SOShrink

Hey, Fran, I think we had Daniel as our CD years ago on the same trip. Is he German and studied in the States (Chicago I think)? He was very knowledgeable about East Germany and the "Cold War", etc.

Very funny, Jazz (especially since I live 10 miles from Disney!). Seriously, before I finish my day-by-day post, can someone tell me how to add photos here? My pictures are on my iPad. Thanks

So here is the last day (Sat.) of the cruise which will be spent completely in Venice docked in the more convenient Setti Martiri location until 11 pm when the ship will make its final sad short trip along the San Marco and Giudecca Canals to dock at Marittima where we will disembark the next morning.

At 8:30 we onced again hopped onto motor boats and went up the Grand Canal for the included excursion "Do as the locals do": Venice Rialto market tour. Just taking those boats up the Grand Canal enjoying the view and snapping pictures was worth it alone. We were accompanied by one of the chefs from the ship who shopped along with many locals buying that night's dinner. It was fun to watch our chef holding up a live octopus and haggling the price in Italian with the vendor. I think the poor creature ended up in our ceviche that night! This fish and produce market had the freshest most colorful vegetables and spices we have ever seen including humongous white asparagus. After an hour or so at the market, we went to a trattoria near the Rialto Bridge and were given glasses of Prosecco with little salt cod, prosciutto and olive snacks.

After the tour, some of us took a gondola ride arranged ahead of time by the cruise director which is charged to your room (convenient). I wasn't as thrilled with the gondola ride as I felt it was too touristy with one boat following the other (I felt like I was at Disney!). You're better off trying to do this on your own in a more remote area at night. But if you're in a time constraint then what we did was fine since it was our last day. We were then able to enjoy our final motor boat ride back to the River Countess for lunch.

I also want to mention that they offered the optional Venetian Painters in the Accademia tour the same morning as the Rialto Market tour. I'm not sure why they couldn't have the Accademia Tour in the afternoon so folks could do the market and the museum but then again they could have gone to the museum on their own in the afternoon.

I will post again on the final afternoon and evening...

So once again we find ourselves docked in Venice and today everyone goes to Verona (one group left earlier since they were going to Verona in the morning and the Valpolicella Wine tasting excursion in the afternoon and the rest were spending the entire day in Verona. Verona is a magnificent city and shouldn't be missed. From where the bus drops you off, you walk across the bridge over the Adige River which intersects the city. You will pass Juliet's balcony and the guide gives you 15 min to pop in for pictures and rub the bronze breast of Juliet's statue so you too can find love! (It's sick, but you know you'll do it!). But the main draw of Verona is the famous square (Piazza Bra) where the famous Arena is located. The guide takes you in and gives the history (wouldn't it be amazing to see Aida here with the outdoor Triumphant March and locals singing along). There was a Friday Market going in the square the day we were there and you could taste samples of cheese, salami, prosciutto and olives all afternoon! It was one of the highlights of the trip.

The next day also involved a choice: full day to Ravenna (city of mosaics) or a more laid-back half-day to Chioggia with seafood lunch (don't worry....plenty of options for those that don't eat seafood! I actually ran into a woman that wasn't going to Chiggia because she doesn't eat seafood. Did you really think Uniworld wouldn't know that a few individuals don't eat seafood? And did you really think you couldn't grab pizza or something on your own if you had to? Passengers going to Ravenna left Polesella at 9 AM and would meet the ship at the end of the day in Chioggia. Ravenna is a lovely town with a nice square (Piazza del Popolo) and great ice cream (the things I remember!). But the main reason for going is to see the magnificent mosaics at the Basilica of San Vitale and the Basislica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo as well as Dante's tomb (Sepolchro die Dante).

The Chioggia passengers stayed on until 11:30 and got off the ship at Taglio di Po for the quick trip to Chioggia. This is another instance where all passengers had to disembark due to the Maritime law during the Adriatic Sea Passage. Chioggia is a typical fishing village and has a wholesale outdoor market along the main thoroughfare every Thursday (which is when we were there) and a daily fish market along the canal. You can also take a 20 min walk to Sottomarina, a beach area that some of the crew members like to hang out when they have free time there. There is a Vaporetto stop here (coming from Lido) and you can see why this place make a great weekend getaway for Venetians.

So my overall conclusion is that if you had to sacrifice one of the cities in order to enjoy Chioggia, you could probably miss Ravenna since you can see mosaics elsewhere although not as dramatic. As mentioned before, many chose the shorter day in Chioggia after the long previous day in Bologna or Ferrara, but it all depends on your personal choice.....

