Willdra’s Valiant Venezia Review

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 9:05 AM, wrcjr98 said:

This is awesome!  Thank you so much for your reviews!!  I grew up in Georgia, and I would be like the "country mouse goes to the city" if I went to New York!  Like you, I'd have so many questions!!  Like at the Pizza place, there was a pizza called "Grandma Pizza"?  Whaaaaa?  Googling now!!

LOL 😂 OMG 😆 Not Grandma Pizza! Now I gotta know what’s on it too! I thought the one with cheese and honey was wild but now I think it’s Grandma for the win! 

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 12:26 PM, TravelGirlinDallas said:

This was our experience in Washington, DC, too. All day long.

It literally slapped us in the face everywhere we went. It was very unexpected. 😯

[willdra]

Venezia Day 1-Embarkation Day 

 

I got up at 8. W and I still had bagels from the day before that we put in the refrigerator in our room. We were going to get ready and go down to heat them up, and just get coffee to go after we washed off the funk of forty thousand years from our bodies.

 

While I was getting ready, W got up and started talking to me. Scrrrr. Record scratch. Right eye twitch. That’s not what we do here. My morning time is reserved for me and the lady who lives inside my head to gather our life together. This is the time when we (yes, we) make our plans, think our thoughts, and just consume our space. We do not speak to others during this time. I just glanced at him a few times, said “Uh huh” or “Mmm Hmm”, and blinked lot. If it was important, he would say it again later. Or not.

 

Having no idea what W said or didn’t say, we finished getting ready, and I sent a quick text to 2 of my Team Members. I’d checked WorkDay the previous night (I know. Bad Decision.) and they had not completed their timesheets. Again. 1 of them had not put in time for the whole week and the other 1 had only put in 1 day. Embarrassing.

 

W and I got downstairs and the line to eat was outrageous. The hotel had very tiny spaces. I think it used to be another hotel then Marriott bought it. It was recent too cuz when I turned on the TV, it said another hotel’s name, they haven’t even gotten around to changing everything yet.

 

We didn’t need to sit and eat, so I asked the hostess if we could get coffee and warm up our bagels. She said “yes of course!” and let us in. We hopped around, found what we needed then got the heck outta there. As I was leaving, the hostess stopped me and gave me a container for my bagel and banana. That was very nice of her. I was on the struggle bus trying to hold it and everything else, so she must’ve felt my pain. Bless her.

 

 

My bagel is a paid actor in the pictures. I was balancing the bagel, the banana, the coffee, and my phone while taking pictures and walking thru the breakfast area. #talent 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

W and I took our food back up to the room and ate in there. Alright let’s get into this bagel. Whooooooo I was not ready for this goodness. New York!!!!! What are y'all sprinkling in this food??? This didn’t taste like any bagel that I ever had before. This got the coveted second look award. Y’all know. When you take that first bite and it’s so good that you gotta put it down, step back, and just look at it. Awestruck. That little bagel shop made this like rent was due!!! I was glad I got a fork too. The cream cheese was very thick and oozing out of the side! Delicious! Gahhhhhhhhh. Why is this so good??????? It’s just a bagel for heaven’s sake. And it's a DAY OLD!!!!!!! 

 

After that first bite I looked at the bagel. Pause. Then I looked at W. He knew. He said "That's why I got 2". Well played W. Well played. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

When we were almost finished eating (I took my sweet time cuz I didn’t want this to end), W (Ethel) started checking the ride options. I think he said Lyft wouldn’t pick us up there (it could’ve been Ethel, actually I’m sure it was Ethel). I refused to look cuz I didn’t want anything to ruin the euphoria from the bagel. I told him whatever he found was fine.

 

We went downstairs at 9:54. W ordered the taxi in the curb app and it arrived at 10:08. He said it was $20 to the port. Great. Wonderful. Lovely.

