Mediterranean Cruise Day 1: Venice, Italy

We have been home from our cruise for two weeks and I can’t speak for Xander, but I want nothing more than to click my heels, go back in time and do it all over again!  It was wonderful and far surpassed even my wildest expectations.  I was so worried going into this holiday that we were going to regret spending so much money on it, that we just weren’t the types to enjoy this kind of travel or that, for whatever reason, we’d not enjoy it.  I was so wrong!  So, so, incredibly wrong!  We loved it!

We’re well and truly hooked now and we are definitely the cruising types.  It’s just such a great way to travel as you get to see a lot of different places and the best part? Your hotel and travel companions move with you!  Sure, you don’t get to spend as much time in one place as you may if you were traveling on your own, but we still managed to fit an extraordinary amount into a day.

You move around differently when you are on a cruise, I find.  You don’t dawdle, you move and get from place to place to make sure you fit in as much as you can.  At least that was my plan of attack for this cruise, I’m sure it would be less hectic on other destinations.  For us, this wasn’t a relaxing cruise.  There were relaxing moments and the sea days were lovely, but when it came to ports it was GO GO GO!

We flew from Amsterdam to Venice on May 7th, arriving at the airport just before 11am.  As soon as we got to the baggage area there was a guy with a sign asking for Norwegian Spirit people. so we followed him and before long we were on a bus on our way to the ship.  It didn’t take long to dump our bags and get into the terminal, but once we got inside we realized we were in for a long wait.  I foolishly thought we could fly in, get on the ship, drop our bags and head into the city but it didn’t go like that at all.  We spent hours in the cruise terminal waiting to embark and by the time we eventually did get on through it was pushing 4pm before we were heading into Venice.

As you may have seen from some of my Instagram posts, I planned rather obsessively for this trip.  With a folder and info papers for every port…

https://instagram.com/p/2STMONgyQ9/?taken-by=canadutch

It included info on the times we got into port, when the ship was leaving, when we had to be back on the ship, places we wanted to visit, tickets I purchased ahead of time so we could skip the line, info on any tour company we were doing excursions with, contact info, public transit maps and ticket information, info for other cruisers we were sharing the excursion with, costs for each place we were going or for the tour companies.  Basically any info I thought we could possibly need while we were gone. I was worried sick that we’d end up stuck somewhere or in a situation where we weren’t prepared.  In the end it really paid off, I even had a few people ask if I could organize their next cruise! haha (no thanks!)

For Venice, I had it all planned out for about 2pm – 10pm and losing a few hours meant we really had to motor.  This made me like a drill instructor that was telling my husband to “move, move, mooove!”.  We did it, though, and managed to fit everything in.

This was what we managed to accomplish in the few hours we were there (photo gallery below):

• Cruise the Grand Canal on Vaparetto Nr 1. –  This was the slower of the grand canal boats that gives you more time to see the sites.  If you either aren’t interested in a gondola ride or find it too expensive, this is a great alternative and we really enjoyed it.  It’s much cheaper and if you plan it right it can be a lovely ride.  The key is getting on at the very end (where the people mover lets you off when coming from the port) as you can get on when it’s mostly empty.  If need be, and we did, let one go by if it’s too full and catch the next, then dash to either the front or back to get one of the nice seats outside.  I read a review giving that advice, followed it and got a great seat outside where I could see everything and get some nice photos.  We were thrilled with our little mini cruise along the Grand Canal!
• St. Mark’s Basilica – I’d read some tips about skipping the line here (go straight to the bag check, give them your bag and use the token to skip the line, they’ll never know you didn’t stand in line first!) but it wasn’t necessary. It was after 4pm when we arrived and we were able to pretty much walk straight in!  We didn’t stay long, just long enough to look around, take some photos, see the treasure and light a candle for our loved ones… then we were off to our next location.
• Doge’s Palace – I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t even know what this place was before I started looking into the trip, and I very nearly skipped it!  I had wanted to do one of their “Doge’s Palace Secrets” tours but there weren’t any during the time frame we were going to be there, so instead I got a ticket for entry and an audio guide ahead of time and we did it on our own. I’m so glad we did because it was my favorite part of Venice!  The rooms were absolutely breathtaking and the best part was that we had the place almost entirely to ourselves!! The Bridge of Sighs and the prisons were also really cool and I was glad to be able to take some photos without basically just shuffling along in a crowd. Getting there just after 5pm we had totally missed the crowds and were able to enjoy the place in a way we definitely wouldn’t have been able to earlier in the day. Look at this panorama I took with my mobile of my husband in one of the rooms, just to give an idea of scale and how empty the place was.  I would think that at 11am or 1pm the entire room would have been chalk full of people!  Unbelievable!! If you go to Venice, trust me, do NOT skip this place, it will blow your mind!

• St. Mark’s Campanile Tower – I really wanted to make sure that we got up in the tower before it closed, which meant rushing through Doge’s palace.  My poor husband was desperately trying to listen to every last word of the audio guide but when I was done taking photos and looking around I’d quickly usher him into the next room. We had places to see, things to eat, places to go, move it! haha  We managed to get straight up into the tower just after 6:30pm, which gave us plenty of time to look around and take some photos.  The view from up there was spectacular!  You could even see our cruise ship off in the distance (there are plenty of pics in the gallery below).  The only problem?  After waiting for quite a long time to get the elevator back down, the doors closed in front of us just as the 7pm bells started going off.  Oh. My. Word!! If you think bells are loud when you are on the ground, you can’t begin to imagine how loud they are just above your head.  I caught a quick video where you can see Xander and other people plugging their ears as the bells nearly deafen us, and the closed elevator door in front of us in the end.  Watch your volume!

• Rialto Bridge – After the tower, looking around the square and checking out the Bridge of Sighs from the outside, we started wandering the streets towards Rialto Bridge.  I was disappointed that it was partially in scaffolding but it was cool to cross the bridge nonetheless.  We got lost a few times on the way and walked along a lot of different streets and squares, saw some lovely canals and a ton of gondolas.  By the time we reached the bridge we were good and ready for dinner, so we stopped on the other side to rest and have a bite.  The view from the restaurant was beautiful and we sat for a while taking it all in while we ate.
• Constitution Bridge – After eating we grabbed the Vaparetto again for a night cruise on the Grand Canal, getting off at the train station to walk and look around a bit more. I liked the look of this bridge when I was looking at photos of Venice so we walked back so that we could cross over it before heading back to the people mover.  I wish I’d thought to get some better photos of it, but by this time I was absolutely exhausted and it was time to head back to our ship!

It was an amazing day packed with some unbelievable sights.  More than once I sort of stopped in my tracks and said “Oh my god, I’m in VENICE!“.  I had that a lot during our holiday, having visited so many unbelievable sights and Venice was the perfect way to kick it off!

When we returned to the ship it was about 10pm and we went to our room, changed into our swimsuits and hopped in the hot tubs. We spent the rest of the evening sitting, resting our tired legs and chatting with other cruisers.  We were in heaven!

Here are some photos from our day (click to see larger):