6/26/2014 - 9 Night Mediterranean Cruise, Venice, Italy

[Disney_fans]

Does anyone have any links to the hotels that Disney will use or hotels that people plan to use on the Venice cruises. We're starting to look at hotels for a pre cruise stay and we'd like to narrow down the area of Venice that is convenient to get to and not too expensive.

We are just starting to look at hotels, too. Kathy Watson from our July cruise stayed in Venice prior to Barcelona. She raved about Hotel Canal Grande. She said it was about a 30 minute walk from the main square, but it was in a great area and was very reasonable. You can read her reviews of it and see photos on the Eastern Med Mouseketeers Facebook page.

 

[htmlkid]

Hi! We just came off that cruise as well and loved it so much that we booked the 9 night Venice while on board. This will be our 8th Disney Cruise. It will be just DH & me. Our room # is 6148 and we're interested in doing the FE.

Welcome and you have been added to the FE List

 

[MrsG]

We are just starting to look at hotels, too. Kathy Watson from our July cruise stayed in Venice prior to Barcelona. She raved about Hotel Canal Grande. She said it was about a 30 minute walk from the main square, but it was in a great area and was very reasonable. You can read her reviews of it and see photos on the Eastern Med Mouseketeers Facebook page.

Thanks Michelle, found it. I'll check it out!

 

[ButterbearUK]

We are just starting to look at hotels, too. Kathy Watson from our July cruise stayed in Venice prior to Barcelona. She raved about Hotel Canal Grande. She said it was about a 30 minute walk from the main square, but it was in a great area and was very reasonable. You can read her reviews of it and see photos on the Eastern Med Mouseketeers Facebook page.

We stayed at the Hotel Canal Grande on a previous trip to Venice. It's lovely. The rooms are all recently decorated and very plush, the lobby is very smart, the staff attentive and helpful, and the continental breakfast was good.

Venice in June is expensive. They quoted us 280 euros a night for an alleyway view and 380 euros a night for a canal view for the two days before our cruise next year, which is not too bad for Venice in June, but a little beyond our budget. So we also got a quote from their sister hotel, the Hotel Antiche Figure, just a little closer to the cruise port. They quoted us 255 euros a night for an alley view, and 325 euros a night for a canal view, but reduced the price to 240 euros a night for each room (alleyway view) because we are staying for 4 nights. Their rooms look much the same as the Canal Grande, and the staff have been very helpful with our bookings

Interestingly the Antiche also has a small number of "residence suites", which are effectively one bed suites with a sofa bed- good for families. We were quoted 355 euros a night for one of these.

Both are well located from the cruise port. You just walk across the canal and then take the people mover to the port apparently.

Emilia

 

[MrsG]

Agreed, the prices for the hotels are quite high. We booked the Hotel Ai Reali which is close to the Riato Bridge and about a 5 min walk from town center. It got rave reviews on trip advisor as being close to the action without the crowds. It was once a palace so the decor is supposed to be very nice. The price is about $360 per night, much more than we usually spend but it seems to be easy to walk everywhere and close to water taxi stops. I feel better having a hotel booked. When I went on Expedia and AAA, I couldn't believe how many were sold out already!

 

[ButterbearUK]

When I went on Expedia and AAA, I couldn't believe how many were sold out already!

Your hotel looks lovely

I think quite a few have not yet published their rates and availability for next year, so they may not necessarily be sold out. That said, it is a popular time in Venice, so worth booking early if you can. We had to email both the hotels I mentioned to ask for quotes. They haven't released any price info on their website yet.

European hotels are much more old fashioned. It is a pain if you rely on the web to find good deals... If you see somewhere you like and Expedia etc don't show availability, email the hotel direct and ask. They are generally happy to correspond in English. In fact, even if you find a good deal online it is worth emailing to ask if they will match it. We got a discount at Canal Grande that way, they matched a web rate for us, and didn't charge the credit card fee for payment. It also worth emailing to ask for help organising water taxis, restaurants and excursions. Most hotels are happy to do this if you ask them to.

 

[MrsG]

Your hotel looks lovely

I think quite a few have not yet published their rates and availability for next year, so they may not necessarily be sold out. That said, it is a popular time in Venice, so worth booking early if you can. We had to email both the hotels I mentioned to ask for quotes. They haven't released any price info on their website yet.

