Venezia 9/16-9/23 Live (Kind of, Sort of)

[AFS1970]

This is my first attempt at a live review. I am not sure how much of an update schedule I will maintain, but I am giving this the old college try. Cruising with me is DW AlranaEris, who I will be encouraging to join me in posting at least some pics, if not reviews throughout this thread.

[Cherries Jubilee]

I look forward to hearing about your trip! 

[AFS1970]

We started the day kind of eaely and decided due to luggage to take Uber instead of taking the train. It was just under an hour ride to the port. We got in about half an hour before our scheduled time and walked through the lines fairly quickly. Embarkation went smoothly, the port staff were friendly and helpful.

 

Many announcements about finding your muster station, but nobody directing you to where they were. We were.looking for B4 and only figured it out when we saw B3. We went to our muster area and were directed into the casino. The safety instruction was brief. Even with this there were bunches of announcements telling people to go find their muster stations and check in.

 

Then we decided to try and find the Lido for some lunch. Easier said than done thanks to the new smart elevators. I understand there are no separate freight elevators and they were doing their best to deliver everyone's luggage. My knees aren't the greatest and DW tires easily. At least we can walk if we have to. I can only imagine how the passengers in wheelchairs & scooters were fairing at the mercy of this crowd management system. Several times we pressed our floors and waited, and waited, usually either getting on any elevator that looked like it would get us half way there or finally taking the stairs. 

 

We did make it to the Lido and the Marketplace and the food was good. The lines were not as long as we feared, except for pizza but that was because they were running out and cooking more as fast as they could. The pizza was kind of bland and a bit undercooked. The pasta & Tuscan Beef were pretty good.

 

Then it was off to the shot glass trading event, my first time doing this event and it was fun. We had a good group on this cruise that was all organized at [the other site that shall not be named]. Then off to a group photo with those of us that bought the T-shirts designed by one of the cruisers.

 

After that we watched the sail away from our balcony and relaxed a bit before dinner.

 

 

[fair-winds39]

We’re looking forward to following along. We board Venezia in a few weeks. Have a nice cruise.

[Crusin Karen]

Sounds like a perfect start! First day elevators are always tricky with luggage delivery! 

[Jamman54]

1 minute ago, Crusin Karen said:

Sounds like a perfect start! First day elevators are always tricky with luggage delivery! 

That, and it takes a couple of days for people to figure out the "smart" elevators. 😎

[Crusin Karen]

31 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

That, and it takes a couple of days for people to figure out the "smart" elevators. 😎

Lol I’ve always admitted to being “technically challenged” but by day 2 I was teaching other confused pax how to use the elevators so they can’t be all that bad! 👍👏💪 Those awesome luggage delivery crew work hard and do a great job but pax have to remember they need the elevators to deliver your luggage to your door so there’s going to be some disruption. Have a great cruise! Looking forward to hearing about it! 

[Cherries Jubilee]

The food looks good! I’m happy the lines aren’t too bad. Hopefully they’re getting into a rhythm.

[noshoobie]

Hope you have a great time and have good weather. We just got off of the Venezia this morning! They had to change our itinerary because of Hurricane Lee, but we had beautiful weather most of the cruise especially when on the islands.

 

We enjoyed the ship, the food, and the staff were very friendly!

[Etta1213]

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

That, and it takes a couple of days for people to figure out the "smart" elevators. 😎

What do the "smart" elevators do??

[princess76021]

2 hours ago, AFS1970 said:

This is my first attempt at a live review. I am not sure how much of an update schedule I will maintain, but I am giving this the old college try. Cruising with me is DW AlranaEris, who I will be encouraging to join me in posting at least some pics, if not reviews throughout this thread.

Thank you for taking us along!

Appreciate it

Hugs from Texas!!

[icft]

1 hour ago, Etta1213 said:

What do the "smart" elevators do??

Make riding the elevator an exercise in math and logic. In other words they make you work more so they can reduce the number of elevators to allow for more people to be squeezed onto the ship. Geeks (who love making the easy complicated) love them, normal folks with a few drinks hate them.