 

Now since Ethel was using the curb app for the first time, and Ethel wasn’t 100% sure if the address that he entered to the port was correct, we had to confirm our destination first with the driver. The driver was puzzled initially, but he said we were indeed going to the cruise ship, so he loaded our bags and took off. I just got in and kept my trap shut, cuz Ethel is gonna Ethel. Just let it happen, and try not to endure any harm to your face or lips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

On the way to the port, somebody cut the taxi driver off, he caught up to them at the light, rolled down the window, and yelled at the guy saying “That was so mean! You did not have to do that! You didn’t even get anywhere!” When I tell y’all my mouth was agape! I looked at W. He was back there smiling, egging the driver on, and co-signing this behavior of course! I just shook my head. I said “Don’t even think about doing this at home!” Shame.

 

We got to the port in about 20 minutes. It’s not far but there’s a lot of traffic. Once we got to the Port we were basically parked on the road. The driver tried to let us out in the Departures section but W asked him to take us down a little farther because it was a mess down there.

 

When we got out W tipped the driver and we gave our bags to the porters. They checked the tags and put the bags in the correct bin according to our cabin number. I make a point of watching this process in case our bags go missing.

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Next we went into the terminal. We had our docs out and ready and we walked right into the Priority Line. Everything was clearly marked. It was around 10:33 when we walked in. First we got a quick boarding pass scan and a visual passport/citizenship document check then we went through the scanners. We got through that fast. No detainees were had. Next we went through to actually get our credentials scanned in. There were agents standing at the entrance to the different sections yelling and directing people very loudly. We went into the Priority section and walked right up.

 

New Yorkers were loud and direct. I’ve known this from the many New Yorkers that I’ve worked with and encountered over the years, but it hit different when I was in their territory. I don’t think yelling is always offensive there tho, and I wasn't mad about it. Now I feel like there are different types and levels of yelling.

 

Our check in process was efficient. We were in a seat waiting to be called at 10:49. All in all from the taxi to a waiting area was 16 minutes. They called Diamond and Suites at 10:52. So we sat there for only 3 minutes.

 

We got up and went down the aisle to board. Before we could board, they had us line up, put our bags on the floor in front of us, step back, then they walked the first dog down the aisle. Dog #1 didn’t signal at anyone's bag. After that dog, there was a second dog. Dog #2 signaled at a lady’s bag. I was not close to her, but W said they took out something in a medication bottle. Whatever it was, she took it out, showed it to the officers, and thankfully they let her and it go. If I was on the other side of W, I could’ve gotten the tea for y'all. W ain’t no help when it comes to stuff like that. I asked “What kind of medication would set off the dogs?, What did they say?, What did she say?, What kind of bottle was it?” W just shrugged and said “I don’t know”. Not nosey. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

So after that the dog pranced by everyone else, and we all boarded. I snapped my “walking onboard” picture at 10:58, so that shake down process didn’t take as long as it felt. We continued to board and we walked into the main lobby first.

 

As a first impression, Venezia was giving the Panorama's grown up more sophisticated sister, who graduated from college with honors. She got her stuff together at an early age, and I loved that for her. And us. The ship is beautiful and still feels new-ish, and unspoiled. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

First on the agenda is always muster. Ours was D3 which was in the Canal Grande restaurant on Deck 3 Aft. We had to go up to 4 walk back then back down to 3. You know the deal. They had some cool new life jackets this time, so I snapped a picture and paid attention to the 2 minute demo. This one was normal. Or at least the new normal. They scanned us in, we sat down, we saw the life jacket demo, then they told us to kick rocks. Before I left, I asked if I could take a picture of the gondola in the middle of the restaurant, and they said sure, so I did that quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

From there we went to drop our bags off, we knew our room wasn’t going to be ready yet, it was still pretty early. We popped in, left our stuff in the closet, rearranged our things, then jetted out. We would take a few pictures while the ship was still kinda empty, then do whatever W wanted. Y'all already know he wanted to eat. Predictable. 

