OUR TRIP TO VENICE, PADUA & GREEK ISLANDS IN
AUGUST 2012 PART 1
The beginning
It all started way back in December 2011, a
month after my best friend Terence had left Kuwait for good to join his wife
Joanita and children in Australia and we thought of going
down under with an excuse of visiting Terry and family in Melbourne. When I say we, I mean our good friends Joe
& Erin, Lloyd & Audrey and our common friend Bernard from Qatar. However due to clash of school holiday dates
in Australia with our planned schedule, the trip was shelved and the idea of
doing an exotic Cruise in the Mediterranean popped up.
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| The cast |
After going on line and checking out a few
cruise ships, the initial plan was to cruise on the Louis Crystal from the Greek island of Athens to Turkey via Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Patmos,
but the dates were not matching the Eid Holidays in Kuwait and we zeroed in on
the Norwegian Jade (Norwegian Cruise Lines), not only because the
dates were perfect for us, but the Norwegian Jade was a much bigger ship and
embarked from Venice the city of my dreams. We also realized that we could squeeze in a
quick trip to Padua and visit the Basicilica of St. Anton, where the remains of
this great saint are buried.
Tour
itinerary for Norwegian jade:-
Dates
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Port
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Arrival
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Departure
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6:00 PM
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Day 2
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At Sea
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8:00 AM
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3:30 PM
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1:30 PM
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10:00 PM
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8:00 AM
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6:00 PM
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9:00 AM
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6:00 PM
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Day 7
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At Sea
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8:00 AM
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The plan,
costing and booking
NCL had a cruise starting from the 19th
of August 2012 from Venice to four Greek
islands, Corfu, Santorini, Myknos, Olympia and back to Venice on the 26th
which was perfect for us as it coincided with the Eid holidays in Kuwait
starting on the 20th and we had to apply for just two days casual leave. When one plans a holiday such as this, it’s
always important to make sure you have like minded friends traveling with you
and having my best friends Lloyd & Audrey, Joe & Erin (all from Kuwait)
and Berney (Qatar), it was easy to decide on the traveling, expenses and room
arrangements.
Following was our planned Venice / Padua and
Greek Islands Cruise itinerary:-
Date
|
Day
|
Description
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Remarks
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Fri
|
17/Aug
|
Depart
early morning for Venice via Doha by Qatar Airways
Check
into hotel and sightseeing in Venice (Italy)
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Arrive
in Venice at 2:30pm
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Sat
|
18/Aug
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Visit
Padua (Italy) in the morning
Board
the Norwegian Jade in the afternoon
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Padua
is 90 km from Venice
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Sun
|
19/Aug
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At
sea on the Norwegian jade
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Mon
|
20/Aug
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Arrive
in Corfu (Greece) for half day sightseeing
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Tue
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21/Aug
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Arrive
in Santorini (Greece) for half day
sightseeing
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Wed
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22/Aug
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Arrive
in Mykonos (Greece) for full day sightseeing
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Thu
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23/Aug
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Arrive
in Olympia (Katakalon) Greece for full day sightseeing
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Fri
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24/Aug
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At
sea
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Sat
|
25/Aug
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Ship
arrives at Venice at 8:00am
Take
the flight to Kuwait via Doha at 3:30pm
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Arrive
in Kuwait on 26th morning at 3:40am
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Booking on NCL Cruises is easy and can be done
on line by going to www.ncl.com , but since this was our first time, we
decided to let the professionals handle it for us and Caesers Holidays
(Holdings) Kuwait, took care of our
booking. Since the reservations were
made about six months prior to travel, we were upgraded from normal staterooms
with balcony to Mini Suites with Balcony with a little upgrade charge. We decided to take Qatar Airways to Venice
via Doha as their connections were the best, although the prices were a little
high
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| The Norwegian Jade |
Following is the approximate breakdown
of the cost of our trip:-
Description
|
Amount
|
Remarks
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Schengen
visa cost
|
KD.25/-
|
From
Greek/Italian Embassy
|
Insurance
|
KD.15/-
|
Any
travel Agency
|
Air
ticket (Kwi-Doh-Venice return)
|
KD.262/-
|
Only
because it was Eid holidays, otherwise it much less
|
Hotel
in Venice for one night
|
KD.55/-
|
|
Cruise
on NCL for 8 days and 7 nights (all paid for)
|
KD.360/-
|
Upgraded
to Mini Suites
|
Compulsory
tips (gratuities) on board NCL Jade
|
KD.25/-
|
Total
for all 7 days
|
Excursions
to Padua, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, Olympia
|
KD.100/-
|
We
did on our own, so it’s cheaper
|
Overheads
and other costs like fine dining, souvenirs, alcohol, Casino
|
KD.200/-
|
|
Total
Cost
|
KD.925/-
per head
|
|
The above costs are a little on the higher side
as we did indulge in a few extras which could easily have been avoided. The costs would reduce drastically if you
booked your air ticket well in advance, took the inside state rooms on the
cruise instead of the mini suite, were careful in the casino and did not spend
every night in the specialty restaurants…
But this being our first cruise we decided to splurge in all the
luxuries. ….
