-Getting to the cruise port was a pain! But after that embarking was easy.  -Transportation: Took a bus from the airport to vaporetti. Next time I’ll splurge to get a private water taxi from the airport to our hotel. I’ll also pick a hotel very close to the vaporetti stop (lugging bags over cobblestone isn’t so great). Once your in the city taking the vaporetti is fine. -Dinner at Quadri - not so great -Accessible Opera. It was truly amazing! -Doges palace - a must see-St. Marks - a must see, but honestly not my favorite church on the trip -We got lost wondering around. Best part of Venice, I have no idea where we went but it was just lovely. Stopped somewhere for gelato. Stopped at a mask store. This was my favorite way to see Venice. -Opera at La Fenice - Loved the building! But the opera was so warm (even in November!) and the seats were tiny. I'd just do a tour of the building next time. -Stayed in Locanda Di Fiorta before we set sail - it was small, quite location, 260/night. Nice, but not amazing. -Torcella - LOVED! Magical place, had lunch at the pricey but delicious Locando Cipriani, where we walked the gardens (they were perfection). I would love to come back here and stay. -Burano - nice, bought some lace. -San Francesco del Deserto - very peaceful, not touristy, just lovely. 

Venice

Port: This walled city is SO pretty! Very interesting, clean, and tons of winding allies and lovely cafes. The country side was just so-so, and the war sites were interesting but a little depressing. We spent a hour at a seaside town that wasn’t that impressive. If I had to do it over again, I would have skipped the countryside and just walked around the walled city of Dubrovnik (maybe go on a walking tour then explore on our own). Guide: Romeo Matic METRO tours , 160 euro for two of us for 4 hours. It was kind of neat to have a private tour, and our tour guide was nice. There was some good and bad. Romeo was in the war, so that perspective was amazing. He took us to some sites from the war, and gave us a ton of personal stories. But he was injured in the war, so it was very painful for him to walk, and he couldn’t have the AC on becuase of his back/nerve damage. He also enjoyed driving his Mercedes at 120 MPH DOWN A CURVING MOUNTAIN. I could have died, (literally and figuratively.) He knew I was afraid of heights and thought it as funny to tease me, but I don’t know how much I cared for it. Other than that, he was very nice, but I wouldn’t say it was a stellar tour. 

Dubrovnik

Port: Pretty blue water, nice scenery. But touristy. We did the Paleokastritsa Monastery (pretty outside but not much to see inside) and the Achilleion (Austrian palace). It was just OK. I wasn’t overly impressed. Guide: We just grabbed a taxi and asked them to take us to a few places.

Corfu

Create -The port was amazing! Just AMAZING! Lovely culture, friendly people, neat countryside, interesting and unique ruins. Guide: Lefty lefteris nikiforakis  - 60 euros a person for six hours, 4 people - Lefty was just perfect, our best tour guide, and this is a saying a lot since we had some pretty awesome tour guides! The ride was comfortable, he took us to the typical sites (the palace of Knossos) and combined the tour with tastes of the culture, sampling fresh produce, the local music, etc). I don’t know how to describe the experience other than I loved loved loved the port, and loved loved loved the guide. He does book up fast so reserve him now if you’re looking for a Crete tour guide!

Kotor

Port: Stunning! The entrance is great, coming out of the ship and being surrounded by mountains was something else. The city is a lovely walled city, with lots of cats and allies and shops. We just wandered around, and walked up the wall for a little bit. Guide: We did this one on our own. No regrets there! 

Port: We did a temple by the colossus. It was OK. Then we did the acropolis at Lindos, which I liked. quite a climb, but I could get through it with a bad food and fear of heights. Worth it for the view. The town below was neat, lots of winding streets. I wasn’t left with a huge desire to go back, but I enjoyed spending a day here. Guide: George   Sialadakis, Rhodes  Private  Tours, 50 EU a person for four of us. The tour guide was basically just a taxi driver who talked to us a little and recommended a few places. It was a tight squeeze for five in his taxi. I’m not sure if we actually got George or a friend of his. He was nice, but his English wasn’t too great. It was just OK. 

Rhodes

We upgraded at the last minute to a balcony (for us it was worth the risk to hold out till a week before booking, it was something very low like 400 for both of us to upgrade to a balcony room.) The room was great, spacious, extremely comfortable bed. Balcony was nice. Quite location. Wifi was slow and spotty, though. 

-Food: high quality, but not always to my taste
-Service: great, very attentive but not over the top friendly
-Ship: very nice, sophisticated, understated, clean
-Staterooms: comfy and large
-Booking: I liked our travel agent, disliked having to pay high fees for changing our airfare to spend day before and after
-Entertainment: lacking
-Other passengers/vibe: perhaps a bit stiff at first/mature/upper class for us
-Overall: loved how water and sodas and specialty restaurants were included.These are difference I didn’t mind so much, since I like good food, I like to travel, and I don’t really like to party, and I have a few older friends.

Riviera Review

Lovely Cruise Line, Awesome Ports, but we were a bit out of place

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