 

It was still cloudy and hazy out. W wanted pics of the Intrepid, and I general ship pics. We got both and did our best with the lighting. It wasn’t the best, but I could fix some of it in editing. Possibly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After we took pics on the Lido we went up to Serenity and took pictures there.

I liked the lush greenery and aesthetics. It was giving Italian garden. There were only a handful of clamshells tho, so W and I already knew we prolly wouldn’t be spending a lot of time in Serenity. It helps to set your expectations low up front, then you’re not disappointed. We decided we would look around while we were out to see what our other options were.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Once we got done with pictures, we went to Lido. W got mashed potatoes and roast beef. I wasn’t very hungry at the time which makes it harder for me to decide what I want.

 

I let him have free time while I caught up on my notes. When he came back I went to GBJ and got a burger, no fries. There wasn’t really a line there at all. I got back with my burger and the ladies behind me had two walkers basically blocking the aisle. It was hard for me to get out to go get the burger, then I couldn’t get back in when I returned.

 

W saw the look on my face (he's normally the recipient of that look), and he quickly grabbed my stuff and put it on the empty table behind him. We just moved over a table. They were taking up their table and blocking anyone from using another table. I will not ever comprehend the selfishness of some people. There was a guy sitting next to me who got up first, and he almost tripped over the walkers and do you think they even looked up? Not even a flicker. Trifling.

 

I ate half of the burger and it was goodt. Then we went back to the room to see if any luggage arrived yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Our cabin was ready and W’s luggage was there. He unpacked while I sat out on the balcony and did a little work. When I came back in, I was helping him rearrange the stuff under the bed, when someone knocked on the door. I thought it was my luggage. It wasn’t. It was a demented circus monkey with a little boy, who said “We have a lost boy..I was” then I heard another voice down the hall yell “No you don’t, he’s not lost!” so without so much as uttering a sound, I slammed the door in her face. Not my circus. Not my monkeys. I guess she thought the boy was lost, but clearly his mom knew where he was. Now she's out there looking like mold and mildew. Girl bye. 

 

So we go back to doing what we are doing and W says he wanted to leave at 3:30 to be outside on deck for Sail Away. We decided to skip the party because the Lido on that ship is mostly covered and it didn't look like it would be a good sail away party. I didn't know for sure, it just didn't seem like a good setup for it. A few minutes before we left, we got another knock on the door, but this time it was more urgent. Somebody was banging with their soul. So I think “alright this HAS to be my luggage this time”. Nope. It was some guy at the wrong cabin. Mannnnnnn! I immediately went and dug out our little cabin door sign to put out so that people could see who was in the cabin and stop knocking on our door looking for people who were not in there. It was uncouth and uncalled for. I told W the next person who knocked on that door without my luggage, was gonna lose whatever they knocked with. And that's on Mary had a little lamb!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We left after that cuz I was annoyed. We got a good spot then W said I should go back to the cabin and get my selfie stick. So I did. Then I stopped at the Sail Away Party on my way back up. It was worse than I thought. I walked around the whole Deck 11 and I did not find a good spot to even snap a decent picture. Glad we didn’t stay for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

When I got back up to W, he went to the other side to take pictures. I started messing with my GoPro, and when I looked up I was surrounded by people. The party let out, and everybody came outside to see us pass the Statue of Liberty.

 

I called W real quick and told him to come back before I had to fight somebody for his spot. He got back and both of us took more pictures and more video like we hadn’t just done this on Saturday. He said the view was much better from the Venezia than it was from the ferry tho. I don’t know. We passed a ferry on the way, and it was a lot closer than we were. I think our height gave us the advantage on the Venezia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We also passed this cool and creepy statue of a woman’s head with her finger pressed to her lips. She looked like she was telling us to hush up. I asked Google what that was about and it said she’s called “Water’s Soul”. Intriguing.

