Today we arrived in Venice. At about 6:30 we were scheduled to begin sailing down the Bacino de San Marco and then the Giudecca Canal and then on to the cruise terminal. Nikki and I were up and it was really cool to see. Around 6:45 we passed San Marco Square and we were lucky enough to see it right outside our verandah.

We met the girls at Cabana's at 8:15 and had breakfast before meeting in the D-Lounge for our last shore excursion this trip. We boarded a water bus that took us down the Giudecca Canal to San Marco Square. We then went on a tour of the Doges Palace and St. Marks Basilica. Then we walked to a café where we ordered gelato to eat while people watching.

While we were sitting there, the skies opened up and it began to rain. Not just a little but a ton! We were scheduled to take a gondola ride and have some free time before heading back to the ship. We had also decided that we were going to stay and work our way back to the ship later in the afternoon.

The rain put a damper on much of that. We followed our guide to the gondola stand but they were not going out in the rain. They told us to come back in 10 minutes and see. During that 10 minutes, the rain stopped and our guide found us and put us on a gondola. Our gondolier pushed us back and started going down the canal beneath the Bridge of Sighs just as it started to pour again.

We parked under a bridge with two other gondolas for about half an hour waiting out the rain. There was thunder and lightning and it wasn’t very safe for our gondolier. The rain let up a little so we headed out and completed the trip in what had become hard rain instead of a downpour.

Then, because of the rain, we decided to get back on the bus and go back to the ship to wait out the storm. The storm didn’t really end. We ended up having lunch on the ship and then going to watch Captain America.

Around 4:00 Nikki and I headed out to see if we could find our hotel and how we were going to get our luggage from the ship to the hotel. Since there are no cars, road or any transportation other than boat or foot, we needed a game plan. After walking across a parking lot, taking a monorail, walking across another parking lot and over a bridge, we found our hotel. We talked to the person there and feel good about how we will make it to there tomorrow.

We made it back just in time for dinner. Dinner was followed by our nightly walk, the Till We Meet Again show and the last show of the cruise "Once Upon a Song". Then we turned in so we can get up bright and early.

Dinner
Ric: Tuna, salad, Beef Wellington, Apple Pie
Nikki: Crab Stuffed Tomato, salad, Seafood Pasta, Apple Pie
Regan: Goat Cheese, Lobster Bisque, Chicken Salad and Apple Pie
Kelsie: Soup, salad, Cornish Game Hen and Baked Alaska