Sorry this is taking so long, but I only have time to do this in segments. So now we are about halfway through this trip (Wednesday) and we are docked in Polesella and have to make a very difficult choice between Bologna and Ferrara (much like choosing between Salzburg or Cesky Krumlov on a Danube trip). We chose Ferrara and it ended up being my favorite City of this trip, but I'll never know since I didn't go to Bologna. One thing I liked about the Ferrara choice was the option of returning at the end of the tour at 12:30 or returning on later shuttles at 3pm or 5pm. You could even return for lunch and come back to Ferrara at 2pm. Very civilized. It was a sheer joy walking around Ferrara, which was not laden with tourists but has major sights as well as local residents going about their business (strollers, bicyclists, students, gelaterias, palaces, castles, museums, and magnificent walls, etc.). There are many fine inexpensive restaurants and outdoor cafes so you can easily spend the day here and return on the 5 pm). After all, this is where legendary filmmaker Antonioni lived.......

But I also heard raves about Bologna from other guests. Believe it or not, despite its cultural jewels and amazing squares and architecture, I mostly heard raves about the pasta making demonstration and participation at the Bolognese lunch! We were very sorry to have missed Bologna. Maybe someday they'll figure out a way for people to see both....

The next day was choice between the small fishing village of Chioggia (pronounced Chojah!) or a full day excursion to Padua. The bottom line is that if you plan on skipping Ravenna later in the week, they will have a more extensive day at Chioggia then. Many people skipped Ravenna for a laid back day in Chioggia because they were tired from the long day before in Bologna. If you attend the daily talks with the cruise manager, she will explain the details and show slides that should help you make your choices. There are always passengers aboard that have been to these places who can offer advice. We left Venice that morning and sailed along the Venetian Lagoon to Chioggia. Then it was everybody off since they were going out into the Adriatic in order to enter the Po River to dock overnight in Polesella. Everybody enjoyed Padua with its well-preserved downtown area, St. Anthony's Basilica, and especially the University founded in 1222. Galileo taught here and there is the Teatro Anatomico with the spiral viewing gallery that allowed the medical students to witness human dissections. The visit was made more memorable by passing by several graduations that were being celebrated that day. After supper, if you have any energy, you are docked 1 block from the center of Polesella which is a small commune or municipality in the Rovigo Province with a few interesting buildings but really just an excuse to get some evening air and see a tiny Italian town.....

As mentioned above, we had an early dinner buffet at 5:15 in order to be ready for the 6:45 sojourn to St. Mark's Basilica. They had about 6 or 7 motor boats arriving one after the other to take about 10 passengers each for the ten minute ride to St. Mark's Square (hats off to Uniworld for doing this in such a timely and organized manner). There was excitement in the air! After all, we were traveling along the Venetian shore in a private boat to an exclusive after-hour visit to one of the world's most famous churches! Once inside we were seated in the pews to hear a lecture of what we were seeing by the same English historian from the afternoon art tour. iIt takes a while to pick out all the details of the mosaics and paintings on the walls, ceilings and even floors. Much of the treasure was brought from Constantinople and there is definitely a feeling of East meets West. But the highlight of the tour was when they illuminated the Pala d'Oro, the altarpiece created by medieval goldsmiths and made up of 250 panels adorned with enamels and precious stones. We turned to each other and said, "really?"....mankind created this in the 10th century? With all our technology today, will we ever be able to once again create anything so magnificent.....

After the tour, you could stay at Piazza San Marco or walk back to the ship (20 minute walk along the water). The Puccini gentle walkers took the motor boat back. And don't think that you can suddenly become a Puccini person just cause you're too lazy to walk back! They have the boats reserved ahead of time for only a certain amount of people. If you really can't walk back, the ship is docked only 2 stops away on the no. 1 vaporetto. The tour ended around 8:15 which was enough time for us to make an 8:30 opera (La Traviata) at the Palazzo a Musica (talking about a long first day!). One piece of advice I have about this tour, is try to read up on the Basilica ahead of time (Rick Steves will do) so you can get more out of it and know what you're seeing. Once in awhile I either couldn't hear or understand the lecturer or was distracted and there is so much to see and so much history to fathom. Either way, it will be an unforgettable experience! More to follow....

