Live from Italy, the Adriatic, and Venice 3/10/2023

[Fieldofdreams]

5 hours ago, -Lew- said:

 

We have used Bob's Limos a number of times for transfer from our Rome hotel to the shipside terminal.  They're excellent and I have no problem recommending them.  Here's a link to their FAQ.

Thank you

[Vivi13]

 

Hi jc552, Thanks for the detailed review. We are doing the same cruise in May. Hoping that Torshavn is back up & running  by then! 

Were there any tender ports on your cruise? There are none marked with an anchor on the itinerary/calender to indicate tendering, but a couple of websites mention ships tendering @ Crotone & Corfu.

Thank you

[CCWineLover]

On 3/25/2023 at 1:45 PM, jc522 said:

I'll restate the above for clarity (I hope):

 

Be wary of the advice that the Viking phone agents give you. I saw no water taxis to and from St. Marks except those that served the excursions. The last excursion of the day returned around 5:30 or 6:00pm. Initially we were told that you needed to be on an excursion to take a water taxi, and you had to return with the taxi for your excursion. After several visits to Guest Services someone there told us if we wanted to arrange to stay in town past the scheduled 4:45 return of our "Venice On Your Own" excursion we could speak with the Viking dock coordinator where the taxi unloaded in Venice. Note that a 4:45pm return means you are back at the ship at 4:45pm. The taxi leaves Venice at about 3pm. That does not leave a lot of time to tour Venice. Taking the last taxi instead of the one for our excursion gave us an extra hour or so in Venice. If you talk to enough different people in Guest Services you will eventually figure out who the more senior staff are and they won't be afraid to help you find a way around the "rules".

 

The 5 minute taxi ride to/from Chioggia takes you through Chioggia harbor between the cruise ship port and the city dock at the foot of Corso Del Popolo, Chioggia. It leaves the cruise dock headed for Chioggia on the hour, and it leaves the Chioggia city dock to return to the ship on the half hour. This taxi service ended at 9pm. You could also walk to/from Chioggia in 15 minutes.

 

Thanks again for your wonderful information!

We are doing this trip in Feb/Mar 2024.  Paying attention to all these details!  I've already learned that Chioggia is a nice place to visit!

[Cubs Fan]

Thank you to everyone who has posted on this thread.  We are sailing on the Sky for the Adriatic & Mediterranean Sojourn departing Istanbul July 7th and ending in Rome on July 28th.  We have 3 days in Venice and since we have never been to Venice, we were very excited to explore a new city.  I was very confused with regard to where we would dock and I spoke with Viking today and currently, the dock will be Fusina.  A friend is currently sailing and emailed about her 2 hr round trip from Choggia to St. Mark's.  There was a private tour we had hoped to book, but since we are not sure of the docking distance from Fusina and transportation from there, I think I may have to rely on the Viking Excursions.  Someone had commented on the distance to Verona and when I looked up the distance from Venice, it seemed a long way to go to view Juliet's balcony.  I am certain we will enjoy whatever we do!  If anyone did an excursion that was fabulous, I would love to hear about it.  Did anyone take the excursion to Gallipoli?  

 

thanks for the input!

[shmabbies]

We did the Sky's excursion from Venice/Chioggia to Verona a few weeks ago.  It took about 1.5 hours each way with a rest stop.  I'm sure a lot depends on the guide, but our excursion was way more than viewing Juliet's balcony; in fact, due to my height and the crowds in that small confined area, we barely saw it.  Got the sense that our guide wanted us to remember Verona for more than this.  The most tour time, relatively speaking, was spent at the Verona arena, built in 30AD, still used for operas and concerts and will be used for the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, but there was a lot more to Verona than even the arena.  We touched on so much but had so little time that we know we will definitely return to stay in Verona, especially to spend time at the market, Piazza delle Erbe.  The tour included a very nice lunch in a deconsecrated church.  I'd do the excursion again in a heartbeat.  

[CCWineLover]

11 hours ago, shmabbies said:

We did the Sky's excursion from Venice/Chioggia to Verona a few weeks ago.  It took about 1.5 hours each way with a rest stop.  I'm sure a lot depends on the guide, but our excursion was way more than viewing Juliet's balcony; in fact, due to my height and the crowds in that small confined area, we barely saw it.  Got the sense that our guide wanted us to remember Verona for more than this.  The most tour time, relatively speaking, was spent at the Verona arena, built in 30AD, still used for operas and concerts and will be used for the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, but there was a lot more to Verona than even the arena.  We touched on so much but had so little time that we know we will definitely return to stay in Verona, especially to spend time at the market, Piazza delle Erbe.  The tour included a very nice lunch in a deconsecrated church.  I'd do the excursion again in a heartbeat.  

@shmabbies  Thank you SO much for this report.  We had friends who visited Verona on their own ahead of their Viking cruise - and loved it!  (And yes - it was NOT all about Juliet).   We were definitely considering taking this excursion when we go next February.   We've done many tours where the bus ride was 1.5 hours - given what you can see that is so different than home, to us it's worth it!

[shmabbies]

19 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

We were definitely considering taking this excursion when we go next February.   We've done many tours where the bus ride was 1.5 hours - given what you can see that is so different than home, to us it's worth it!

You're very welcome!  I know I may have mentioned it in a previous post, but this excursion was (for us) one of those Viking add on excursions that you don't find out about until you board.  It filled up quickly as I understand it.  The paper booking sheet was buried in a pile of paper on the coffee table IIRC.  Had I not known from these boards to keep an eye out for these additional excursions, I likely would not have seen it in time (thank you to those who provided that information).  In other words, if you can't book it on MVJ, make a real effort to find the paper AND to turn it in at Guest Services right away.  As far as the ride, I totally agree with you.  AND I find the older I get, a 1.5 hour ride is often welcome for a little snooze time....I'm glad to hear your friends thought a stay there was worth it.   I can't wait!