Emerald Madiden Voyage Review Info

[Bassethound]

Seabiscuit, agree with everything.

 

We got totally lost in Venice and finally gave up. Never did figure out where you guys were, very hard to read themaps in the failing lights and I think I took us in decidedly the wrong direction for a few blocks.:mad:

[Bassethound]

Seabiscuit, agree with everything.

 

We got totally lost in Venice and finally gave up. Never did figure out where you guys were, very hard to read themaps in the failing lights and I think I took us in decidedly the wrong direction for a few blocks.:mad:

[Eileen G]

Seabiscuit, We are also taking the train from Rome to Civi. How was it handling your luggage and finding the right track? About what time did you leave Rome? Any tips we should know about the train? Thanks for a great review. Eileen

[Alzarine]

Eileen,

 

The train is easy, inexpensive but a big caveat is you've got to be in good shape physically. We are both in our 60's but do walk and work out. It is an incredible long walk to the track going to Civitavecchia. I mean really,really long. It took about 45 minutes to an hour to reach the port then the real dilemma began. We landed at the track with the stairs. You had to lug your suitcases down a huge flight of stairs than up another huge flight to get to the station.

 

I have seen people argue on the ports of call board about stairs or no stairs at Civitavecchia. It all depends on what track you arrive on. Some people are lucky and arrive on the track with no underneath crossover. My son and his wife were on the track with no stairs two years ago so they were quite surprised to be greeted by this large staircase to cope with. Fortunately, they are in their late 20's so could help us a bit. I did see some younger passengers assisting older people. We then paid 5 euro each to be driven to the ship. At that point, I'd have paid 50 euro just to get there. It is walkable but not with schlepping a lot of luggage. We left Rome about 11:30 for the 6:00 pm sailing.

 

Bassethound, I wish you had stayed with us for the day. The sunset serenade was the icing on the cake ! My son has a fantastic sense of direction or else he lived in Italy in another life :D

[willysgrandma]

Thanks for this post - it was very insighful.

[Id rather be diving]

Did you guys arrange your gondola ride prior to arriving in Venice? Can you give me the info? We are doing the Emerald for the transatlantic from Venice to Ft. lauderdale in October. The main reason I chose this cruise was because it began in Venice and I've always wanted to go to Venice. The one thing that I want to do is a gondola ride, but I had always heard that it was pretty pricey. Was the $50 per person or per couple? Was that US dollars or Euros? THanks.

[Denisern2]

Hi all welcome back I am down to a month until I leave...Did they offer the all the clothes you can fit in a bag laundery special? We are going a total of three weeks and I want to pack light. How was the gym did anyone do any classes? I have so many questions.......Welcome home and thanks

[Flainefan]

Bassethound,

Thanks for the positive report on B748. I'm sure we'll love it when we sail on 9th August from Barcelona on the Grand Mediterranean cruise.

 

I suppose the rooms are probably pretty standard, but we were worried whether the balcony would be cramped. We have only cruised once before, to Alaska, and for that wonderful voyage we treated ourselves to a suite right at the stern (my retirement present to myself!). The balcony was huge and we loved relaxing there, marvelling at the scenery as we gazed on the wake of the ship. This time we decided go for the stern again, but decided to economise on a regular seaview & balcony. If you have any photos of the accommodation, I'd love to see them.

 

Thanks also to all the other passengers who have taken the time and trouble to post reports on the ship and its maiden voyage. You have a massive audience of people hanging on your every word!

 

Margaret

[Alzarine]

The price I found was $50.60 per person American which still beat Princess prices by a long shot.

 

Of course, that meant finding your own way from San Marco square which really wasn't hard ( sorry Bassethound ;) ). I found a website called http://www.veniceforvisitors and reviewed their excursion list. This excursion was offered through a company called Viator and I paid for it all beforehand on my credit card and just printed out the receipt. It was called the Grand Canal serenade.

 

There is invaluable information on the ports of call board for the Med. Be sure to use all the information from prior cruisers as well. They offer so much useful advice. The roll call section helps to set up small private CC excursions which are so much more fun :) than big bus tours.

 

Try to book the sunset serenade one as it is so very romantic and the soloist had a wonderful voice. He sings through the entire ride with accordion accompaniment. Eight gondolas leave in the group and you are randomly assigned seating as you arrive..... six per gondola . Enjoy !