This will be Day two's (Monday) review. So, as mentioned above, the ship had moved the previous evening to a more scenic location (Riva Sette Martiri) and there was a 9 AM walking tour from the dock through some of the back alleys and squares of Castello to St. Mark's Square. It was a nice touch to have the groups named after opera composers, i.e. faster walkers in the Verdi group and gentle walkers were the Puccini group. All groups went everywhere at their own pace (sometimes the Puccini walkers were ahead of us!). We were given a thorough tour of the Doge's Palace including the inside chambers where you can see masterpieces by Titian and Veronese, and even Tintoretto's Paradise. We also walked across the Bridge of Sighs leading to the former city prison. The afternoon was on your own but several of us went on the optional excursion to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and Frari Church (next door) with an art historian (from England). The Tintorettos, Donatellos, Titians, etc. were amazing, but many were surprised that these were churches, not museums, and I think a tour such as this is meant for those truly interested in art history since at times, it could get boring especially if you're still under the influence of jet lag! I did like the fact that our small group was taken by private motor boats up the Grand Canal and into the San Polo district docking close to the Churches giving us a glimpse of a different district of Venice. This was a long day (thank God the cappuccino machine wasn't broken!) about to get longer that night for the Venetian Serenata to St. Mark's Basilica, which will be described at another time.

And thank you for your SS Catherine Burgundy and Provence review which I really enjoyed particularly when you started out with free rail at the RER! We are strongly considering the Tulips and Windmills trip on the new SS Maria Theresa next year which is supposed to be a stunning vessel in case anyone is interested.

It opened around ten years ago and is right next to the Brandenburg Gate. It's a very controversial memorial unlike anything you have ever seen before.

I promised a Day-by-Day synopsis of this trip so I will get the first few days accomplished. I am glad to say that Marco Polo Airport was a pleasure and vastly improved from the chaos we experienced years ago. There was no problem with Uniworld's shuttle to the dock and it was interesting to drive through Mestre and then cross the long Ponte Della Liberta railway bridge into the sharply contrasting Venice. If you arrive early, you have the rest of the day to explore. The ship was waiting for us at the Santa Marta dock but was to move at 8 pm that evening to Riva Setti Martiri much closer to St. Mark's. This was a bit interesting for us since we had tickets to a concert that night at La Fenice, the famous opera house. Therefore, after the concert, we actually returned to the ship in a different location of Venice (very easy to locate as the Martiri location is a straight shot from Piazza San Marco). The next day was a full day in Venice which included the much anticipated evening opening of St. Mark's Basilica. Will continue tomorrow (a domani)....

Cole, I understand what you mean about the post WWII and "Cold War" reconstruction. But I think that's what sets Berlin apart from other cities. I found the stark architecture and huge residential tower blocks and apartments on Karl-Marx-Allee fascinating. But I do agree that some neighborhoods did remind me of Brooklyn where I grew up years ago. I would agree that the ugly exterior of the Stasi Headquarters lacks the charm of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, but I think it captures the terror that Berlin went through in recent history. Even the Holocaust Denkmal Memorial is an undulating field of concrete slabs...

Disappointed with Berlin? I've never heard that before! I think the trick to seeing Berlin is get there a day or two early and go on a good walking, biking or Segway tour or a specialty tour like Cold War, Third Reich, etc. There are so many neighborhoods to explore as well. And what about Museum Island with the Pergamon and other museums? What about Gendarmenmarkt, one of the most beautiful squares in Europe? I do agree that the bus tours offered in such places as Berlin, Prague and even Budapest are highly limiting and passing by a beautiful monument or opera house is not the same as exploring it. I also appreciate that everyone is entitled to an opinion, and I was just offering mine. We went on Viking's Elegant Elbe several years ago, which out of my 6 or 7 River cruises, still remains the most memorable. I forget how the coffee was on Viking, but I can tell you Uniworld's coffee is good and of course, don't get me started about their free cappuccino machines......

Los Pepes, I know Uniworld has no say in the matter but it was still a minor inconvenience to some passengers and even some crew members who had to disembark when they wanted to stay on board. Please try to get a balcony. It was great to look out and see the Salute Church and mouth of the Grand Canal in the distance or to watch the endless array of boats going by. Sometimes you just want to relax in your room rather than go to the lounge or upper deck and it's nice having that French balcony. It's worth the extra money in my opinion.

Jazzbeau, yes, we absolutely visited St. Mark's Basilica on the second evening of the trip. It was very special having it to ourselves especially seeing the Golden Altarpiece (Pala d'Oro) up close, along with the mosaics, marble and other oriental treasures.

