Tips for future guests on Venezia

[MsTabbyKats]

@thesmithsI was commenting on the OPs obvious racist attitude.

 

LOL...I'd love to see you handle Grand Central during rush hour!  And see you tell all those rude people "where to go".......

 

[thesmiths]

47 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@thesmithsI was commenting on the OPs obvious racist attitude.

 

LOL...I'd love to see you handle Grand Central during rush hour!  And see you tell all those rude people "where to go".......

 

Been through there many times on my way to JFK and other meetings in and around NYC as well as travelled around every major city in the world on there "public" Transporation.

 

Basically it is treat others as you want to be treated. 

Don't be ignorant!

 

 

 

 

[vadersprincess12]

On 12/12/2023 at 5:12 PM, mleng said:

We just came back from a 10-day cruise on Venezia out of Manhattan.  I posted my review and it’s waiting for the censor to approve, but I thought to provide a few more practical tips to folks on the boards here. 

 

1.    We had Oceanview Cabins on Deck 2 Aft.  Very spacious.  The best part was that the cabin had one and half bathrooms:  one had a shower, a toilet, and a sink, and the second one had a bathtub and a sink.  It’s great when I and my wife both needed to get ready.  If you are trying to squeeze 3 or 4 people in a cabin, having 2 bathrooms would be a life saver.
2.    Maybe due to the location of embarkation, the clientele of this cruise was much more multi-ethic and multi-culture.  What you may take for granted of certain etiquette and standard practices on a cruise are not necessarily the modus operandi by these folks.  My advice is that just be prepared as you go into this and try to be more patient.
3.    A lot of the guests on our cruise chose to eat in the Lido buffet than MDR. We did MDR 5 nights out of 10.  It’s never busy.  Each time, I used the App to “check in”, and a table was assigned to me within a couple of minutes.  And when we were in the dining room, we could see that the room was never more than half full.  On the other hand, dinner in Lido often required a 10-15 minute standing in line. On other cruises, when we had to eat in Lido, I managed to make it a similar experience as in a real restaurant by getting only one food item at a time – get the salad first, wait until my wife and I both finish the salad then go back for an entrée, then go back for dessert.  But with such long lines in Lido on Venezia, I had no choice but to pile up all the food on one plate.  The different foods were touching, the flavors were mixing, and I felt the need to eat everything quickly before it got cold, instead of leisurely eat and talk and focus on the interaction with my eating companions.  Basically, the crowdedness and the long lines in Lido totally destroyed the eating experience.  So my tip here is that during peak time of 6~7 PM, you can probably finish a dinner in MDR quicker than in Lido. 
4.    Manhattan Cruise Terminal is not good. We have done more than a dozen cruises mostly leaving from Ft Lauderdale and Bayonne.  In comparison to those 2 ports, the Manhattan Cruise Terminal looked old and ill equipped.  They paused the check-in process during embarkation because too many people were backed up on the gangway.  We had to stand in line for more than 30 minutes, with no water, no bathroom (because we didn’t know when the pause would be over).  Finally we made onto the ship an hour and half after arriving at the port.  On our 3 recent cruises, we never spent more than 20 minutes to embark, so this 90-minute process was a stark contrast.
5.    Disembarkation was just as bad as embarkation.  We opted to do self-assist.  The announcement was made at 7:30 that people could disembark, and we left our cabin at 8, but we didn’t get off the ship until 9. The gangway was on Deck 3, and we were on Deck 2, but they blocked off the hallways on Deck 2 and Deck 3 in mid ship without anybody stationed there to direct traffic, so we had to carry all the luggage from Deck 2 to Deck 4, walk from Aft to Fwd, then go back down to Deck 3. Once on Deck 3, there was this meandering long line that literally took us more than 30 minutes to go through.  As far as I could tell, the bottle neck was at the gangway where there were only 2 stations to scan people’s cards.  I am wondering if it’s a limitation by the port.  There was only one gangway during embarkation also. At all other ports, there were 2 gangways, but in NY, when the entire ship is trying to get on and off in the shortest time span, they only put out one gangway?  If you are flying out of NYC, don’t try to book any flight before noon, since you would not be off the ship by 9 AM at the earliest. 
6.    My last advice, and probably the harshest, is that if you don’t like cigarette smoke, don’t go on this ship. Unlike some cruise lines, Carnival still allowed smoking in the casino.  It’s located in the middle of Deck 4, with a stairwell right at the entrance of the casino, and the open Atrium of San Marco Piazza at the other entrance of the casino.  The smoke from the casino often wafted up and down to other decks.  On a couple of days, we could even smell it on Deck 2 Aft outside our cabin.  My wife was sensitive to smoke, so after the first day, we basically stopped going to the San Marco Piazza and the surrounding areas on Deck 3, 4, and 5.  We essentially missed out on all the shopping places and a lot of the entertainment options. 
 