[AFS1970]

Just a bit out of order with the pics, since we just set up a shared album. So sail away on our cabin balcony was nice. We chatted with neighbors on both sides. I have to say everyone we have met on this cruise has been super friendly. I have noticed that there is a general sense of helpfulness among passengers, helping to find rooms or venues and helping with the elevators.

 

So the elevator situation did improve, but the wait times are still long. After some down time we went to dinner. This was my first time trying the MTD and it worked well. Checked in for a table from the cabin, it said 40-50 minutes wait, I would estimate it was under 30. Staff was friendly, and the ordering was easy. The only hiccup was drinks at dinner, I am pretty sure the guy who brought us bread was the drink steward also, but he had a thick accent and I think I missed the part where he asked what we wanted to drink. So it was water only with dinner which wasn't as bad as it could have been. Fortunately/unfortunately the food wasn't very spicy.

 

I have read that on many cruiselines the MDR food has been going downhill. While the food was OK, both DW & I thought the buffet was better. I had the soup which despite having Poblano in the name had very little heat. We both had the Shrimp cocktail, which were small and had very mild cocktail sauce. DW had the salmon which she said was good but didn't taste like the spices mentioned in the description. I had the Sweet & Sour shrimp, which mostly tasted like the fryer oil. The fried rice was surprisingly good.

 

Desert was the highpoint for DW. She had the melting chocolate cake that we had heard so much about. She loved it. It was also a sign that her taste buds are returning to normal 4 years after chemotherapy robbed her of the ability to enjoy most chocolate. I had the ice cream which was good, I also had the cheese plate that was just so-so.

[Alrana Eris]

DW wife to AFS1970 here, making this a joint review.

 

Love that first view of the ship coming down the highway. That is when this cruise became real. I love the decor on this ship, might just be the prettiest ship I've seen. Hated the elevators at first, now just down to a mild annoyance. 

 

Our cabin is small but nice, although from our perch on deck 14 we can feel all the motion of the ocean.  Not in a bad seasick way, but it is always there. The shower door seems to be haunted creaking and slamming on its own. We met the room Steward who seems nice. Getting lots of good pics from the balcony.

 

I liked the buffet, except for the pizza. Thought it was better than the MDR. A few of the ice machines ran out quickly. MSR food was OK, but portions seemed a bit small. There was little to no spice on what we had so far. The chocolate cake was awesome, you have no idea what a milestone this was for me after not being able to enjoy this for years.  

 

 

[EllieinNJ]

Enjoying your review.

[Crusin Karen]

Great pictures! So happy you were able to enjoy the famous CMC!  It’s on the menu every night-some people like it with butter pecan ice cream, some ask for a side of peanut butter. Mickey Mouse style with 2 vanilla ice creams but my personal favorite is with strawberry ice cream. Strawberries and chocolate are meant to be together! 💝 ENJOY! 

[lazydayz]

5 hours ago, Alrana Eris said:

DW wife to AFS1970 here, making this a joint review.

 

Love that first view of the ship coming down the highway. That is when this cruise became real. I love the decor on this ship, might just be the prettiest ship I've seen. Hated the elevators at first, now just down to a mild annoyance. 

 

Our cabin is small but nice, although from our perch on deck 14 we can feel all the motion of the ocean.  Not in a bad seasick way, but it is always there. The shower door seems to be haunted creaking and slamming on its own. We met the room Steward who seems nice. Getting lots of good pics from the balcony.

 

I liked the buffet, except for the pizza. Thought it was better than the MDR. A few of the ice machines ran out quickly. MSR food was OK, but portions seemed a bit small. There was little to no spice on what we had so far. The chocolate cake was awesome, you have no idea what a milestone this was for me after not being able to enjoy this for years.  

 

 

Congratulations on your recovery and being able to enjoy chocolate again!

[ninjacat123]

6 hours ago, Alrana Eris said:

DW wife to AFS1970 here, making this a joint review.

