Millennium Review-Venice to Barcelona (long)

[jmlh]

Thanks to all you folks at Cruise Critic for helping us plan a wonderful cruise! In particular, thanks to so many of you for recommendations on day tours. They were outstanding!

 

Venice - First, we spent 3 days in Venice pre-cruise. We stayed at a wonderful small hotel close to St. Marks called Locanda Orseolo (info@locandaorseolo.com). It has many reviews on Trip Advisor and the staff are truly incredible. Highly recommended.

 

We took a water taxi to the Millennium (4 of us were travelling together so it was cost effective). After boarding (which went very smoothly), Celebrity also provides a complimentary shuttle service to/from St. Marks which is a nice feature.

 

The Ship - Overall, it was a good experience. All areas were very clean and we had a great cabin steward, Narcisco, who looked after our room very well. Rooms could use some redecorating such as new rugs and new curtains. Food at breakfast and lunch was just fine. At breakfast I enjoyed the fresh fruit and smoked salmon while my husband loved the omlette station. Salads were great at lunch (the hot entrees were not as successful)although many days we were off the ship touring at lunch time. Dinners in the main dining room were quite disappointing although there were some strokes of brilliance (eg. rack of lamb, perfectly cooked). However, there were were too many nights that we were presented with uninspired food. In contrast,the food, service and ambiance in the alternate restaurant,The Olympic, was excellent and we ate there on two occasions. Entertainment on the Millennium is great.

 

The day tours

 

Santorini- We booked Nikos of Santorini Day Tours (info@santorinidaytours.com). We communicated with Anna (his wife) prior to booking and she always responded quickly. We had a wonderful day and felt that we had seen most of the island from Fira to Oia, a winery, the black beach and many places between. Nikos is polite, informative and gives an interesting tour. In addition, he also took photographs of us during the day and gave us a CD to take home. A wonderful bonus!

 

Athens - We had booked with Paul at Greece Taxi(greecebytaxi@greecebytaxi.com). We had his son Nick(we knew in advance) and combined a trip to Ancient Corinth in the morning with the highlights of downtown Athens in the afternoon. Nick was a master at getting us to the right place at the right time (such as the changing of the guard). He was also very skilled at driving in the very heavy trafic in Athens!! The restaurant he suggested for lunch was great.

 

Naples - Salvatore Lucibello (*****) was our driver. He lives in the town of Amalfi and shared extensive knowledge on the area. Since it was Sunday and the traffic was heavy going to the beach we first did the Amalfi drive. Absolutely stunning scenery! We stopped at a small family owned restaurant for lunch and had great authentic food followed by complimentary lemoncello!! We did Pompeii in the afternoon on the way back to the ship and found it to be truly facinating. Salvatore is a very careful driver and we always felt very relaxed.

 

Rome - Here we were fortunate to have Claudio Caponera (claudio@limoinrome.com) as our driver. Claudio is a very knowledgeable driver(from a historical perspective) and he always answered our questions as we covered many venues in Rome in the morning. Again, the restaurant suggested for lunch was wonderful. In the afternoon we did the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's. Claudio was able to get us tickets ahead of time so we did not have to stand in line which was a real bonus. An excellent day!

 

Livorno - Since we had previously spent time in Tuscany, we wanted to see the Cinque Terre. The driver we booked was Silvia (info@tuscany-trips.com). She picked us up at the ship and drove us to La Spezia where we caught a boat to go to the Cinque Terre. The plan was to take the boat and hike some of the trails and then to take the train back to La Spezia. However, the trains were on strike that day(!!) so we had to take the boat back. Since the boat is very slow (but allows one to see spectacular scenery), we did not get to spend as much time in the Cinque Terre as we had hoped but at least we did get to see it. Arriving in Portvenere, we called Silvia who agreed to come and pick us up there so that we could save some time returning to the ship. Silvia is very accommodating and speaks quite fluent English.

 

Villefranche - Our driver here was Michel Legrand of Revelation Tours (revelationtours@aol.com). Michel is a true professional. Although he was ill on the day we toured with him, he gave us a great tour. We went to Nice, St. Paul de Vence, Eze Village and La Turbie. Michel provides excellent comentary as well as taped segments. We shared this tour with others we met on this site and had a very enjoyable day.

 

Barcelona - We stayed in Barcelona 5 nights post-cruise and stayed at the Hotel Continental Palacette (www.hotelcontinental.com). This hotel is very well priced and in a great location. We really enjoyed Barcelona.

 

Overall, we had a great holiday. If anyone has any questions, I will be happy to try and answer them.:)

[pmc7704]

Thanks for the review. Can you give me specific details on how you got from the airport to the hotel? I have visions of trying to lug heavy suitcases up and down streets and steps, and let's face it, at my age :eek: I just don't think I'm up to that.

[harrodsfan]

Dinners in the main dining room were quite disappointing although there were some strokes of brilliance (eg. rack of lamb, perfectly cooked). However, there were were too many nights that we were presented with uninspired food. In contrast,the food, service and ambiance in the alternate restaurant,The Olympic, was excellent and we ate there on two occasions. Entertainment on the Millennium is great.

