On Oceania Riviera now, Barcelona to Trieste

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, LHT28 said:

OMG  I would  have booked a hotel in Venice  & disembarked  tomorrow   or just stay in Trieste for the day

 Good luck with the negative covid test

 

This ^^ - absolutely!

 

OTOH, there's really almost zero possibility that we'd be flying out of the Venice airport (or into it) without adding a couple of days to spend some more time there.

 

We tend to do that anyway, for overseas ports, but especially for... VENICE! 😀

 

GC

[Aknayt3393]

@LHT28 we were told we weren’t allowed to stay in Venice for that last night, that we are required to return to the ship instead. I think others have discussed that on another thread. And when we booked our trip, one reason we chose this particular cruise was for the Venice component. We added days in Barcelona on the front end and just couldn’t take the time for more days on the end as we need to get back home to responsibilities. 

[LHT28]

22 minutes ago, Aknayt3393 said:

@LHT28 we were told we weren’t allowed to stay in Venice for that last night, that we are required to return to the ship instead. 

Maybe something new  due to covid 

 

Too bad you have to go back & forth wasting time

[Aknayt3393]

The covid tests this morning went smoothly, Oceania had little booths set up in Toscana and we got through it fairly quickly. We don’t get the results until this evening.

I didn’t get much sleep last night but figured I could catch a nap on the way to Venice. It’s raining today, kind of fitting for our last day. The bus is super comfortable with the seats reclining more than most of the other buses we’ve been on and more leg room. However there is no sleep for me because we have a couple of people snoring quite aggressively so I finally gave up and decided to catch up on this instead.

 

I think others have also wondered about this new situation with using the Trieste port instead of Venice. So far (fingers crossed) the roads are in great condition and so far we have had no slowing or construction issues. I noticed the driver Googling traffic conditions so hopefully we stay away from any problem areas.
 

The tour guide is obviously new and reading from a script but that makes sense since these tours were likely recently put together. Fortunately she only spoke while going through town. Tomorrow when we return to Venice I will have earplugs handy.  

[Aknayt3393]

We just both got emails that we tested negative!!!!!! Now I can relax and enjoy Venice. Our tour guide said there was more traffic than usual going through Trieste because of the rain - everyone in cars instead of walking or bicycling. I didn’t think it was that bad. So it has taken us just over 2 hours. 

[Twiga]

Aknay, did you find the USB ports?  Where are they?

[Aknayt3393]

@Twigawe only found the one in the bathroom, the wall lamps by the bed don’t have any USB ports. I’ll ask our butler though to be sure this eve. 

We are back on the 2 hour bus ride back to port and the same guy is snoring even louder this time. It’s going to be a very long ride. 
 

I have very mixed feelings about today’s excursion - I think they tried to pack as much as possible into it for us but it missed the mark in some ways. It was raining so that didn’t help.
 

The boat journey to Murano island was really long with perhaps too much info and most didn’t seem to pay attention which was kind of annoying. Then the Murano glassworks seemed super rushed. The demonstration was really cool but less than 10 minutes, with 20 minutes to shop. It seems like almost every Oceania excursion we’ve chosen hasn’t given enough shopping or free time, but maybe it’s just me.

 

We took a quicker boat ride back over to Venice and were glad to find our gondola rides weren’t cancelled due to the rain and choppy water.  But that also meant very wet and rainy gondola rides with umbrellas. We all looked like drowned rats.
 

We went from the gondola through St Marks Square which was incredible, even in the rain. Our lunch was at a great little restaurant off the square and it was really good. It was a large group of us - I’m guessing close to 50? And they handled it well. Some of us found out there was no shopping time built in and were disappointed, so the tour guide took pity on a few of us and allowed us to skip the tiramisu and dash out for 10 minutes of speed shopping. Then back to the 2 hour bus ride back to port. 
 

I’m glad we did it but wish we had just added on additional time at the end of the cruise instead of the 2 days in Barcelona. (We didn’t have ability to do both.)

 

Hopefully the Ravenna to Venice shuttles go well tomorrow. It would have been nice to have just stayed in Venice tonight for our departure tomorrow - hopefully Oceania figures out some better options in the future. 

[LHT28]

Most people complain about too much time in the shopping area LOL

I try to skip any tours that have shopping listed

Personal choice

[Aknayt3393]

@Twiga I remembered to ask our butler about the USB ports this morning before we left and he said there were none but there will be when they remodel. 

We said sad farewells to various friends in the Martini bar last evening. Since we traveled by ourselves this time and didn’t really anticipate mingling too much, I didn’t expect to make such good friends. The nice thing with the ship being half full is we did get to know many of the other passengers and it’s been really meaningful. Maybe the covid isolation over the past couple of years has made me appreciate these connections so much more.

We even settled into a nice routine with our butler and he came through in spades, so we made sure to thank him personally along with an extra tip, even though I’ve learned on here this certainly isn’t necessary.  Both he and our room steward went above and beyond regularly.  
 

We are on the bus/shuttle to the airport and so far everything has gone smoothly. I know some have been concerned. The disembarkation was uncomplicated, although very early, and I’ve been able to sleep for most of the bus ride this time. Even though the driver is playing his Spanish radio news station and then woke everyone up when he answered his phone and had a lengthy loud conversation  - oh well there is always going to be something I guess. I was prepared this time with earplugs.
 

Some of our friends are on our bus who are staying on in Venice. Oceania has them still taking the bus to the airport and then they plan to take a taxi to their hotel, an 8 minute ride. Our plane doesn’t leave until mid afternoon but I don’t mind the wait, I would rather that than stressing about time. Besides I can hopefully shop. I will end this for now but if anyone has any questions I will check back and answer if I’m able. 
 

Thanks for following, and good luck and safe travels to all of you.

[Aknayt3393]

A quick additional edit to my comments on the Ravenna to Venice shuttle service. There was some delay going through some construction/ paving project  and it ended up taking 2 1/2 hrs - in case some are concerned about the timing of their flight.

 

Oceania did a great job in general and quickly got our luggage from the bus to a shuttle and then to the airport entrance.Those staying on in Venice then collected their bags and found their taxis from there. Our friends had quite a few bags and were somewhat challenged as they also decided it would be quicker to take a water taxi to their hotel. They also felt good about the way it was all handled.

 

We are having to wait 2 hrs  before our airline will check our bags, but it’s not terrible and we are people watching and eating snacks. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by Aknayt3393