Equinox 10 Night 8/6 Review Part 1

[Podie]

I just returned home and would like to post a review in parts to try to help those about to travel. No photos yet but hopefully this will help someone!

 

My husband and I left Florida on 7/31 with another couple and flew from Orlando to JFK, visited with my brother and his wife, then flew Aer Lingus from JFK to Dublin and then Venice. Althought Equinox sailed from Civitavecchia on 8/6, we flew to Venice to meet up with my Army daughter and her husband who live an hour from Venice.

 

The Aer Lingus flight was nice and short (6 hours) but transferring to the next flight in Dublin was a nightmare! We had 65 minutes and every one of them was taken up by security checkpoints! We bought two coffees after running (literally) to our next flight and then they would not allow us to take them aboard because a passenger had spilled and burned someone with coffee the day before.

 

The two hour flight to Venice was fine although even soft drinks cost money.

 

We arrived in Venice at 9:40 AM on 8/1 feeling pretty good - until our two suitcases didn't arrive! Our friends' suitcases did. I stood in the lost baggage line for 45 minutes mentally rehearsing my Italian but luckily the agent spoke decent English. She could not find a computer record of the luggage and said it most likely never left JFK. This was not goo as we'd each packed only one change of clothing in our carry-ons.

 

The agent said it would most likely be on the next morning's flight or possibly sent right out on JFK arriving that night from Amsterdam or Frankfurt, but she warned that was unlikely. Since we had 9:27 AM train tickets to Rome the next morning, this was definitely not good. I gave her my Italian cell phone number (courtesy of my daughter) and our Venice hotel info for the night, and she told me to call her back before 7 PM just in case.

 

OK, so it was already an hour later but it was a gorgeous day and the water taxi I'd reserved through Venice Link was waiting!

 

I have been to Venice several times but my husband and friends hadn't so I knew a water taxi was a must. The 90 euro price from Venice link was extremely reasonable and for 40 more euro they included a tour of Venice travelling the entire Grand Canal.

 

I heartily recommend this expense! We raced across the lagoon, through Murano, past PIazza San Marco, and then down the entire Grand Canal at a slow pace for pictures. The driver spoke very little English but went out of his way to show us things. It definitely pushed the luggage fiasco out of our heads!

 

The train station area would be my last choice for a hotel normally, but since we were leaving by train the next day and my daughter and her husband (and his uncle) were arriving by train that afternoon, I had booked two standard rooms at Locanda di Orsaria about 200 yards from the train station. At 115 euro each they were more than adequate. The staff was extremely friendly and welcoming and the next morning's breakfast was wonderful. Another hearty recommendation!

 

We walked out of the hotel at about 1 PM and met Jean, Doug, and Uncle Matt coming down the train station steps so the day continued to be wonderful and much beer and wine was consumed along with an excellent lunch at Al Quaranta Ladroni ("Forty Thieves") in that area, which had been recommended on slowtrav.com, a great source.

 

Most of us ate seafood and it was reasonable for Venice. The house wine was awesome as it usually is in Italy, the beer cold, and the service friendly.

 

I should mention at this point that it was very hot by most standards, but being from Florida, we were used to it. It certainly wasn't as humid as Florida. And the canals did not stink as is often reported. There WAS an unbelievable crush of tourists and we will never, EVER travel to Italy in the summer again. We only did it this time because of my daughter's new in-laws who were teachers and could not get any other vacation time. But NEVER again!

 

We went to the train station to change our tickets to Rome for a later time the next day but our tickets were non-refundable and would have cost an additional $400 for the four of us to change them, not to mention additional problems if we didn't arrive in Rome on time to meet our driver from our apartment rental.

 

I called the airport at 6:50 PM and a recorded message told me there was no information available about my luggage. So picking it up that evening, the best possible situation, wouldn't work. We decided to take our train to Rome and our son-in-law, who was due to come to Rome on 8/4, would bring the luggage when he came.

 

So we went to bed our first night worrying about our luggage, but full of wine and beer and completely non-jetlagged. It could be worse.

 

Part 2 to follow.

[CruisinManiac]

This is great! Can't wait to ready Part 2. Hope you find your luggage. :)