Papa, I looked up this trip for 2016 and it looks exactly the same. Even if they do away with the Po River altogether I don't think it will make one bit of difference since we only stopped at Porto Viro (Taglio di Po) and Polesella to get on or off the ship or to dock overnight. We walked into the very tiny village of Polesella after supper and we were the only living things on the Main Street except for a very friendly stray cat! It was like being on the set of a movie. That experience will be as memorable to us as any other aspect of the trip. But if they were to only go around the Lagoon and stop at Lido or Pellestrina, or spend more time in Chioggia or perhaps visit Murano, Burano and Torcello, that wouldn't be so bad. You would still get to go to Ravenna, Ferrara, Verona, Padua and Bologna. This would be a good time to say that there has been some chatter about the bus rides. The rides were generally 30 to 60 min with Bologna a little longer. The scenery, while not spectacular, was certainly interesting and the guides gave commentary and answered questions along the way. There were ample bathroom stops also.

My main frustration with this trip was having to disembark on two separate occasions when the ship was going to enter the Adriatic Sea. Do they really think we are going to sink like the Costa Concordia? My other criticism which I have already mentioned was having Bologna and Ferrera on the same day and also having the Accademia Art Museum tour the same morning as the Rialto Fish Market walk. I also felt they could have done a better job accommodating those guests who wanted to squeeze in the Giotto Frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel which is not included in the Padua tour. If they could arrange the Valpolicella Wine Country Tour in Verona, they could have charged extra and arranged for this option. These are very minor constructive criticisms which I mentioned to give fair balance to my overly enthusiastic support of this trip....

It's true, this trip lacks the dramatic castles of the Rhine or the rolling hills and vineyards of the Moselle...but you would be hard pressed to find anything more splendid than the view of the Grand Canal at dusk or the view toward St. Mark's Square as the ship sails by at sunset. Do you know how expensive water taxis are? Like 30 to 60 euros a ride....but Uniworld uses them for us free of charge for every excursion in Venice. On our last day, they offer a "do as the locals do" sojourn to the Rialto Fish Market accompanied by the chef. So there we were, watching him argue in Italian holding up a live octopus to be used in that night's salad! But then the ultimate high was taking the water taxi back to the ship standing up in the back of the motorboat all the way down the Grand Canal snapping my best photos. Even while the River Countess was docked one never tired of going up on deck and seeing the mouth of the Grand Canal and the Santa Maria Della Salute Church across the way. And the day we sailed back to Venice from Chioggia, we sailed right by the islands in the Venetian Lagoon such as Pellestrina, the island that separates the lagoon from the Adriatic, and The Lido with its beaches and multicolored wooden homes and docks. We passed school kids playing and waving to us, locals walking dogs, laundry being hung outside, etc....a real intimate slice of Italian life. Talk about scenery? Then you return to Venice which you now consider home and walk off the ship after supper to explore narrow alleys, small squares and get lost walking along unknown canals with yet more laundry hung up (I don't know why so many of us couldn't take enough photos of this like we had never seen it before!). I hadn't seen it since visiting my grandmother in Brighton Beach 50 years ago). The front desk provides us nice maps with clear delineation of where they are docked so you won't be lost for long. We found the locals (even the brash looking teenagers hanging out on the canal steps), to be extremely patient and helpful to us obviously befuddled tourists!

I just want to conclude this section by saying that rather than casually getting to know many destinations which is so often the case on other River cruises, you get to know one place well (Venice and the Veneto) which is one way of looking at it. More to follow including day to day which I haven't gotten to yet.

One thing that sticks out in my mind about this trip is that no matter how much research I put into this trip, it was still difficult to choose between Bologna and Ferrara, or Ravenna and Chioggia, or even how to spend the most productive day in Venice within the confines of Uniworld's tours, etc. Again, nothing you haven't experienced on other River cruises as well. I used to scoff at going to the pre-dinner port talks given by the cruise director, but you will find these very helpful in making your decisions and knowing the different options and coming up with a rational game plan. I have to say we had a top notch cruise director, a dynamic Italian young woman named Gyongyi (pronounced JohnG). I hope you guys get her on your upcoming cruises.

JP, give my regards to the Adirondacks! I spent my summers growing up in Schroon Lake. Some of the nicest scenery in the world up there....

We just returned last week from Uniworld's 8-day Venice and the Gems of Northern Italy adventure and before attempting to give a day-by-day synopsis, I wanted to give some overall impressions. First of all, many thanks to Roaming Kiwis and many others whose prior posts were very helpful. This was our 7th river cruise, and it was quite unique in many aspects. You are docked in Venice 5 out of the 7 nights but it was never boring because we docked either at The San Basilio dock area along the Giudecca Canal closer to the Marittima Port in the Dorsoduro district or at the Riva Sette Martiri along the San Marco Canal in the Castello district closer to Piazza San Marco. When the captain came into port at the end of the day or switched docking areas, we were treated to views along the Giudecca Canal always passing St Mark's Plaza with its Campanile, Basilica, Doge's Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. On the last night, the captain waited for everyone to return on board from their last day in Venice and at 11 PM set sail for the final 10 minute sojourn down the Giudecca from the Martiri dock to the Port where it would be convenient for the airport transportation and closer to the train and bus stations for those going off on their own the next morning. It all seems confusing and intimidating, but it makes sense when you are doing it and it offers a unique opportunity to explore and really get to know Venice if you are willing to get off the ship and explore the local neighborhoods. This was a most memorable trip, but I wouldn't necessarily want this to be my first river cruise....Much more to follow!

