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Live From The Ruby Princess Med-T/A 10-19-11

Woobstr112G

By Woobstr112G,
in Princess Cruises

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suzyed

suzyed

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Hello all. DW and I will be leaving early Sunday morning for a two day stay in Venice before we board the Ruby Princess. I decided to start this live from thread a few days early so I could begin to gather questions asked and to report on my observations. I will try and report daily on my activities as long as the ship's internet cooperates.

 

Take care all and have a great day.....:):):)

 

Bob

We did that cruise last year at this time!! It was wonderful!! And of course Venice is just amazing...one of my favorite cities!!

Don't forget to go to the Coop grocery store and pick up some wine to take onboard!!

 

Bon Voyage!!

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5326jan

5326jan

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Bon Voyage to all of you. I will be following this thread as I am booked on the Ruby TA next year. My first cruise on Princess and anxious to know how it went!:D

 

If anyone is staying at the Hotel Antiche Figure, let me know how you liked it.

 

Thanks,

Anne

 

Anne, You will love Antiche Figure! We just stayed there from 9-16 to 9-19. It was awesome and a great location. They are very friendly and it's a good location.

 

Our son and daughter-in-law stayed there for their honeymoon in July and also found the staff to be extremely nice and they upgraded their room for the honeymoon!

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ptrpanpens

ptrpanpens

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Anne, You will love Antiche Figure! We just stayed there from 9-16 to 9-19. It was awesome and a great location. They are very friendly and it's a good location.

 

Our son and daughter-in-law stayed there for their honeymoon in July and also found the staff to be extremely nice and they upgraded their room for the honeymoon!

 

Thanks so much for the feedback. I figured it must be pretty good to be rated 3rd on Tripadvisor! Glad to have a personal recommendation.:) They have been very responsive to my emails and it is in the best location-near the train and cruise ports so no water taxis with luggage!

 

Were you able to drag your luggage there from Piazzale Rome easily over the bridges or should I store my larger suitcase at Piazzale Roma and just take a small roll-on to the hotel for three days. It is not easy for me to limit my packing even though I hope I learned my lesson on the last cruise.

 

Anne

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5326jan

5326jan

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Thanks so much for the feedback. I figured it must be pretty good to be rated 3rd on Tripadvisor! Glad to have a personal recommendation.:) They have been very responsive to my emails and it is in the best location-near the train and cruise ports so no water taxis with luggage!

 

Were you able to drag your luggage there from Piazzale Rome easily over the bridges or should I store my larger suitcase at Piazzale Roma and just take a small roll-on to the hotel for three days. It is not easy for me to limit my packing even though I hope I learned my lesson on the last cruise.

 

Anne

 

Hi Anne, I didn't know there was a place that you could leave luggage at P. Roma, that would be ideal! We each had a large and a carry on size suitcase. We walked straight to the canal and crossed over the bridge in front of Hotel Chiara, which is the taller of the two you have to cross going to AF. There is a smaller bridge near the hotel.

 

We discovered before our return is that there is a longer but lower bridge about 1 block further back from the canal that connects P. Roma to the other side of the smaller canal. Here is a map that will help illustrate what I am talking about. http://maps.venicexplorer.net/pr/proma.php?hlangs=en&brows=ie

 

At the top of P. Roma you will see FDTA S. Chiara, which is where Hotel Chiara is. That bridge (Ped Del Monastero) over Rio Novo is the hardest you have to cross. When we came off the ship there were several "assertive" Italian men at that bridge who would carry your suitcases over for a tip. They don't discuss it, they just grab your suitcase and starting heading up. On the other side, they expect a tip. Personally, I think it's worth a couple Euros to let them do it! Or negotiate the entire trip to the hotel (2 bridges) for 5E. The other option is... looking at the map.... instead of crossing Ped Del Monastero, back track slightly away from the Grand Canal and go over Ped Del Prefetto. That bridge has long low steps and is not as high. You can actually pull your suitcase over that one rather than carry it. It's still a bit of a struggle, but not nearly as bad. Then walk back up to the canal on FDTA Papadopoli. Where you would end up had you crossed the tall bridge. Walk on until you get to the next bridge. It's smaller, but there may be more men at this bridge. Beyond that it's just a half a block or so. The total walking time is less than 10 minutes.

 

Have a great trip!

 

We had decided on the way back to P. Roma, to pay the guys to carry our luggage, but it was raining and there weren't any to be seen. :rolleyes: We used PD Prefetto and did fine.

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ptrpanpens

ptrpanpens

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Hi Anne, I didn't know there was a place that you could leave luggage at P. Roma, that would be ideal! We each had a large and a carry on size suitcase. We walked straight to the canal and crossed over the bridge in front of Hotel Chiara, which is the taller of the two you have to cross going to AF. There is a smaller bridge near the hotel.

