We have been back a few days now, so it is a good time to summarize the cruise.
Highlights:
- The shows. These three musical productions were, simply put, some of the best either of us has ever seen on a ship. The last one in particular – “Vintage Pop” – was simply spectacular.
- The Venezia Rockband. Arguably the best band either of us has heard on a ship. Our memory of the excellent Luminosa Rockband has faded, but I think if we heard them side-by-side the Venezia band would win.
- The ship. It was larger and newer than I expected. And very beautiful.
- The food. The fare, both in the dining room and the buffet, was generally better than average. My birthday dinner failed due to horrible beef barley soup that had no beef and little barley, and a prime rib that was so undercooked that it looked raw and had to be sent back – something I almost never do. But the second offering of prime rib was excellent and the other meals were consistently very good.
Lowlights:
- Embarkation. The not-so-smart elevators made a difficult process even more difficult. And our inability to find our muster station – even after asking 6 different crew members – was a major, intolerable fail in crew training. Plus I would like someone to explain to me why Muster Station D3 was location on Deck 4. Does that make any kind of sense at all?
- Guy’s Burgers. I have had some great hamburgers on ships but the “pepperoni pizza burger” that I had at Guy’s was a hot mess. Literally. Maybe the other items on the menu were better but after this burger I had no interest in trying the others.
- The pizza shop hours. We like having pizza late at night. On the Venezia the pizza place closed at midnight (instead of 4am as on the Luminosa). I did not have any pizza on this trip. A minor disappointment but a disappointment.
The highlights greatly outweighed the lowlights. It was a very good cruise.