stickyshocker

How old are your kids? Will they (and you) be "Europed out" after Venice and the cruise and Amsterdam and unable to appreciate another major tourist city? I don't know where your cruise is going, but you've got a very respectable itinerary already, and you would risk making the common mistake of wanting to squeeze too much into one European vacation.

 

Paris is nice, but it will still be there two years from now. (Well, hopefully…)

Kids are 7 & 8 .. Cruisin to Greek Isles w/c also included a stop in Kotor.. We had a taste of this travel style last October wherein we flew from NY, spent days in Florida then to Oasis then post cruise at Niagara Falls and were left wanting for more.. But its hard to tell, this is Europe.

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There is also the atmosphere which makes us enjoy walkiing for miles within the city..

 

 

 

Hank

This inadvertently made me entertain the thought of dedicating a week trip to Paris in the future instead. I always thought of it as a "selfie destination", but if it somehow comes close to matching the atmosphere in Japan and Cuba then i will start paying attention to it..

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I got plans and cruises penciled in for the next two years, none of them in Europe so i guess i wont hear the end of this(DW wants it) for the next two years.

Pros:

- Impossible to find a flight from Toronto to Paris for $300 pp

- Paris the icing on the cake

Cons:

- Only lasts for 3 days with one of them as recovery from a long flight.

- Smorgasbord of airlines just to keep my original itinerary.

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I appreciate all the infos.

I forgot to mention that it would be a 3 days stop to Paris.

We are on KLM right now versus WoW,Aer Lingus,Icelandair,Easyjet or AF if we found ourselves altering our itinerary.

Paris 3 days for $1200 is the puzzle right now, on a different angle that amount is cheaper if ever we decided to visit Paris on a separate trip... The special fare wont last long anyway, i just don't want to kick myself when this bonanza is gone. But then again its 3 days and its $1200.. *I need a coffee* lol

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We are a family of 4 cruising out of Venice on October and flights are already booked. Flying into Venice 2 days pre cruise and out of Amsterdam post cruise. Wife and i are debating on whether we should add Paris on our itinerary, the only catch of course is to cancel/change our flight and pay the penalty. It just so happen that i found a good price on multi city flights from cdg-vce-ams and back home... So would you do it?.. Thanks

ps: never been to Paris

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Uber XL.. most i paid is $19 because i gave the driver a $5 tip during the embarkation rush hour.

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After lunch and a beer we wondered to the Don Quijote (aka Donki) store. Donki is a multi-story weird shopping store with everything from kitschy items to designer handbags that were slightly used, electronics, toys, perfumes and other weird things. We didn’t buy anything, but it was a fascinating experience, a cross between an Army Surplus store and a street market.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. I was wonderin' if you can still recall the prices of some surplus designer handbags, I once scored an authentic slightly used Hermes for DW for $250 and am curious if the Japanese have already caught on with the resale value of certain goods.

Both Costa and Thomson used to operate weekly cruises out of Sharm el Sheikh which included both Aqaba and Safaga (the port for Luxor).

 

But both have ceased their Red Sea itineraries due to political / terrorist issues.

 

 

 

Your best bet may be a leg of a world cruise (mebbe Cunard or P&O (UK)) since ships continue to use the Suez Canal and they feel the need to use Red Sea ports.

 

 

 

JB :)

Can taking a leg of a world cruise allow me to only pay for a partial itinerary?..

Thanks for the info, finally i have names of liners to start with.

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Are there (or still)any mass market cruise lines out there that still offers these ports of calls?

Ps: I've only cruised with Royal..

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Just realize that any downline embarkation/debarkation is a bit of a catch 22 - they typically won't give an answer until you have a booking. So you may have to book to find out they won't do it.:rolleyes:

Also interested to find out if partial cruise = partial fare ... May 2 isn't? ..this week is gonna be interesting.

Might be possible, here is the contact info:

 

 

 

]

Thanks BoB! ..That link is heaven sent

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What if I pay the full price and just join the cruise at Aqaba? Will they allow that?

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Basically, they will accept your money, but it is worthless until they exchange it. So if you want, they will charge you the 10%, plus the 3.%, plus a random upcharge to take advantage of you also.

 

 

 

I would exchange a small amount on the fist day, like maybe $50.00 per person, and enjoy the day. Any left over, grab a last minute gift, or just exchange it back, or donate it to some lucky stranger.

Also let me add, sometimes they also have to travel long distances to a black market just to exchange the US, well, least that's what the maid told me when i asked her on our first day if its okay to give her tips in US because the banks were closed at that time. And i recall, when at the bus, they were vending 2 beers for 5 CAD or 5 US.. I bought them with CAD of course.

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Thinking of booking, so how much in USD would a beer and a tee shirt cost?

2-2.75 CUC Bucanero Fuerte Beer.

18-20 CUC Guevara shirts

10-13 CUC any other shirts

.. they're good quality

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As I understand it, the CUP is used by most Cubans--its what they get paid in. The CUC is the hard currency--what foreigners get for their exchange and is worth more than CUPs, but not Cubans, so accepting $ gets a Cuban shop keeper less Cuban currency than an American exchanging $ to CUC. That could explain why some are reluctant to accept US instead of CUCs. But I also thought they were supposedly doing away with the 2 tiered Cuban system. Guess that hasn't fully be implemented.

