Live from JessyCruises European Vacation: Amsterdam, London, Venice & Explorer of Seas

[JessyCruises]

48 minutes ago, Bizzie07 said:

Firstly let me say how much I'm enjoying your review, your style is very easy to read.  I have been looking at cruises out of Ravenna but the journey to the port puts me off.  I have absolutely no sense of direction and the thought of finding my way to Tronchetto scares me!  I have seen people struggling with suitcases over all these bridges in Venice.  The heat and stress does of that does not appeal but the itinerary of the cruise is appealing so I'm in a quandary.

 

I have been to Venice a few times on cruises but was lucky enough to sail along the Grand Canal in fact the first cruise we were tendered and the shuttle took us near to St Marks Square.

 

How much did RCCL charge for the transfer and what is your honest opinion for someone with no sense of direction!  Thank you

I would not do the local bus again to Tronchetto and would take a taxi.  That is what we are going to be doing when we return on the 18th (take a taxi from Tronchetto to hotel and then if we want to go back into Venice we we’ll take the bus over to visit the city once we drop off our bags).  The cruise had been beautiful, but getting to Ravenna and back has definitely been a pain.

[Bizzie07]

1 minute ago, JessyCruises said:

I would not do the local bus again to Tronchetto and would take a taxi.  That is what we are going to be doing when we return on the 18th (take a taxi from Tronchetto to hotel and then if we want to go back into Venice we we’ll take the bus over to visit the city once we drop off our bags).  The cruise had been beautiful, but getting to Ravenna and back has definitely been a pain.

Thank you for that...not sure I like pain🤣  Enjoy the rest of your cruise and I hope the trip back to venice goes well. 😀

[JessyCruises]

As we were sailing away from Mykonos today and the captain came over to make his announcements, he acknowledged the noro outbreak.  He said it was a “small number” of cases which anecdotedly is just not true. It is all anyone is talking about.  

When we got back to our cabin just now to get something, there was a card in our key slot to take a survey, and a letter and another survey on the bed.  The letter also said a “small number of guests”.  I have been on a lot of cruises, a few of which had had noro outbreaks, and never been asked to take a survey to say whether or not I have been sick.  There has definitely been an uptick in the number of crew walking around wiping things down, they are coming behind people wiping down slot machines after someone is done playing them like they did at the height of COVID, and they were changing tongs every few minutes in the Windjammer at dinner. They also started making announcements in the casino to make sure to hand sanitize, although it does not help with noro, it certainly cannot hurt.  I am glad to see they are taking things seriously.

 

 

 

[KiwiGal117]

2 hours ago, Bizzie07 said:

Thank you for that...not sure I like pain🤣  Enjoy the rest of your cruise and I hope the trip back to venice goes well. 😀

You don't need to be in Venice first.  You could start off in Bologna.  RCI has a transfer between Bologna airport and the Ravenna port.

[JessyCruises]

Currently in the Windjammer for breakfast.  Looks like the noro outbreak is so bad that they are reverting to the COVID serving protocols.  All tongs are now on the inside and everything is being served by employees including food and freestyle machines. 
 

Edited June 16, 2023 by JessyCruises

[JessyCruises]

17 hours ago, Bizzie07 said:

 

 

How much did RCCL charge for the transfer and what is your honest opinion for someone with no sense of direction!  Thank you

 Sorry I missed your question about the cost. From the airport is was $90usd return.  I think se paid an extra $20 do go from Tronchetto 

Edited June 16, 2023 by JessyCruises

[JessyCruises]

They have bags on all of the stair cases, even though we are docked and have no rocking issues.   Someone is at the elevator banks and staircases cleaning constantly.  All of the salt/pepper etc are off the tables in the Windjammer.  Paul just saw a guy use his hand to take a roll out of the breadbasket.  An officer immediately swooped in and took the basket away and threw the entire thing out.

 

They are taking this very seriously.  I expect boarding will be delayed on Sunday for a deep clean.

 

 

[irishgal432]

Hope you stay safe and enjoy your last days.

[Vera/Lee]

4 hours ago, JessyCruises said:

All tongs are now on the inside and everything is being served by employees including food and freestyle machines.

I wish they would make this permanent in the Windjammer.

[Jomykje]

Hope you stay safe!

Really scary to read 😢

 

[F19810]

Do you know if those who are on a B2B,  can go into Ravenna on turnaround day?

Thanks

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, F19810 said:

Do you know if those who are on a B2B,  can go into Ravenna on turnaround day?

As soon as you clear the formalities of the second cruise, you can go wherever till about 90 min before sailing.

[F19810]

22 hours ago, Biker19 said:

As soon as you clear the formalities of the second cruise, you can go wherever till about 90 min before sailing.

I was wondering how long the formalities take and if there is a shuttle to city center and back.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, F19810 said:

I was wondering how long the formalities take and if there is a shuttle to city center and back.

The timing is likely quite short and be done before embarkation starts (before 10AM). I don't recall anyone reporting a shuttle.

