Bari vs venice

[Rjh8842]

I am looking at a cruise for my first visit to europe. One of the cruises I am thinking about has a choice of boarding in venice or bari. It is the same cruise in every other way. Except a slightly higher price for boarding in venice. Either pre or post cruise My must dos are rome and Pompeii and anything else I have time for. Any pros or cons for either port would be helpful.

[cruisemom42]

On the face of it I'd certainly recommend starting your cruise in Venice rather than Bari. Venice is worth flying in a day or two in advance in order to see this unique city, and the sailout is defnitely a bucket-list type event.

 

However, you don't provide a lot of info. Considering your must-do sightseeing includes Rome and Pompeii, does the cruise you're considering stop at Naples and/or at Civitavecchia? And if you are really interested in Rome, I'd suggest flying into Rome first, spending maybe 3 days there, then taking the fast train to Venice for another day before boarding your ship.

 

Naples is the port for Pompeii and it can easily be done as a daytrip from there.

[euro cruiser]

The ability to board at either makes this sound like and MSC cruise, or possibly Costa. If so please check the times of the port days before committing, these lines have a bad habit of short port stops (six hours in some cases).

[Grandma Cruising]

In my book, Venice is definitely a ‘must see’. It’s unique and beautiful. Although the main tourist areas get very crowded, it’s possible to find some quiet areas too.

 

 

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[caripoo]

No choice...Venice...but this city should not be missed, go in at least a couple of days early....

[madmedic]

As previously said Venice is a once in a lifetime experience. The sail away on deck or on the balcony with a glass of bubbly in hand is magical. You may regret however not staying a couple of days pre cruise to get the most from this trip. Venice is busy but you if you explore a little on foot away the Grand Canal and San Marco you will see more of the Venice that used to be. We love the city and after our first visit on a cruise now go back every year. Enjoy:D

[marazul]

Yes, Venice.

And if it is indeed an MSC cruise, look at other lines. We just finished a cruise and there was an MSC ship "trailing" ours. They never seemed to be more than 5-6 hours in any port. Not worth whatever lower price you might pay for the cruise.