Venice & the Jewels of Veneto - Uniworld S.S. La Venezia - Day 8

 

Sunday 28 June 2026 (Day 8)

 

Our last day. We had our usual light breakfast, which was a mistake as we had to depart boat at 12:30 and so didn’t get lunch.

 

The only food on the boat was the croissants and orange juice left over from early riser’s breakfast.

 

A swift drive in a people mover got us to the airport at 13:00. The taxi driver showed the other couple where checkin for their flight to Dublin was, then took our bags, led us to the upper-level and found us seats where our London checkin would be. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 16:30 and checkin opened at 14:00. As we were flying business class, we could have used the business class l lounge and got a meal, but the lounge was before the dreaded EES machines and we’d read many reports of EES delays causing passengers to miss their flight home, so we headed for the EES queues.

 

An assistant directed us to the EES machine but after a minute of thinking, the machine turned red and we were directed to the manual check. As was everyone, because the blighted system isn’t linked to the central database it can’t compare our entry and exit dates. So we joined a long queue, which, though it was moving, grew longer as more people joined it than were processed. After 35 minutes we showed our passports to a bored officer and then we were waved through. The queue by then was twice the length it was when we joined it.

 

The plane was delayed by 35 minutes, then take off was delayed, but finally we were on our way home and food, and Champagne, was served on the plane.

Venice & the Jewels of Veneto - Uniworld S.S. La Venezia - Day 7

 

Saturday 27 June 2026 (Day 7)

 

View from breakfast table

Our last full day. An excursion I really wanted to go on was ‘Do as the Locals Do: Venice Walking Tour in the Rialto district’ so we were ready for its 08:10 departure.

 

We were to get to the Rialto Bridge by water-taxi. These small wooden motor launches waited close by our boat in a narrow canal off the main waterway (see https://what3words.com/struts.unscrew.push ).

 

The main waterway is wide and very busy with boats of all sizes and speed creating wakes, so its water is always choppy, and that was funnelled and amplified into the narrow canal, where speedboats on the canal added to water disturbance. 

We went in single file down shiny stone steps to board the tossing launches which rocked from end to end and side to side, they rose and fell in the choppy water and moved close and further away from the steps.

An officer from our boat stood on the steps offering his hand and the launch sailor tried to hold the boat close to the steps but I couldn’t find a time I felt safe jumping onto the launch and our guide was telling me that it was more difficult at Rialto where the steps were slippery.

So I climbed back up the steps. Joan also decided against getting into the launch, and we had a walk through Venice, till overcome with heat and tiredness, we sat at a waterside café, had a glass of Prosecco and watched people and boats.

Later in the day while sitting on the sun deck I saw the dolphin again.

 

Over night mooring

San Basilio Cruise Terminal.

Location: What3Words.com ///paid.held.snapped

 

Venice & the Jewels of Veneto - Uniworld S.S. La Venezia - Day 6

 

Friday 26 June 2026 (Day 6)

 

Two 08:10 excursions. One to Castello die Catajo I'd read “stairs into the Castello were meant for horses and I found them very challenging. If we knew about the ban on photography we would not have gone, and I would say anyone who struggles with stairs, this is a no go.” So we decided to give this a miss. 

The alternative “Po Delta sailing” required a two hour round trip coach tour so we had a leisurely breakfast instead and then relaxed on the sun deck.

 

During  lunch the boat cast-off from Chioggia Port and cruised back to Venice, arriving back where we started from at around 15.30.

 

This was the last time the boat cruised. It remained moored at San Basilio Cruise Terminal this day, Saturday and Sunday’s disembarkation day

 

View from Sun Deck

In the afternoon there was an optional 30 minute gondola ride. Since the gondola could seat five the hire cost could be split five ways making a reasonably priced ride. People who went thought it was good value. A group of four was asked whether they’d accept a singleton, so their individual cost was reduced and they were well pleased.

Lounge

In the lounge at 18:40 the Cruise Manager gave the disembarkation talk, As we’d not previously travelled with Uniworld we thought that we ought to attend, but all one need to know was delivered to our room. In an envelope were tags for our bags, the colour of which signified the time of departure, and a letter detailing the time bags had to be placed outside.  

 

Over night mooring

San Basilio Cruise Terminal.