 

This leads me right into my next QQ New Yawk. So first there was the big baby head on the corner now this large lady's head. I'm seeing a pattern here with these heads. What is the reason? The reason is what? 

 

After we passed the statue,  most of the crowd lost interest and moved along. We took a few more pics then we bounced too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We went back to the cabin and my luggage was still M.I.A. I was starting to get concerned. The only thing that gave me peace was the fact that I saw the porter load my bags on the trolley with my own eyes before I walked off.

 

I set about making my notes and they brought my luggage around 5:40. I guess my idea of Priority ain’t their idea of Priority. I started unpacking while W went to find a barstool with his name on it. I had the cabin to myself for awhile. Goodie.

 

I took my time unpacking and organizing. When that was done we just hung out in the cabin and on the balcony until dinner. I charged up my devices and tried to get the last vestiges of a cell signal before I was kicked off of the innanets. W fell asleep watching something on TV. The only reason I didn’t go to sleep was because I can’t sleep sitting at the desk. Not yet.

 

I showered around 7:45. W went in shortly afterwards. All we had to do was walk down to 5 which would take us like 2-3 minutes.

 

We were having dinner at the steakhouse at 8:30. I was torn between the free Merlot or Chardonnay but I got the Chardonnay this time. I didn’t want the volcanos on my throat from the Merlot. W got a Caribbean Passion cocktail which was very good.

 

For starters I ordered the Lobster Bisque, for the entrée I ordered the Filet Mignon, I chose Baked Potato as the side and Cheesecake for the dessert.

 

When the starters arrived, our server Denis broke down the Tuna Tartare for W. He told us the bird’s nest was noodle, the yolk was Japanese orange, and the shell was cream cheese. The green juice in the shot glass was an avocado reduction. I thanked Denis and told him that no one has ever explained that dish to us that way before. I really appreciated that detail. We ate fast and we were out in about an hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

W wanted to do the Comedy Showcase but it didn’t start until 11:15. We went back to the cabin first, then I went to get my water to make my tea. I also got my stuff ready for the next day so I wouldn’t have to do much once we got back to the cabin after the show. The doors opened at 10:45 to the big theater so we didn’t  have to rush. We stopped by and watched the end of the Welcome Aboard After Party then we went into the Teatro Rosso for the comedy showcase.

 

The Comedy Showcase was Honey Bunches of No y'all. The first guy was snooze city. I almost fell asleep instantly. They should market this as a cure for insomnia. The second guy was better. I did laugh a couple of times and I liked the Run DMC that he played in the beginning. Dats it. In any event I fought sleep like Rocky vs Apollo Creed. When it was over we went up to Lido just to see what was popping. They had late night snacks out. I wasn’t hungry but I got a few cookies just in case I got hungry later. First world problems. 

 

After that we returned to the cabin to chillax. We had been watching "Contraband Seized At The Border" on Discovery Channel in the cabin, so we turned it back on when we returned. It was about people smuggling illegal items across the border, and the gag was the different stuff that people try to cross with. That is some dubious work. 

 

It was very foggy and cold out still, and the ship kept blowing the fog horn very loudly. We read a little bit then turned in for the night.

 

Before I fell asleep I said a prayer thanking God for that plexiglass shower door. It was so wonderful not having that cloth one sticking to me and pouring water on the floor. Not ideal. 2 thumbs up and a Cupid Shuffle to whomever decided to install those doors on the Venezia, and can you please do it on the other ships too?!? Amen. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mommapadraig]

Beautiful ship! Could you have W go back and straighten the lamp behind the other lamp in photo 162? See I am paying attention! 

Edited June 19 by Mommapadraig

[ColeThornton]

I'm very much enjoying this review.  Can't remember the last time I actually laughed out loud reading a cruise review.  You have a wonderful way with words.  🙂

[Jelly_Toast]

We have a cruise booked on Venezia next year so I'm very excited for this review and your beautiful photos!