Our Mediterranean Star Princess Cruise Experiences - Part 2

[Jeller]

Part 2 Continued

 

Venice: Here we had decided that we could see the city on our own. I had called from home and made reservations for the Secret Itineraries Tour of the Doge’s Palace for 12.5 euros. That is the way to do it if you are interested. It is worth while. The phone number to call from the US is 011-39-041-520-9070. Well, here our luck on the weather finally ran out. We had had great weather for 20 days, but as we cruised into the docking at Venice, it began to rain--we were up on the top deck of the ship, which is where you want to be as you come into Venice quite early in the morning. After we docked we found our umbrellas and headed into town. From where the Star Princess was docked it was a 15 minute or less walk to the Piazza San Marco and the Doge’s Palace. The Star Princess actually docked just before the beginning of the Grand Canal—it was a prime location, like being “parked” in the middle of the city! We disembarked from the ship and proceeded to walk to the Piazza San Marco—crossing about 6 little bridges. We later learned that the vaporetti makes a stop one bridge behind our ship. The rain let up for a while. After the secret tour of the palace that lasted about one and half hours, you will want to spend another hour visiting the main areas of the palace that the other people see – no extra cost. We then decided to take a ride on the Grand Canal up and back on a vaporetti. Use either boat #1 (slow ride, due to more stops—you can see more) or #82 (faster ride, due to fewer stops). Buy a round trip ticket that you can uses for a couple of hours. The ride is very interesting and an easy way to see part of Venice. On the way back it started to pour in earnest and did not look like it was going to let up, so the hard to make decision to give up the evening gondola ride (with music) was made, and we returned to the ship around 3 pm. We were all pretty wet in spite of the umbrellas. But it was a great experience, some good pictures, and many happy memories of Venice and the entire land and cruise vacation. At 9 pm. our ship was relocated to the port/pier area where other cruise ships and freighters docked, and it was from here that we disembarked the next morning.

 

Toilets, Loos, WC--or Restrooms as we call them. Having read about various experiences, we had packed 7 half rolls of toilet paper when we left home. That is how many rolls we brought home! Other than one or two places that did not have seats, my wife and daughter thought that toilets were no problem, once you found out how to flush them. They felt the rest rooms were easily on a par with comparable locations in the US. Some were quite luxurious with extensive use of marble, etc., and all were very clean.

 

Weather: The temps were cooler and the humidity was less than we had anticipated—we are from Florida and had expected comparable temps & humidity. That’s not to say it was cool—it just wasn’t as hot as home! Still, the sun was very intense.

 

Money: Again it was never a problem. There are ATMs everywhere if you need euros. Just have a debit card, make sure your bank knows you will be in Europe using it, and be sure the limit per day that the bank allows is sufficient for your needs. You can use a credit card for your gift shopping, etc. In Turkey, they want to be paid in dollars. We took extra dollars for emergency use, but no traveler checks.

 

An observation: Europe is not handicapped friendly and not like here at home. There are always a LOT of steps, whether you are crossing a canal in Venice (they are everywhere), or touring a palace or castle, or using the underground transportation in London or Paris. Elevators are scarce, not operating, or non-existent!

 

My lesson on books: I had booked a round trip flight from Orlando to London on Virgin Atlantic as that seemed to be the best fare. No problem on luggage weight. But to get from Venice back to London, I had booked a flight on EasyJet. They had great one way fares, but what you save on the fare, you give back on excess weight charges. You are allowed one small carry on and another bag of 40 pounds, I think. We were not even close! I think I paid 6 euros for every 1kg over weight. Leave your books at home--we could have left a few clothes also!

Just take the Rick Steves book with you.

 

I have not said anything about the Star Princess. It is a beautiful 2600 passenger ship—probably the loveliest ship (of 8 or 9) we have been on. We were satisfied with everything. We used personal choice dining which met our schedule the best. It took us several nights to get a dinner table where we felt the service was excellent, and then we reserved that table every night. The entertainment quality was a little less than what we had seen on other Princess ships.

 

I hope this summary might be of some help to you. We had a wonderful time researching and gathering this information for you!!!!

[BJS]

Thank you for the great reviews. We leave the end of August.

[NEW YORK LADY2]

What a wonderful review. This is the type of info we like to read and what has been a hallmark on the Cruise Critic Boards in the past. Keep up the good work. We go next June on the Grand Princess and this board has been a wealth of information and when we return from our cruise we, too, will post a review with the hopes of helping others.

 

Jackie