Live from Viking Sky on Mediterannean & Adriatic Sojourn

[Mr Luxury]

1 minute ago, Sleep7 said:

Ahaaaa!! Even with googling it I can't get it right!😆😆

You're hopeless 😁

[Sleep7]

 

1 minute ago, Mr Luxury said:

You're hopeless 😁

Hopeless for sure and will have to stick with "The Med" "Head Waiter" and " Appetizers" forever.🤔

[DrKoob]

53 minutes ago, Sleep7 said:

🤭Maitre de, Mediterranean, and hors d'oeuvres are the impossible to spell with out googling them first!😅

WIth you on all three of those. The biggest problems is that because the first and last one are not considered one word, they aren't suggested or caught by spell checkers. 

[Sleep7]

32 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

WIth you on all three of those. The biggest problems is that because the first and last one are not considered one word, they aren't suggested or caught by spell checkers. 

Can we add "Renaissance" to the list.. 😛

[DrKoob]

Venice: Day 1—We Get There

 

Before we sailed, we knew that cruise ships (unless they are lower than a certain tonnage) are no longer allowed to sail into the cruise ship terminal. The gross tonnage requirement means that about 90% of the cruise ships in the world (including Viking Sky) can no longer dock there. While I am sad we didn't get to sail into Venice on our ship; I realize the damage the ships were doing to the environment in Venice and also, having been there as a land-based visitor, how much their being there basically destroyed the Venetian experience for those who lived there or visited by any other form of transportation. When you are walking through San Marco and a 16-story behemoth sails by with speakers blaring Italian arias, it really destroys the mood.

 

The larger ships have been forced to move even further away than we were on Viking Sky. For instance, most of those owned by the Carnival Corporation (Carnival, Holland America, Princess, Costa and a few more) are sailing into Trieste for the port of Venice. Trieste is about a 90-minute bus ride away to the east on the border with Croatia. The other major cruise corporation, Royal Caribbean (RCL, Celebrity), has decided to go southwest and dock at Ravenna, which is a good two hours by bus from Venice. If you are ending or starting your cruise there, this is not a problem as you can just come in early or stay late and still see Venice in a decent time frame.

 

We were doing neither. Although some people on our cruise were ending here and we were picking others up, for us, Venice was just a port stop. Thankfully it was a two-and-a-half-day port stop. Originally we were told that we would be docking in Fusina, which is a small, industrial port just across the lagoon from Venice in the Maestre area of Venice. It would be a short hop over on a Vaporetto (water bus) from there to the city. But because it was an industrial port, we would not be able to come and go as we pleased. So we decided that we would get off the ship for two nights and check into a B&B. Yes, it was expensive, and yes, we did need Viking's approval before we did it. To me, as a travel photographer, a chance to shoot a city in the blue and golden light of the dawn is the best thing ever. I hope you will agree once you see my photos that those two early morning photo walks were truly worth it.

 

 

About four days before we arrived in Venice, it was announced that we would not be docking in Fusina in the Maestre area but in Chioggia, which is not as far as Ravenna or Trieste but is still a lot further than Fusina. We had planned to get into Venice for our two-and-a-half days in the city by doing an included shore excursion that would drop us in the city. Once we were moved to Chioggia, Viking decided to create a new shore excursion called "Venice; On Your Own." It gave us a way into the city. Sadly, it was only offered the first and second days we were in port, so we had to find our own way back. More about that on day three.

 

So we all canceled our "included" tour and signed up for the first "Venice On Your Own" tour that was available (which turned out to be as soon as we docked). We arrived in Chioggia around noon, and we had been packed (one small suitcase each) and ready to go since 11:00 am, so we were in the first group off and the first group on the excursion boat into the city. I should mention here that our best buddies and neighbors forever, Jayesh and Lisa, had told us good things about Chioggia. They come to Venice every summer, and they had explored Chioggia, which you can do by public transport. You take a short Vaporetto ride to Pellestrina (see the map), and then you switch to a bus. It can be an exhausting trip and not one we really wanted to do with luggage of any kind.

 

The boat Viking chartered was your typical excursion vessel, and it was fairly crowded on board, but you could still stand up and move around, so I was able to take some photos from the back as we went in. Here are a few shots of Chioggia and the trip. Head over to my blog at wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom. to see the photos. 

 

In Venice

We got into the city after a 90+ minute boat ride and docked right near San Marco Square. We jumped off, and since we had luggage, we just decided to go directly to the B&B. Besides the fact that it was both extremely crowded and scorchingly hot. So we walked a very short distance to the San Zacharia Vaporetto station, and we purchased three-day passes that would let us have unlimited rides on the Venice water bus system for the entire time in Venice. Based on how many trips we took and the price of a single 75-minute ticket, we really feel like it was a great bargain.