Securing your
Schengen Visas & Insurance
Before planning your trip, you have to make
sure that at the time of applying for visas, you have the following:-
a) Passport is
valid for at least six months before the date of traveling
b) Residence is
valid for at least six months (some embassies require only 3 months)
We approached the Italian Visa Section in
Kuwait www.behbahani.com since
our entry and exit was from Venice, but were advised to apply from the Greek
Consulate www.greek.com as we were staying maximum number of days in
Greece. Accordingly, armed with all the
required documents we visited the Greek Embassy a month before traveling for
our visas. The following documents are
required at the time of applying for visas (mostly standard for all Schengen
countries):-
1 1) Personal appearance for a interview
2) Original and copy of Passport (carry our old Passports
as well, especially if they carry previous Schengen visas)
3) Visa application form
4) Salary certificate & copy of authorized
signature of signatory which is registered in Chamber of Commerce
5) Copy of work permit
6) Bank state of the last six months with present
balance
7) International medical travel insurance
(coverage should not be less than 30,000 Euros
8) Ticket
9) Hotel voucher (in our case, the hotel voucher
from Vencie and NCL reservation slip)
Visas are usually issued within a week, and we
had absolutely no problem getting ours from the Greek Embassy, although there
was a couple before us whose applications were rejected because according to
the counselor their bank statement should show salaries exceeding KD.450/- . This is something strange I noticed at the
Greek embassy, as an application could be rejected for having a reasonable salary, which according to them is low. I later came to know that the same couple
applied through the Italian Consulate and got their visas. Strange isn’t it? Specially coming from the Greek Embassy… J
Flight from
Kuwait to Venice
We took the Qatar Airways flight to Doha on 18th
early morning from Kuwait, spent a couple of hours in transit where we purchased
some wines to have in our hotel room in Venice and possibly smuggle a little on
board the NCL Jade. The wives of course
bullied us into buying them perfumes and soon it was time to board our flight to
Venice. . Joe, Lloyd and I decided to sit together so
we could play cards on the way, while
Zinia, Audrey and Erin were seated in the same row. Our friend Berne had already left for Venice
a day earlier and would meet us at our hotel, upon landing in Venice.
Venice
Venice is easily considered to be one of the
most romantic places in the world, but the same may not be true about the Marco
Polo airport in Venice which surprisingly is very basic and after spending
close to 45 minutes in the immigration queue manned by just a couple of
officials, we finally walked out to catch our bus to Piazzale Roma, It is best to use the the Aero ACTV bus # 5,
as it is not only cheap but comfortable as well. The drive to Piazzale Roma where our hotel
was booked, took approximately 25 minutes, and from there by foot (make sure
your suitcases have wheels) to our hotel which was located approximately 400
meters from the station. Our hotel http://hotel-papadopoli-venezia.h-rez.com
was a beautiful 4 star hotel and located
in the Santa Croce area. We chose this
hotel after going through hundreds of reviews about hotels in Venice and
although it was relatively expensive, it suited us perfectly as it was close to
the Cruise terminal. Although we hardly
spend any time in the hotel except to sleep in the night, the complimentary
early morning breakfast next day was exceptionally good.
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| Venice |
By the time we arrived at the
hotel, it was 4:30pm and our friend Berine was waiting for us in the Lobby and
since he was already familiar with the place having arrived a day earlier, we
decided to catch as much of Venice as we could within the short time we
had.
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| St. Marco square - music everywhere |
The best thing to do in Venice is
just walk. The architecture is so
amazing that you will be left speechless and In Venice you either walk or take
the water bus (Vaparetto) and we decided to take the Vaparetto from the Piazelle
Roma to St. Mark’s Square which would take us practically through the Grand
Canal. St. Mark’s Square is just amazing.
It is one of the most famous squares in the world with restaurants,
souvenir shops, musicians, people from all over the world, pigeons, and of
course the famous bell tower and Basilica of St. Marco.
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| Dinner at a family restaurant in Venice |
On our way back late evening, we
did the mandatory Gondola ride (pretty expensive) and stopped by for dinner at
the Rialto Bridge. This bridge is
probably the most famous bridge in Venice (although there are quite a few
others), and it is supposed to be several hundred years old. They say that over a million tourists walk
across this bridge every day and it is the most photographed bridge in
Venice. So we horsed around a bit on the
bridge and took a few pictures too. For
dinner we decided to find a typical homely family run restaurant to sample
actual Italian food. We found one inside
one of the many by lanes near the Rialto Bridge (can’t remember the name) and
the prices were reasonable too. It’s
important to remember that dining in Venice is expensive, so don’t be fooled
into entering fancy restaurants and paying a bomb when you can get equally good
food in small family run restaurants.
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| Gondola Ride |
Padua
Early next morning after a hearty
breakfast at the Papadopali, we checked out and requested the hotel to keep our
luggage in the storeroom as our boarding on the cruise was at 3:00pm, and took
the bus to Padua to visit the Basilica of St. Anthon. Padua is just 40 km from Venice and the
journey took us about an hour with some breath taking scenery along the
way. No buses are allowed inside the
city of Padua, and we had to take a tram to the Basilica. Being in Padua in the actual place where the
remains of St. Anthony are buried was a dream come true and we wondered around
the basilica in awe. Spent some precious
moments at the tomb of St. Anthony and prayed for all my family and
friends. The souvenir shop (belonging to
the Basilica) was full of statues of St. Anthony and other relics and we all
picked up mementos to take for family and friends.
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| At St. Anthony's Basilica - Padua |
Soon it was time to return, so we
decided to be adventurous and took the return journey to Venice by Train. There are trains to Venice every 20 to 30
minutes and the fares range from 3 to 8 Euros.
The journey was once again very pleasant giving us a wonderful view of
the Italian countryside.
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| Taking the Bus to Padua |
Rushed to our hotel to collect
our luggage and hurried off to the port to finally get on board our dream
cruise on the Norwegian jade….
The Norwegian Jade and the
Greek Islands cruise will be covered in part II.
