We took our first cruise this past summer on Royal Caribbean's Splendor of the Seas. This ship is one of Royal Caribbean's older and smaller ships. But we still had a fantastic time!
We arrived in Venice on Thursday, July 10 around 5 pm. We stayed at the Santa Chiara Hotel because of its location. It was right next to the Piazzale Roma (where the bus from the airport dropped us off) and it was within walking distance to the port. We've stayed in nicer hotels but because of its convenient location, friendly staff and easy choice of walking or taking the free bus to the ship I would highly recommend it.
We toured around Venice Thursday evening and Friday morning. We took the free shuttle to the port around noon. Check in was very easy. Although I had checked in online alot of what we did was redundant but still easy. we were on the ship and in our rooms by 1 pm and relaxing by the pool by 1:30 pm. We had our safety drill around 4 pm and we pulled out of the port in Venice at 5 pm. We were finally starting our first cruise vacation!
Very vbck of the ship. Great balcony, quiet location, great view. Never had problems with noise and always had smooth sailing.