After grabbing the passes, we walked down three bridges (that's what the ticket guy said to do 😁) and jumped on Number 1 and headed up the Grand Canal. If you are not familiar with the Vaporetto system on the Grand Canal, #1 is a local bus. It stops at every single stop. It takes people on and lets people off. It is almost always very crowded, especially in the middle of the day, and this day was no exception. (In contrast, the #2 is an express bus that goes from San Marco to Piazza Roma without a stop.) We got off at the St. Stae stop and followed our B&B manager's excellent map and directions to the Ca' Bonvicini B&B which sits right on the border of the Santa Croce and San Polo districts. It is a very typical Italian bed and breakfast (although we didn't do the breakfast part) with a steep staircase, small rooms with typical Venetian decorations (chandelier, large drapes above the bed, etc.) and is very well located.

 

After we collapsed, we decided to let the crowds thin down and the heat of the day pass before we ventured out for a really nice meal in a small trattoria a few streets away. We ate outdoors, and it was a great Venetian experience. My next post will give you some of the best photography I have ever been lucky enough to shoot. Here's a sample. 

 

 

If you are headed to Venice on Viking, please feel free to ask questions. I would be happy to find answers for you.

[Sleep7]

👋Hi Jim!

Thank you so much for explaining the exact the situation and locations regarding the alternative Venice ports.  I have been avoiding looking at any future cruise that begins or end in Venice as the logistics have all been a mystery to me until now.  The information you posted is invaluable so thanks so much!😊

[Hobson1754]

3 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Venice: Day 1—We Get There

 

Before we sailed, we knew that cruise ships (unless they are lower than a certain tonnage) are no longer allowed to sail into the cruise ship terminal. The gross tonnage requirement means that about 90% of the cruise ships in the world (including Viking Sky) can no longer dock there. While I am sad we didn't get to sail into Venice on our ship; I realize the damage the ships were doing to the environment in Venice and also, having been there as a land-based visitor, how much their being there basically destroyed the Venetian experience for those who lived there or visited by any other form of transportation. When you are walking through San Marco and a 16-story behemoth sails by with speakers blaring Italian arias, it really destroys the mood.

 

The larger ships have been forced to move even further away than we were on Viking Sky. For instance, most of those owned by the Carnival Corporation (Carnival, Holland America, Princess, Costa and a few more) are sailing into Trieste for the port of Venice. Trieste is about a 90-minute bus ride away to the east on the border with Croatia. The other major cruise corporation, Royal Caribbean (RCL, Celebrity), has decided to go southwest and dock at Ravenna, which is a good two hours by bus from Venice. If you are ending or starting your cruise there, this is not a problem as you can just come in early or stay late and still see Venice in a decent time frame.

 

We were doing neither. Although some people on our cruise were ending here and we were picking others up, for us, Venice was just a port stop. Thankfully it was a two-and-a-half-day port stop. Originally we were told that we would be docking in Fusina, which is a small, industrial port just across the lagoon from Venice in the Maestre area of Venice. It would be a short hop over on a Vaporetto (water bus) from there to the city. But because it was an industrial port, we would not be able to come and go as we pleased. So we decided that we would get off the ship for two nights and check into a B&B. Yes, it was expensive, and yes, we did need Viking's approval before we did it. To me, as a travel photographer, a chance to shoot a city in the blue and golden light of the dawn is the best thing ever. I hope you will agree once you see my photos that those two early morning photo walks were truly worth it.

 

 

About four days before we arrived in Venice, it was announced that we would not be docking in Fusina in the Maestre area but in Chioggia, which is not as far as Ravenna or Trieste but is still a lot further than Fusina. We had planned to get into Venice for our two-and-a-half days in the city by doing an included shore excursion that would drop us in the city. Once we were moved to Chioggia, Viking decided to create a new shore excursion called "Venice; On Your Own." It gave us a way into the city. Sadly, it was only offered the first and second days we were in port, so we had to find our own way back. More about that on day three.

 

So we all canceled our "included" tour and signed up for the first "Venice On Your Own" tour that was available (which turned out to be as soon as we docked). We arrived in Chioggia around noon, and we had been packed (one small suitcase each) and ready to go since 11:00 am, so we were in the first group off and the first group on the excursion boat into the city. I should mention here that our best buddies and neighbors forever, Jayesh and Lisa, had told us good things about Chioggia. They come to Venice every summer, and they had explored Chioggia, which you can do by public transport. You take a short Vaporetto ride to Pellestrina (see the map), and then you switch to a bus. It can be an exhausting trip and not one we really wanted to do with luggage of any kind.

 

The boat Viking chartered was your typical excursion vessel, and it was fairly crowded on board, but you could still stand up and move around, so I was able to take some photos from the back as we went in. Here are a few shots of Chioggia and the trip. Head over to my blog at wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom. to see the photos. 

