Highlights-Venice Day 1

My throat was very sore this morning, so I started popping my “emergency lozenges.” Today was the Marvin K. Mooney day of the cruise (from the title of a favorite Dr. Seuss book, Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!). Post cruise Venice extension types like myself checked into the hotel after another 90-minute water bus ride, much nicer than the cattle transporter we rode the day before. The evening Grand Canal Tour by boat was excellent. All attempts at getting warm air from the hotel room wall heater failed. I declared climate control bankruptcy for the second time this trip and turned it off.

Notable Items

The Viking departure instructions left in my room the night before were vague, “Vacate your room. Be in the Atrium at the designated time. More to follow.” I checked in with the Viking Rep, but it wasn’t necessary. She was communicating by radio with people on the pier, calling groups by color and number, not name. I was Orange1. The other colors were blue and purple (pahr-pull).

After taking his carryon bag off the ship under his own power, yours truly almost left his bag at the cruise terminal! I thought the person in the terminal said to put my bag with the other Orange1 bags (Viking has staff positioned every ten feet to tell you what to do). I put my bag with the others and went to the water bus. Before I could get there, a woman ten feet further on asked, “Where’s your bag?” Oops. I was supposed to retrieve my bag and take it to the bus, not leave it.

At the hotel, we met Samantha, our coordinator guide. Due to Italian tourism regulations, she could only set things up for the group, answer questions, and deal with complaints (there are always complaints). Samantha gave us maps of the city, the plan for the next three days, and a tourist access ticket. She emphasized the requirement to produce it on demand with, “This is very super important.” Cute.

Samantha asked if any members of our group were returning visitors (I was). She offered to help them recreate romantic photos from their previous trip. The person who accompanied me on my prior trip focused her camera on wall pictures. I didn’t need to recreate those.

Viking Post-Cruise Extension Plan: