Sail into Venice or out of Venice?

[DDawson]

All other things being equal, I'm just wondering if anyone would like to share their preference. I'm looking at a 12 night Princess cruise that goes from Rome to Venice or the next sailing that goes from Venice to Rome.

 

Any opinions?

Thanks

[martinchem]

Never cruised overseas yet.

[CintiPam]

All other things being equal, I'm just wondering if anyone would like to share their preference. I'm looking at a 12 night Princess cruise that goes from Rome to Venice or the next sailing that goes from Venice to Rome.

 

Any opinions?

Thanks

 

My answer definitely would depend on the time of the year you are considering. When we did our land trip to Italy in mid-October two years ago, we definitely wanted to start north and move south because of weather issues.

[descal13]

Although we have never sailed the Mediterranean, we have visited both Venice and Rome on a land tour. We will be sailing with Princess in May on the Grand Mediterranean which may depart from either Barcelona or Venice. It has two days in Venice, so we chose to depart from Barcelona since we hadn't been there before and fly in a day early. Both Rome and Venice are amazing, and each really needs two days of exploring even to get a taste. My recommendation is that you print out the port guides available here at CC and discuss what you really want to do and see while you are there with your traveling partner(s). Rome gives you a real sense of history and culture, and the Vatican is a must. It is also very much a modern city. Venice is more artsy and gives you almost an insiders feeling - you see right from the moment that you get there that although every square inch is imbued with history, it is still a living, breathing place. If you can, fly in a day early to whatever city you choose - you will acclimate to the time change better and will be able to enjoy the beginning of your trip feeling a little less wonky from your flight. If you don't fly in a day early, you will only get the briefest glimpse of whatever your first port city is - the ship docks fairly near Venice, but Civitaveccia is an hour and a half outside of Rome.

[chipmaster]

All other things being equal, I'm just wondering if anyone would like to share their preference. I'm looking at a 12 night Princess cruise that goes from Rome to Venice or the next sailing that goes from Venice to Rome.

 

Any opinions?

Thanks

 

Sail out of Venice!!!! Princess schedules says you depart at 1pm from Venice. You'll sail by San Marco in daylight and that should be gorgeous. The other way you'll come in in the evening, likely after 9pm, pretty dark. If it was a 6pm or so sail thru that might be interesting but with 10pm docking time I'll guess it'll be much darker and thus sailout of Venice better views.

 

Hopefully regardless of which way you take you'll add a couple days for Rome and at least an extra day for Venice. There is just so much to see in those two wonderful cities!

[lisiamc]

We sailed out of Venice on a dark, rainy November evening, and got the most amazing, atmospheric photos. Absolutely fantastic, with the lights reflecting off the wet pavements. It was worth getting drenched while holding the umbrella over DH and the camera! (As the "photographer's assistant", I always get all the fun jobs.:D)

 

Lisa

[chipmaster]

We sailed out of Venice on a dark, rainy November evening, and got the most amazing, atmospheric photos. Absolutely fantastic, with the lights reflecting off the wet pavements. It was worth getting drenched while holding the umbrella over DH and the camera! (As the "photographer's assistant", I always get all the fun jobs.:D)

 

Lisa

 

Show us a picture :D

 

The sad story with our sailing was "due to traffic" they had to sail from Venice very very early, like 4am or something. I woke up but a bit late and we had just sailed past San Marco :mad:

 

This was the best I got looking back. The plus it was rainy off and on and I got some great early morning shots of an empty San Marco the day before.

[DDawson]

Thanks for your thoughts. We plan on spending 3 nights both pre and post cruise so we will have extra time to enjoy both Venice and Rome (have been to both before).

 

I had not given any thought about North/South and the weather (figured 12 days would not make a huge amount of difference) - but the more I think about it - you are right. Both trips are either late October or early November so any advantage with the weather is worth looking into.

 

Thanks again for your opinions.

[winncruiser]

We have done both...but sailing OUT of Venice is so much better! Maybe because you already have the feel of Venice because you have been there over night and have fallen in love with it...

[Eileen G]

I have also done both of those cruises and I liked sailing into Venice better. I had never been to Venice and sailing in was so exciting. We were supposed to arrive at ten PM but sailed in at 6 when all the churches bells were ringing and the sun was setting. The next year we spent 2 days precruise in Venice and sailing out was so sad because we were leaving such a beautiful city. Both cruises were fantastic but I liked the itinerary leaving from Venice a little better.

