We have just returned from a FANTASTIC 7 night Western Med cruise on RCI Splendour of the Sea. There were 5 in our party,2 over 60's (grandma+grandad),2 late thirties( mum+dad) and our 10 yr old son.
We flew into Bergamo(Milan) with Ryanair and as the flight arrived late at night we spent our first night in Bergamo. The following day we got the train from Bergamo to Venice( with 1 change at Brescia).The journey was very straight forward and at approx 20 euro per person each way was very reasonable.We enjoyed the day in Venice and stayed the night before the cruise at The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Quarto D'Altino, approx 15 mins outside of Venice by train. We would definitely recommend this hotel for anyone travelling by train as it was located directly behind the( very quiet) train station.It was a very high standard of hotel and cost 100 euro per room which included breakfast.
On the morning of the cruise we got a taxi direct to the port for 60 euro. We arrived at 11.00am and checked in immediately and were on board within 20 minutes. Although our stateroom was not available until 1.00pm we had a good look round this beautiful ship and had lunch in the Windjammer before it got too busy.When we went to our stateroom at 1.00pm we were really impressed that all our luggage had been delivered. We were in an inside stateroom which was more than adequate for the three of us.Although some aspects of the stateroom were very dated such as the tv,the safe and no fridge we found it very comfortable. We set sail on time and the trip down the Grand Canal was breathtaking and is definitely recommended for all.