Location: What3Words.com ///paid.held.snapped

 

Venice & the Jewels of Veneto - Uniworld S.S. La Venezia - Day 5

 

Thursday 25 June 2026 (Day 5)

 

The morning excursions were by bicycle through Chioggia or Chioggia Market Visit.

Mrs P doesn’t cycle, and she loathes shopping and as we'd read a report that said “supposedly where the locals shop. Just a lot of Tat really. Didn’t particularly enjoyed the fish market either. I felt we were in the way of the locals doing their shopping.” We have enough tat already so chose to stay on the sundeck watching passing boats and reading our Kindles.

 

After lunch were three excursions, and the one I wanted to go on was titled ‘A Noble County Villa and its Wine’. Before the cruise I visited the website of Domino di Bagnioli (https://www.ildominiodibagnoli.it) and I wanted to taste its wines made from the rare clone Friularo di Bagnoli.

Domino di Bagnioli is about an hour’s coach ride from the boat and its large grey buildings dominate the small town of  Bagnioli. 

Our guide was Tamara Andruszkiewicz, but first we had a walk in the grounds led by the tasting cellar manager where we admired the garden, historic statues  and vineyard, then to the cellar for the real work of wine tasting. 

A long table had been set between large barrels equipped with bottle water, plates and cutlery. There were baskets of bite sided breadsticks and generous platters of cheeses and cold meats were passed along.

The first wine was a sparkling white from the red Friularo, poured from a magnum and emptied glasses were refilled. It was Dominio Bagnioli Spumante 2015 made by the traditional method and lees aged for over nine years before disgorgement in January 2025.

Then we tasted red Dominio Bagnioli Friularo di Bagnoli DOCG 2022. This had been fermented in stainless steel and aged 9-12 months  in a mix of new and old 500 litre French oak barrels.

The third wine was red Dominio Bagnioli Friularo di Bagnoli DOCG “Classico Vendemmia Tardive” 2019

The grapes had been left to raison on the vines, then harvested in mid-November. They took 40-50 days to ferment and spent two years in barrel before bottling.

 

I enjoyed this the most and bought two bottles (€19.90 each) to bring home in my case.

 

Overnight mooring – Chiogga port https://what3words.com/sums.proposes.graver

Venice & the Jewels of Veneto - Uniworld S.S. La Venezia - Day 4

 

Wednesday 24 June 2026 (Day 4)

 

An 08:35 departure to ‘Torcello: Hidden Treasure of the Lagoon’ excursion. 

We boarded a small boat moored on Burano for the two minute transfer across the waterway to the island of Torcello. Susan Street was our guide. At Torcello we had to walk along winding canal path almost to the other end of the island. The group strung out. 

Although we couldn’t see her we could hear Susan’s commentary on our Quietvoxes but it was of little use. She would comment on things “over there”, but apart from those with her at the front we had no idea whether “over there” was to the right, left or straight ahead or when we reached that view point.

Our destination was the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, a small church that pre-dates St Mark’s Basilica. We entered it, and before two-thirds of the group had passed through its narrow entrance Susan Street was commenting on what those at the front could see, and before we managed to get inside she’d already gone to the next area. 

Apparently much of the church had been closed for renovation and we were told we were lucky that it had only just opened. There was a new wooden walkway up and across to the other side of the church but this was narrow so there was no opportunity to stop and look at what had been commented on earlier. 

At last everyone caught up at an end wall covered with illustrations of heaven and hell. One panel showed hell’s demons tormenting those who’d stored riches instead of distributing them to the needy and were thus guilty of the sin of avarice, and I pondered on the gold used to illustrate this, and the gold and precious stones in St Mark’s Basilica and the needs they could have been alleviated. 

Halfway along the walk back we stopped at a large, well shaded open air restaurant where we were served coffee, tea or soft drinks along with a plate of local biscuits.

When the shuttle boat returned to Burano we had a short explore before returning to the boat for lunch. Burano has made itself a tourist attraction by the simple, and cheap, method of painting its houses in dazzling colours.

Torcello had preceded Vienna in power and importance but now most of the buildings from that time have gone, and fewer than a dozen people live on the island.  The cathedral is a relic of those times.  