 

We discovered before our return is that there is a longer but lower bridge about 1 block further back from the canal that connects P. Roma to the other side of the smaller canal. Here is a map that will help illustrate what I am talking about. http://maps.venicexplorer.net/pr/proma.php?hlangs=en&brows=ie

 

At the top of P. Roma you will see FDTA S. Chiara, which is where Hotel Chiara is. That bridge (Ped Del Monastero) over Rio Novo is the hardest you have to cross. When we came off the ship there were several "assertive" Italian men at that bridge who would carry your suitcases over for a tip. They don't discuss it, they just grab your suitcase and starting heading up. On the other side, they expect a tip. Personally, I think it's worth a couple Euros to let them do it! Or negotiate the entire trip to the hotel (2 bridges) for 5E. The other option is... looking at the map.... instead of crossing Ped Del Monastero, back track slightly away from the Grand Canal and go over Ped Del Prefetto. That bridge has long low steps and is not as high. You can actually pull your suitcase over that one rather than carry it. It's still a bit of a struggle, but not nearly as bad. Then walk back up to the canal on FDTA Papadopoli. Where you would end up had you crossed the tall bridge. Walk on until you get to the next bridge. It's smaller, but there may be more men at this bridge. Beyond that it's just a half a block or so. The total walking time is less than 10 minutes.

 

Have a great trip!

 

We had decided on the way back to P. Roma, to pay the guys to carry our luggage, but it was raining and there weren't any to be seen. :rolleyes: We used PD Prefetto and did fine.

 

Thank you SO MUCH for this detailed description and for providing the map of Venice. I have heard about that bridge from P. Roma! I found the luggage storage location on the map and may just leave my luggage there and get a porter from the hotel to return with me to pick it up. That way I can scope out the area without having to carry anything. The Hotel mentioned that they would provide a porter for that. I don't know if I would want to leave luggage at P. Roma for a few days but a few Hours will probably be OK. I don't mind using the young men either as long as they won't run off with my luggage (but why would they want to? LOL)

 

It is hard work visiting Venice by yourself. The other times I was either on tours or on a cruise so I didn't need to negotiate separately. But thanks again for your information. It was really helpful.:D

 

Anne

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suzyed

suzyed

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Make sure you are out on deck during the sailaway out of Venice...

As you are slowly sail passed all the beauty that is Venice, they play Andrea Bocelli singing "Time to Say Goodbye" It is so moving...not to be missed!! Almost brought tears to my eyes!

So jealous!! Have fun!

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Woobstr112G "Live from...." Rare

Woobstr112G

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Greetings from beautiful Venice Italy. We arrived about 0900 this morning. Our flights from LAX to PHL; then to VCE was fairly uneventful. I had pre arranged a private water taxi so we were wisked right from the airport to our hotel Locanda Orseolo. It was great to see several roll call members here. Seems like we've pretty much got the hotel booked till we board the Ruby on Wednesday.

 

Not sure on how much I'm going to see today as I'm pretty tired from jet lag. Going to rest up a bit and maybe something later.

 

Take Care All.....:):):)

 

Bob

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crusdiva

crusdiva

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Greetings from beautiful Venice Italy. We arrived about 0900 this morning. Our flights from LAX to PHL; then to VCE was fairly uneventful. I had pre arranged a private water taxi so we were wisked right from the airport to our hotel Locanda Orseolo. It was great to see several roll call members here. Seems like we've pretty much got the hotel booked till we board the Ruby on Wednesday.

 

Not sure on how much I'm going to see today as I'm pretty tired from jet lag. Going to rest up a bit and maybe something later.

 

Take Care All.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

Bob,

Thanks for checking in, I'm glad your travel day was uneventful. Rest up and take in the sights tomorrow. I can't wait to follow along. Hugs to you and Holly

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Woobstr112G "Live from...." Rare

Woobstr112G

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Good evening from the beautiful city of Venice. just getting ready to turn in. After we got some rest earlier today we went out walking to decide where to have dinner. We were walking down this side street off St. Marks Square when we stumbled upon the place we had some great pizza three years ago when we cruised on the Emerald. We decided to try it again and once again had some great pizza. After dinner we walked into this Murano glass store across the street. We made a purchase and are having it shipped home. After that we had some gelato as we walked around St. Marks Square. All in all not a bad night. Not sure what's on tap for tomorrow. Might just play it by ear.....:):):)

 

Good night from Venice.....:):):)

 

Bob

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boone2

boone2

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we must have just missed you, walking around San Marco tonight. Weather a little nippy but glorious during the day. We have enjoyed our 3 days here so far and certainly made use of our vaporetta passes.

Terry

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