mrscpa10

We are going on a 12 day cruise on the Ruby Princess in Sept. starting in Venice and ending in Barcelona. We need a hotel in both cities. Any suggestions? We will be in Venice for 1 night before the cruise starts and in Barcelona for 2 nights after the cruise ends. We also need suggestions of the must see places in both cities and suggestions for restaurants.
We booked the excursions for our ports of call through Princess, because we are a little nervous about doing it on our own and possibly missing the boat since we are limited in the amount of time we have in each port. We can do Venice and Barcelona on our own with your help. Thanks.

qwovadis

betterbidding.com

best value hotels for me from $120 usually the

Boscolo Bellini or Hilton Molino Stuky usually bidding priceline.com.Eurostars Port my fav in Barcelona but
many other good options www.booking.com with honest
reviews if you do ot want to beid.

Did your route on Princess several times very memorable.

Except during the Barcelona Olympics on Star Princess

they wrapped a cable around a prop after Olympia we had

to make port for repairs at Trieste they bussed us

to Venice but they gave me the Churchill Suite at the

Excelsior Lido to make up for it and a free cruise

so I forgave them.

eurocheapo.com virtualtourist.com excellent tips for cities

Enjoy!

abram

We were very satisfied with the Hotel Lleo in Barcelona--well located, large rooms, modern bathroom, helpful front desk staff, inexpensive.

Percy

In Venice I liked the Duodo Palace Hotel, very close walking to many places.

Breakfast is included.

In Barcelona, I stayed at the Tryp Apolo which is about a 6 minute walk from the famous Ramblas.

[email protected]

There is a very Good guide in Barcelona:

www.barcelonataxi.com and ask for Mike.

He is terrific and he will take you to the airport next morning.


From the Hotel Tryp Apolo it is a 20 minute taxi ride to the Airport.

Aristotle

We stayed at the AC Diplomatic in Barcelona and thaought that it was great. Very pleasant rooms, great breakfast and close to many sights. Close to many good tapas bars on Rambla Catalunya (north of the plaza.) We hired a driver through Barcelona Day tours or trips and he was great. Stayed on our ship in Venice (Different cruise.) I don't think you need guides in Venice. Just take the vaporettos snf walk. Easy to get lost but it doesn't matter. If you are new to Venice, just seeing it is enough. We did a trip to Murano and it was also wonderful.

Meme5

We took the same cruise on May 16- LOVED it all!! We stayed an extra three days in Barcelona before boarding the ship- our hotel was the Hotel Colon right across the street from the Cathedral and it was perfect- great location, great service and a lovely room. So many wonderful places to eat and walk to. Ask for Shawn from Seattle- he works there- and he will recommend all kinds of places to eat. There is a great Starbucks and a pastry shop right across the street. You can catch the hop on hop off bus right there too!! If you want a private guide- the taxi driver who picked us up at the airport was so great- his name was Jordi and we hired him for the whole day the next day after arriving and he took us everywhere- we went to Montserrat, and all around the city. It was such a great way to see everything. He would stop, get our tickets for us and wait while we saw various Gaudi exhibits, etc. I could probably come up with the card he gave us if I look hard so let me know. While in Venice we stayed at a great hotel also- the Locanda San Barnaba and it was in a great location and a wonderful hotel with such accomodating staff. The only problem was our room was several flights up- and no elevator- although the staff handles your luggage for you. You just might want to ask for the main floor room if available. The first time we were in Venice, in 2009- we stayed at the Locanda Orseola behind St. Mark's and it was so nice also. You will be glad you spent extra days in both these wonderful cities. You will love the cruise, but be prepared to be on the go each day in each port, come back, eat dinner and crash! We had been on other cruises- Alaska, Australia, and always went to the shows after dinner, but this time we were just too tired. We might have done better to select any time dining, instead of the 8:30 dining time so we could eat when we were ready to, and maybe then we would have been able to catch one or two of the shows. But just enjoy it all- you will look forward to those two days at sea to relax by the pool. The weather was perfect for us in May - hope the same is true for you. We loved Cinque Terre, the Amalfi coast, Pompeii and Mykonos (save your shopping dollars for this beautiful Greek island- so many wonderful shops!). Have fun!!

ParrotMom

Thanks to people on this site we found many years ago Hotel Continental which is right on La Rambles...a favorite with cruisers. Family owned with refreshments 24 hours a day, free internet access and a great staff. We have also used Auriello and Michael who have picked us up at the airport and we have taken tours with them, not once, but at least four cruises from Barcelona which is our favorite port. In Rome we have used Rominlimo, the first time we were lucky enough to get Claudio to go to Tuscanny, the next time we went to Cinque Terre which is absolutely gorgeous and in October used Salvatore to tour Rome.. Have never been to Venice, but on our Messina port we lucked out and found Expert Tours Guide..extremely affordable, If you need more info write [email protected] We like to play it forward...

jacketwatch

In barcelona there is a hop on-hop off bus which covers the major sites. It has two routes so do one each day and that should do nicely.

mrscpa10

Thank you so much for the great info. Next question-clothes.
We are traveling from Aug 30-Sept 15. What kind of weather do you think we will have? What type of clothes should we be taking. Shorts or long pants? I don't want to take stuff I won't use. Do we need to dress for dinner, or are the clothes we are sightseeing in okay (Jeans and casual slacks.) It looks like we might be getting back on the boat just before dinner on some days with not enough time to change. How about evening clothes? Is a Sports Jacket and Little Black Dress dressy enough. Gowns and tuxes take up so much room in a suitcase. Again thanks for your help

Percy

I did the same trip from Venice to Barcelona.

From August 30 to September 15, you will be in shorts for most of your excursions.

I would bring shorts and long pants in equal amount.


If you are sight seeing in a nice pair of slacks and shirt that will be sufficent for dinner if you come from sightseeing on the late side..

( But on on dress up night (s))

if you do not want to get dressed up on "dress-up" night then you can go to the Buffett, or one of the other restaurants on the ship , where you might pay a little more for certain items.

I would not wear Jean or Shorts to dinner on any night, whether dress-up night or not.

In fact they might even request that you not wear Jean or short to dinner.

I would say that a Sports Jacket and "Little" Black Dress is good enough.

There will be those that are wearing a long Gowns and some of the men in Tuxes !!

I am sure others will offer better advice.

mrscpa10

We are arriving in Venice on Wed morning after an all night flight and begin our cruise on Friday morning. Our cruise ship arrives in Barcelona on Tues at 5 am and we leave for home on Thurs morning. So about a day and a half in Venice and 2 days in Barcelona.

Does anyone have an itineray for us to follow so we don't back track. Once we are out and about in the morning, we won't go back to the hotel until we fall over with exhaustion. We want to see everything we can. Thanks again for your help.