The hop on-off tourist bus tickets are bought right on site. One of the
main locations is right near Las Ramblas. No big deal. As I recall, there
were two color busses, red and blue that you could take--don't remember why,
could be they went in different directions, don't really know. You buy the
vaporetto tickets at a booth by one of the stops--again, no big deal. The
tickets aren't collected, in fact nobody shows them to anybody, people get
on and off as if the ride was a freebee. But you better have a ticket if
asked to show it--big fines keep everyone honest.
At the Murano factory, the glass blowing exhibition was a joke--just a means
to get you into the showroom. Go, have a look around and then expect to be
a bit insulted if you don't buy. Our guy, as we were leaving said something
like "Can I get you anything, like some spaghetti and meatballs". It is very
expensive there, in fact just down about 6-10 stores down from the factory
there was a place that had some of the same pieces at a much lower cost.
MLD
"SunnyFL" wrote in message
news:1151076462.943723.164730@b68g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks Diana and MLD for the good information.
>
> The hop on hop off tourist bus -- do you buy a pass for that? We're
> staying in the Las Ramblas area.
>
> Also, did you get the vaporetto pass when you arrived in Venice or did
> you purchase it online ahead of time? Thanks for the heads up about
> the Murano factory taxi ride and hard-sell. I hear it's extremely
> expensive to buy anything in Murano.
>
> We were in Nice in 2004 (after a Viking cruise from Chalon Sur Saone to
> Avignon) and stayed for a couple of days. We had a car and went to Eze
> and drove through Monaco but didn't get into the big casino (much to my
> husband's disappointment). This is something we might do this time
> (although the ship's excursion only allows about an hour in the
> casino-- I guess that's enough time to lose).
>
> We've also been to Rome and Santorini. We had several days in Rome
> before a cruise back in 1999 and saw everything we wanted to see
> (including the Pope). We may skip the Rome excursions. We also LOVED
> Santorini (we took the donkeys up to Fira -- what an experience).
>
> We're excited about the places on this itinerary that we haven't seen
> yet --
> Barcelona, Florence, Naples, Athens, Dubrovnik and of course Venice.
>
> Again, I appreciate your input very much!
>
> Rosann
>
>
>
>
> MLD wrote:
> > Good comments--We got to Barcelona about 2 days before picking up the
cruise
> > so we had plenty of time to get around. I think that taking the hop
on-hop
> > off tourist bus is the best idea along with doing Ramblas.
> > In Venice--You can do it all on your own. Walking around and taking the
> > vaporettos (water buses) will let you see and get to where ever you want
to
> > go. If your stop is more than one day (usually two days) buy a 2 day
> > vaporetto pass. Also, let yourself get hustled to the Murano factory
via a
> > free water taxi ride. If you don't buy anything you kinda get left on
our
> > own to get back to where you started--that's one time the vaporetto pass
> > came in real handy. The sales people hang on you like a coat and get a
bit
> > pis****d if you don't buy--the prices are outrages. In summary--Skip the
> > ship's tours in Barcelona and Venice.
> > MLD
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "D Ball" wrote in message
> > news:4g278cF1kcudlU1@individual.net...
> > > Hi, Rosann,
> > >
> > > We did that cruise in June 2004. What a great itinerary! It is hard to
> > offer
> > > specific advice without knowing a little more about your travel
experience
> > > and interests. The most important thing for you to do at this point
(and
> > > fast!) is to check out some travel guides from the library to learn
about
> > > each place you are visiting and determine your priority "Must See's."
> > Then,
> > > you can pick and choose excursions based on what you want to
accomplish.
> > >
> > > To get things going, I will assume this will be your first visit to
this
> > > part of Europe and you want to see the highlights. I will offer a few
> > > suggestions I think are appropriate for first-timers. If you've been
there
> > > before, or are an experienced traveler and prefer independent
> > explorations,
> > > let us know--we did the entire itinerary on our own & highly recommend
it.
> > > Note, when I refer to "excursion" below, I mean through Celebrity or
> > through
> > > a private tour operator. You can learn LOTS of helpful information
about
> > > excursions and tour operators in these ports at
> > > http://www.cruisecritic.com -- go to the Ports of Call>Europe boards.
> > >
> > > Barcelona - Recommend the hop on, hop off tourist bus
> > > http://www.tmb.net/en_US/home.jsp to get you to the major sites, plus
a
> > > several-hour walk on the Ramblas pedestrian boulevard of shops with
> > fabulous
> > > people-watching
> > >
> > > Villefranche - Excursion to St. Paul de Vence, Eze and Monaco or some
> > > similar combination
> > >
> > > Livorno - Excursion to Pisa (leaning tower) and Florence (the
Accademia to
> > > see David + one other major site, e.g., the Uffizi Gallery or the
> > > cathedral/climb to the dome + lunch, strolling and shopping, incl. the
> > Ponte
> > > Vecchio bridge). This is a busy day--the alternative is a trip to a
Tuscan
> > > town, e.g., Lucca.
> > >
> > > Civitavecchia (Rome) - Most excursions can get you inside for a full
tour
> > of
> > > the Colosseum + Vatican City (museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's
> > > basilica), as well as drive you by/make short stops at several popular
> > > landmarks, e.g., the Forum, Circus Maximus, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain,
> > > Spanish Steps, the Via Condotti and area "5th Avenue" shopping, etc.
> > >
> > > Naples - Excursion to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast
> > >
> > > Mykonos - beach/city walking day on your own
> > >
> > > Santorini - beach/city walking day on your own; highly recommend
excursion
> > > (or negotiate a roundtrip taxi ride or take the city bus) to Oia
village
> > for
> > > sunset.
> > >
> > > Athens - excursion to Acropolis, original Olympic stadium, museum +
time
> > in
> > > the Plaka for lunch, shopping and strolling
> > >
> > > Dubrovnik - city stroll, lunch and shopping on your own, including
walking
> > > the walls -- you can spontaneously join a walking tour, also
refreshing to
> > > charter a small boat ride at the marina where you tender
> > >
> > > Venice - book the Secret Itinerary tour of the Doges Palace (just
Google
> > > it), otherwise, plan to walk all over and use the vaporettos (water
buses)
> > > to get around and also visit Murano and other islands
> > >
> > > These are just some ideas to get you started.
> > >
> > > The Millie is a lovely ship. There are many reviews of her
Mediterranean
> > > voyages at the Cruise Critic site.
> > >
> > > Have fun researching & planning. I recommend you move quickly, as
> > > availability on popular tours could become an issue.
> > >
> > > Diana Ball
> > > near Houston, TX
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > "SunnyFL" wrote in message
> > > news:1151063377.016575.69320@b68g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > > > Hello,
> > > >
> > > > Has anyone been on Millenium's Barcelona to Venice cruise? Looking
for
> > > > opinions on shore excursions and also would appreciate ideas on what
to
> > > > do pre and post cruise (we have 2 full days each in Barcelona and
> > > > Venice). We leave 8/15/06.
> > > >
> > > > Any comments on the ship itself?
> > > >
> > > > Thank you.
> > > >
> > > > Rosann
> > > >
> > >
> > >
>
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