 

In Venice

We got into the city after a 90+ minute boat ride and docked right near San Marco Square. We jumped off, and since we had luggage, we just decided to go directly to the B&B. Besides the fact that it was both extremely crowded and scorchingly hot. So we walked a very short distance to the San Zacharia Vaporetto station, and we purchased three-day passes that would let us have unlimited rides on the Venice water bus system for the entire time in Venice. Based on how many trips we took and the price of a single 75-minute ticket, we really feel like it was a great bargain.

After grabbing the passes, we walked down three bridges (that's what the ticket guy said to do 😁) and jumped on Number 1 and headed up the Grand Canal. If you are not familiar with the Vaporetto system on the Grand Canal, #1 is a local bus. It stops at every single stop. It takes people on and lets people off. It is almost always very crowded, especially in the middle of the day, and this day was no exception. (In contrast, the #2 is an express bus that goes from San Marco to Piazza Roma without a stop.) We got off at the St. Stae stop and followed our B&B manager's excellent map and directions to the Ca' Bonvicini B&B which sits right on the border of the Santa Croce and San Polo districts. It is a very typical Italian bed and breakfast (although we didn't do the breakfast part) with a steep staircase, small rooms with typical Venetian decorations (chandelier, large drapes above the bed, etc.) and is very well located.

 

After we collapsed, we decided to let the crowds thin down and the heat of the day pass before we ventured out for a really nice meal in a small trattoria a few streets away. We ate outdoors, and it was a great Venetian experience. My next post will give you some of the best photography I have ever been lucky enough to shoot. Here's a sample. 

 

 

If you are headed to Venice on Viking, please feel free to ask questions. I would be happy to find answers for you.

As you said, departing or arriving in Venice is an ideal opportunity to explore this fabulous city and I would urge anyone who has the opportunity to do so. We have been lucky enough in the past to both sail down the Guidecca Canal on a cruise ship & stay a number of times as a city break. Venice is different again at night when all the day tourists have disappeared - it really has a magical quality.  Your photo aboard really brings it all back to me. It is our favourite European City. 

[LunaSeaRetreat]

DrKoob,

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us.  We are on the Sky beginning in Rome on October 1. Our port in Venice was just changed to Chioggia also.  We are there for 2 1/2  days too.  When did you find out about the  "Venice; On Your Own." tour being offered?  We haven't heard about any tours being changed.  Was this tour in place of the included tour?  Do you know if other tours were changed?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Cynthia

I love your photos!

[DrKoob]

Venice Day 2: Photographic Perfection/Vaporetto Dejection

 

After a great night on a great bed (I still find Viking beds pretty hard, but I am getting used to them) at our Venice B&B, I was up for the entire reason for us making the additional travel investment in staying two nights in the city when we had a perfectly fine place to stay back on the ship—my pre-dawn photo walk in a city I love. (Nothing like getting an entire paragraph in one long sentence 😜).

 

I woke up around 5;45 and checked my Photo Pills app on my phone. If you have never heard of Photo Pills, it is an iPhone (I am betting it is on android as well) app that tells me all I need to know about the light conditions where I am. For instance, as I write this, we are in Crotone, Italy (way down at the underside of the tip of the boot that is Italy) and when I opened Photo Pills this morning, here's what I see.

 

First, it tells me the extent of my daylight; then, I get all the important times for photography, from Astronomical twilight to Day time. I know that I will get the best photos (if the weather cooperates—which it did on Day 2 in Venice) between 6:05 and 7:30 or so. So I made sure that I was up and out, camera in hand, no later than 5:30. In Venice, some of your best pictures are of artificial lights (doorways, streetlights, shop windows) before the sun even starts to come up. And to me, early morning are so much better than late night because there are a lot fewer people to get in the way. One or two people in a shot to set a mood is one thing but a whole bunch of people in different bright colors, looking everywhere, is not something I am after in a city like Venice.

 

My first few photos were in the dark. I did that on purpose. And a lot of Venice photography is vertical. That's because a lot of Venice is tiny streets that lead to more open squares (called Campos). Those tiny streets make for great vertical photographs. They also make it easy to get lost...very lost. But in Venice, getting lost is the whole point. I just wandered. I could always see a sign nearby that pointed to a place where I recognized. For instance, from where we were staying, I knew that I had to cross a bridge over the Grand Canal someplace to get to Piazza San Marco (where I wanted to go), so I just kept following every sign that said, "Per Rialto" (to the Rialto Bridge). Sometimes I would find myself in an amazing little street that would give me one amazing photo I would love. Other times, those streets were just ways to get to where I wanted to go. If you go to Venice, get lost. That's what you are supposed to do.

 

Since I have a LOT of Venice photos from this walk, I think I will break them up into smaller galleries. To see them all, you will need to go to my blog (there are WAY too many pictures to put them directly on Cruise Critic) at wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom. I hope you do. If you like photos from far away, it will be worth it. No ads either 😜.

