Ships dock close to the train station, which is also near the vaporetto terminal (vaporettos are the water taxis used to transport the public around Venice). Cruise lines offer their own water taxis to the main tourist area, St. Mark’s Square, for a minimal fee. The one reason not to take the cruise lines’ is missing the opportunity for a romantic boat ride down the Grand Canal (which only the vaporettos do). The cruise port is about a 15 minute walk to the nearest vaporetto station, Piazzale Roma, where the water taxis cruise down the Grand Canal and to St. Marks Square. Or, for walking enthusiasts, it’s a 45min to an hour walk from the cruise port into downtown. Beware though, there are limited bridges that will take you to and from the cruise port and if you get lost—like we did in the dark—it can be difficult to find your way back. We did the walk 3 times, and it can be really enjoyable if you’re taking time to see the sites along the way, or stopping for coffee or gelato in a local shop. Interestingly, in Venice, you pay for your coffee after you drink it!
Of course one can’t go to Venice without indulging in a gondola ride, but be prepared for the cost, approximately 80Euros for 40 minutes. They usually seat 6 and you might find yourself sharing with strangers if you don’t negotiate in advance, and most people found—including us—that the ride was not the full 40 minutes. However, it’s hard to pass up the experience.
St. Mark’s Square is the centre of the city with its stunning St. Marks Basilica. When we visited in 2006, the square was overrun with pigeons; many locals had a flourishing business of selling pigeon feed to the tourists. Since 2008, pigeon-feeding is banned, so their presence is somewhat diminished. Another surprise was the water that would periodically come up under the square at high tide! In our case it was manageable, but sometimes it can be inches deep, which requires the hasty addition of temporary walkways to traverse the square.
We took a boat ride to Murano Island, where we marveled at his speed and precision as a master glassmaker fashioned a beautiful vase in minutes flat. Thankfully, it was that fast, as the heat was unbearable in the shop!
After a wonderful 2 days in Venice, our ship headed to the ancient city of Taormina, perched on a mountainside in Sicily. The bus ride was not for the faint of heart, traveling at greater-than-expected speeds up a narrow, winding road!
Once there, we visited the ruins of the Ancient Theatre, built in the early 7th century B.C. Amazingly, it is still in use today--for theatre, ballet and symphony productions. We also sampled the world-famous Cannoli--another Taormina claim to fame.
Next, we were in for a rainy day in Barcelona. We had pre-purchased Hop On Hop Off bus tickets, but could not use them as the buses sailed right on by without stopping! It seems they don’t allow standing, so all the buses were “full”, with about 20 people. We eventually gave up and just took the tube to the endlessly-fascinating Church of the Holy Family, or Basilica La Sagrada Familia. Under construction since 1882, it is still incomplete. So many architects have been involved in the process that the church looks completely different on each side. The view from the tower is fabulous; but the steep and windy staircase back down was enough to make me woozy.
Our ship arrived in Cannes on a particularly blustery, rainy day, so the port authorities deemed it too dangerous for the tenders. That meant we were basically hostages on the ship until the waves calmed enough to open the port. When that happened a few hours later, we were frustrated to find out that people who had booked their shore excursions with Carnival got first priority! There was almost a mutiny as many people—including ourselves—had booked outside excursions or had plans for the day on our own. Eventually we found a way off by purchasing a refundable bus ticket (for an exorbitant price), and then took the train to Monte Carlo (for about 12Euros) as we’d originally planned; we turned in our bus tickets for a refund when we got back. I felt a tad guilty doing this but Carnival created the problem by giving preferential treatment to passengers who booked with them, instead of doing disembarkation on a first-come, first-served basis.
After marveling at the amazing cars everywhere we looked, we decided to get out of the rain and cold by checking out the famous Monte Carlo Casino. The fee to get in—yes, they charge—was 5Euros/person and they also took a copy of our passport for security purposes. It is a fabulous building, but intimidating casino. All the dealers are men in tuxedos. Not being brave enough to try a table game, hubby and I split the 12Euros cash we had and gave the slots a try. Lucky us! Twenty minutes later, we walked away with 126Euros between us. We stupidly decided to grab a hot chocolate at the Café Paris across the street; 12Euros later, it didn’t seem like such a good idea! Regardless, we enjoyed our day in Monte Carlo, and the walk through the cute streets of Cannes on our way back to the ship.
Our last port was Livorno. From there we took a 45 minute train to Florence. It was a gorgeous, hot day. Not willing to stand in the 2 hour line to see the original statue of David, we elected to see the copy at Piazza della Signoria. It’s a beautiful square in front of Palazzo Vecchio and full of remarkable sculptures; some, particularly gruesome and not so pleasant!
Hercules beating the Centaur NessusWe had a lovely lunch at one of the restaurants in the square and then decided to get a Gelato to help cool us down. What an eye-opener; at 14Euros it must have been made of gold! We certainly learned to check the price first after that experience.
After an additional night in Rome post-cruise, sadly, it was time to head home from our fabulous Western Mediterranean cruise. The Eastern Mediterranean is next on the list.
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