Aug. 26 Venice & Dalmatian

cindy99

I will be taking this trip with my daughter-in-law. My first cruise. Has anyone taken this trip and do you have any advise? Thinking of skipping some of the organized shore trips for independent exploration. How did you find the shore trips? Did anyone use the spa? Can't seem to find any information on the spa. Would you recommend one side of the ship over another for views while at sea? How was the food?

British

The only thing I am not quite understanding is that you will certainly see less if you do an independent tour, unless your purpose is to explore something that is not covered on the tour. Then there is always the fear of not getting back in time before the ship is scheduled to leave the port.

cindy99

British wrote:

The only thing I am not quite understanding is that you will certainly see less if you do an independent tour, unless your purpose is to explore something that is not covered on the tour. Then there is always the fear of not getting back in time before the ship is scheduled to leave the port.

I would like to go to a beach and swim at some point. It seems a shame to be in the Adriatic and not get into the water. I may be able to do this during my free time by arranging a taxi. Once onboard I will check with the directors to see if this is possible.

rabo

I don't know if this will be an opportunity on the Venice & the Dalmatian Coast tour, but we were on the Le Soléal (the ship you'll be on) earlier this year for The Treasures of Southeast Asia. Cruising the South China Sea, between Nha Trang and Da Nang, an announcement was made that we had a good tail wind and were ahead of schedule. The Captain stopped the ship and guests were able to swim off the stern of the ship. An area was roped off, and crew were stationed in zodiacs surrounding us to keep a an eye on us (and watch out for anything that could eat us!). Swimming in the middle of the sea, with nothing but water between you and the horizon, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I posted a few pictures of this on my blog of our trip . . .
http://www.rabo.com/Blog/Treasures_of_Southeast_Asia/Entries/2014/2/3_Cruising_the_East_Sea.html

Jerry

cindy99

rabo wrote:

I don't know if this will be an opportunity on the Venice & the Dalmatian Coast tour, but we were on the Le Soléal (the ship you'll be on) earlier this year for The Treasures of Southeast Asia. Cruising the South China Sea, between Nha Trang and Da Nang, an announcement was made that we had a good tail wind and were ahead of schedule. The Captain stopped the ship and guests were able to swim off the stern of the ship. An area was roped off, and crew were stationed in zodiacs surrounding us to keep a an eye on us (and watch out for anything that could eat us!). Swimming in the middle of the sea, with nothing but water between you and the horizon, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I posted a few pictures of this on my blog of our trip . . .
http://www.rabo.com/Blog/Treasures_of_Southeast_Asia/Entries/2014/2/3_Cruising_the_East_Sea.html

Jerry

Thank you for your reply. Sounds like a great adventure. I will keep my fingers crossed that at some point we are ahead of schedule.