The morning’s excursion was a pleasant break which could have been better led, but at the end of the day it was ABC.

After lunch there was an excursion to a Murano island factory for a ‘Murano Glass Blowing Demonstration’. We didn’t go, but apparently it was impressive when the group were asked for something for the glassblower to make and he was tasked with a horse, of which he did a credible job in a short time. I saw photographs on people’s phones. 

Instead I visited ‘Venissa’, the walled vineyard next to the boat. It is owned by the Bisol family of Prosecco fame and planted with the rare Dorona local variety. These produce large golden grapes and get their name from the Italian for gold – d’Oro. This is the world’s only vineyard producing varietal Dorona wine. 

Signs in the vineyard tell how Gianluca Bisol was taking customers around Torcello in 2002 when he noticed an ancient grape vine growing in a garden near the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. The owner agreed to send him some grapes and he identified them as Dorona.  He propagated the grapes in his vineyard, using ditches to channel away salt water and spacing vines so their roots grow sideways to avoid going down to the salt water level. 

Within the walls are also a Michelin starred restaurant, ‘Il Restaurante Venissa’, a tavern, ‘Osteria Contemporanea’ and a wine shop, also a vegetable garden that supplies the restaurants. 

At 16:15 the boat set sail for Chiogga and shortly afterwards Louisa Warman presented a lecture in the lounge titled ‘La Serenissima’. Such was our ignorance many of us thought it was about an opera singer but, as you probably know, it’s the nickname of Venice and means ‘The Serene’.

Louisa, an English art historian and translator who lives in Venice gave an excellent talk supported by up-to-the-minute slides. Discussing flooding she told how a team of experts came up with a plan to close the channels to the Adriatic at unusually high tides, and how this plan gathered dust for decades. When it was finally put into production, millions of Euros didn’t reach suppliers and although more than 30 politicians were arrested, they were all released without anyone facing court. 

The boat was moving so Louisa could show us the artificial island built in the middle of a channel and where the barriers were raised into place. She has slides showing the barriers in action. She spoke clearly, without ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ and was a pleasure to listen to.

Dinner was Uniworld’s 50th Anniversary Golden dinner, preceded by a Golden Cocktail Party and followed by a Golden Anniversary Party Night. We were encouraged to wear something gold. I wore my bright golden shirt but we gave the party night a miss. 

Overnight mooring – Chiogga port 

https://what3words.com/sums.proposes.graver

Venice & the Jewels of Veneto - Uniworld S.S. La Venezia - Day 3

 

Tuesday 23 June 2026 (Day 3)

In the morning were two 08:30 – 15:00 excursions, we’d signed up for the Padua Walking Tour but a combination of its early start and long day encouraged us to opt for a leisurely morning on the sundeck with our Kindles.

Refuelling

We watched a large battered old low boat slowly come towards us and saw a dolphin* was accompanying it, surfacing every few minutes. As we watched the boat turned and it seemed it was going to ram us, but it stopped and lay alongside us. Ropes were tied and we saw it was a tanker that had  come to refuel us. The  dolphin swam across the wide waterway and up a canal opposite.

Lunch was supplied  for the dozen or so people who’d not taken the excursions.

St Mark's Campanile to left of piazza, Doges Palace on right.

After lunch we cruised through the lagoon while on the sun deck Tamara Andruszkiewicz, a tour guide involved in organising the Venice Biennale and a member of the Italian Sommeliers Association, gave a commentary of what we were passing.

 

At 16:00 she presented a tasting of three Proseccos in the lounge. The wines were good and had a ferocity of bubbles, but there was little information given about them; such as their name, whether they were available on board, their retail cost or their dosage.

We moored at Mazzorbo, attached by a short wooden bridge to the island of Burano to which there was an hour’s stroll and lace making demonstration at 17:15. We didn’t go on this, but made our own way to Burano the next day.

 

Mooring Location: Mazzorbo island

https://what3words.com/risen.recent.sprays

*I can’t tell the difference between a dolphin and porpoise; it was either one or other.