The smoke was a big deal for us too.  We go to the casino on some of the ships, but this one was so bad we didn't want to go near it or the areas you talk about.  Unfortunately we booked for February before our November sailing, and they won't allow us to transfer our date so, they won't get any casino money or shopping money from us on this upcoming cruise.

[jennas_mum]

19 hours ago, vadersprincess12 said:

The smoke was a big deal for us too.  We go to the casino on some of the ships, but this one was so bad we didn't want to go near it or the areas you talk about.  Unfortunately we booked for February before our November sailing, and they won't allow us to transfer our date so, they won't get any casino money or shopping money from us on this upcoming cruise.

Why not go to the non smoking casino? You don't have to walk thru the casino to get there. Yes, you do smell it a little as you walk down the hall to the non smoking casino but not much. I didn't smell any smoke in the non smoking casino and I am very sensitive to it. 

[MadManOfBethesda]

3 minutes ago, jennas_mum said:

Why not go to the non smoking casino? You don't have to walk thru the casino to get there. Yes, you do smell it a little as you walk down the hall to the non smoking casino but not much. I didn't smell any smoke in the non smoking casino and I am very sensitive to it. 

I was wondering about that myself. I'm currently on Venezia and my wife and I have been spending time in the separate nonsmoking casino annex ourselves without incident. As a matter of fact, even the regular casino has a separate section of slot machines one the other side of the thru walkway where smoking is prohibited, albeit not as free from the smell of cigarette smoke as the completely separate casino annex.

[MsTabbyKats]

31 minutes ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

I was wondering about that myself. I'm currently on Venezia and my wife and I have been spending time in the separate nonsmoking casino annex ourselves without incident. As a matter of fact, even the regular casino has a separate section of slot machines one the other side of the thru walkway where smoking is prohibited, albeit not as free from the smell of cigarette smoke as the completely separate casino annex.

Are there a decent amount of machines in the nonsmoking casino? 

[vadersprincess12]

There are about 25 slots machine plus table games in the casino annex and while there isn't smoking there, during our cruise the smoke from the main casino just permeated the entire area around the casino.  It permeated into the atrium area too and you could smell it on decks 3, 4, and 5.  Maybe there were just more smokers on our sailing but it was absolutely awful.  

 

The casino annex is very small and tight.  You could barely walk between the chairs and then you have the scooters coming in so it was uncomfortable and pretty full the times we attempted to go there.

[MsTabbyKats]

8 minutes ago, vadersprincess12 said:

There are about 25 slots machine plus table games in the casino annex and while there isn't smoking there, during our cruise the smoke from the main casino just permeated the entire area around the casino.  It permeated into the atrium area too and you could smell it on decks 3, 4, and 5.  Maybe there were just more smokers on our sailing but it was absolutely awful.  

 

The casino annex is very small and tight.  You could barely walk between the chairs and then you have the scooters coming in so it was uncomfortable and pretty full the times we attempted to go there.

Due to the fact that DH is not a gambler, gives me bad karma when he stands behind me and if I win $1 he tells me I should quit while ahead....I do my gambling early in the morning, while he's sleeping.