[agabbymama]

I sailed from Rome to Venice on Grand Princess in Oct '08. We left Rome on 10/17 and arrived in Venice on 10/29 to wet streets, puddles and drizzle. On 10/30 it started raining in earnest, really putting a damper on our sightseeing. If I were to do it again that late, I would sail from Venice to Rome. Venice is quite far North and susceptible to rain and flooding the end of October and first of November.

[NHRedSoxFan]

We sailed on a RT Venice cruise and sailing out was better, port side.

[doctrd]

This is another thing to consider...check out what days of the week you will be at each stop! Then do your research..for instance if you are in Florence on a Monday, most of the major museums are closed. Look what days you are in port on Sundays, as many shops may be closed that day.

 

I did enjoy sailing out of Venice on our first Med cruise, and we are doing it again this year.

[rebeccalouise]

I have sailed out once and sailed in twice. I would say- sailing in is more exciting.

[JLC@SD]

WE have done both.....it is much better to sail out in the daylight. We sailed in at night and the city was dead........most people were gone and it was dark and cold. And.....it was impossible to take photos in the dark after sunset from the moving ship.

[Cruise Junky]

We've done both ways, my first choice would be to make sure you do it in daylight, luckily both of ours were. All things being equal, I'd sail into Venice if I'd never been there before....it's so amazing to see it for the first time from the ship, you really get a good overview.

[newfarmers]

we sailed out of Venice and sat on our balcony drinking a bottle of bubbly that we bought that morning, luckily we'd had a port cabin assigned to us.

 

was FANTASTIC, sailed at dusk and watched all the lights come on. there'll be pictures in our travel log if you click the travelpod link below.

 

the risk I suppose with sailing ito Venice is you may arrive before you even realise it, pre-dawn, and wake to find yourselves already docked.

 

pete

[newfarmers]

double post

[Susan-M]

Never cruised overseas yet.

 

That's unfortunate ... hopefully the Med forum will inspire you to give a Med cruise a try and then you too will be able to respond with helpful answers.

 

To the OP .... we cruised into Venice in the daytime and seeing the city from the ship in anticipation of spending a couple of days there was an exciting experience.

 

I agree with the advice of others to pick your time carefully and try to go earlier in October rather than later (we were there on October 1st and had sunny, warm (70F) weather)

[CathyCruises]

We had heard that sailing in was an experience not to be missed, so we set our alarm for 6AM so as not to miss it. :rolleyes: Told everyone at our table and they did the same thing. Well, DH got up just after 4 to use the facilities and shouted "we're here" as he glanced out the window. Sure enough, we were. Threw on some sweats and ran up top with 5 other lonely souls. I can tell you that it was a bizarre sight. We were 12 floors up, and the city is about 3 to 4 stories high, so we towered above the whole thing and damn if it didn't look like a little toy village!! Plus, since there are no streets, there were no lights except right along the waterfront. It was eerily quiet and just added to the 'Disneyland' feeling. I am so glad I saw it, but it WAS very strange. Unfortunately everyone else in our group missed it completely!

 

Cathy

[jeffbrig]

I loved sailing away from Venice on our med cruise in May 2007. We had a port side balcony cabin on the Emerald Princess on the 14th level, well above the tallest buildings in the city. Our ship departed in the early evening, so the lighting was fantastic. The rest of my travel group had gone upstairs to the buffet. I sat on the balcony with my camera, and joined them later. ;D

[DDawson]

Thanks everyone for their stories. I too would rather take this trip in early October, but it just won't work for us. Our first trip to the Med was in 2001, late October and we had perfect weather. I'll keep my fingers crossed for another trip with excellent weather.

 

By the way...we ended up choosing to sail out of Venice. Dates just worked out better for us and really everything else was about equal.

[bluwes]

Other people have posted on here sailing in , if you have never been Venice before is special. We did the Carnival Freedom in 2007 , just after Pavarotti had died . We sailed into the lagoon with the big screen showing Big Pav at his best with St Marks Square below us and the Grand Canal in front of us .It was fantastic.

Leaving was equally as good