*****This is a text heavy, “tie-over” chapter. It includes the end of our time cruising around Greece and transitioning back into a tour of Italy. If you loved reading about Greece, follow me next by clicking on the chapters in “Italy”!!!*****
This would be our last day was at sea and it was mostly filled with laying by the pool, sipping on an occasional cocktail, and finally getting down to the unsavory task of repacking. Yuck.
A word about the pool that we enjoyed most, even over the hot tubs. I don’t know about other Celebrity ships, but the Constellation has one pool in particular (I think I wrote about this before, but will again in case I hadn’t…) that is a “Thallasotherapy” Pool which is basically a warm seawater pool. According to some research, which is somewhat sketchy and loose, there are some health benefits to a nice long soak in the minerals of sea water. I wonder if the biggest benefit is derived from simply unplugging and unwinding for several hours laying in a nice warm pool and closing one’s eyes. In the pool there are areas to stretch out and recline so you can just soak. Which is exactly what we did.
For several hours.
It was bliss!! If I’d known about this pool earlier, I’d have skipped the lukewarm hot tubs altogether and used this one more.
The week of touring had definitely taken its toll on sleep and energy, and this was just what I needed to re-charge for the next long, rigorous spell of touring!! After our mega-long poolside day, we both headed back to pack leaving out what we’d need for our last “formal” night. We gussied up as best we could and had our last meal in the Main Dining Room. Before we headed back to the room we got perhaps one of my favorite photos of us together.
Would I cruise with Celebrity again? Probably not. I’ve only cruised 3 times: Once in high school, and I have no recollection of what company it was, once on Holland, and once with Celebrity. Comparing Holland to Celebrity, Holland would win hands down. I’m certain Disney would also be nice, but I’m pretty fogey-ish now and like quiet. I don’t want to be splashed in the pool, I don’t want to hear whiney kids complaining about the food, or running around in the dining rooms. And get off my lawn. Plus, I’m poor as dirt right now and a Disney cruise would be like asking for the Crown Jewels. Holland America, of the two, just had all-around far better service with nice touches like room service breakfast menus delivered every evening (didn’t ever have that on Celebrity), more frequent attention to bathroom amenities, and a few miscellaneous evening services, like ice fills, that were never offered on Celebrity.
Would I sail the same itinerary? Nope. There are other places I want to see, but beyond that I know now which Greek islands I prefer and would go back to (not via cruise) and stay a bit longer. But would I go to Greece again? Yes, I would… but first the Philippines and Australia. My daughter’s chosen a destination wedding near Manila in February. Her fiancée’s family is from the Philippines and is helping arrange things a bit in finding a really nice, all-inclusive venue for them. And since I’ll be “in the neighborhood”, I thought I’d hop to Australia and maybe one of the South Pacific Islands to take a look-see. (Since I first write up this trip, I decided on adding in Bali and you can read about that soon by clicking in “Bali”!)
Okay, back to this trip….
The disembarkation process was SUPER easy. We opted to tote our own bags and not wait around for valet service so we could get on our scheduled train. A word about that… Remember that horrific fiasco getting TO the port? Yeah, hard lesson learned! We did NOT do that again in making too tight a connection. My folks just can’t move quick, and frankly, even if you are younger and faster, tight train connections WILL be a disaster. We scheduled our trains with 45 minutes in between leaving plenty of time to haul bags up and down the platform connection tunnels, going potty, finding our track, etc…. And it worked great.
Leaving Ravenna, the port city that is NOT Venice like Celebrity advertises, and you learn about later (which really ticked me off!), we headed to Ferrara where we switched trains to the Santa Lucia station in Venice.
Trains: Italian trains are bomb-diggity. (The station logistics are not!) Did you know that there is not only a national rail company, but several private companies that share the rails? We took a few of them here or there over the course of the trip, but I will say that they all have some things in common. The first-class seats will get you Wi-Fi, a cup of coffee or tea, and more room for luggage. Normal seats are just as clean, the speeds and times are nearly enough the same to not fuss about, they ALL leave ON THE MINUTE of their scheduled time (do NOT be late!), all have bathrooms that are clean, and snacks to purchase if you need them. The easiest way to grab tickets is: 1) think ahead and buy at least a few days prior to your trip, or you’ll pay more, 2) if you want to sit next to your people, pay a tiny bit extra and pick your seats together when you book, 3) download the Trainline App and you can book super easy and quickly with that- you just plug in your to and from and it shows you all the options to choose from, and 4) if your train is cancelled you can, with not too much hassle, get switched by going to the ticket window at your station. Yes, trains can and do get cancelled now and then.
