Venezia July 25th - Aug 2nd - Mini Review

[steveknj]

On 8/5/2023 at 8:18 AM, pe4all said:

Thank you for taking the time for this detailed review.  I wasn't a fan of Horizon when we sailed on her at 60% capacity.  If we didn't have Haven access I really wouldn't have liked her at all with the crowds on Lido, etc.  Will definitely sail on Venezia in the future, as she is at my homeport. 

 

NY is definitely an advantage for us, especially with flying being so iffy these days.   I have yet to be on a cruise where the Lido hasn't been crowed.  Maybe it's different on the upscale cruise lines, but on the more "family" oriented cruise lines, that's always been a problem, especially on sea days.  In fact, I don't think this cruise was any worse than any others and in some respects, a bit better (mostly because they have this nice sitting area on deck 11, that if you wanted to avoid some of the pool area bottle necks, you could head up there.  Maybe it's because I'm from the NY Metro and crowds like this don't bother me.  It's just part of life.  But I could imagine that someone from a rural area, might think it very crowded.  But if that's the case, doing a mainstream cruise is probably not for them.

 

One thing I forgot to mention, is that while they have a non-smoking casino, often times you still need to walk through the main casino to get places.  That is also common on many ships I've been on.  I wish they would design these ships so that either the main casino is smoke free or that you can avoid the casino altogether, but I get it's a marketing thing.  If they get you to walk through the casino, perhaps you'll drop some money there.   What is it about smoking and gambling anyway?  Why are cruise lines reluctant to make their main casinos non-smoking, considering that more people do not smoke these days than do?   I guess that's a different discussion.

[steveknj]

On 8/5/2023 at 11:57 AM, edrussell said:

Thanks so much for you review!!  We are going on our first ever Carnival cruise and it is on Venezia on Sept 8.  We had contemplated canceling it so many times because of everything we've read and watched.  Your review gives me so much hope that we will enjoy it.

 

You didn't mention the pool(s), what was your experience.

 

 

We didn't use the pools at all, but from what I can see, they were on the small side.  But they never looked too crowded to me (and having swam at "public" pools, it's no worse than any of those).   The usual issue with loungers being hogged, but that's nothing unusual.   There was plenty of lounge chairs a deck or two up, and if you wanted to do down to 5, there's also plenty.  There's also the "hidden" area on deck six that had one person on it.  We preferred to sit out on the balcony.

[steveknj]

8 hours ago, Stick93 said:

@steveknj nice review - honest and informative . MarQ is really very talented and all the cruise directors on Carnival really set the tone of FUN on the ship. NCL has very nice ships but no identity of the program. Have many things going on catering to different ages and interest , but nothing that brings it together. Royal compares better to Carnival in terms of fun and entertainment. I did loved the Elvis show on the Getaway - was done very well and if you get to see choir of man on an NCL ship that was really great - the shows on carnival don’t come close to those. 
 

Happy travels….

 

That is the one place where I felt NCL had Carnival beat and that's their shows.  While we enjoyed the Carnival shows, they are "typical" and the types of shows I've seen on cruises for as long as we've been cruising.  NCL (and RCCL) have broadway shows.  We've seen SIx and The Million Dollar Quartet on our recent NCL cruises and were both excellent.   I guess Carnival figures they'd rather spend on the overall "fun" experience than just on broadway shows.  

[steveknj]

7 hours ago, HappySails4U said:

Thanks for your review.  We are sailing from NYC mid-Sept and my spouse will be super focused on the most efficient method of transportation from the ship to LGA.  We initially thought about using the Carnival shuttle but the horrible reviews made us reconsider.  In your opinion If the "taxi stand" is so horrible should we just plan to use Lyft ??? 

 

I have not used Lyft in Manhattan yet, and I'm not sure how that would work at the cruise port.  But the Taxi situation they have now IMO is untenable.  We've taken maybe 5 cruises out of NY.  The first one, I remember it was hard to get a cab, but we ended up getting one with none of this pricing nonsense that went on this time.   The next time, they actually had a taxi line.  That worked great.  The next two times, we drove in and parked, but that's gotten so expensive that we decided to go back to our bus/train/taxi plan.  They do need to make it less of a free for all.  If I was heading to LGA, I think I'd take their shuttle.   Just to avoid the hassles I went though, I'd rather pay extra.  NOTE:  The other times I've cruised from NYC, the cruises began and ended on a weekend, so maybe it's only this bad during the week?    That will be a consideration next time we cruise out of NY.  What issues have you heard about with their shuttle?

[steveknj]

1 hour ago, shof515 said:

the whole taxi stand area is congested with fake uber/lyft, expensive ripoff taxi drivers, yellow cabs, etc. it can be a mess. it can be somewhat not easy getting a uber/lyft with the traffic in that area. what i do instead is i walk up to 11th ave or i walk a few blocks down to 46th st. the best part of walking is you can sometimes escape the very annoying surge pricing zone and save a few bucks

 

This is what we thought when we decided to walk to PA.  But it was such a nice day, we just walked the whole thing.   We sort of did that in reverse on embarkation day.   We walked a couple of blocks away from Penn Station and snagged a cab there.   THAT day was very hot and muggy and was too much to walk it.

