Carnival Venezia: Quick thoughts/opinions and such

[Mike Dante]

Hi All

Just returned from the Venezia. I just did the 8 day from NY to Amber Cove, Grand Turk, and Half Moon Cay Just dropping a few thought/observations and such:

1- Embarkation : Hot Mess. Enough said. Nobody know what was going on. It took  considerable amount of time to get checked in. Add to it that I was a TBA cabin since I grabbed a last minute casino deal. Bright side is they gave me and DW some drink coupons until our cabins were ready. I was instructed to return to guest service at 3:30 and we would get our room. I did, and we got dech 9 aft, which was great. There is nothing like Departing from NY though.

 

2-Serenity area way too small. Plenty of area, but not laid out great, as ther were only a handful of clamshells. We wound up on Lido and Deck 11 by the slides. We made it work, but Lido was even harder to find seating.

 

3- The ship:was beautiful . Deep accents everywhere of Italian design and Oh my gosh the Atrium area on 4/5/6 was gorgeous although we didnt even have a drink there once?? Which takes me to #4

 

4-  Amari Bar (Alchemy bar)---THe best trio of bartenders i think I have encountered on Carnival. They were on point, and made some killer cocktails. Best time to visit I found was from 4 to 6, as people were getting ready for dinner. Any othere time , It was way too loud, which is fine for some, just not for us.

 

5- Food: Carnival stepped up the food on this ship. The Italian resterant was very good, the Bonsai Sushi as well. The Main DR was good and very pretty with the gondola in the middle. The Pasta bar in the Marco Polo DR was very good too. Buffets are buffet food and  they did the job. Guys burgers, well its Guys so were good. Tomodoro (blue Iguana) was good too.Oh, I forgot the pizza!

 

6- Comediens were very good. Even the one who I though was just so/so had some good material I think it was just his delivery. Macio was hysterical!

 

7- Ports: All 3 ports didnt dissapoint. Amber Cove we just did at the end of May, so we just got off to stretch the legs and then went back to enjoy the quiet ship. Of course I did stay long enough to take a quick dip in their awesome pool. Grand Turkwe arrived at 7am, so by 7:30 I arrived at Jacks Shack, swam,sunned,ate and drank. Repeat. Half moon cay is a great day at the beach, and they feed you a decent bbq as well.

 

[Indiansbaseball]

We’re doing Venezia this September…thanks for the insight (and preparation for embarkation day) ! How was disembarking ? 

[Haljo1935]

29 minutes ago, Indiansbaseball said:

We’re doing Venezia this September…thanks for the insight (and preparation for embarkation day) ! How was disembarking ? 

I did Venezia RT NYC last Sept and Disembarkation was as much a ship* show as embarkation. In fairness, NYC was experiencing one of the worst rainstorms in history, so that might have impacted it, but cripes it was awful.

Teppanyaki is fabulous!! Lunch is same menu & portion sizes as dinner, but lower cost & less crowded. 

Edited July 6 by Haljo1935
Typo

[Mike Dante]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

2 hours ago, Indiansbaseball said:

We’re doing Venezia this September…thanks for the insight (and preparation for embarkation day) ! How was disembarking ? 

 

Disembarking was super easy. We got out of our room. Went upstairs for a quick bite, and stayed tile 9:30 to go downstairs. We moved non stop. Exited the pier, walked across 12th ave, and got into a cab to LGA. Furthermore I found yellowcab to be cheaper than Uber on the way in, so it was a no brainer going back.  

[phoneman69]

16 hours ago, Mike Dante said:

Disembarking was super easy. We got out of our room. Went upstairs for a quick bite, and stayed tile 9:30 to go downstairs. We moved non stop. Exited the pier, walked across 12th ave, and got into a cab to LGA. Furthermore I found yellowcab to be cheaper than Uber on the way in, so it was a no brainer going back.  

were the using Digital Debarkation where you have to pick a time on the app ? We are sailing Venezia labor day weekend. 

[Mike Dante]

4 hours ago, phoneman69 said:

were the using Digital Debarkation where you have to pick a time on the app ? We are sailing Venezia labor day weekend. 

Yes exactly right. It was digital on the app. You’ll have a blast!

[Poecrew]

We were on the Venetian  in january. Embarkation was really fast. We did not like the food on the buffet sorry. The dining room was excellent. We had a horrible time getting served two nights in a row but we said something and we got a different table problem solved.  Loved loved the purple (grapes I believe) decor in the dining room lol.  Trying to watch a Chiefs game in the little bar was impossible the way they had it set up so we gave up. Just minor complaints no big deal and each person's experience are different.   Overall had a total blast!  You will have a great Cruise!

[Cruising_Addict]

Just got off it today. Loved it. Food was delicious, and staff was fantastic. Beautifully decorated ship. Literally can’t say anything bad about it. Embarkation was a breeze. We were on the ship before 11 am (Platinum with 10 am check in time). Debarkation was the easiest I have ever experienced. Walked off the ship around 6:40 with no crowds anywhere and in our car and on the road by 7 am. 

[phoneman69]

24 minutes ago, Cruising_Addict said:

Just got off it today. Loved it. Food was delicious, and staff was fantastic. Beautifully decorated ship. Literally can’t say anything bad about it. Embarkation was a breeze. We were on the ship before 11 am (Platinum with 10 am check in time). Debarkation was the easiest I have ever experienced. Walked off the ship around 6:40 with no crowds anywhere and in our car and on the road by 7 am. 

so you did the 4 day to Bermuda cruise ? i am doing the 7 day on labor day sailing. What if any tour did you do in Bermuda ? We plan on getting the 3 day bus pass to get around. Any problems on the ship with it only being 4 days ?

[Drew B 58]

23 hours ago, Poecrew said:

We were on the Venetian  in january. Embarkation was really fast. We did not like the food on the buffet sorry. The dining room was excellent. We had a horrible time getting served two nights in a row but we said something and we got a different table problem solved.  Loved loved the purple (grapes I believe) decor in the dining room lol.  Trying to watch a Chiefs game in the little bar was impossible the way they had it set up so we gave up. Just minor complaints no big deal and each person's experience are different.   Overall had a total blast!  You will have a great Cruise!

Purple grapes in the dining room?  Are you sure you were on the Venezia and not the Miracle?

[latebloomer56]

We were on the Venzia last fall boarding was the worse we have ever had in 26 cruises. Didn't expect this as we have sailed from this port several times without an issue on NCL. This was not the fault of Carnival they don't control the port. Loved the ship heard from some folks they saw young teens in adult situation in the adult only area one night and a few folks didn't like the pot stench, we didn't see any issues and enjoyed our cruise as always.

Food was pretty good for the most part but our dining room team was over and above the best ever. Cabin was always clean and quiet neighbors on both sides so the balcony was enjoyed as well. Ports not our idea of fun spots but went for the ship not the ports.

Will go again but jot sure about Carnival from Manhattan.

 

[Crusin Karen]

2 hours ago, Drew B 58 said:

Purple grapes in the dining room?  Are you sure you were on the Venezia and not the Miracle?

Was gonna say the same thing! 😉

[Poecrew]

Yep yep you guys are right! Well that's the part I got wrong that one was the miracle LOL. I was on both just messed up the dining room part. 🤣. Thanks for the correction!

[Frank12]

11 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

Was gonna say the same thing! 😉

Me too!!

[DeniseTr]

Thanks for the info, sailing in oct.