We found our AirBnb with some effort as we needed to get on a regular water taxi from the train station to the Rialto Bridge water stop. Toting our bags as best we could, we found the stop to board, bought tickets, and then stood in the wrong side of the floating station/dock and waited forever, only to realize we sucked at water taxi logistics. The crowd was huge, but somehow we managed to get out of the wrong line that wasn’t moving anyway, moved over to the correct side and then fought our way onto the next packed boat. We were all incredibly grateful that someone gave up their seat for Mom but getting her back there through the sea of people and then off again 5 stops later was insanely difficult. But we did it and got all checked in after a short walk from our stop. I am sharing that because it’s important to know that Venice is NOT an easy destination choice for those with mobility issues. There are loads of steps and bridges, dicey boardings onto boats, uneven pathways, and steep, narrow stairways in apartments. It’s important to consider this when thinking of visiting for sure!
A few random shots from the water taxi and the walk to the apartment:
The only photo I got of our AirBnb this time. Apparently, I was enamoured with the ceiling:
Everyone was pretty hungry and we all know Dad doesn’t wait to eat when he’s hungry. The first place he sees is going to be the BEST food he’s ever eaten and nothing else could possibly do. No searching for something more appealing or with better reviews; if it’s the first place he sees that’s where he wants to eat. This caused more than a few “moments” along the way because I had done enormous amounts of research into the places with the best reviews and looked like they’d be a good fit for us. Nevertheless, for some reason I didn’t set out with them immediately and have no recollection why, but at some point I found them in a pizza shop on the same block as our apartment. I guess I was hungry too so stepped up to the counter and ordered a slice of pizza. They had maybe 10 options, some with just sauce, mozzarella, and a leaf or two of basil, a true Margarita, some with just meats, others with veggies, and still others with cheeses. All of them looked mouth-watering, but I am pretty sure I went with a slice (in Italy slices are usually square at these types of places) of cheese medley. I also ordered an Aperol Spritz since it was “that time of day”. I mean, do you really need any other reason?
Now… here is where things got weird and stressful all over again. Anara, my youngest, was scheduled to arrive into Marco Polo Airport with barely enough time for us to dump our luggage at the AirBnb and for me to race off to the airport to meet her. After MUCH discussion and deliberation, we decided that Anara is a big girl and that with some text coaching we could guide her to where we could meet her. I didn’t make this decision lightly, but the cost to meet her would be a bit steep and by the time I could get there she could be most of the way across the lagoon.
Understandably she was VERY nervous. She has a bit of anxiety as it is and asking her to do this was a HUGE stretch for her. But she is smart and street savvy so we knew she could do it.
She skillfully managed to make her way to the ticket kiosk for the Alilaguna Water Taxi, bought a ticket for the Orange Line, and told the seller she wanted to get off at 2nd stop called Guglie. Unfortunately, she ended up having to wait a VERY long time at the dock for the next boat to make her crossing. Back in Venice, while I was busy texting her with clarifications and step-by-step instructions, Mikki, my dad, and I took off to find a little place to wait for her at Guglie while Mom went back to the apartment to take a nap. We ended up at the:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vinoteca+Vintido+alle+Guglie/@45.4485077,12.3098215,14.91z/data=!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x477eb1c04ee4286b:0xf8e4ef92ce77d305!2sGuglie!8m2!3d45.444294!4d12.32445!16s/g/1pxyrk6fp!3m5!1s0x477eb184979e89b5:0x5888cf1e7412e663!8m2!3d45.4442304!4d12.3248413!16s/g/11h38fps4_
…. and it was disgusting. Definitely do not recommend.
But at least it was a picturesque enough place to wait.
None of us were hungry, but we felt obligated to order something for sitting at the table while we waited. I ordered some plate of cicchetti and a glass of wine, NONE of which was edible. The wine was so bad that I literally took one sip and let the rest sit there. $10 and 30 minutes later, we left with Anara safely with us. She was exhausted, wanted a shower, and some dinner.
Up next…. What would 3 ladies do with themselves until dinner….?