 

Venice & the Jewels of Veneto - Uniworld S.S. La Venezia - Day 2

 

Monday 22 June 2026 (Day 2)

 

Early start, we had to be in reception by 07:50 for an excursion to Doges Palace. This was a trek along the water  front, crossing seven canals by  seven bridges between the boat and the Palace. Six bridges have gentle slopes with good hand rails, the seventh - nearest to the palace - has steeper ramps on the steps and no handrail part of the way, one can hang onto the wide original stone rail or, luckily for me, a strong chap in the group gave me support.

The group had access to the palace before it was opened to the public. After an introduction and admiring the courtyard the tour started at the top. This involves ascending flights of marble stairs.

The upper floor has highly decorated rooms where the Doges used to rule and receive ambassador. Some of the ceiling paintings are flaking  and nets are strung beneath to protect the public.

There is a lift which needs to be operated by the staff. The tour guide arranged that with the Doges Palace staff who take the passenger past ropes and through back rooms to the elevator, however one misses crossing the Bridge of Sighs to the old prison if using the lift to descend.

Bridge of Sighs

On this blazing June day  the guide took the group back a different way to stay in the shade, and some of the bridges used don’t have slopes so I chose to go back the way we came.

 

After lunch we cruised back to Basilio Cruise Terminal while we had  cruise presentation. We’d received a useful large 3A paper sheet detailing every days activities and were given a sheet of paper to choose which excursions we wanted to go on. As I noted earlier, there are limits on most excursions. This is not mentioned in Uniworlds brochure or website, so I’ll note them here: 

St Marks Basilica  MAX 100 guests

Musica a Palazzo MAX10 guests

Padua Walking Tour  MAX 70 guests

Vincenzo with Teatro Olympia  MAX 45 guests

Murano Glass Blowing  MAX 80 guests

Let's go biking Choggia - MAX 20 guests (Presumably limited by the number of bikes they have)

Braganzo Boat Ride with tastings at Ca'zen  MAX 75 guests

A Noble Country Villa & its Wines MAX 40 guests

Palazzo Goldini Visit with Music & Refreshments  MAX 30 guests

Castello del Catago visit  MAX 75 guests

Po Delta Sailing  MAX 45 guests

Venice Walking Tour  MAX 50 guests (Presumably limited by the capacity and number of water taxis they book to get the group to the start at Rialto Bridge)

Venice Morning Walk with Gondola Oar Artisans  MAX 25 guests

Ca Maca Mask Atelier  MAX 20 guests

Row Venice  MAX 8 guests

 

 

At 14:20 on the sun deck Butler Bogdan performed sabrage, shown in the Daily Programme as a Sabreing Ceremony (i.e. removing the top of a Champagne bottle with a sabre.)  It looked like it was the first time he had done it as he needed guidance and he didn’t make a ceremony of what is really a very simple procedure, and as a result the event was rather perfunctory. A tray of glasses of  Prosecco was handed around afterward.

 

Dinner was a buffet, presumably because the St Marks Basilica visit left at 18:35. I don’t know why the boat had moved from its mooring near St Marks Square as we had to board a water ferry to be taken back. It stopped a bit closer so there were only four canal bridges to cross.

 

The Basilica is behind the Doges Palace and the group had exclusive access. Our guide was Susan Street. We sat in seats facing the altar. I'd read “It’s amazing to enter the church in darkness and watch it come to life as they turn the lights on bank by bank – then all that gold really sparkles!  And going behind the altar to view the altarpiece up close!” and later “It’s magical”.

 

I was looking forward to that, but the Basilica has many roof top windows and we were there in the bright light of a late June day so it made little difference whether the lights were on or not. Susan waved her torch at the ceiling to point at the feature she was speaking about but it was so bright inside it was difficult to see where the beam was at. The ceiling of the domes were golden, and when we moved behind the altar we saw a golden panel with icons and studded with 2,000 precious stones, but the Basilica wasn’t magical for me. (I didn’t descend to the crypt).

 

Back at the boat were slices of pizza in the lounge. I had some Offley Tawny Port.

 

The boat was moored at Basilio Cruise Terminal.

Location: What3Words.com///paid.held.snapped

Venice & the Jewels of Veneto - Uniworld S.S. La Venezia - Day 1

 

Sunday 21 June 2026

We flew into Marco Polo airport with good views of Venice as we descended. The line for the ridiculous EES machines was long, but kept moving and we were through in 33 minutes. A Uniworld representative greeted us, and a people mover took us with another couple to the boat, a journey of 30 minutes.