Totally agree with above post..We found the food to be the same last summer.

sorry you had the same experience.

[Snackdaddy]

Hi jmlh,

 

I'm happy to hear that you had such a great time. Your report is encouraging indeed!!! We too have booked Salavtore in Naples and Paul in Athens.

 

Just a few questions:

Did you come home with any "must buys?"

What was your room like at the Hotel Continental Palacete?

What size was it? Some say they are very small. We are trying to decide between a suite at the Palacete (with access to the Versailles Lounge) or a suite at the Apsis Atrium Palace (with a sofa bed in the living room). My wife likes the warm B&B feel and our teenager would, of course, prefer a larger hotel. I can go either way.

 

Any advice?

 

Thanks in advance.

[jmlh]

Hi pmc7704,

 

We arrived at Venice airport and retreived our luggage very easily (it is a small and user friendly airport). We found our way to the water taxi area (a short distance) and then were told by the man in charge that the water taxi could only drop us at St. Mark's as the boat was too large for our canal. So...we were dropped at St. Mark's and walked. It was not a great distance but we had to cross one canal and cross over perhaps 6 steps. On the way to the ship, the hotel called the water taxi, we were picked up at the water door and it was very easy. I do not understand!

 

Hi snackdaddy,

 

Where to start with 'must buys' as I like to shop! However, I would suggest Murano glass (large pieces or jewellery depending on your budget) in Venice or Murano, pottery in Athens (Paul can suggest a great source as well as jewellery) and jewellery in Mykanos. I am not sure that the jewellery is a great deal in Mykannos but they have a great selection. In Nice I would buy herbs (herbs de provence ) and linens (gorgeous patterns). Olive oil is great in Greece, Italy and Spain (we had some with dinner tonight-delicious!). Also, clothers were on sale in many places, so enjoy!

Re: hotels. The Continental Palecette is at a great location. The breakfast room is georgeously decorated but is totally self serve on paper plates. The rooms and the entire hotel is very clean. The rates are very good but do realize that there is just the check-in personnel and those that clean. They do not have staff to take bags to your room, etc. However location and value is A-1.

You have made very good choices with Salvatore and Paul. Enjoy!

 

Hope this helps.

[nizurc]

Great Review. On formal nights what were the ports of call?

[jmlh]

The formal nights were on the 1st sea day, the sea day between Mykanos and Naples and on the day the ship was in Livorno.

[imkauai]

Are there any restaurants you would recommend in any of the ports?

 

 

:) :) :) :)

[Snackdaddy]

Hi jmlh,

 

Thank you for your information. It will be very helpful to us as we plan our cruise next year. :)

[pbsue]

I'm confused. We are leaving on the Millie from Venice Sept. 7, and this port is not in our information or itinerary. Has this changed so recently? Will we be stopping in this port? Thanks to anyone who can help.

[jmlh]

Restaurants I would recommend in Venice are Vivi da Gigio (have the soft shell crabs!), Osteria alle Testiere and Osteria Oliva Nera. All restaurants are very small but served delicious food. We relied on the recommendations of our tour guides for lunches off the ship. In Barcelona, we enjoyed dinner at 4 Gats (the appetizer with tomatoes and anchovies is great as well as the main course lamb). We also went to La Gavina in the port area (nice view when the lights come on). My husbands cod was very good. For tapas at lunch, we enjoyed La Cava Universal, close to the Columbas monument at the foot of La Ramblas but there are amny tapa places in Barcelona that are great.

 

We did go to the island of Mykonos (I apologize for the previous spelling error!). We do know that each itinarary may vary as we did not go to Dubrovnik(major disappointment).

[imkauai]

Thank you for the info!!!

[koolart]

Hello,

You're review was wonderfully helpful as we'll be leaving on a cruise from Venice next summer. I already booked the hotel you suggested as I had already gotten an email quote from them and your review clinched it for me! Now, I would love to have some advice on getting from the airport to the hotel and also getting to the port from the hotel.

Again, thank you so much for your informative review!

Best,

Lynne

Thanks to all you folks at Cruise Critic for helping us plan a wonderful cruise! In particular, thanks to so many of you for recommendations on day tours. They were outstanding!

 

Venice - First, we spent 3 days in Venice pre-cruise. We stayed at a wonderful small hotel close to St. Marks called Locanda Orseolo (info@locandaorseolo.com). It has many reviews on Trip Advisor and the staff are truly incredible. Highly recommended.

 

We took a water taxi to the Millennium (4 of us were travelling together so it was cost effective). After boarding (which went very smoothly), Celebrity also provides a complimentary shuttle service to/from St. Marks which is a nice feature.