[latebloomer56]

7 minutes ago, steveknj said:

 

This is what we thought when we decided to walk to PA.  But it was such a nice day, we just walked the whole thing.   We sort of did that in reverse on embarkation day.   We walked a couple of blocks away from Penn Station and snagged a cab there.   THAT day was very hot and muggy and was too much to walk it.

Hello, question how long did it take you to walk to Penn from the port? If taxi situation is this bad we may walk if rather is nice the first week in Sept. Have walked from Time Square many times but with less luggage. One large bag and two carry on bags plus my backpack for my Inogen machine.

Thanks

[mizLORInj]

OP thanks for your review.   Hoping my experience is good too.

--------------

Note RE: post-cruise transport:   for weekday debarkation, I have found it best to go across 12th Ave and order an Uber to Penn Station (or I guess wherever else you need to go).   Last time I debarked on a weekday, there were NO available taxis to be found.   

[steveknj]

1 hour ago, latebloomer56 said:

Hello, question how long did it take you to walk to Penn from the port? If taxi situation is this bad we may walk if rather is nice the first week in Sept. Have walked from Time Square many times but with less luggage. One large bag and two carry on bags plus my backpack for my Inogen machine.

Thanks

 

We actually didn't do that walk.  We walked from the pier to PA which took, about 20 minutes, dragging one large suitcase.  I have asthma and had to stop once or twice, but it was still not bad.   But PA is a bit farther north and west than Penn.   I'd imagine probably a half hour to get to Penn.  As I said we DID walk a few blocks west of Penn station on our way to the pier and then got a cab on 10th Ave. That was still $30 due to midtown traffic on a Tuesday afternoon.

[latebloomer56]

20 minutes ago, steveknj said:

 

We actually didn't do that walk.  We walked from the pier to PA which took, about 20 minutes, dragging one large suitcase.  I have asthma and had to stop once or twice, but it was still not bad.   But PA is a bit farther north and west than Penn.   I'd imagine probably a half hour to get to Penn.  As I said we DID walk a few blocks west of Penn station on our way to the pier and then got a cab on 10th Ave. That was still $30 due to midtown traffic on a Tuesday afternoon.

Thank you if not humid I can do this if needed.

[Jeafl]

Thanks for the balanced review!  It's nice to hear that your waits for anytime dining were pretty short.  Did you ever go later than 5:30, and if so, what was your wait time then?

[steveknj]

2 hours ago, Jeafl said:

Thanks for the balanced review!  It's nice to hear that your waits for anytime dining were pretty short.  Did you ever go later than 5:30, and if so, what was your wait time then?

I think we might have eaten like 5:45 one night, but still a 10 min wait.

[AFS1970]

Thanks again. We are in CT (just over the border). We will probably take the train into GCT, as there are no good interstate busses for us, and we are used to taking the train into NYC. Although we are close enough that we could just Uber to the cruise port. Sometimes finding a driver willing to go to NYC is hard, because most local drivers can't pick up a return trip to CT. So that is not a great option. So we essentially have the flip side of your trip.

[HappySails4U]

6 hours ago, steveknj said:

What issues have you heard about with their shuttle?

* Heard that the shuttles were over booked and some passengers were told that they would need to find another means of transportation and refunds were not given.

 

* It has been reported that there is no Carnival staff member to assist with the departing shuttles and no signage for direction.   Basically on your own and then find out that the bus is full and must stand and wait for additional hour(s). 

 

Our first time sailing from NYC and trying to avoid as many hurdles as possible !  

 

 

[steveknj]

1 hour ago, HappySails4U said:

* Heard that the shuttles were over booked and some passengers were told that they would need to find another means of transportation and refunds were not given.

 

* It has been reported that there is no Carnival staff member to assist with the departing shuttles and no signage for direction.   Basically on your own and then find out that the bus is full and must stand and wait for additional hour(s). 

 

Our first time sailing from NYC and trying to avoid as many hurdles as possible !  

 

 

 

Yeah, that's not good.

[winnoren]

On 8/4/2023 at 12:41 PM, steveknj said:

Embarkation...We'd seen enough reviews to know to do La Strada (on deck 5) for lunch the first day and it was mostly empty.  I'm sure Lido was crowded. 

 

I was looking at the deck plan for the Venezia and I don't see a La Strada. Have they renamed one of the restaurants? I was seeking to determine what the dining options are for embarkation lunch.

 

Thanks!

Win

[shof515]

8 minutes ago, winnoren said:

I was looking at the deck plan for the Venezia and I don't see a La Strada. Have they renamed one of the restaurants? I was seeking to determine what the dining options are for embarkation lunch.

 

Thanks!

Win

its on deck 5 starboard side on the outside lanai deck area . there is door by frizzante bar and by the gondola lounge to go outside

 

[winnoren]

Thanks so much! I had just enlarged the deck plan and had just found it. Do you know what other options are open for lunch on embarkation day?

