Barcelona to Venice

[SeeSun&Sea]

On 3/18/2021 at 4:25 AM, Mary229 said:

I was a backpacker then too, we were wilderness hikers in the US and Canada.   After years of cruising with the take everything approach we now have more time to stay after the cruise and roam.  I am readjusting my wardrobe for easily packable clothes and weighing every item that goes in.  You have to see this:  I have the suitable pajamas lined up then I weigh them one by one on my postage scale, the lightest go into the cruise wardrobe.  I feel a little batty but what else are you going to do during a pandemic😁

Oh. Doesn't everyone write the weight-in-grams on all their clothing labels? How else can you pack?

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, SeeSun&Sea said:

Oh. Doesn't everyone write the weight-in-grams on all their clothing labels? How else can you pack?

Well geez, if the travel bans continue I might just make that an afternoon's folly

[bennybear]

I too “weigh” my clothes and purchase based on weight.  I have travelled for 5 weeks in Europe with just carry on.  It’s great, if I just need clothes for hot climates but I usually need clothes for a couple of seasons.   We go with one small 24 inch roller that divides in the middle.  I roll my clothes and put cruise clothes in one half and use the other for Day to day wear.   You never really need clothes for more than a week or 10 days Max,  learn to rinse out and use the laundry.   And I choose my hotels carefully in places like VenIce😉
 

DH and  I tried crosspacking in Japan,  we each got one side, and another suitcase with cruise clothes got sent ahead.  It worked well,  but I like my own suitcase😂🤷‍♀️

Edited March 22, 2021 by bennybear

[iancal]

49 minutes ago, bennybear said:

I too “weigh” my clothes and purchase based on weight.  I have travelled for 5 weeks in Europe with just carry on.  It’s great, if I just need clothes for hot climates but I usually need clothes for a couple of seasons.   We go with one small 24 inch roller that divides in the middle.  I roll my clothes and put cruise clothes in one half and use the other for Day to day wear.   You never really need clothes for more than a week or 10 days Max,  learn to rinse out and use the laundry.   And I choose my hotels carefully in places like VenIce😉
 

DH and  I tried crosspacking in Japan,  we each got one side, and another suitcase with cruise clothes got sent ahead.  It worked well,  but I like my own suitcase😂🤷‍♀️

We do exactly the same.  The clothes we wear for travel are lightweight easy care fabric.   We do layers.  We try to keep each of our carry on weights down to 8KG which is the max for many of the regional carriers in Europe and Asia that we use frequently.  We leave valuable jewelry, watches at home.

 

When we come home and unpack we take note of what was not used very often.  It gets dropped next time or replaced by something else.  We tried cross packing but we prefer to have our own 20 inch international carry ons.  Easier, especially because DW has a list, I do not.  DW starts two days prior, me the night before . 

 

We came to the same conclusion.  We can hardly pack enough for 3 weeks, 8 weeks without washing so we decided on six or seven days.  Time to either rinse out, find a laundromat, or send out to a laundry-whatever makes sense.

[pxn748]

Thank you for the responses so far, they have been very helpful!   it is going to be hard for me to cut down, I am used to a new outfit every day.   Too bad the Westie doesn't have a passenger laundromat like some of the smaller ships used to.  

[albingirl]

On 3/21/2021 at 2:20 PM, Mary229 said:

@albingirl What size suitcases did you carry.?  As to toiletries I can buy those but I have plenty of TSA approved containers.

Standard. Not carry-on.

[sndral]

On 3/19/2021 at 11:34 AM, tommui987 said:

...

You should be aware that some locations where there are bridges, there is no way of getting around unless you use the bridges. The bridges have steps. If you have "wheelies" on your luggage, you will not be able to wheel your luggage but will have to carry it across the bridges!

On my most recent visit to Venice a few years ago I was surprised to see that some of the bridges had ramps over them making wheeling suitcases over them easier & I suspect to cut down on the damage to the steps that clunking suitcase wheels cause, unlike my first Venetian visit when I don’t recall seeing any ramps. That said, many bridges still were steps only, so best to pack w/ that obstacle in mind.