I see your point, especially if they don't have enough $US and starts handing out CUC's for change. The CUC's at most is more on par with Euro i believe.

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So the Cuban people do not accept American money?

Was just there last week, i ran across a store somewhere in Ciego de Avila and found the prices of soda and cigarettes displayed in CUP,CUC and USD , if i remember it right its 75CUP,2CUC and 2.50 USD for a can of soda. They do accept it but are not always preferred as i was told that when locals try to exchange US at the bank they pay a nominal fee.

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OP though I haven't sailed, i did just returned from a 2 weeks land vacation on Cuba. I exchanged money everywhere and my observation was Bank>Airport>Hotel. The gap between Bank rate vs Hotel is at least 7CUC. There wasn't much of a lineup when i was trading at Havana, the most i saw were three tourists in front of me. Carry a coin purse for the CUC's, they usually ran out of paper bills. Hope this helps.

PS: You need your passport at the bank

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As to the Alilaguna pier at the cruise port, it is still a pretty long walk to most ships (depending on docking position) or to the terminal building normally used for cruises (there are actually several terminal buildings so this can vary).

 

 

Speaking of walking in the port, many of us talk about the wonderful People Mover that connects the P. Roma to the port. But it is quite a hike from the People Mover Port station to the ships or the terminals. There is sometimes a shuttle bus...and sometimes not!

 

Hank

I began to wonder, which one covers a greater distance walking to the cruise terminal, the one from People Mover or the Alilaguna Pier? And I assume that the Water taxi docks at the same pier too no?

I guess staying at SC only saves me one leg of the trip to the cruise ship, comin back is not an issue with me since we're heading straight to the airport and will fly to another city in Europe to spend our post cruise. It's getting clearer now :)

Is there nothing closer to the Santa Lucia train station ? Try the Santa Lucia Hotel. I checked it out for a future stay; but then my party of 2 became 4 adults with a 1 yr old, so I changed to a 2 bedroom apt by the Rialto. Santa Lucia was a simple place, but very clean, b'fast and within a 10 minute walk of PRoma.

 

Also, look at something near an Alilaguna stop. ( Rialto is very convenient)

The Alilaguna orange line would take you from the airport to Venice and blue line to the cruise pier.

http://www.alilaguna.it/en/linea-arancio/map

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/directions/index-alilaguna.htm

 

If you have 2 or 3 nites, look at apts as well.

 

But if all you have are 2 wheeled suitcases and a few backpacks, I think you'll be ok with the Ca D'oro location. I mean you're only walking the equiv of 3 blocks from PRoma to the Grand Canal vap stop. My mother was 80 at her last visit and managed a couple of bridges and the vaporetto.

 

Keep looking!

For some reason this Santa Lucia hotel never showed up in any of the search engines I used, so Thanks for that!..The Alilaguna could be an option too( to the pier) if I can somehow find a way to cross from Ca D'Oro into St.Stae.

Does the Alilaguna service drops you right off by the ship?

Is it possible to walk with luggage from Ca D'Oro to Rialto or to P.Roma?

The dock to the B&B is at Ca D'Oro, and deriving from G maps, I can see us hiring a private water taxi on arrival instead and maybe just improvise on the day of the cruise. Touching on our ability to haul stuff, we've never faced anything like this so it's hard to tell..

$200 a nite?

Why the need to be close to the pier .....Do you have mobility issues? Can't easily manage your luggage? Toddlers ?

I mean we're only talking about a one-time transfer to the pier, so there must be a reason it dictates your lodging.

$200 USD ( or more in my CAD $) cheaper for the total stay, Its just the convenience of not having to transfer twice(taxi+Actv)from the airport and to the pier(Actv+P.Mover) thats makin me keep the SC booking. We have 2 check in luggages and kids ages 7&8. I also found out that family rooms in Santa Chiara are only located at it's classic bldg and doesn't come with a comp breakfast. First time in Venice so i welcome all the inputs on the jam im currently in.

A highly regarded B&B in Cannaregio:

-5/5 on TAdvisor and avg of 9 on others

-$200 cheaper

-Breakfast delivered in-room

-Corner alley in Strada Nouva & 2mins walk from Vaporetto stop.

-Canal View

or Hotel Santa Chiara

-Quadruple room in an annex bldg.

(Garbage bin views)

-No Breakfast

-But close to People Mover

Im booked with these two and

having read the most recent discussion about Hotel SC had brought me the cruise hassle issue.

Would the pros of the B&B good enough to trade convenience to stay pre cruise in Cannaregio?

Ps: 5 months away

Thanks in advance

I forgot to mention, it's $265 for 2 adults and 2 kids.

The DIY cost/bus method as previously mentioned is starting to appeal to me right now.

I have 11 hours to decide before the excursion sales offered by Royal ends, it's called " A Taste of Athens" a 7 hrs tour which includes a narrated coach ride that takes us to Temple of Zeus and the Ancient Olympic stadium and a guided tour at Acropolis plus a few hours of free walk around the city. The cost would be approx. $265 USD.

With so many ports i'm researching plus the Cuba trip that I will take in the next 2 weeks, i'm really off balance right now and could use a little help on deciding if this will be worth $ or if it's somethin that can be achieved doing our own??

Thank you in advance cruise critic, honestly i'm all over the place..