Our Amazing European Adventure! Navigator of the Seas & Norwegian Epic Review w/pics

[ShellDil]

Monday, June 17th, Venice all day!

 

Today is our full day in Venice! On our own! I mentioned that after our afternoon yesterday, we were feeling pretty confident, so would that continue today? We actually were starting to get the hang of this whole European travel thing I think!

 

We got up and ate breakfast at the hotel. It was served in the courtyard. I had some pastries and coffee. I really enjoy this European version of breakfast!

 

We were to meet at the front of the Doge’s Palace at 8:45. We had a full day tour with Dark Rome Tours for both the Secret Itineraries as well as the “Best of Venice”. We’d have a two hour break between the two for lunch. We decided to take advantage of the morning and walk to our meeting spot rather than take the Vaparetto. Megan was however not happy about this. Why would we walk nearly a mile, in the heat at what she considered to be such an early time of day! Unfortunately it made for a long and cranky walk – the whining! Keith and Alex however had become familiar with the winding walkways and bridges and took off on their own and never heard a peep from her. They enjoyed their what seemed to be a sprint, to the Palace!

 

 

We finally arrived, got some water since it was already hot, and we found our guide! I’ll mention here that at some point over the past couple of days, Alex has become more and more European! He now much prefers Acqua with gas! The boy is now a fizzy water drinker. When did this happen? Even now at home, he’s got to have his fizzy water!

 

Anyway, that aside…we were on what I’d call a semi-private tour and our morning tour was the Doge’s Palace Secret Itinerary. This tour we’d have the headphones so we could hear our guide. As I mentioned, the tour was officially with Dark Rome, but once we went into the Palace, we were transferred to a guide who works at the Palace itself. There were about 15 people in our group. Our guide was very, very good. It was a very hot day and the rooms in the secret part of the palace are not air conditioned. So the fact that she held the attention of most of the group in that heat is a testament to her story telling abilities!

 

We started in the main courtyard, which you can only see from the inside of the Palace and she told us the history of the Palace and gave us many details of who the Doge’s were and how they lived.

 

 

 

 

 

Then we went into the Palace itself. You could tell this was one ornate place! Even going up the stairs!

 

 

 

We went into the secret rooms and learned about what they were used for. This was all very interesting. We learned all about Casanova and his time in the prison and his escape. This was probably the most interesting part of the tour. Of course no cameras were allowed most places inside the Doge's Palace, especially in the secret areas.

[ShellDil]

After this area we went to the main parts of the palace and spent a good amount of time looking at HUGE pieces of art. I have to say though by this time much of what our guide said was lost on me, and definitely lost on the kids. I think it was the heat and the length of time standing. I really wanted to enjoy learning about the paintings, but I was fading fast! Now, as much as I wanted to enjoy this part, I was definitely interested in what we were seeing. Keith, Alex and Megan were absolutely miserable by this point though! They were hot and they were bored and most of all they were tired. We were ten days into touring and other than the prisons and torture area, they didn’t care about this tour! Ok – make a note of this mom! We needed Gelato fast! We needed air, we needed outside!

 

 

View from the window of one of the rooms in the palace....they just wanted to feel the breeze, and get out there!

 

Now, the tour was beginning to wrap up, and I will say that the Palace was huge, it was beautiful and I’m sure it had some fascinating art work! There were secret passages and there was so much gold!

 

But now we got to walk across the Bridge of Sighs and see more prison cells.

 

 

 

 

 

This was more like it! Everyone perked right up!

 

 

We thanked our guide and were off to have lunch.

[FreezingInMichigan]

Thanks!! Honestly, anything I can do to help out! :D Here's a picture of the packing cubes we use. And yes, I'm a planner, but each of us have our own colors, so it keeps it easy to find who's clothes are who's!!

 

 

I actually really liked doing my laundry in Rome - made me feel like I was living there, even for just a short time! Sigh...

 

We recently returned from our first Med cruise and I loved packing cubes for that trip. We too each had our own color. I wasn't sharing my gorgeous green... lol We stayed several days pre and post cruise in Barcelona hotels. These exact packing cubes made packing and organizing so much easier. I bought a pack of the multi size rectangles and slims for both my husband and I.