It’s billed as an eight day cruise, but Day 1 is getting to the boat and Day 8 is leaving

There was a welcome briefing 18:00-19:00. First was a short safety briefing. The Captain assured us that if  any problems happened the ship would steer off the marked navigable channel and would beach on sand under shallow water. 

The Cruise Manager talked about the coming week in a presentation which was heavy on selling various additional experiences such as an onboard  tasting of four Italian wines, but no details were given of the wines, and so at €60 per person it seemed jolly expensive. Likewise a €75 onboard tasting of whiskey,   a €145 seating at the Chef’s table, and a Progressive Dinner with each course served in a different behind-the-scenes part of the boat at €110. On top of at least five emails prior to the cruise asking me to bid on a cabin upgrade, and the pricey Masterpiece Collection optional excursions, Uniworld seemed less like all inclusive ultra-luxury and more like desperate hustlers.

We were given a sheet to express our choices of included excursions  for Day 2 &3. This had to be signed, and doing so we signified “I understand spaces are limited and not guaranteed”.

Most of the included excursions have maximum limits. The Cruise Manager said that hopefully it’d work out that not everyone wanted to go on the same excursion, but I heard from another passenger that when an excursion was over-subscribed that rooms on higher decks (i.e. more expensive) got priority.

The boat takes a maximum of 126 passengers, reception told me this cruise has 112 pax and the Cruise Manager gave a breakdown of nationalities aboard, taken from passports;

2 China

2 Israel

3 South Africa

4 Australia

4 Ireland

5 Canada

32 UK

58 USA

(seems two hadn’t arrived by then).

 

There was one small child, a boy of 5 or 6 with parents and other adults. Although some guests had cruised before with Uniworld, I was surprised by how many had previously cruised with Gate-1, an economy company I’d only recently heard of

After the briefing was dinner.

 

Cauliflower Steak in Two Textures

The boat was moored at Basilio Cruise Terminal.

Location: What3Words.com ///paid.held.snapped

 

Then at 19:00 the boat cruised a short distance to be closers to the Doges Palace for Monday’s visit and moored at

What3Words.com ///november.bottled.loaders

Venice & the Jewels of Veneto - Uniworld S.S. La Venezia - Introduction

 

This was our 22^nd cruise and the first with Uniworld. We have cruised with Viking 16 times, Scenic 3 times, Riviera once, and during Covid, two weeks on English waterways in a canal boat.

 

We picked this cruise because we’ve been on all the other rivers (except the Elbe which was cancelled in May because of low water), and we chose Uniworld because they seem to be the only company cruising there.

 

It’s not actually river cruising but it’s not ocean cruising either, the boat cruises marked deeper channels between shallows. Venice is on one of the many islands in a shallow lagoon separated from the Adriatic Sea by narrow barrier islands with five channels through which large ocean ships can enter to replenish the area with goods, and ocean cruisers, though they are no longer allowed to moor at Venice.

 

As there were no other river cruisers in the lagoon, we were not rafted at all.

The Boat

Uniworld claim to be ‘Ultra-Luxury’ but while some may like the over decoration it did nothing for me.  La Venezia is ornately decorated with huge vases filled with artificial flowers, heavy cumbersome oversized chairs, and bedrooms with padded patterned cloth walls, matching curtain and a patterned painted ceiling.  Apparently each of Uniworld's boats are differently decorated.

The boat had split decks so rooms were on Decks 1, 2, 3 & 4 and unusually the main dining room was at the rear of the boat at the end of Deck 4 cabins.

Access to the sundeck was mostly via metal steps with one metal handrail that doesn’t go all the way down. Metal handrails get too hot to hold in bright sunlight.

Reception area, bar & lounge ahead and pizzeria steps either side

I went up the four steps beside the bar entrance, pushed open the heavy door and up inside wooden steps into the night-time’s  pizzeria. Doors outside give access to the lower sundeck at the bow where two large umbrellas give total shade.

The upper sundeck has four awnings supplying some shade, but not total shade as they are perforated. Under each, running lengthwise is what looks like a sofa with a central back rest  with seating either side. However, the seating is wide, so if you use the backrest your knee is on the seat, and if you keep feet on the ground you can’t reach the backrest. There are also tables and chairs.