 

As the light becomes brighter, you move from twilight to the "Blue Hour." From the chart above, you can see that the "Blue Hour" really isn't an entire hour. In fact, today, it was more like 10 minutes. But it always comes before the ever-popular Golden Hour that most people have heard of. During the "Blue Hour," you get some great shots with lovely blue tint. Come back during the "Golden Hour", and the entire scene is different. Here is maybe my favorite shot of the Grand Canal during the "Blue Hour."

After a couple of more shots of and from the bridge, I wasn't sure where I wanted to go.

 

I made my decision about which way to go next when the first sign I saw after crossing the bridge said, "Per San Marco," so I was off to Piazza San Marco, and I am so glad I went that way. Besides the light being amazing and the sky turning to fire, I got to see the piazza in all its glory—empty (or almost empty except for three other people and me and one—that's all—pigeon) Again, sorry you will need to swing by my blog to see the rest of the photos. 

 

From the piazza, I headed out to the promenade, where I would get a chance to see the entire sky for the first time. As Secondo said in the film "The Big Night," it was so good, "I have to kill myself because I knew nothing would be better." The sky to the east was on fire. And that made the city look awesome in the light. This morning had been a walking, talking photo lesson for me. It made me realize I had never done a post about my best travel photography tips, so I need to do that as soon as we are home. Here's the next set of shots I got after getting out to the promenade (head to my blog at wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom)

 

I walked up and down the promenade to get photo after photo in that incredible light. Again, they are over on my blog. 

 

By this point in our morning story, it was getting close to 7:45, and I had told Kathleen I would be back at the B&B by 8:30 so we could get breakfast. I thought about walking back, but then I saw that the #1 Vaporetto was almost completely empty, so I jumped on board and found myself a spot in the rear seats where I could continue to shoot photos as we went up the Grand Canal. Here's what I got between San Zacharia and St Stae. (Guess where these photos are? 😜)

 

 

The Rest of the Day

A quick rundown of the rest of the day would start with a walk to Campo San Polo for a very traditional Venitian breakfast of cappuccino and croissants. This may not be traditional for everyone in Venice, but it is exactly what we had for breakfast when we were here before, so it is our tradition 😁. And this particular Campo (where we had never ventured before) was a must-see because one of our favorite fictional characters, Commisario Guido Brunetti lives near this Campo and often walks through it in the books. We felt like we knew the place. BTW: If you are going to Venice, try to read at least a few of Dona Leon's Brunetti series before you go. It will truly improve your trip.

 

Later that day, we had planned to take a Vaporetto to one of the two major outlying islands, Burano. Our friends Jayesh and Lisa had eaten an amazing late lunch there in July that included a plate of Frito Misto to die for. I am using his photo to show you what we missed. I really wanted that. Lisa said they had some good pasta that Kathleen would like, so we headed to Burano.

 

 

But it was not to be. Partly because we didn't listen (or understand) the person loading and unloading the Vaporetto and partly because things changed a LOT in 20 years. When we were here the first time, we went out to the two big outlying islands on a Vaporetto. First, we stopped at Murano and walked around a sleepy little Italian island town known for its blown glass. Then we jumped right back on the same Vaporetto that took us out to the further island, Burano—where we wanted to go that day.

 

The first big change was Murano. What had been a sleepy little island town is now a major tourist attraction with chain convention hotels and six different Vaporetto stops. SIX! When we went there before, Murano had ONE stop, and then the same Vaporetto went on to Burano. Not anymore.

 

When we boarded at Piazzale Roma, we specifically asked numerous times, "Burano?" and every time, we were assured that the water bus was going to Burano. So we get to Murano, and we wait while passengers get off the Vaporetto and others get on. Then we go to the next stop, and the same things happen. We are marveling at how big Murano has become, how commercialized. Then another Murano stop, and another. After six stops on Murano, we are mostly empty, which makes sense because Burano is a small island, and not a lot of people head out that way...at least they didn't in November 2002.

 

So imagine our surprise when the Vaporetto starts heading back to Piazzale Roma. I went up and asked the man I had asked when we got on, "Burano?" He laughed at me and said, "You should have changed at Faro (a stop on Murano). No one told us this. No signs said we needed to do this. It had not been this way before, but we guess now it is. So we are more than an hour into this boat ride and have to decide what to do. Do we go back to our hotel, rest up during the heat of the day and try to go out later who do we go right back out to Murano and switch at Faro and take the Vaporetto to Burano? We decide to do the latter. So we go back in, change boats, come back out...and this time we get off at Faro. We have now been on the Vaporetto to and from and to Murano for about 2 hours. When we do get off, a sign points further down the waterfront and says, "Burano Ferry, 50 meters." We head down that way and can see the boat unloading, so we think, "YEA! We made it!" We should have been able to jump right on...except when we turn the corner to get on, there is a three-boat waiting line standing against a wall we could not see as we walked up. They were standing there in the direct sun, sweating like the proverbial swine waiting for more than 2 hours. We gave up!