Papa, be careful what you asked for! Yes, indeed, I plan on posting a detailed description of the Venice cruise as soon as I catch up. Despite all the descriptions and details, you will still need to make some major decisions along the way about where you want to spend the day and I will try to be fair-balanced about our experience and feedback we heard from others on board...

Our one hour massage was 65 euros and they also have half hour sessions (foot and hand or shoulder, neck and backchair massages) for 49 I believe. You do not need to tip ANYBODY including the Wellness/fitness/massage therapist. One idea that we have done to show appreciation instead of giving money, is to bring items from your home town they may enjoy getting. We gave Trader Joe's tote bags from LA and NY to some of the ladies, a Jets cap to one of the guys, who was a sports fan, etc. which was more personal and different. We also gave money in certain rare instances, but I'm afraid all us well-meaning folks are going to start an unnecessary trend. I did observe that several passengers can't survive without tipping extra even in the face of mediocre service and the all-inclusive situation and it simply defeats the whole purpose.

I promised that I would get back to this post when I returned from my Gems of Italy Uniworld "all-inclusive" trip. So, the bottom line is that the all-inclusive (whatever people choose it to mean) was nice in that it prevented the tip frenzy that usually occurs at the end of a trip. Yes, people drank more but not inappropriately. It was nice to have a Margarita one afternoon on board or the occasional Sambuca liquor in the evening, etc. without worrying about the cost. The complimentary liquor, beer and wine selection were excellent and not just cheap well-brands. We walked off the ship only being charged for 2 art historian optional excursions, 2 gondola rides charged to our room (very convenient) and 2 massages. Overall I felt that most of the staff were awesome despite the pre-paid tips. It wasn't out of the ordinary to see some crew given extra tips when they went out of their way like the waiter who went back and forth from the upper deck to the lounge to get people drinks and appetizers but he didn't appear to expect it and was genuinely moved by receiving it. I had to practically beg and plead with the massage therapist to accept a small token of appreciation for a job well-done. It was also nice not to worry about the tour leaders and bus drivers who were well-compensated by the cruise line and didn't even wait around for tips at the end of the tours. So, I am happy to report that I was one of the skeptics about the "all-inclusive" system, but I admit I was wrong!

If someone happens to need a wheelchair at the last minute or if their arthritis or fibromyalgia is flaring up one morning, do the river cruises have wheelchairs on board to borrow? I realize a wheelchair would be challenging on the cobblestone inclining streets, but you never know when one might come in handy and yet it's not worth bringing one from home.

Steamboats, you bring up a good point about docking in Venice. They probably can't dock all three of their nights in Venice at the more desirable Riva Sette Martiri because they need access to vehicles (busses, deliveries, etc.) at least some of the time. As far as harbor, port or dock masters go, I hope they berth us based on availability, weather, delays, schedule and things like that rather than being in a bad mood, getting into arguments with the captain or "favoring" one cruise line over another. I, for one, will be bringing champagne and gifts to bestow upon my dock master and pilot! Please, if you happen to be a harbor pilot by profession, I am just joking and trying to have some fun with this issue. As Hoyaheel says: "c'est la vie"!

I have brought this issue up elsewhere but I thought it would make an interesting discussion. Who decides where a ship will dock? In this age of advanced travel information and engineering, why is it so hard for a cruise line to be able to know well in advance where it will be docking? Why does Viking get to dock closer to the Eiffel Tower than Uniworld, for example? Why does Uniworld have to dock in 3 different locations in Venice (only one of which is conveniently located near Pizza San Marco)? I'm sorry but there is no reason that a small river vessel has to dock at the cruise ship terminal (Marittima). The beauty of river cruising for me has always been the ability to be docked in town if the river goes there (not always the case as in Nuremberg and Vienna, etc.). If it's a matter of cost, I'd rather pay more for convenient docking than all-inclusive alcohol). I know this a naïve question that may even upset seriously experienced cruisers, but I can't imagine after all these years that the system has not improved. I am not complaining and will continue to river cruise every year and travel into town no matter where we dock, but I am trying to improve our understanding of how it works.