Ship Wi-Fi didn’t reach the sundeck. However, when moored in Venice I logged in to the Hilton opposite using my cabin number and surname and got immediate access.

 

There is one hot drinks machine, located in a tiny cubby hole by the stairs on Deck 2. There’s also  a guests clothes washer  and ice dispenser s on floor 1.

The lift services all floors other than the sundeck. It consists of a moving platform with  a waist high control panel on one side. To reach the desired floor one must keep the button pressed as releasing it stops the lift. Also to summon the lift one has to keep the button pressed until the noise stops and you can open the lift shafts door. I would not like to use this with children as their fingers could be scraped or trapped.

The Room

We had a French balcony on the top floor. According to the relevant sites the Uniworld room is larger than Viking’s Longship French balcony, but it didn’t feel like it.  There is no desk and no fridge (unlike Viking, Scenic & Riviera). As I have medicines that need a fridge this was an important omission, and one I did not even consider as all my other cruises had a fridge in even the cheapest cabin. There was one chair and one stool.

There is a large drawer under the bed, and there’s still room for cases

In the cabin are metal water bottles and room card wallets to keep. A glass bottle of water is topped up each day.

Only the suites get butler service, unlike Scenic, and also unlike Scenic there is no free refilled mini bar and snacks.

 

None of the rooms have a veranda. (Veranda that you can step outside your room onto, as opposed to a French balcony which is a floor to ceiling window that can be slid open.)

The Bathroom 

The bathroom seemed cramped.

I was pleased there was a blue ceiling nightlight as the bathroom door opened onto to the beds.

 

Water temperature on the shower fluctuated; toiletries were in refillable containers screwed to the wall, and   high in the shower

There was an area of the mirror above the sink which was heated, but it was so high I could see only my pate if I stood back. I’m 5ft 7inches, so I suspect it was of little use to many and the height of the shower dispensers would cause many problems.

Dining

I appreciated being welcomed by name when I entered the restaurant at dinner.

The restaurant is on deck 4 at the rear of the boat. There were ample tables for two, four and larger groups. We always ate at a table for two. Heavy big chairs obstructed. Partitions break up the rear part of dining room into smaller intimate areas.

 

The front part is separated from the rear part by wine coolers, waiters’ stations and entrances to the galley. Seating in the front is around the side as the centre is occupied by the buffet tables. The buffet gets crowded and it’s hard to move about.

 

The website claims ‘Unlimited beverages, including fine wines’ but the first thing seen at dinner is a list of Premium wines facing the food items: these have an extra charge. 

They were eight white and eight red wines that are included. From these the on-board sommelier picked one red and one white to be poured with lunch and dinner. It’s possible to get another from the included list if you don’t fancy to chosen wine. Unlike Scenic and Viking where wine glasses were continually refilled, one could wait a long time with an empty glass and on several occasions I got up from my table to ask.

 

Breakfast and lunch were served as a buffet, as was one dinner. There was a chef station where variously spaghetti  bolognaise, salmon en croute, spare ribs, roast chicken etc were served and carved daily. I liked the fresh salads, though there were only two salad dressings, plus oil & vinegar. There were three small plates of fruits, usually two types of grapes and one of strawberries, but the latter went fast and were not restocked.

 

There was no egg station at breakfast. Scrambled egg was available on the buffet but all other egg dishes had to be ordered from wait staff who’d get it from the galley.

One day I ordered eggs over-easy ‘with very runny yolks’. The menu says “two brown free-range eggs cooked to your preference (sunny side up, over easy, over medium, over hard…)”. Uniworld is an American company and I’ve ordered over-easy eggs in cheap diners and posh hotels across the USA and never been presented with anything like this:

I got a second attempt which wasn’t any better, and when the third attempt arrived like this:

I decided to do without.

On  three evenings the pizzeria is open; there’s just four pizzas on its menu and it must be booked. We didn’t eat there.

Panani Bar laid for early breakfast

Before breakfast service opens, there are self-serve croissants, flaky pastries ,coffee and orange juice at the front of the lounge. No jams, butter, bread or tea. This are is grandly titled the Panini Bar whose menu lists three paninis. I never saw anyone have one.