Defeated, we walked back to the Vaporetto stop to go back to the main part of Venice, but since we had about a half hour to wait, we grabbed an Aperol Spritz and a panini sandwich (because by then, it was about 3:00 pm and we had breakfast at 8:30 and NOTHING makes you feel better about stupidity than an Aperol Spritz in Venice) and some water as well.

 

When the next Vaporetto stopped, we made very sure to ask if it was going to Piazelle Roma, where we could catch the #1 back to St. Stae and our hotel. We were told it would. What they neglected to mention was that it would also go the LONG way around and drop us at San Marco, where we could move to the #1. So what coming out had taken us 45 minutes now took us twice that to get back. Suffice it to say that by the time we got back to the St. Stae stop, we almost had to crawl back to the room; we were so tired. And once we got there, we stayed there just to try to recover for our last big day in Venice. And the panini they had brought us was so big, neither of us were hungry for dinner. Watch the next post for my Day 3 photo walk.

Edited September 14, 2022 by DrKoob
Because I am an idiot and hit the button too soon 😂

[DrKoob]

23 hours ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

DrKoob,

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us.  We are on the Sky beginning in Rome on October 1. Our port in Venice was just changed to Chioggia also.  We are there for 2 1/2  days too.  When did you find out about the  "Venice; On Your Own." tour being offered?  We haven't heard about any tours being changed.  Was this tour in place of the included tour?  Do you know if other tours were changed?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Cynthia

I love your photos!

Hi Cynthia,

Yes, the "Venice on Your Own" tour took the place of the other (don't remember what it was) included tour. So they took you into Venice and dropped you at San Marco. If you went on the second day (the full day) you would leave the ship at around 8:00 am and have to be back on the shuttle boat to the ship by 10:00 pm. I don't think they ran the boats back and forth all day. Once you were in, you were in until they came back that night. If someone else is onboard and knows differently, please chime in. 

 

And thanks for loving my photos. I hope others are going to look at them. You can see a lot more of my travel photos at https://jimbellomo13.picfair.com 

[Sleep7]

11 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

Hi Cynthia,

Yes, the "Venice on Your Own" tour took the place of the other (don't remember what it was) included tour. So they took you into Venice and dropped you at San Marco. If you went on the second day (the full day) you would leave the ship at around 8:00 am and have to be back on the shuttle boat to the ship by 10:00 pm. I don't think they ran the boats back and forth all day. Once you were in, you were in until they came back that night. If someone else is onboard and knows differently, please chime in. 

 

And thanks for loving my photos. I hope others are going to look at them. You can see a lot more of my travel photos at https://jimbellomo13.picfair.com 

Your photos are awesome and you're going to need a VERY large coffee table to make a book with all of your glorious pix!😊

[DrKoob]

5 minutes ago, Sleep7 said:

Your photos are awesome and you're going to need a VERY large coffee table to make a book with all of your glorious pix!😊

Thanks Sleep7! I used to do those books. Made them for my Mom when we (Kathleen and I) first started traveling. Haven't done one since she passed away in 2006. She loved traveling vicariously through us. 

 

I just post mine on websites. And we moved to a new home recently and I finally got to print my six favorite photos on canvas to hang on walls. That makes me happy too.

 

JIm

[springtravel]

We will begin our cruise in Venice (April 2023),  We plan on arriving a day early and staying in a local hotel.  Now that we know we will be leaving out of Chioggia, we are wondering how we will get there.  Since we are arriving the day of the cruise, or getting the pre-cruise package, Viking won't take us to the ship.  With luggage, will a water taxi take us?  Any idea on the price?  I think the vaporetto/bus ride won't work for this trip because of the luggage.

[lackcreativity]

1 hour ago, springtravel said:

We will begin our cruise in Venice (April 2023),  We plan on arriving a day early and staying in a local hotel.  Now that we know we will be leaving out of Chioggia, we are wondering how we will get there.  Since we are arriving the day of the cruise, or getting the pre-cruise package, Viking won't take us to the ship.  With luggage, will a water taxi take us?  Any idea on the price?  I think the vaporetto/bus ride won't work for this trip because of the luggage.

I realize that you have to make a plan, but based on reports we have seen here ( and our own personal experience in April), what you plan now may change before then. Our trip involved a change in final port mid-cruise. We were using Viking's transfers, so that made it easier for us. Research a variety of options so that you back-ups to your intended plans.

[DrKoob]

13 hours ago, springtravel said:

We will begin our cruise in Venice (April 2023),  We plan on arriving a day early and staying in a local hotel.  Now that we know we will be leaving out of Chioggia, we are wondering how we will get there.  Since we are arriving the day of the cruise, or getting the pre-cruise package, Viking won't take us to the ship.  With luggage, will a water taxi take us?  Any idea on the price?  I think the vaporetto/bus ride won't work for this trip because of the luggage.