 

This message has been brought to you by your local packing cube junkie. We now return you to your local awesome review. :)

[cruzinlady1947]

Whew.....just got caught up. Started this review the beginning of the month, but had surgery and am now just caught up after getting home.

 

This is an excellent review and I am enjoying the awesome pictures immensely. I will never get to go over there and seeing your pictures and hearing about your trip is the next best thing. Can't wait to see more. Thanks so much for doing this. I know it takes a lot of time from your busy schedule, but I really appreciate it.

 

I too, love the Go Walk shoes. I have a couple pair.

 

Thanks again,

Gwen :)

[ShellDil]

We walked away from St Mark’s Square to find a place off the main path for lunch.

 

However, first Megan and Mimi had a more pressing stop to make - some hats!

 

 

For lunch we aimed for something just a few blocks – not sure if that’s the right term here in Venice – but that’s the idea – away from all of the hub bub- so maybe we could pay a little less and get a little more. We found yet another pizza and pasta place we could sit at. Do you see a theme here with us? That’s what we like and we stuck with it! It was really good – pizza, pasta, prosecco, acqua with gas for Alex and wine and water for the rest of us!

 

 

After lunch we split up for awhile. We had some time before we had to meet for our afternoon portion of the tour. Alex and Keith went to find a candy store they had seen earlier in the day. Alex loves sugary candy and he wanted to get some! Off they went! Mimi and Grandpop left to get some space from the kids and their crankiness! And Megan and I went to get some Gelato. It’s true what they say, it really becomes a fuel to get you through the hot touring days in Italy! Don’t skip it! My new favorite is Limone and Chocolate! The break was just what we needed and we were all ready for Part Two of our tour – the Best Of Venice – again with Dark Rome Tours.

 

 

The first hour of our afternoon tour was a private water taxi tour. It was the six of us and another couple. This was great! It seemed like we went everywhere!

 

 

[ShellDil]

It seemed as though we went through every canal!

 

 

 

 

Our guide told us about so many buildings and the different districts. So much history – you name it, we heard about it!

 

This is even a funeral boat! See the space for the casket!

 

And the ambulance boats - these are the things you may not think about when you have a city totally water based!

 

 

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

We definitely went into the non-touristy areas,

 

 

 

and then we went down the Grand Canal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was my favorite part of the day. It was so relaxing and such a great way to see so much of Venice!

[Tokyo Mom]

Love all the pictures from Venice.

[ShellDil]

Love all the pictures from Venice.

 

Thank you! I'm going through my pictures as I do the review. I haven't even looked at any from the days I haven't written about. But so far the ones from Venice are some of my absolute favorites. Makes me want to go back, just to do some more photography! :D

[highlandshores]

This is so amazing. I spent day after day on Cruise Critic (which I luv) getting info on our upcoming trip. We are doing a 7 day cruise on October 6th out of Rome ending in Monte Carlo. First time in the Med. and totally looking forward to it. We will be in Rome 2 nights prior to sailing and have been trying to figure out how to see the most we can. Like the Vatican tour was 4 hours, then the Coliseum tour was 3 hours. Did not want to spend that much time in each. Seems like we would be spending to much time in just a few areas. So I have decided against that, but still not sure how I am going to get it all done. I like the idea of the food tour. Might do that either the first night or second. Looks like you had some great weather. It looks like beginning of October will be in the low to mid 70's. Was hoping a little warmer, but that is ok. Thank you soooo much for all of this info. Going to make a copy and really read it thru.

[mollyanne]

This is so amazing. I spent day after day on Cruise Critic (which I luv) getting info on our upcoming trip. We are doing a 7 day cruise on October 6th out of Rome ending in Monte Carlo. First time in the Med. and totally looking forward to it. We will be in Rome 2 nights prior to sailing and have been trying to figure out how to see the most we can. Like the Vatican tour was 4 hours, then the Coliseum tour was 3 hours. Did not want to spend that much time in each. Seems like we would be spending to much time in just a few areas. So I have decided against that, but still not sure how I am going to get it all done. I like the idea of the food tour. Might do that either the first night or second. Looks like you had some great weather. It looks like beginning of October will be in the low to mid 70's. Was hoping a little warmer, but that is ok. Thank you soooo much for all of this info. Going to make a copy and really read it thru.