[Grannycb]

We are back home, the laundry is done and the jet lag is almost a thing of the past. It was a smooth and wonderful trip from start to finish.

 

I did want to tell you about our time in Venice as it was a little different from what others did. We took the shuttle off the ship as soon as we could. At St Marks Square we hired a gondola for about $75 each with a little bargaining. Our ride down the back canals and Grand Canal was almost an hour long. DH and I had the gondola to ourselves - very romantic. I actually pinched myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream.

 

We headed back to the ship right after our ride as we were booked on the Princess private tour of St. Marks Basilica. Out of all the tours we have taken over the years, that one was our favorite. It was like stepping into another century. There were only two groups of 12 in the Basilica. It was totally quiet. The lights were out. The guide spoke in hushed tones that were just loud enough to hear. She told us the history, interesting stories, and showed parts of the building that were closed to the normal visitor. Then the lights came on, one by one, illuminating the beautiful ceilings. I’ll never forget going down to the crypt. What an experience!

 

Venice was the perfect end to a near perfect trip.

[Michael Kays]

Bassetthound~

I have to disagree with you on that balcony..C753 is hard to beat for a cat BB balcony~

 

Incredible reviews from all..thank you very much..we will be onboard June 10, 2007, spending 5 days in Venice precruise..3 days Barcelona post~

 

Did anyone have any problems anywhere with pickpockets or gypsies? This seemd to be a big deal on another Med cruise thread, but I don't hear anythign from anyone on here?

 

Also I want to buy gold jewelry and have seen alot of plating fake gold in Caribbean and Mexico, any problems in the Med?

 

Thanks again for your wonderful reviews..we are getting excited~

[Alzarine]

Michael,

 

That was my one worry on this itinerary... happy to say we had no problem at all. It's important to keep aware of your surroundings and store your money in secreted areas.

 

We never carried a whole lot of cash and DH kept it in a pouch under his clothes. I did use a purse ( against Rick Steves advice ) which I used sling style across my body.

 

I only wore a plain gold wedding band and left all jewelry on the ship. Our clothes were simple, dark and non showy.

 

We also wore no indication of nationality...no baseball caps, college sweatshirts etc....as the old adage says " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" :) I do think if you are alert to the various ploys, you'll do just fine.

[Clutterlady]

Oh my gosh, this is our goal for 2009! Want to do this cruise soooo bad! But, reading all this info has me a little itimidated! Now I have been to Europe once on a land vacation 20 years ago, so I honestly don't remember very much. It all seems a little over whelming........

Just seems like so very much planning and research....please help me calm my fears:eek:

[wtevrfltsurbt]

Oh my gosh, this is our goal for 2009! Want to do this cruise soooo bad! But, reading all this info has me a little itimidated! Now I have been to Europe once on a land vacation 20 years ago, so I honestly don't remember very much. It all seems a little over whelming........

Just seems like so very much planning and research....please help me calm my fears:eek:

 

AWWWW Clutterlady the research and the planning are the fun part! Really! There is sooooo much info out there for you to see and absorb. Keep this thread and read it actively and when you see something you like just cut n paste it to a word doc for reading and sorting thru later on!:D

[Clutterlady]

AWWWW Clutterlady the research and the planning are the fun part! Really! There is sooooo much info out there for you to see and absorb. Keep this thread and read it actively and when you see something you like just cut n paste it to a word doc for reading and sorting thru later on!:D

 

Thanks for the idea! I will cut n paste!! My DH just chuckles at me:p

[mrspaper]

hope all of you on the maiden voyage enjoyed yourselves. myself and others on our roll call for the may 29th voyage are wondering if we need to take the princess transfer for $10 from the ship. are there other ways to get off the ship and around venice. can we purchase our 3 days vap. pass anyplace near where the ship docks

 

did anyone take the yacht cruise in istanbul. i was wondering if it was worth it, and how long the cruise was, or should i do instanbul on my own

[editor@cruisecritic]

Cruise Critic will be there (er, I will be there actually) and we'll cover the ceremony and take photos. They won't be masterpiece quality (I was trained as a writer, not as a photographer, LOL, and definitely not as a videographer but I'm learning, I'm learning). So stay tuned. We'll have a news item of the christening on the day - of. And we'll also be visiting Royal (the new Royal) Princess when we're in Santorini so plan to have a review of that experience, too.