Read today's post below. You can take a regular taxi around from Piazzale Roma at the top of the Grand Canal. Cost was $150. If you planned ahead and found someone to share it with, you could easily schedule a van for less that would meet you at the airport. I think that Fusina is about done as a port (at least for the time being). 

I did check out taking a water taxi from Venice back to Chioggia and the price was almost 600 euros. They really don't want to leave the lagoon.

 

 

[DrKoob]

 

Venice Day 3: Early Morning Photos and Back to the Ship

 

Our final morning in Venice was due to end fairly early. We needed to find our own way back to the ship. If we had known where we were docking before we left home, I would have arranged transportation before we even left the USA. But since they decided at the last minute to switch from Fusina to Chioggia, I had to scramble. And I scrambled to no avail. I was on my phone trying to book us a van back to the ship for a reasonable price for quite a while. What we finally decided to do was just get a cab and have them drive us around.

 

Speaking of them driving us back to the ship, we had new friends we met on board who had originally planned a train trip from Venice to Tuscany with a private tour at the other end but the Viking Customer Service people told them that taxis were not allowed to enter the port at Chioggia. So when we got our cab, we were a little worried if we would be let into the port or have to walk quite a distance to get in. More about that later. I am getting ahead of myself.

 

Let's go back to the early morning...you know before the sun came up. I was up and heading out with my camera in hand. Yesterday I made my way to Piazza San Marco via the Rialto bridge. Today I wanted to cross the Rialto again, but this time, I wanted to get back to the Accademia bridge, which is at the very beginning of the Grand Canal. When we came to Venice for the first time, way back in 2002, we stayed at the Galleria Hotel right next to that bridge. The bridge is the only wooden bridge across the Grand Canal, so I really wanted a couple of more shots from that area. It also provides a great place to shoot the beautiful Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. So here are the pics from that morning. Of course you will have to bop over to my blog at wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom to see them.

 

After breakfast, we grabbed our luggage and hit the good old Vaporetto #1 and headed up the Grand Canal to Piazzale Roma, where we hopped off and headed to the taxi line and found a driver willing to go to Chioggia. We also asked him if he would be able to get into the port. He wasn't sure but said he would get us as close as possible. That was good enough for us. He also quoted us 150 euros for the ride. Whew! But we had to get back. And unlike our favorite Lyft/Uber rides, this would have a meter running, so we had to sweat that out as well.

 

He headed out, and we drove for almost an hour. The meter ran up, and when we finally got there, it was 147 Euro. This man knew his pricing. And could he get into the port to drop us off? Let's just say when we got out of his cab; we were inside the port and less than 10 feet from the terminal. From the time we got out of his cab, we were in our staterooms on the ship in less than seven minutes.

We grabbed a mid-afternoon dunch (dunch = dinner and lunch—or linner—take your choice 😜) and just collapsed in our stateroom for the evening. Those three days in Venice took a lot out of us.

[springtravel]

21 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

He headed out, and we drove for almost an hour. The meter ran up, and when we finally got there, it was 147 Euro. This man knew his pricing. And could he get into the port to drop us off? Let's just say when we got out of his cab; we were inside the port and less than 10 feet from the terminal. From the time we got out of his cab, we were in our staterooms on the ship in less than seven minutes.

This sounds like our best option.  Maybe there will be a roll call for our trip and I can find others willing to share a taxi.  However, we will have all of our luggage for the 13 days, probably 2 26" and 2 totes.  Will that be difficult on a vaparetto?  

[springtravel]

And, I forgot to mention how much I am enjoying your photos.  They are just beautiful.

 

[DrKoob]

15 hours ago, springtravel said:

This sounds like our best option.  Maybe there will be a roll call for our trip and I can find others willing to share a taxi.  However, we will have all of our luggage for the 13 days, probably 2 26" and 2 totes.  Will that be difficult on a vaparetto?  

There will be lots of people with that much luggage on a vaporetto. But remember, if you want to go from Venice airport to Chioggia you will need to get into Venice first, switch to a bus at Piazzale Roma then take the bus out to Pellestrina and then a vaporetto from there. You can't take a vaporetto directly to Chioggia. 

 

Sorry but I forget whether you are staying in Venice before you board. If I were coming direct from airport to Chioggia, I would pre-arrange a transfer with Viking. If you are booking your air with them or doing their pre-cruise extension, you get one for free. If not, you can buy one for a lot less. It will take you direct from airport to ship. Have your TA set it up.

 

If you aren't using VIking Air or their pre-cruise extension and you don't want to buy a transfer from Viking, and you are going from the airport directly to the ship, I would look for a transfer company. Go to the airport website for Venice and search "ground transportation." You will find something less expensive than a taxi. Try to get something without a meter, where you have a settled price before you go.

