We went on this cruise, on the Viking Star with the credit we received after a flooded river cruise in 2013.
We arrived in Venice 2 days prior to the cruise. The Hilton Molino Stucky hotel was beautiful, we enjoyed the roof top pool. We found it easy to get around Venice, the Viking shuttle boat was very helpful.
Embarkation was well organized, the only glitch was that our key cards had the wrong names on them and that took a while to correct, but the staff was pleasant and co-operative when asked to help.