On 3/20/2021 at 3:28 PM, Storylady said:

...You will love your Venice to Barcelona cruise. We have done most of the ports. In fact, we have a 19 day cruise planned on the Westerdam from Athens to Venice to Barcelona in the fall.
...As for getting to your hotel from the airport, arrange a water taxi to pick you up at the airport and take you to the hotel. We had a friend who wanted to save money and he hauled his suitcases up and over 20 bridges in Venice to get to his hotel.

OP is doing Barcelona to Venice, so will be arriving via ship at the port. So the first logistical issue is how to get from the ship to their Venetian hotel. Next is how to get from their hotel to the airport when it’s time to depart. If you don’t want to take a very expensive private water taxi, it’s worthwhile IMO to spend some time studying a map of Venice & what transportation options are available when deciding on your hotel in Venice. When I cruised in & out of Venice a few years ago I personally eliminated some lovely sounding hotels, including the one I’d previously spent a week at on a non cruise vacation and opted to stay at a hotel on the Riva Degli Schiavoni because it was easy to get to/from the airport & to/from the port on the Alilaguna blue line - the blue line San Zaccharia stop was close to the hotel. It worked quite well, I loved the easy walk to San Marco, while touristy I was there in the fall so it wasn’t too crowded, and I was pleasantly surprised at my ‘standard’ view from my room - see below 🙂

Edited March 23, 2021 by sndral

[iancal]

Quite some time ago my son and I met a newly retired couple from Seattle in a Florence laundromat. They had been travelling for three months and had just purchased a 2 month rail pass to continue their trip.

 

This was the first independent trip that they had taken and were concerned about baggage. They did a practice run from their home in Seattle to LA via Amtrak (I think) and return.   They quickly realized that what they planned to pack would not work.  They could no physically handle their bags by themselves other that to roll it them out the station.

 

The slimmed down to carry on only.  He had been a bank VP and was used to travel.  More difficult for her.  Bottom line...they both said that after three months of travel they realized that going carry on was the best decision they had made.

 

IF you are only planning a few days pre or post in a city, such as Venice, you could always rearrange your bags, pack an overnight, and store the rest at a luggage storage facility.  

Edited March 23, 2021 by iancal

[Tbay]

@pxn748 Lots of information being given to you.  Make sure you understand the differences between a water taxi (expensive ) the Alilaguna (more like a bus route, more expensive  than the vaparetto but fewer stops) and the vaparetto, that operates like a bus, with many stops and different routes).  A water taxi operates like a land taxi, and will go directly to your destination. We bought a pass for the vaparetto and used it to go everywhere.  It is pretty easy to figure it out.  Harder to take luggage on the vaparetto.  We used the Alilaguna to go from the airport to our hotel on Lido, and they expect you to have luggage.  One trip on the vaparetto is pricy, but a pass makes it a better deal.

[bennybear]

1 hour ago, Tbay said:

@pxn748 Lots of information being given to you.  Make sure you understand the differences between a water taxi (expensive ) the Alilaguna (more like a bus route, more expensive  than the vaparetto but fewer stops) and the vaparetto, that operates like a bus, with many stops and different routes).  A water taxi operates like a land taxi, and will go directly to your destination. We bought a pass for the vaparetto and used it to go everywhere.  It is pretty easy to figure it out.  Harder to take luggage on the vaparetto.  We used the Alilaguna to go from the airport to our hotel on Lido, and they expect you to have luggage.  One trip on the vaparetto is pricy, but a pass makes it a better deal.

Good info!  But sometimes the water taxi is so worth it,  we took an early morning flight and left Venice at sunrise,  sigh!  
You really don’t want to go far on the vaparettos with luggage.  We find we actually end up walking most places if you stay somewhere relatively central.  Just look for a hotel with easy Alilaguna access to or from the airport,  

 

[Slush]

We have just booked  this cruise as well. At least the first 12 days.  I see that there is a roll call for the long version as this continues on for a 25 day cruise.