Anyone having gone on the Uniworld Milan and Northern Italy??

Looks very enticing! Appears there are some same slot tours that look good. Like the mussel harvesting vs the Padua walking tour. In Venice the art tour vs the do and the locals do. Any ideas? thanks...

Rick

Looks very enticing! Appears there are some same slot tours that look good. Like the mussel harvesting vs the Padua walking tour. In Venice the art tour vs the do and the locals do. Any ideas? thanks...

Rick

Rick,

I did "part" of this itinerary, its inaugural season, when it was called Venice and the Po River. We didn't go to Milan. The Padua walking tour was one of our included excursions, and there were two options. One went to two churches, and one did more of a walking tour of the city. Both went to the Scrovegni Chapel. The day we were there was market day, so we enjoyed feeling like a local. I can't comment on the mussel harvesting, but will say that we LOVED our impromptu stop in Chioggia. We were unable to sail the Po, due to low water, so ended up docked in Chioggia for 2-3 nights, and were bussed to places from there. We opted to skip the long bus ride to Bologna, and spent the day in Chioggia, went to the beach, visited the market.....it was a great DIY day.

On our cruise (pre-all inclusive days) the Art tour was additional, and no one chose it, so can't comment. The "do as the locals do" was similar to the walking discovery tour, at least on our cruise, as described by our CD, so we explored on our own that day.

With regard to the ship, it is one of the older ships, but beautiful. We were there over Labor Day, and the weather was in the high 70's/low 80's and sunny every day. The weather was so perfect that we ended up eating on the top deck, every night. The Osteria served freshly baked pizza/fresh vegetables/salads/prosciutto every night, and we had the option to order from the dining room as well. On a couple of nights, we were the only ones there. It was quite an experience to have our own al fresco private dining venue while sailing the Venetian Lagoon.

I know SOShrink and Brian (can't think of his username) have done this cruise more recently, so maybe they'll chime in.

I will say, this isn't your typical "river cruise" and involves more bussing than others.

Robin

Papa B Me??

Papa B Me??

Yes! Thanks, JP:D

Robin

Rick,

We did this cruise last June. My day to day review is currently on page 2 of this board.

This was a great trip. We did find that we were consistently offered two excursions at the same time that both seemed interesting. I do remember we chose not to do the Mussel harvesting and chose the Chioggia bike tour instead. That was really one of the best tours. Those we spoke to who went on the Mussel harvesting said it was ok but not great. We also ended up with two days in Chioggia as the water on the Po was too low to navigate as it often is. Chioggia was a fun place with a huge market. They set it up early in the morning then it is torn down by noon.

The art tour was cancelled on our trip due to lack of interest as well. If memory serves we did the do as the locals tour with the chef in Venice as he shopped for produce, fish etc...that he prepared later that evening for dinner options. We were able to sample several things in the market and I believe this is the same tour that Uniworld provided Vaporettos to take us through the Grand Canal to the market. We chose to walk back to the ship on our own and got a little lost on the way back, But how lost can you get since you are on an island. Was one of our favorite afternoons experiencing real Venice on all the back streets and canals.

There were so many experiences Unworld provided that you could wouldn't experience on your own in Venice. The night time to St Marks with the historian and lighting was quite special. They also had the historian on the ship several times as we sailed the Lagoon providing commentary.

We really enjoyed the Milan pre cruise part of the trip. It was close to 100 degrees when we were there. The guides reworked the route when walking to keep us in the Shade as much as possible. They provided a bus for very short distances whenever possible and kept it cool all the time and the cruise director kept showing up on a bike with a basket of waters. These type of things make it hard for me to consider another line other then Uniworld. Also the stop at Dantes family winery on the way to Venice for lunch and wine tasting was fantastic.

I regretted not taking the post cruise tour to Rome and Florence. We are going to Rome for 3 nights in August on our way back to Venice to board a Silversea ship to cruise the Adriatic. As much time as we spent in Venice last year I'm looking forward to wandering the streets again with no plans or purpose.

Great trip. I encourage you to go as long as your ok that its not a river cruise at all. But it was a great way to visit Venice and the surrounding islands

thank you..that was great...!

Rick