 

I think you will enjoy the lower temps much more - I know I couldn't enjoy any of this dying from the heat!:(

[joand452]

Phew! Caught up!! Loving this review and your photos are absolutely gorgeous! This is definitely a cruise we want to do (all my in-laws are from Italy), just don't know when. Probably after DH retires (in 3 years! Woot!).

 

In the meantime, I'll have to live vicariously through your review.

 

So, tell me, did Venice smell??

[ShellDil]

Phew! Caught up!! Loving this review and your photos are absolutely gorgeous! This is definitely a cruise we want to do (all my in-laws are from Italy), just don't know when. Probably after DH retires (in 3 years! Woot!).

 

In the meantime, I'll have to live vicariously through your review.

 

So, tell me, did Venice smell??

 

Thank you!

 

Ahhhh...the question of Venice smelling!!!! I heard it would too. Here's what my experience was....

 

I didn't think any of the canals had a smell. Or at least none had a bad smell. BUT some of the smaller streets, they definitely did smell. One night when we walked back to our hotel people were putting out their trash for pickup the next morning. That smelled. Also, there were definite places where there was a pee smell. And we saw piles of what I'd assume was dog poop. That smelled. But, that was by far the exception. Overall, I didn't think Venice smelled and it certainly wouldn't be how I would describe it to someone when they asked me about Venice.

 

I have a friend who went a few years ago and when she found out we were going, the first things she said were, "oh, make sure to go to St Marks at night, and Venice smells!". Really??

 

I hope you can take this trip in your future, you'll love it!

[ShellDil]

This is so amazing. I spent day after day on Cruise Critic (which I luv) getting info on our upcoming trip. We are doing a 7 day cruise on October 6th out of Rome ending in Monte Carlo. First time in the Med. and totally looking forward to it. We will be in Rome 2 nights prior to sailing and have been trying to figure out how to see the most we can. Like the Vatican tour was 4 hours, then the Coliseum tour was 3 hours. Did not want to spend that much time in each. Seems like we would be spending to much time in just a few areas. So I have decided against that, but still not sure how I am going to get it all done. I like the idea of the food tour. Might do that either the first night or second. Looks like you had some great weather. It looks like beginning of October will be in the low to mid 70's. Was hoping a little warmer, but that is ok. Thank you soooo much for all of this info. Going to make a copy and really read it thru.

 

Cruise Critic is definitely addicting! But you get tons of information here! Keep in mind that the 3 hours at the Coliseum is probably not all just in the Coliseum. Our tour (which isn't until close to the end of my report - we spend 3 days in Rome after our 2nd cruise) is a Coliseum tour, but it also goes to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. It was really interesting if you are interested in the ruins and Ancient Roman History! We used Walks of Italy for our tours in Rome.

 

Our weather over all was really nice. We did have some very HOT days though, as you'll see when I post about our upcoming day in Florence!

[ShellDil]

After the water taxi tour, we met up with another guide for the walking part of the tour. Again we were given the headsets and we started walking.

 

 

This guide immediately started walking fast! She didn’t say where we were going, but started practically sprinting. It was difficult for my parents to keep up at this point. What could be so urgent to get to? We walked and walked, dodging crowds of people and then we arrived…where you ask? A public WC! Yes, a bathroom, that was apparently our first stop! She now started talking. She said it was hot and she wanted to get out of the sun. This would also be the last time to use a bathroom for some time, so it would be important to go now! I really thought this was a very strange way to start at tour!

 

Ok, so after those who needed to used the facilities, we started walking again – off we went to our first real stop. St Mark’s Basilica. First we went up to the terrace. We spent some time taking in the view of the Piazza and the harbor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we went into the Basilica. The size was just massive. There was a lot of gold leaf and mosaics. No pictures were allowed. Though there were many people taking them!