 

The Ship - Overall, it was a good experience. All areas were very clean and we had a great cabin steward, Narcisco, who looked after our room very well. Rooms could use some redecorating such as new rugs and new curtains. Food at breakfast and lunch was just fine. At breakfast I enjoyed the fresh fruit and smoked salmon while my husband loved the omlette station. Salads were great at lunch (the hot entrees were not as successful)although many days we were off the ship touring at lunch time. Dinners in the main dining room were quite disappointing although there were some strokes of brilliance (eg. rack of lamb, perfectly cooked). However, there were were too many nights that we were presented with uninspired food. In contrast,the food, service and ambiance in the alternate restaurant,The Olympic, was excellent and we ate there on two occasions. Entertainment on the Millennium is great.

 

The day tours

 

Santorini- We booked Nikos of Santorini Day Tours (info@santorinidaytours.com). We communicated with Anna (his wife) prior to booking and she always responded quickly. We had a wonderful day and felt that we had seen most of the island from Fira to Oia, a winery, the black beach and many places between. Nikos is polite, informative and gives an interesting tour. In addition, he also took photographs of us during the day and gave us a CD to take home. A wonderful bonus!

 

Athens - We had booked with Paul at Greece Taxi(greecebytaxi@greecebytaxi.com). We had his son Nick(we knew in advance) and combined a trip to Ancient Corinth in the morning with the highlights of downtown Athens in the afternoon. Nick was a master at getting us to the right place at the right time (such as the changing of the guard). He was also very skilled at driving in the very heavy trafic in Athens!! The restaurant he suggested for lunch was great.

 

Naples - Salvatore Lucibello (*****) was our driver. He lives in the town of Amalfi and shared extensive knowledge on the area. Since it was Sunday and the traffic was heavy going to the beach we first did the Amalfi drive. Absolutely stunning scenery! We stopped at a small family owned restaurant for lunch and had great authentic food followed by complimentary lemoncello!! We did Pompeii in the afternoon on the way back to the ship and found it to be truly facinating. Salvatore is a very careful driver and we always felt very relaxed.

 

Rome - Here we were fortunate to have Claudio Caponera (claudio@limoinrome.com) as our driver. Claudio is a very knowledgeable driver(from a historical perspective) and he always answered our questions as we covered many venues in Rome in the morning. Again, the restaurant suggested for lunch was wonderful. In the afternoon we did the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's. Claudio was able to get us tickets ahead of time so we did not have to stand in line which was a real bonus. An excellent day!

 

Livorno - Since we had previously spent time in Tuscany, we wanted to see the Cinque Terre. The driver we booked was Silvia (info@tuscany-trips.com). She picked us up at the ship and drove us to La Spezia where we caught a boat to go to the Cinque Terre. The plan was to take the boat and hike some of the trails and then to take the train back to La Spezia. However, the trains were on strike that day(!!) so we had to take the boat back. Since the boat is very slow (but allows one to see spectacular scenery), we did not get to spend as much time in the Cinque Terre as we had hoped but at least we did get to see it. Arriving in Portvenere, we called Silvia who agreed to come and pick us up there so that we could save some time returning to the ship. Silvia is very accommodating and speaks quite fluent English.

 

Villefranche - Our driver here was Michel Legrand of Revelation Tours (revelationtours@aol.com). Michel is a true professional. Although he was ill on the day we toured with him, he gave us a great tour. We went to Nice, St. Paul de Vence, Eze Village and La Turbie. Michel provides excellent comentary as well as taped segments. We shared this tour with others we met on this site and had a very enjoyable day.

 

Barcelona - We stayed in Barcelona 5 nights post-cruise and stayed at the Hotel Continental Palacette (www.hotelcontinental.com). This hotel is very well priced and in a great location. We really enjoyed Barcelona.

 

Overall, we had a great holiday. If anyone has any questions, I will be happy to try and answer them.:)

[jmlh]

Hi Lynn,

 

You have a wonderful holiday to look foward to! I know you will really enjoy Locanda Orseolo.

As I mentioned in an above post, arrival at Venice airport went very well as it is small and user friendly. After you retrieve your bags, it is a short walk to the water taxi area. Here you have a choice of a large taxi to St. Marks or a private water taxi. Since there were 4 of us, we chose the private taxi. We wanted to be dropped at the water window of the hotel but they would not do this saying that the taxi was too large for the small canal. Instead they dropped us at St. Marks which is a short walk to the hotel through St. Marks square (but there are a few steps over 1 canal). I would e-mail the hotel closer to the date to try to find a solution if you want to go directly to the hotel.

On the way to the ship, the hotel called a water taxi and we left by going out the water window! Very easy. It was a wonderful ride on part of the Grand Canal as well as some smaller ones. Have your camera out! We were dropped at the dock at the place where luggage is received. All very easy.

Happy planning!

[onyourmark]

pbsue,

 

I think you're on September 7th sailing, so make sure you read the Roll Call and if you like, sign up for the Connections party.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=151825&page=3&pp=25

 

Hopefully this link should work.

[usavvy2]

jmlh -

do you recall what time everyone HAD to be on board ship on embarkation day and what time muster was conducted? Also, did they need to push back dinner times that night?

[jmlh]

Hi USAvvy2,

 

Our latest boarding time was 15 minutes prior to sail time (9:45 a.m. for 10 a.m.). Muster time was 10 a.m. Dinner time was not changed. Hope this helps.