Thursday 24 July 2014

Day 2 - Venice Part C

After going completely crazy with the camera for a while, we dragged ourselves away from St Marks and continued walking along the Giudecca canal then back through Venice towards our hotel - we followed the 'Per P.Roma' signs. 

Along the way, heaps more photos ensued. 












And this is why we are warned not to book a hotel over too many bridges! There were quite a number of bridges that we traversed that had the shattered remnants of suitcase wheels scattered forlornly at the bottom. My soft hearted husband carried more than one mammoth suitcase over a bridge for its struggling owner.




After a while we decided to make our way towards a pastry shop that I had seen reviewed on TripAdvisor. By now we were really ready for a coffee and something sweet. I had printed off maps with walking directions and I had my iphone with Maps on it. Yet despite the best efforts of iMaps to guide us in completely the wrong direction, we soon found the pastry shop. After carefully selecting our treats, we left the crowded shop and found a quiet canal where we could have an impromptu picnic. This turned into the first of many “Perfect Moments”.

The pastry shop is called Pasticceria Tonolo.

By this time it was 10:30am and we had to be checked out of the hotel by 11am. Immediately after finishing our coffee we hotfooted it back to the hotel following my carefully printed maps. It didn't take long and we were soon pushing our way through the crowded foyer to pack our bags then join the throngs. Despite the seeming chaos in reception it took barely ten minutes for us to check out once we had manoeuvred our bags out of the tiny elevator and through the chaos of left luggage in the reception area. 

It was immediately clear that the port would be busy. As we walked across Piazzale Roma to the people mover terminal we were only two of a multitude of people converging on the building. Inside the foyer was crowded - even so, it only took me a few minutes to buy our tickets from the machines. I think part of the delay was that the elevators were not functioning so there was a huge bottleneck on the escalators. It didn’t really help that people were milling around in the foyer with multiple suitcases getting in the way of those wanting to pass through. The foyer is an L shape with the escalators in direct line with the doors on the long part and the ticket booths in an alcove. Having people wait three or four deep along the walls blocking the path to the escalators wasn’t helping with congestion. By this time it was also very hot - so I guess people didn’t want to wait out in the sun. Later we also found that there were five ships in port that day - which would have contributed to the congestion significantly. 

Anyway, we battled through, lugged the two big suitcases and one small one up the escalators and very soon were on the People Mover and getting our first glimpse of the port. The People Mover trip was fast and easy - having said that I would seriously consider getting a taxi next time if that is possible. Because when we got to the port terminal we had to schlep the suitcases down another set of escalators then it was a one kilometre walk in the searing heat to get to the ship. The people mover terminal is directly in front of the main port building with a section of empty land, currently functioning as a carpark, between. That area is fenced off which meant we had to walk all the way around it and then to the fatherest berth at the port which is where the MSC Preziosa was docked. That day five ships were in port and it was exciting walking and looking at them. Given a choice though, I’d prefer to do so from the back of an air-conditioned taxi.

Obligatory People Mover selfie
Our first glimpse of the port and the ships

Map showing the route we had to walk from the People Mover terminal
Showing the car park/undeveloped land between the People Mover terminal and the port
Looking back from the port building to the People Mover terminal, showing the fence we had to walk around
In port today....
Its a loooooooong walk in the midday sun!
My poor husband schlepping the cases
As we approached the terminal the excitement was palpable! We were hot and bothered, with jet lag, sore feet and aching arms but we were finally about to board the MSC Preziosa!


The first door we came to had a lady at it who directed us to continue walking down the outside of the building. This was sad as it looked like it might have had air conditioning - currently the pinnacle of human ingenuity in our estimation at that time. However, only a few meters further on we came to the tent for the Yacht Club check in where we were warmly greeted, had our luggage taken off us and then were ushered into the nice cool terminal building - by a butler who insisted in taking my hand luggage. 

Before we could pass through into the Yacht Club check in we had the obligatory photo standing in front of a screen gripping a ships wheel. We never saw that photo after that though we did go look for it. 

Now as an aside, I don’t know how MSC compares to other cruise lines but I thought the photo stuff was remarkably inefficient, low tech and contributed to congestion on the relevant decks where the photos were displayed. 


My first source of bemusement is that they didn’t scan our cruise cards at any time when we had ‘official’ photos. This meant that there was no way of collating all our photos easily. Instead they were printed out and displayed on massive boards on deck 7 according to which port, event or restaurant they were taken. This meant that much of the time there were significant numbers of people milling around in confusion trying to find their photos and asking each other whether it was Izmir or Katakolon that they got their portraits done. 


I would have thought a much more efficient and environmentally friendly way to do this would be to scan the cruise cards when photos were taken (or even just photograph the darn thing before the people) and then have all the photos available in a digital folder which could be accessed via public terminals/screens in the photo shop and perhaps even from the cabin TV. The desired photos could then be ordered and printed and delivered to the cabin without the kind of wastage and congestion that we were seeing. 


Also, they had package deals but they only applied to photos within a certain group - eg by 5 and get 4 free for photos taken at the Gala dinner. You couldn’t mix and match from different times. I would have paid a decent amount to be able to buy all our photos on a USB stick to take home and print myself. We have done this at various amusement parks and I think it would work well on this cruise ship as well. Not to mention that it would be very environmentally friendly.


Finally, the positioning of the photo centre in the main corridor between two banks of lifts meant that as people poured out of the Platinum Theatre at night they walked through to the back of the ship, pausing to stare slack jawed at the confusing array of photos - creating a near impassable barrier. My husband, like everyone else on the ship obviously, thought it would be a spiffing idea to check out the photos after the show before going back up to the Yacht Club. It also doesn't help that he never did quite get his head around which end of the ship we were meant to be at so numerous times I found myself trotting after him as he plunged off in completely the wrong direction - thus leading us into Congestion Central whilst I was jet lagged, tired and cranky. 


And to be honest, that was probably my biggest gripe about the whole cruise so that isn’t too terrible.

Anyway, moving right along to the main event…. we very soon found ourselves seated in a nice waiting room with another older couple from Germany whilst two busy staff got us checked in, and two butlers served us light refreshments and bubbly. This was VERY civilised and The Boss and I were most delighted!

We did have to get up to get our photos taken for our cruise cards and to sign for our onboard spending but other than that the most onerous thing we had to do was lift our glass of bubbly to our mouths! 

In the back ground you can see the check in desk and immediately there are signs that the staff have a great sense of humour and a very light hearted approach. This suited us well.


Check in didn’t take long and it passed quickly as we chatted to the other couple. We speak only English but we have been consistently impressed and humbled at how much of our language so many others speak in addition to their own language - and often at least one more language as well.

Soon we were informed that when we were ready a butler would be happy to escort us to the ship so we could relax in the Yacht Club lounge till our rooms were ready. A few minutes later we had finished our drinks and intrepidly set off through the crowded main terminal following the butler like a family of obedient little ducklings.



Looking at the number of people waiting made me very glad we had opted for the Yacht Club. I have no idea what the wait time was like but it looked very very busy!




















Next Post - Day 2: Venice Part D

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