Thanks for the info.........

 

[vadersprincess12]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Due to the fact that DH is not a gambler, gives me bad karma when he stands behind me and if I win $1 he tells me I should quit while ahead....I do my gambling early in the morning, while he's sleeping.

Thanks for the info.........

 

🤣 I have the opposite problem.  DH and I usually play together.  I'd rather bet low and let my bank go up and down and enjoy the fun; he'd rather bet high and hope to win big.  Either way we enjoy selves.  

[lakedweller64]

Was on the Venezia in September and the non smoking casino was freezing everyone wore jackets.it is small and crowded.

[MadManOfBethesda]

2 hours ago, lakedweller64 said:

Was on the Venezia in September and the non smoking casino was freezing everyone wore jackets.it is small and crowded.

I can't speak to what it was like in September, but I'm on the Venezia right now and it is not freezing (no one is wearing a jacket) and it is not crowded. I was in there not 15 minutes ago.

[MadManOfBethesda]

8 hours ago, vadersprincess12 said:

There are about 25 slots machine plus table games in the casino annex....

After reading your post, I decided to go down and count the number of slot machines. FWIW, there are 38 slot machines, 4 table games, plus a full-size roulette station.

 

While the smoke hasn't really been an issue for me on this cruise, if I had my druthers, I'd have Carnival banish the smokers to the smaller casino annex and let the nonsmokers have access to the full array of slot machines and table games in the larger main casino.

[broadwaybaby123]

On 12/16/2023 at 11:15 PM, Drew B 58 said:

I was on the same sailing.  I agree that embarkation and disembarkation were bad.  Worst I’ve experienced on fifteen cruises!  The biggest problem is that both getting on and off, they kept calling more and more groups before the previous ones had made it on/off.  It’s not rocket science!  Call one group and don’t call the next until most of them have been cleared.  Easy Peasy!

 

I disagree about the rudeness.  I thought these were some of the friendliest passengers I’ve ever sailed with!  And they were really into participating in the parties and events.  Fun crowd!

 

I liked the fun squad overall, but I think they need remedial lessons on how to run trivia!  One guy just talked and talked and talked about everything OTHER than the questions and answers.  Another woman just didn’t give the answers!  She asked “what did you get?”  Several people near her answered and she said “That’s right!”  However, I couldn’t hear what they said, and she didn’t repeat the answer on mic.  After that, I stopped going to trivia…

 

I thought the crew was mostly EXTREMELY friendly and professional, but I had one shockingly bad interaction with a bartender at the Gondola Bar.  The night before, I had seen a sign for an iced coffee drink.  The next day, I wanted to order it, but the sign was no longer there.  I asked the bartender to try to figure out what it was called.  She told me to go to Java Blue.  I pointed to the espresso machine she was standing next to and said “you serve coffee here”.  She pointed to the menu of coffee drinks, but I explained that the drink I was looking for wasn’t on there but had been on a separate sign.  She told me to go to Java Blue.  At that point, I realized there was no point in fighting with her, so I walked away without buying anything.  But I was shocked at how rude and unhelpful she was.  I’ve never experienced that on Carnival!

Good thing I wasn't at the trivia.....I'm an Activity Director who designs her own trivia.....I would have grilled them on that! I always repeat the correct answers and keep the trivia focused on the topic (although if we go off track, as long as we get back on track and have a few laughs on the way, I'm fine with it).

[Drew B 58]

3 hours ago, lakedweller64 said:

Was on the Venezia in September and the non smoking casino was freezing everyone wore jackets.it is small and crowded.

Interesting.  On my sailing, the nonsmoking casino was far less crowded.  Not empty, but a lot more open spots.  I’m a smoker, but I had to play a few times in the nonsmoking casino because I couldn’t find open seats/machines in the smoking section.

[flyguyjake]

Venezia has Starlink right? How's the Premium WiFi on this ship? Can we stream movies like on netflix?