[TeresaJ]

I've been following along since we are going on Explorer next March. Now beginning to wonder what happened since the review was abruptly stopped. I hope you and your husband didn't get sick! Hope all is well!

[Jomykje]

30 minutes ago, TeresaJ said:

I've been following along since we are going on Explorer next March. Now beginning to wonder what happened since the review was abruptly stopped. I hope you and your husband didn't get sick! Hope all is well!

I am a bit worried as well. I hope you are alright.

[irishgal432]

On 6/10/2023 at 4:15 PM, JessyCruises said:

And just like that, we were done with London.  Between Amsterdam and London, I have never done so much walking in my life. My feet are on constant fire, but it was very much worth it. 🙂

 

Our flight to Venice was scheduled out of Gatwick this morning at 6:40AM. We had prebooked an Uber for 3:10 AM for £73.  Flight was great and once again I slept most of the flight.  When we landed in Venice, there were machines all over the place where we could turn our bus/vaporetto voucher into a ticket.  We just had to scan the QR code from the email receipt and the tickets printed.  

Our hotel shuttle driver was waiting for us right outside of baggage. It was a short 10 minute or do drive to the hotel,  Hilton Garden Inn Venice Mestre San Giuliano. Our room was not ready yet so we stored our bags with conceriege and headed to the bus stop in front of the hotel to head into Venice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the bus stop in relation to the hotel. It could not have been more convenient.

 

We took the bus across the bridge and then took a vaparetto to St Marks square. This is a beautiful city and I took tons of photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a free shuttle to your hotel?  I just commented on your venice ports of call post as well.

[irishgal432]

Why would you not do the bus from your hotel versus a taxi?  Was the luggage the issue?  We have a group of 12.

Edited August 7, 2023 by irishgal432

[JessyCruises]

Well guys, I am nothing if not consistent.  I always start off these lives with the best intentions, but something always happens to distract me and I never end up finishing it live.  Thanks to those who expressed concern. We are both fine and enjoyed the end of the cruise.  Paul did end up with what we think was noro but laid low for a day or so and was right as rain. 

 

I know I am a month & a half late getting back to this but I have been procrastinating!  I keep intending to finish and then something gets in the way. I actually got further along than I thought I had - I just missed Argostoli, the night in Venice after the cruise, and the hellscape that was the Air Canada debacle of 2023 (more on that later).  

 

I am going to go through and answer any questions I missed and post the rest of my photos. 

 

 

[JessyCruises]

On 6/16/2023 at 7:21 PM, F19810 said:

Do you know if those who are on a B2B,  can go into Ravenna on turnaround day?

Thanks

 

Yes they were able to but could not board again until they started regular boarding.

[JessyCruises]

2 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

There was a free shuttle to your hotel?  I just commented on your venice ports of call post as well.

 

The shuttle was not free, it was 20 Euros per room. I booked it by emailing the hotel.

[JessyCruises]

2 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

Why would you not do the bus from your hotel versus a taxi?  Was the luggage the issue?  We have a group of 12.

 

We wanted to do the bus because we had purchased the 24 bus pass and figured we would take advantage of it to its fullest extent.

[irishgal432]

4 minutes ago, JessyCruises said:

 

We wanted to do the bus because we had purchased the 24 bus pass and figured we would take advantage of it to its fullest extent.

Gotcha!  We were planning on the 24 hour bus pass as well but thinking of taking it from the airport at 1 and then use it the next morning to go into venice and then pay for a fare back since it will have expired.  That way we can do the taxi to Tronchetto.  We have the shuttle back to the airport from Royal on the lst day. This logistics  are giving me a headache for sure.

Edited August 7, 2023 by irishgal432

[JessyCruises]

Day 7 was Argostoli Greece.  Luckily it was another dock vs tender. Again, we decided just to go on  a nice walk and stroll through the town.  Upon docking, we could see what looked like a bridge or dam crossing the bay so we headed there.  Turns out it is called the De Bosset Bridge and is the longest stone bridge crossing the ocean. There were lots of turtles all around the bridge which were cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right across the street from the bridge is this little church called Ekklisia Panagia. it does not look like much from the outside, but the inside is incredible.  I am a "recovering Catholic" but love visiting churches for the history, art & architecture.  WOW!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I had to take these because they were pretty 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by JessyCruises

[JessyCruises]

We did not do much on the last day of the cruise which was a sea day.  We hung out in the solarium for most of the day.  I am a huge Game of Thrones/House of Dragons fan so when I saw the drink of the day was a Negroni Sbagliato, I had to try one.  Of course I ordered it with Prosecco.

 

 

Apparently, I am not very sophisticated and it must be an acquired taste, or the bartender did not make it right, because it was just about the grossest drink I have ever had.  I tried two sips and made hubby swap me for his cider.  He took one sip and that was all he could do.  🤣

 

If you don't know, this drink went viral because of this clip.