[steve_lisa_ohio]

Hello! We'll be on her Oct 28 for 12 nights, which includes Halloween. Question- do they sell Venetian style masks on formal night or on any night? We're taking a set just in case cause we like participating in those things, but I'd heard carnival would sell decorative ball masks on board too. Thanks in advance! 

[shof515]

mask can be found in the gift shop onboard

 

2 hours ago, winnoren said:

Thanks so much! I had just enlarged the deck plan and had just found it. Do you know what other options are open for lunch on embarkation day?

 

check the fun times or the hub app onboard for places to lunch on embarkation. its usually lido buffet area food like the buffet, guys burger, the burrito place, pizza, deli, etc

[Etta1213]

On 8/4/2023 at 4:33 PM, Haljo1935 said:

Thanks @steveknj for sharing - glad to hear you mostly enjoyed your cruise and that things seem to be continuing to improve on the Venezia.

We'll be on B2B next week, so the timing of your post is perfect! Question - did there seem to be a bottleneck or delay in the Lido? We've read the buffet is not efficient due to the layout requiring everyone to go through the entire line even if they wanted something from only one section.

We're buffet people, and RC's much easier buffet layout has kept me from wanting to cruise Carnival again. DH's mobility problems complicate the situation.)

Edited September 6, 2023 by Etta1213

[steveknj]

On 9/5/2023 at 9:51 PM, shof515 said:

mask can be found in the gift shop onboard

 

 

check the fun times or the hub app onboard for places to lunch on embarkation. its usually lido buffet area food like the buffet, guys burger, the burrito place, pizza, deli, etc

 

Also they had masks available in the photo area (I forget the name of the venue, but where you looked at the photos taken during the cruise)

On 9/6/2023 at 12:37 PM, Etta1213 said:

We're buffet people, and RC's much easier buffet layout has kept me from wanting to cruise Carnival again. DH's mobility problems complicate the situation.)

 

It's not the best buffet layout by any means.   And yes, you would need to wait in line to get to specific portion of the buffet you need to get to in many instances.  For example, if you wanted to get to the entrees, you'd have to wait online, go through the salad bar to get to the entrees.  That said, the few times we did the buffet, I don't think we waited online for more than a couple of minutes to accomplish that.  The horror stories of "long lines" were just not something I encountered.

[ftelah]

Wasn't sure where that I could ask a couple questions but from reading this board I thought it would be a good try. There will be 4 of us flying into LGA to go on the Venezia at the end of the month. None of us have cruised out of NY but have done many cruises out of several other ports. We are kind of lost at what the best way to get from the airport directly to the cruise port other than my husband had seen that we are better off being dropped off across the street from the port instead waiting in the line to be dropped off right at the port. We were hoping to also be able to go by somewhere like a Wal Mart or Walgreens or something to get some wine and soda to take on the ship but again we have not been in the area to know anything about how the most efficient and smart way to do that after we get off the plane and head to the cruise terminal. If anyone has any suggestions it will be greatly appreciated as my experience in NY was not a good one when we drove through there several years ago so I have been rather dreading it. Thank you for any and all help!

[thesmiths]

On 9/5/2023 at 8:06 PM, steve_lisa_ohio said:

Hello! We'll be on her Oct 28 for 12 nights, which includes Halloween. Question- do they sell Venetian style masks on formal night or on any night? We're taking a set just in case cause we like participating in those things, but I'd heard carnival would sell decorative ball masks on board too. Thanks in advance! 

Just got off of her today, they did sell them in the Carnival Store, I would bring  them as there were not many of them I saw.

[steveknj]

20 hours ago, ftelah said:

Wasn't sure where that I could ask a couple questions but from reading this board I thought it would be a good try. There will be 4 of us flying into LGA to go on the Venezia at the end of the month. None of us have cruised out of NY but have done many cruises out of several other ports. We are kind of lost at what the best way to get from the airport directly to the cruise port other than my husband had seen that we are better off being dropped off across the street from the port instead waiting in the line to be dropped off right at the port. We were hoping to also be able to go by somewhere like a Wal Mart or Walgreens or something to get some wine and soda to take on the ship but again we have not been in the area to know anything about how the most efficient and smart way to do that after we get off the plane and head to the cruise terminal. If anyone has any suggestions it will be greatly appreciated as my experience in NY was not a good one when we drove through there several years ago so I have been rather dreading it. Thank you for any and all help!

 

The cruise port is in midtown Manhattan so with that said, there are not many places, especially near the port like Walgreens to buy what you are looking for.  Maybe a few blocks there could  be a pharmacy you might be able to get something.   Certainly not a Walmart (I'm not certain there are even any Walmarts in Manhattan).   I also don't believe (but it's been many years since I lived in NY) that you can buy liquor in any store other than a dedicated liquor store (it's like that here in NJ and used to be that way in NY when I lived there).  As far as from the airport, you can probably take a taxi, though I'm probably not the best person to answer that.

[shof515]

There is no Walmart in the New York City area. nearest Walmart is in valley stream in long island 

 

There is a Target near the port on 10th Ave and 44st and a Walgreens/Duane Reade on 9th Ave and 49th st