Magical Venice is a Great start to a Cruise

Although there are days when tourists outnumber locals by two to one, Venice never loses its capacity to enchant. Summer brings some of the most daunting crowds, but there’s a reason why they come: the sheer loveliness of an exquisite city that seems miraculously built on water. We caught a flight from Heathrow with BA and two hours later we were in Venice.  Marco Polo airport is small and easy to navigate. We soon met up with our transfer and within 30 min we were being dropped off in Piazzale Roma. This is a large square with parking bays for airport buses, transit buses, a tram station from Mestre, and land taxis.

We had booked one night prior to our cruise in a hotel and the another night post cruise at the Hotel Olimpia Venzia. We literally had a short walk over a bridge to get to the hotel. I can highly recommend this hotel and the breakfast is fabulous especially the lemon cake.

After a very entertaining check in we decided to explore the city. We hopped onto an express boat to St. Mark’s square which took us down the grand canal. As it was already early evening we thought we would leave the rest for after our cruise.

The next morning we made our own way to the cruise port using the monorail or people mover as it is called in Venice. it was cheap and quick – only one stop. In no time we had boarded and were exploring our new home – Rhapsody of the Seas.  We loved the smaller ship size. We read the reviews and felt they were accurate but it was a perfect vacation fit for our family.  The food was good but not gourmet except for the specialty restaurants. There was plenty to choose from in all dining areas of the ship. Our girls loved the food and were very happy with most of the options.

The ports were the big draw on this cruise and mostly they did not disappoint.
Ports:
Katakolon: Tour to the ancient Olympia which is the site of the original Olympic games
Chania, Crete was a day spent at the beach
Athens: Tour to Acropolis and Plaka the old town.
Thessoloniki:  spent the day exploring the town.
Kusadasi: shopping mecca for clothes and bags.
Santorini: day spent exploring Fira and Oia  – Santorini is the supermodel of the Greek islands
Dubrovnik: one of the world’s most magnificent walled cities. Now a Unesco world heritage site.

Overall, an incredible experience. Definitely a cruise holiday I would recommend.