[ShellDil]

Then we walked around Venice with the guide. She pointed out various important squares (Campos) and sites.

 

 

 

 

 

We made a stop for gelato during the tour.

 

Did I say we stopped for a beer? Ok - to each his own!!

 

All in all, I think during the morning the Secret Itinerary was good and in the afternoon the water taxi was great, but the rest of the tour felt rushed. However it was a great way to get an introduction to Venice given that we only had one full day here. I feel like we definitely got a great feel for this amazing place with this tour!

[ShellDil]

Afterwards we were all pretty wiped out and hot and sweaty. We went back to the hotel to rest up a bit before dinner. Keith, me, mimi and grandpop took our last bottle of wine we had from Rome (yes, we still had one left!) and went out to the courtyard of our hotel and had a little happy hour! It was a great way to relax and enjoy the calmness!

 

 

 

We then walked to another recommended restaurant from our hotel. It was just a short walk and again – you guessed it, pizza and pasta! It was very good.

 

 

[ShellDil]

I really wanted to go to Piazza San Marco at night to get some pictures and Alex wanted some souvenirs, so the two of us made the trek again, while everyone else went back to the hotel. We had a nice walk, although with him, it’s never what I’d call a stroll! It was a fast pace! When it’s just the two of us, he sure does talk! I always enjoy that time together!

 

He got his souvenirs and I got my pictures. The Piazza was very pretty at night. Very festive with the musicians playing. We were both glad to have made the walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we got back to the hotel, my fit bit logged close to 9 miles for the day! Hopefully that will counteract some of the gelatos I’ve been eating!

It was time to pack up, our short visit to Venice had come to an end! We knew we’d only have a day and a half here. Was it enough?

 

I think it was. Of course we could spend more time here! I would love to go back, if for no other reason than to take more pictures! But the time we did have here definitely gave us the introduction we needed to really get a feel for Venice. We all truly enjoyed being here. It was a very special place that I honestly don’t think can be explained with words! It had a magical feel for me. It was so worth the whirlwind between cruises to get to Venice for this short time!

 

But tomorrow we’d be taking the train early for a day in Florence…again – just a day! It’s all part of the plan…

[scotlanddreamin]

Love this review!!!! We are on the Navigator this Sunday THIS SUNDAY!!!:D

 

Also loved the pics of Venice, brought me back to my trip there last April. Such a beautiful place.

[ShellDil]

Love this review!!!! We are on the Navigator this Sunday THIS SUNDAY!!!:D

 

Also loved the pics of Venice, brought me back to my trip there last April. Such a beautiful place.

 

You're going to have a blast!

 

Yes, Venice is definitely a beautiful place - I'd love to return!

[hightownCO]

Loving your review and your photos are beautiful! I'm hoping we can do the Serenade in the Mediterranean next June.

[OHlady]

The color in your photos is so vivid!

What is in the building that surrounds the piazza?

Shops? are those tables and chairs for restaurants? Are they expensive because of the location?

 

Really enjoying your review!

[HouCplCruise]

Great review!!

[ShellDil]

The color in your photos is so vivid!

What is in the building that surrounds the piazza?

Shops? are those tables and chairs for restaurants? Are they expensive because of the location?

 

Really enjoying your review!

 

Hi! The building surrounding the piazza is filled with shops, some more expensive than others. Some are your typical tourist shops. And cafes and gelato shops! I didn't really go into any of the stores themselves so I don't know how expensive they were, but some did seem to be a bit more high end than the average tourist "trap" type store.

 

The tables and chairs are for the restaurants and you definitely pay more to eat there and even more to just sit in the chairs and eat, or even drink.

 

We tried to always go a street or two away from the main tourist areas in whichever town we were in, Venice was no exception. The food was often better and the prices much less!

[mrsfecura]

But tomorrow we’d be taking the train early for a day in Florence…again – just a day! It’s all part of the plan…

 

Oh I can't wait for the Florence day! We're stopping there on our October cruise AND I'm currently reading Dan Browns new book "Inferno" and its set in Florence. As I read it I google all of the landmarks and art, etc the author mentions!