Is there anything we're missing?

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

 

 

Have a fantastic trip and looking forward to reading the reviews when you all return.

Hope they broadcast or post pics of the christening ceremony.

Smooth sailing.

 

Julia

[editor@cruisecritic]

About the train. I have done it with luggage and it can be painful. Not so much on the Rome side but on the Civitavecchia side (and because I typically combine trips, hey, I'm working, when I come to Europe, I have a big ol' suitcase and a couple of carry-ons, so I'm laden).

Once you make it down the steps and then up again (I taught myself a few new curse words, am sure Italians were shaking their heads, saying, crazy crazy American) you then have to find a cab. To get you to the port. The port entrance, mind you, is not far, you could walk it even with luggage. But the ship is like a 15 minute drive within the port boundaries so don't even attempt it.

The cost I've been quoted on numerous occasions is 20 euros. I always feel like I'm getting fleeced (this is probably three times in the past two years so at least they are consistent). But by that point I'm so exhausted...I don't even care. :p

What have others paid?

But if you compare it to the taxi ride from Rome, and if you're only one or two, then it's worth it. For any group larger...definitely pool your funds and hire a car. Absolutely hire a car.

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

 

 

Eileen,

 

The train is easy, inexpensive but a big caveat is you've got to be in good shape physically. We are both in our 60's but do walk and work out. It is an incredible long walk to the track going to Civitavecchia. I mean really,really long. It took about 45 minutes to an hour to reach the port then the real dilemma began. We landed at the track with the stairs. You had to lug your suitcases down a huge flight of stairs than up another huge flight to get to the station.

 

I have seen people argue on the ports of call board about stairs or no stairs at Civitavecchia. It all depends on what track you arrive on. Some people are lucky and arrive on the track with no underneath crossover. My son and his wife were on the track with no stairs two years ago so they were quite surprised to be greeted by this large staircase to cope with. Fortunately, they are in their late 20's so could help us a bit. I did see some younger passengers assisting older people. We then paid 5 euro each to be driven to the ship. At that point, I'd have paid 50 euro just to get there. It is walkable but not with schlepping a lot of luggage. We left Rome about 11:30 for the 6:00 pm sailing.

 

Bassethound, I wish you had stayed with us for the day. The sunset serenade was the icing on the cake ! My son has a fantastic sense of direction or else he lived in Italy in another life :D

[nomars_girl]

We also took the train to Civitavecchia and walked down the stairs and up again with all our luggage and then WALKED (with lugage) to the port entrance. We earned that first yummy drink on the ship the hard way. There were free shuttle buses at the port entrance to take us directly to the ship.

 

In Venice, we dragged our luggage from the ship to Piazelle Roma where we took the #5 bus to our hotel near the airport. It wasn't as difficult as the Civitavecchia end. We could never have gotten all our luggage onto a vaporetto and the water taxis are 80-90 euros to the airport from what we have heard.

[kool kruiser]

Hi Carolyn

 

I feel sure you will be aware of this but I understand that the ship christenings are no longer taking place in Santorini due to a tragedy with a Greek cruise ship which took place recently. I saw this on a UK TA's website but can't recall the new arrangements. Sorry.

 

I agree with nomars_girl that the walk from the station is easily doable if you have luggage on wheels. The free shuttle to the ship is right at the port entrance. seems we were luckky as we had no staicases to encounter.

[Bassethound]

We hired a car for 125 Euro. Much more effective when split 4 ways. Our hotel took care of findinf the other cuple at the same hotel going to the ship. Ask you concierge, as another couple or more may have also asked them for arranging the ride.

[Juliadlf]

Any delays for tendering in Santorini? Best time to get off the ship?

 

Thanks

Julia

[nomars_girl]

Any delays for tendering in Santorini? Best time to get off the ship?

 

Thanks

Julia

 

Go early. We had to wait a while because everyone was delayed waiting for clearance. But we were on the first tender that went to the dock by the cable car. They have to use local tenders in Santorini rather than the ships own tenders. There was a 2nd ship in port that day and I was afraid it would take hours to get everyone ashore. We were at the top before 9 AM.

[Bassethound]

We tendered in around 10:30 and had no tender line or tram line. Or any line to walk the stairs back down.......:)

[Juliadlf]

Did anyone go to Delos on their own? Worth it or not?

 

 

Thanks again.

Julia