[KTRaveller]

On 9/6/2022 at 10:47 AM, DrKoob said:

A little more on Viking Sky and our visit to Corfu

 

A good friend commented on my post yesterday and said that maybe I shouldn't have walked away from Celebrity so fast. Which made me think that I have been letting you all think I am totally unhappy with Viking. I am not. This is what I told my friend:

No, we will never go back to X. Everything on Viking has been great except the two sit-down restaurants. Hands down the most beautiful ship I have ever sailed on; other than the Neptune Suite, we had on HAL the best stateroom ever, excellent and fast internet, incredible buffet, superb service everywhere except the sit-down dining rooms, and that's just because their restaurant systems are all screwed up. The public spaces are wonderful. Viking Ocean is head and shoulders above Celebrity. It's probably just me that has to get used to the Viking ways.

 

There is a lot to like about Viking, and we are not totally turned off, but at least one more thing has happened that is a kind of a dark mark. Let's get that out of the way. Kathleen got food poisoning. She was beyond sick last night and pretty much is feeling a little better as I write this on Tuesday in Kotor, Montenegro. The night before last (as you may remember), we went to Manfreddi's for dinner. Kathleen had the swordfish. It is the only thing she has had to eat for the last few days that someone else in our group has not eaten. It's not the flu or any other virus. Those aren't as violent and really mess you up and then just go away. We have been together before when she has gotten food poisoning, and this is what we are sure it is. Bad fish is bad fish. Could have gotten that anywhere. Not really Viking's fault.

 

Let's talk Corfu. We found it to be a pleasant little island. We were doing a Viking-included tour that took us out to one end of the island where we could take pictures of some truly beautiful sites and their airport (located in a truly crazy place) and then back to the center of the city to get out and tour and then walk on our own before returning to the ship. We totally enjoyed Corfu. Check out the pics at wwwDOTredmondtravelDOTcom.

Food poisoning can really happen anywhere -- for me it was Taillevent, a superb Michelin 3-star restaurant in Paris and probably the langoustines (crawfish) but we'll never know.  I'd go back if someone else was paying -- it was a wonderful experience at the time!  The other time was a dinner at the Ambassador's residence at one of our posts.  Glad you are giving Viking a pass on that one, but sorry Kathleen had to go through that -- not fun.  We happen to like hard beds, so Viking Ocean is perfect that way.  We hope the river cruise we have coming up has the same ones!

[KTRaveller]

1 hour ago, KTRaveller said:

Food poisoning can really happen anywhere -- for me it was Taillevent, a superb Michelin 3-star restaurant in Paris and probably the langoustines (crawfish) but we'll never know.  I'd go back if someone else was paying -- it was a wonderful experience at the time!  The other time was a dinner at the Ambassador's residence at one of our posts.  Glad you are giving Viking a pass on that one, but sorry Kathleen had to go through that -- not fun.  We happen to like hard beds, so Viking Ocean is perfect that way.  We hope the river cruise we have coming up has the same ones!

Guess you couldn't give Viking a pass given what happened after your Kathleen went to the medical office.  I hope your experience and reporting and writing about it will improve the customer service.  Viking usually responds to problems.  I wonder if the fact that people are hiding Covid infections has made the medical staff much less patient or if Viking has a hard time hiring good people since the pandemic has sucked up all available medical personnel everywhere.

[debbieandnorm]

On 9/14/2022 at 3:04 PM, DrKoob said:

Hi Cynthia,

If you went on the second day (the full day) you would leave the ship at around 8:00 am and have to be back on the shuttle boat to the ship by 10:00 pm. I don't think they ran the boats back and forth all day. Once you were in, you were in until they came back that night. If someone else is onboard and knows differently, please chime in. 

 

 

Yes, we’re on board & did the full day in Venice on Saturday. We had to be on the dock at 7:45am in Chioggia. We arrived in Venice at the Cornoldi pier by about 10am. We had 2 options to return: 1pm with the guided tour people, or 6pm with our Venice on Your Own group. We didn’t arrive back at the ship until 7:40pm!

Most of our group agreed that we were ready to return at about 3 or 4pm.

 

The one & a half hour boat ride was more pleasant than expected, as it putted by islands along the way. To my knowledge we were on the last boat from Venice.
 

There was a little Viking shuttle boat that took you from our dock at the cruise ship terminal in Chioggia to the Piazza Vigo town dock starting at 6pm each day. Sunday night we did have to be back on board by 10pm.

 

The port also provided a free shuttle bus from noon to 9pm just to the outside of the port gate. From there is was about a 10 to 15 minute walk into town.

[DrKoob]

Beautiful Bari and Alberobello, Italy

 

Since I have some time today while we are docked for Rome, I will try and do a couple of posts covering the next two places on the cruise. So watch for another one later in the day.