European hotels are much more old fashioned. It is a pain if you rely on the web to find good deals... If you see somewhere you like and Expedia etc don't show availability, email the hotel direct and ask. They are generally happy to correspond in English. In fact, even if you find a good deal online it is worth emailing to ask if they will match it. We got a discount at Canal Grande that way, they matched a web rate for us, and didn't charge the credit card fee for payment. It also worth emailing to ask for help organising water taxis, restaurants and excursions. Most hotels are happy to do this if you ask them to.

Thanks so much for the tip! Never thought to email or call. I hope they just didn't publish their rates yet. If they are really sold out, we're going to be packed like sardines walking around! Will definitely contact them about the water taxi and excursions as time gets closer. I'm hoping it's easier to get around than it appears.......

 

[ButterbearUK]

Thanks so much for the tip! Never thought to email or call. I hope they just didn't publish their rates yet. If they are really sold out, we're going to be packed like sardines walking around! Will definitely contact them about the water taxi and excursions as time gets closer. I'm hoping it's easier to get around than it appears.......

It's very easy to get around Venice. It's small, and flat, so easy to walk around if you have a decent map or don't mind getting a bit lost. We got lost on our second day there and found some much nicer mask shops and restaurants than those on the tourist trails as a result. It is a safe place to walk around generally, and the people are friendly.

It's also easy to navigate by the yellow and white water buses. You just get a ticket for 24/48 hours and you can hop on and off. It will be super busy in June, not Main Street on 4th July busy, but certainly busy enough for the water buses to feel seriously squashed, but don't let that put you off. The major tourist sites will have queues at peak times, but if you know where you want to go, plan your days and go to your must sees early you will be fine.

To get from the airport to venice you can take the bus, train or water taxi. When we went last there were two of us with very little luggage so the bus was easiest. This time there are 4 of us with cruise luggage, so we have booked a water taxi to deliver us from airport to hotel. After that we will be walking and using the water taxis. Most of the 4 star hotels have some excursions available. Ours does Trips to murano glassworks on certain days.

How long are you staying for, and what are your must sees?

 

[MrsG]

It's very easy to get around Venice. It's small, and flat, so easy to walk around if you have a decent map or don't mind getting a bit lost. We got lost on our second day there and found some much nicer mask shops and restaurants than those on the tourist trails as a result. It is a safe place to walk around generally, and the people are friendly.

It's also easy to navigate by the yellow and white water buses. You just get a ticket for 24/48 hours and you can hop on and off. It will be super busy in June, not Main Street on 4th July busy, but certainly busy enough for the water buses to feel seriously squashed, but don't let that put you off. The major tourist sites will have queues at peak times, but if you know where you want to go, plan your days and go to your must sees early you will be fine.

To get from the airport to venice you can take the bus, train or water taxi. When we went last there were two of us with very little luggage so the bus was easiest. This time there are 4 of us with cruise luggage, so we have booked a water taxi to deliver us from airport to hotel. After that we will be walking and using the water taxis. Most of the 4 star hotels have some excursions available. Ours does Trips to murano glassworks on certain days.

How long are you staying for, and what are your must sees?

Thanks so much for the info. I feel a lot better! We're checking in Sun. before the cruise and out on Thursday, Cruise day - so 4 nights. We want to do all the major sites: Doge's Palace, St Mark's, etc. We also want to see Murano and Burano and maybe a few of the other islands and, of course a gondola ride, the usual touristy things. That being said, we also enjoy just walking around and absorbing the culture of the city we're in. That's when you really feel you've visited.

 

[thestewarts]

Hi all.

We are just off the Magic after 12 wonderful magical nights. Booked for this cruise for next year so just starting to recover from the travelling, albeit short compared to some.

Hotel tips would be useful if anyone has any reasonably priced recommendations?

 

[pcannizzaro76]

Hey guys. We booked this cruise a while back. We are excited to go back to the Med. we went two summers ago and it was by far the best vacation we have ever been on. The great part about this cruise is that it goes to all new ports compared to our other Disney Cruise on the Med.