 

Love that first view of the ship coming down the highway. That is when this cruise became real. I love the decor on this ship, might just be the prettiest ship I've seen. Hated the elevators at first, now just down to a mild annoyance. 

 

Our cabin is small but nice, although from our perch on deck 14 we can feel all the motion of the ocean.  Not in a bad seasick way, but it is always there. The shower door seems to be haunted creaking and slamming on its own. We met the room Steward who seems nice. Getting lots of good pics from the balcony.

 

I liked the buffet, except for the pizza. Thought it was better than the MDR. A few of the ice machines ran out quickly. MSR food was OK, but portions seemed a bit small. There was little to no spice on what we had so far. The chocolate cake was awesome, you have no idea what a milestone this was for me after not being able to enjoy this for years.  

 

 

Joint review!!  Looking forward to both of your observations and pics!!

[icft]

18 hours ago, AFS1970 said:

This is my first attempt at a live review. I am not sure how much of an update schedule I will maintain, but I am giving this the old college try. Cruising with me is DW AlranaEris, who I will be encouraging to join me in posting at least some pics, if not reviews throughout this thread.

First attempt? Then you guys are naturals. Great pics and comments. I'm enjoying following along. Thank you!

[AFS1970]

Enjoying the first sea day, buffet breakfast was good. Again, and this may be when we go, the lines have been fairlyfast moving. I saw multiple buffet sections so the idea of waiting through the entire line just to grab something seems to be overstated. A couple of times someone has politely asked to read for something they forgot, and nobody got upset or started a fight over it.

 

Last night we got sunset on the balcony and today DW got up for sunrise. I slept through that photoshoot. We had a couple of group events today, playing LCR and a Dirty Duck Swap. Other than this event, I have not seen that many rubber ducks around the ship.

 

Just got back from Afternoon Tea. My review of this event is mixed. All the food was good, but the service was slow and erratic. The tea got cold waiting for them to brink milk or cream. There was no rhyme or reason to the route servers took to get around tables. Some dishes came by twice while others never came at all. There were two big tables for Veterans and they had many of the same complaints. Lastly there was a bit of bait and switch with the tea. The even is free, they put a pot of hot water at the table. The server co.es by with a box of tea, you pick the one you want and he charges $2.75 per "premium" tea bag. After you say yes someone comes by with the standard tea bags. The price isn't going.to kill me, but the event seems unorganized at best.

 

Oh, and we got our first towels animal.

[Cherries Jubilee]

I’m glad the lines aren’t really affecting your trip!

[Drew B 58]

Just a suggestion:  the elevators at the front of the ship are packed on embarkation day, just because everyone boards at the front, then wants to go up.  If you take the stairs DOWN one flight to deck two, you can walk back to the midship or aft elevators and those tend to be far less crazy…

 

Even if you want to use the foreword elevators, going down to deck 2 and catching one there tends to be much easier than catching one from deck 3…

[Riles34]

On 9/16/2023 at 9:32 PM, Etta1213 said:

What do the "smart" elevators do??

I loved these elevators! You choose the floor you want to go to on a tablet outside the elevator and then it tells you what elevator you will take. Most of the time it will go right to your floor and they have minimal people if any at all riding with you. It is very simple but something different than what most are used too....people don't like change! Wish they had these on the Celebration! I have never walked so many stairs in a week cruise until that ship, the elevators were awful!

[edrussell]

Happy to hear that we left the ship in good shape for you.  We just disembarked her on the previous cruise.  Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.  You will get used to the elevators, and when you do I bet you will come to appreciate them.  We initially didn't like them at all, but got so used to them by the end of the cruise.

 

[Etta1213]

36 minutes ago, Riles34 said:

I loved these elevators! You choose the floor you want to go to on a tablet outside the elevator and then it tells you what elevator you will take. Most of the time it will go right to your floor and they have minimal people if any at all riding with you. It is very simple but something different than what most are used too....people don't like change! Wish they had these on the Celebration! I have never walked so many stairs in a week cruise until that ship, the elevators were awful!

👍 Thank you.