We booked the Regal Princess Transatlantic cruise over a year ago. We love sailing from Venice and could not wait to see the new ship. We arrived in Venice two days before the cruise and met the four other people who would be sailing with us. I would strongly suggest arriving at least a day early for any cruise from Venice. It is such a magical place that you be missing so much to just fly in and get on the ship. We stayed at the Hotel Paganelli. It is right on the Grand Canal and you can't get lost finding it. The rates are reasonable for Venice, but be advised that the rooms are really small. Clean and modern, but small.

Embarkation: This was the fourth time we have sailed from Venice. Princess is to be given major kudoos for having people at the water taxi stop to load your baggage and take it to the ship. In the past we had to drag our luggage a great distance to the loading point. This time we just got out of the water taxi and our luggage was taken only to appear later in our room. Very nice. The embarkation went very smoothly for us, since we arrived about 3:00 pm. I understand it was crowded and slow at 1:00pm. Since we did not sail until 10 pm we saw no reason to rush over to the ship and it seems that was the right thing to do.

Ship: It is big and beautiful. The piazza is truly a wonder. Three stories high and ringed by shops, bars, and restaurants. Plenty of room for sitting and dancing and eating. It was very popular all during the cruise. Read more