model (another cruise passenger) to check out the size!!

 

 

Before we went back to the ship, I took Andrea and Michael to see the Hotel Danielli.......made famous in the movie "The Tourist". We went inside to look around. Neat place.

 

 

 

 

 

We really saw a lot of Venice today. Much more than I have seen before. The best way to see Venice is just put on your good walking shoes and take off down those alleyways and wind around all over the place. It's amazing what you will see.

[maxs mom]

We then made it back to the vaporetto and to the ship. By this time the sun had come out and it was quite hot. We got back to the ship in plenty of time and still had a bit of rest time before the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

The suggested dress code for the evening was "Elegance". First time I have seen that. Everyone was in various types of elegance for the evening from evening gowns to whatever. There was to be a masquerade ball tonight, so we took our masks along. We were able to watch the sail away from Venice in the DL and had a wonderful panorama of that from up there. So nice to have our drinks and watch that show!

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Dinner was in the MDR again. New table and wait staff. They called and wondered where we were. Dinner was just OK. I had the filet of beef and John ordered chicken tenders off the child's menu and was perfectly happy with that.

 

 

 

After dinner we saw an opportunity to have some Freestyle Pictures made, so we went for it. If you haven't ever had one of these done, you really should. They come out so well. Our group always has some done. We have serious ones done, but always, always have the traditional silly one done as well!! This is what happened tonight.

 

 

Double Trouble:

 

 

And the best one of the bunch:

 

 

Michael and Andrea had some made of just them as well.

 

[britty1]

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.

[maxs mom]

After dinner I tried my luck at the craps table again. Had fun but didn't win anything. We slipped over to the Masquerade Ball in the Colony Club for a few minutes and it was really something. Lots of folks with their Venetian masks on......lots of dancing......real nice.....very elegant as the dress code suggested.

 

 

 

 

I Went back to the casino and tried my luck at the slot machines and had my best luck on a penny machine!

 

 

I went on to bed after that.

 

 

]

Edited July 13, 2016 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

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.

 

Oh....they are the best and so much fun. Just look for an area where they have the big white background that goes on the floor, too. You take your shoes off and they pose you in all kinds of fun ways. We are usually laughing so hard. There is no cost to do this. We usually buy a good many of them when we have them done......they have this special where you can get 5 for $50 and that's what we usually do. Try it next time. You'll love it!

[maxs mom]

So......I am going to have to be off the grid for the next few days.....unfortunately. So y'all hold down the fort and talk amongst yourselves until I get back. Lots more to go with two more wonderful ports. I'll get back as soon as I can. I should be able to check in each morning from a McDonald's while I am eating breakfast......but I won't be able to post pictures or anything. Should be back up and running in just a few days.....so keep checking back. Thanks for reading!