12 Night Mediterranean Tapestry (Barcelona To Venice)
Sail date: June 08, 2019
Ship:
Veendam
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
This 12-day Tapestry Cruise was incredible! We were able to see seven beautiful countries in 12 days and loved every minute!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Excellent and easy on boarding in Barcelona! Stayed at Cristal Palace Hotel on Las Ramblas and taxi stand was right across the street! Super easy, quick ride to Terminal!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The very best activity were the nightly talks by “Tom” who would give an overview of what there was to do at the next port we would visit!!! Bravo Tom! He gave great insights into how to explore - even if you weren’t going on a Ship excursion! Thank you!
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Unfortunately, just not up to par!🥴 Best night was when the dancers and singers came aboard from Croatia!!!! They were awesome! Piano player in Ocean Bar was also fantastic!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Every one of them just wants you to have a fantastic cruise! Thank you!
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
This is sort of a trick question - our room was ALWAYS clean and all areas of the ship that I observed were clean. The ship has a beautiful “design,” however the ship is in desperate need of updating! Peeling wallpaper, stained and worn carpets, etc, just go to highlight the “tired” feeling of this old ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Loved our suite! As I said before, peeling wall paper etc, really lowers expectations but the staff always EXCEEDED them!
Ship tip
Think about which side of the ship you want to be on if you have a balcony and/or window. I wished for so many days that I was on the port side to be able to see the towns we were visiting from the ship....until we got to Venice! We had the most amazing arrival in Venice and watched the city unfold from the starboard, so it truly made up for it!!!! Fantastic trip! (We even arrived at noon and just as we did, the church bells started pealing and the Italian Air Force was having an air show and twelve jets flew right over us in formation with “smokes on!” Magical and impressive! Will try to post!
This is a fantastic port! For just 1 Euro 50, you can jump on a city bus for a 45 minute ride down the French Riviera to Nice! Beautiful! When you return you can take a tour of the Palace (where the Prince and his family actually live!,) watch the Changing of the Guard, ride the “mini-train on wheels” for a complete overview of the city and even hit the Casino! (Secret: although they tell you that it costs 17 euro to get in; they actually give you back 10 euro in the hopes that you will gamble it so it actually only costs 7 euro!) Monte Carlo is safe and super easy to get around due to how small it is so you don’t really need to buy an excursion - just explore!
Our ship, the Veendam, overnighted here in Venice so we were able to come back to sleep before disembarking the next day. We spent another night at the Olimpia Hotel in Venice and it was fantastic! The hotel is well located right at the end of the “People Mover” which brings you directly from the ship terminal right on a canal. We were told by our driver who took us to the airport, that the best way to meet Venice is to get lost in her. It is so true!!! For two days we wandered all over this beautiful city and discovered so many lovely spots to eat, drink and to listen to beautiful music while watching the gondoliers! (Tip: get away from St. Marks Square to get a better price on a gondola ride!) Enjoy getting lost In Venice!
I think that Taormina was my favorite port (and Dubrovnik.) What a beautiful medieval city built into the beautiful cliffs! The Greco-Roman Theater was incredible and walking through the town gate before the shops were open was a true highlight. The tour progressed to Mt Etna which was erupting!!!!! This was an amazing day! We will definitely return!!!!
Rome is wonderful and beautiful and BUSY! We have been before so we decided to take a different type of tour from the Ship’s Excursions - Roman Holiday. Unfortunately, the tour description was NOT the tour we were given so we were all very frustrated. The ship made things right by all of us and refunded half of all our fees! Well done Holland America! Thank you Veendam and please get that your running?🤷‍♀️ It would be AWESOME!!!🤗
Incredible city! Took the Bicycle Excursion and spent the entire day exploring with the best guides ever!!!!!! Pedal-assist bikes made the climb to the Cathedral an easy ride!!!! Definitely recommend!!!!!
Unfortunately, our biking tour was cancelled due to not enough participants so we took the on/off bus instead. We stayed on for the whole tour and then got off and started exploring. Beautiful place and very easy to get around.
We took a fantastic tour to Florence with Laura - the very best guide ever! The entire day was fun, informative and full of laughs. This is an excellent overview of Florence if you’ve never been. We purchased the tour through the Ship’s Excursions and loved it. Highly recommend!
We opted for a trip to Capri! Another must see! Taking the ride to the top of Anacapri is heavenly as you rise through the lemon trees and olive groves! A truly beautiful island!
Kotor is beautiful and much less crowded than other ports. It is definitely worthwhile getting up early to watch the sailing in through all five bays - beautiful mountains surround all sides of the ship!
Ohmygoodness!!!!! Dubrovnik!!!! We were “on our own” in this beautiful walled city. (Meaning we did our own tour.) Walked the wall around the entire city and felt like we were transported back in time! This place is incredible and the people are so warm and wonderful! We would have loved an overnight here to do more exploring! Another “must see!”
Arrived two days before cruise and stayed at Cristal Palace Hotel near Las Ramblas - perfect location to many attractions! Sagrada Familia, strolling Las Ramblas and taking On/Off Bus were highlights!
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