It was sunny, and Venice is so beautiful. Sailing on a huge cruise ship-what a way to arrive in Venice. I think the Liberty is the largest cruise ship to dock in Venice. The Liberty just towers over the buildings we were sailing by. You definitely need to be on one of the upper decks when the Liberty is coming into Venice. The views are spectacular. This would also be a great time to have a balcony cabin on the right, or starboard, side of the ship. You sail past St. Mark's Square on the way to the Liberty's dock. Once docked, you can take a couple minute walk to catch an express "vaporetto," or public water bus (5 euros one way), to St. Mark's Square.
You can also walk about 15 minutes from the ship to catch the local "vaporetto" that will make several stops before getting to St. Mark's Square (the cost is 5 euros each way). You can also walk back to the ship from St. Mark's Square. We were told that it would take about one hour to walk back. The Liberty's ship stack funnel should be easy to spot from a distance. We were sailing very slowly into Venice at about 12:30pm. By the time we got to the cruise terminal area and docked, it was closer to 2:00pm.
We ate a quick lunch and took the express "vaporetto" to St. Mark's Square. We decided to get a one way ticket because we wanted to walk back to the ship. Once in St. Mark's Square, we spent a lot of time just window shopping within the square and a couple of blocks surrounding the square. We also went into St. Mark's Church in the square. There were pigeons everywhere, and some people had pigeons on their hands, arms, shoulders, and even on top of their heads. Knowing how filthy pigeons are, we could only shake our heads and wonder why people were doing this. We took tons of pictures, especially looking down the quaint canals with gondolas gliding by.
We saw street vendors everywhere selling "knock-off" handbags and other leather goods. When these vendors would see the police coming, they would quickly pack their goods and disappear. As soon as the police were gone, the street vendors reappeared. There were signs on the street warning tourists not to buy these "knock-off" goods. If caught, there would be a huge fine. The Cruise Director had also warned us about this situation. He said that 5 passengers on the previous cruise had been fined 3,000 euros each for buying these "knock-off" goods.
By the time 7:30pm rolled around, no one in our 6 person group wanted to walk back to the ship. We tried to get the express "vaporetto," but the ticket window near St. Mark's Square closed at 6:30pm. We had to take the local water bus. We took the #4 route and it made 5 stops before we got to the closest stop to where the Liberty was docked (about a 15 minute walk to the ship). On the local water bus, our group had its only experience (during our entire time in Europe) with a pick pocket attempt.
The water bus was crowded and one of the guys in our group reached into his back pocket and was surprised to find someone else's hand in his pocket. He tried to confront the pick pocket person, but that person quickly turned and went to a different part of the water bus before getting off at the next stop. The guy in our group was wearing a money belt under his shirt so the pick pocket came up empty handed. I had purchased a money belt for the trip, but I found it to be somewhat of a hassle to take money out of it and to put money back in. Plus the money belt would get damp with perspiration. Ultimately, I found it best to just put my wallet in my left front pocket and then keep my hand in my pocket when we were in any type of crowd.
We were back on board the Liberty by 9:15pm, but it was too late for make our 8:45pm sitting for dinner, so we ate at the buffet on the Lido deck.
Eighth Day-Venice, Italy
Again, it was a sunny day. Six of us left the ship at about 9:00am and took the express "vaporetto" to St. Mark's Square. We bought round trip tickets (10 euros per person) this time. Once in St. Mark's Square, one of the guys started negotiating to get a gondola ride for the six of us. The price started at 120 euros for all 6 of us, but he got it down to 100 euros. We all liked the gondola ride and took lots of pictures. After all, you couldn't come to Venice and not take a gondola ride. Afterwards, we walked along the waterfront away from St. Mark's Square and did more window shopping. We got the express "vaporetto" and were back on the Liberty at about 1:00pm. The Liberty set sail from Venice about 5:30pm. Leaving Venice was just as beautiful as when we arrived yesterday. Seeing the Liberty from shore must be a special sight given the ship's enormous size.
Tonight's show was "Singin' With the Big Band" starring Christopher Alan Graves and the Liberty dancers. The show was excellent, and it was a tribute to Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Part 2 > > Part 2 of Mediterranean Cruise on the Carnival Liberty > >