 

[thestewarts]

I created a facebook group:

under this adress can you find the group for our cruise:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Magic.Med.2014/


mail adress for the group:
Magic.Med.2014@groups.facebook.com

If you want to join - please feel free to contact me:
stefan.rausch.902@facebook.com

We've just come back from 12 night Magic in the Med cruise and booked this one while onboard.
I've just also send you a request to join the Facebook group too please.
Thanks, F

 

[rav4lcrv]

Booked yesterday for our 6th cruise with Disney. Wondering if anyone is booked with the Adventures by Disney add on. We did the Med. in 2010 & Alaska in 2011 with Adventures by Disney and loved it

 

[2PrincesseInTow]

Booked yesterday for our 6th cruise with Disney. Wondering if anyone is booked with the Adventures by Disney add on. We did the Med. in 2010 & Alaska in 2011 with Adventures by Disney and loved it

Welcome!

We are booked on the ABD add on. My DD's will be 8 & 12. I'm spending so much time planning our pre-cruise trip that I will be happy to have someone else do the work. We've never done ABD but they sound fabulous!

We're on a similar cruise schedule. We did the 11 night med in 2011 and Alaska in 2012.

Sara

 

[Mineu]

Just booked flights today with Turkish Air-really good rates and they will provide a free hotel if your layover is longer than 10 hrs.

 

[MrsG]

We just booked our air as well today. Delta at JFK nonstop to venice & back. Can't say we got a great fare but it was comparable to those with one or more stops. Plus, after being bumped and spending a night in Amsterdam on our last cruise, we wanted direct.

 

[MrsG]

Welcome!

We are booked on the ABD add on. My DD's will be 8 & 12. I'm spending so much time planning our pre-cruise trip that I will be happy to have someone else do the work. We've never done ABD but they sound fabulous!

We're on a similar cruise schedule. We did the 11 night med in 2011 and Alaska in 2012.

Sara

Question about the ABD add on. How can I find how to do that? We noticed a few ABD excursions we might be interested in from this year. I didn't see that they were posted for next year. We are interested in the night-time gondola ride, but not sure how to go about booking it.

Thanks

 

[thestewarts]

Question about the ABD add on. How can I find how to do that? We noticed a few ABD excursions we might be interested in from this year. I didn't see that they were posted for next year. We are interested in the night-time gondola ride, but not sure how to go about booking it.

Thanks

I'm not sure how to book ABD tours. Do you really want to go on a gondola? Not sure if you heard about this on Monday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...r-3-fights-life-crash-near-Rialto-Bridge.html

When we were in Venice a couple of weeks ago on the Disney Magic, we travelled on the vaporetto water buses which were packed out. While we all have rules of the road to adhere to when driving, there doesn't appear to be any rules of the canals for any traffic on them. There were gondolas crossing in front of police boats and vaporetto crossing the canals from stop to stop. Definitely pretty hairy trips!!
I know this year it took a while for the shore excursions to appear on the booking website. Might be worth waiting to see what they offer.

F

 

[2PrincesseInTow]

Question about the ABD add on. How can I find how to do that? We noticed a few ABD excursions we might be interested in from this year. I didn't see that they were posted for next year. We are interested in the night-time gondola ride, but not sure how to go about booking it.

Thanks

You can go to the Adventures by Disney website (adventuresbydisney.com) and see all of the excursions. The ABD is an all or nothing thing; you take the entire itinerary of excursions for the cruise. You then call DCL to book it (or your travel agent).

 

[2PrincesseInTow]

I'm not sure how to book ABD tours. Do you really want to go on a gondola? Not sure if you heard about this on Monday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...r-3-fights-life-crash-near-Rialto-Bridge.html

When we were in Venice a couple of weeks ago on the Disney Magic, we travelled on the vaporetto water buses which were packed out. While we all have rules of the road to adhere to when driving, there doesn't appear to be any rules of the canals for any traffic on them. There were gondolas crossing in front of police boats and vaporetto crossing the canals from stop to stop. Definitely pretty hairy trips!!
I know this year it took a while for the shore excursions to appear on the booking website. Might be worth waiting to see what they offer.

F

That incident in Venice is so very sad.