The day after our restful time in Sibenik, we arrived in Bari, Italy—a port I was really looking forward to. We both felt great so off we went on a shore excursion labeled "Alberobello, the Trulli Village." Alberobello is about an hour away by motor coach (a fancy term for bus). The ride was a good one and the walk from where the bus parked to where the village started.

 

A trullo is a traditional Apulian dry stone hut so more than one is trulli. The village of Alberobello is the home of a whole bunch of trullo/trulli and they are very cool. Our day consisted of a bus ride from Bari to Alberobello, a walk tour of Alberobello followed by a visit to a nearby conference-type place where they fed us appetizers and some wine. Kathleen tried the food but I just wasn't up to it. The food didn't look that good and there was plenty of good calories to waste my caloric intake with onboard. After about an hour it was back on the ship and on our way home.

 

As usual, my photos are on my blog at wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

19 hours ago, debbieandnorm said:

Yes, we’re on board & did the full day in Venice on Saturday. We had to be on the dock at 7:45am in Chioggia. We arrived in Venice at the Cornoldi pier by about 10am. We had 2 options to return: 1pm with the guided tour people, or 6pm with our Venice on Your Own group. We didn’t arrive back at the ship until 7:40pm!

Most of our group agreed that we were ready to return at about 3 or 4pm.

 

The one & a half hour boat ride was more pleasant than expected, as it putted by islands along the way. To my knowledge we were on the last boat from Venice.
 

There was a little Viking shuttle boat that took you from our dock at the cruise ship terminal in Chioggia to the Piazza Vigo town dock starting at 6pm each day. Sunday night we did have to be back on board by 10pm.

 

The port also provided a free shuttle bus from noon to 9pm just to the outside of the port gate. From there is was about a 10 to 15 minute walk into town.

Thanks so much for the information.  Both you and DrKoob have been very helpful.  I know everything may change by the time we get there, but it is nice to have some idea what to expect.

[DrKoob]

 

 

I overheard an interesting discussion about Crotone, Italy. If you are unfamiliar with Crotone, it is located on the sole of the Italian Boot. It's the red dot above.

 

It is a sleepy little Italian town that really isn't really anything special until you look at it in a different way. On a bus back from a later excursion (I think it was in Messina), I overheard other passengers talking. One lady said, "That Crotone was the most boring port ever!" But another gentleman piped up with, "To me, it was the BEST port on this cruise. It was the real Italy. A small town. No tourist shops, no crowds (Viking Sky was the only ship there), a town square you could walk to, parks everywhere, winding streets with cars parked at crazy angles and then trying to drive up those NARROW streets." And I guess I have to agree with him. The town itself took a little climbing to get into, and it had its share of ruins, but mostly, it was just a tiny, real Italian town.

 

How tiny? Viking didn't even do any city tours there. The included tour was a walking tour of the village without guides. But all through the city, there were members of the community who would tell you about some feature of their town or their history and send you on to the next person. It was great meeting those locals. They were excited that we were there to hear about Crotone. So, all in all, it was a pretty great day. Viking did provide a free shuttle service that you could take up to the top of the village, but Kathleen wanted to save all her walking for the next day when we would be in Messina and going to see Taormina and Mount Etna, so she told me to go walk to my heart's content. And that's what I did.

Here are the photos I took of the seaside village of Crotone, a truly lovely place. Actually they aren't here. You will have to go over to my blog at wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom to see them. Here's a photo to wet your whistle.

 

 

That was our (kind of my) day in Crotone. We finished up with dinner in the World Cafe at Nanci's table again and then off to bed. Between Kathleen's food poisoning and getting worn out from our days touring, we have spent most evenings in our stateroom. Viking has excellent television choices, but since we were onboard Viking, we decided we had to rewatch the entire Downton Abbey series. We just finished season 3 last night (Naples), so I am not sure we will make it. Viking does have shows, and they put them on television, both live and recorded. We watched a few for a couple of minutes (one was a Beatles tribute), and they were pretty bad. If we wanted a show, we would have sailed Royal Caribbean. The Mama Mia we saw on Allure of the Seas in 2019 was Broadway-worthy. On this ship, it's all about travel.

 

As I write this, a new group of people are coming on board. This is actually not a three-week cruise but a series of four one-week cruises, one after the other, and we are on three of them. Our new buddies Corky and Larry have been on since Istanbul, so they are starting their fourth week while we start our third. A great deal of the people on board got off today in Rome, so it was very quiet until around noon, when the new folks who are doing a one-week cruise to Barcelona with us got on. We have never carried over like this before, but this day was great.

 

Most of the carry-over people are in Rome, so that we could do laundry, I could take photos of the interior of the ship that I will share in a future post, and we could just rest. We are about to head down to the spa to try out the thalassotherapy pool and the rest of the relaxation stuff down there. Got to go. Next up for you are Messina, Taormina and Mount Etna. Not sure how soon I will get to that as we leave early tomorrow for an entire day in Cinque Terra.