How do you move an enormous ship out of a shipyard and prepare her for her first sailing? Very carefully! Can you believe it’s that time already? It’s time for Quantum of the Seas to grow up and move out of the shipyard! This process isn’t an easy one as you can see in the… Read More
What’s it like to sail out of Venice cruise ship port? When it’s time to set sail for an experienced cruiser, I’ll admit that it’s particularly easy to feel somewhat jaded. “I’ve done so many of these before. What could be different?” But sailing out of Venice cruise ship port while on board MSC Preziosa by… Read More
I spy… lots of ships in Venice! Before sailing out of Venice, I began ship spotting a few familiar ships in port alongside our ship, the MSC Preziosa. It’s not like I have buyers remorse or anything when I’m on a cruise ship looking at other ships… really! But am I the only one when… Read More
MSC Yacht Club Suite 16029 on MSC Preziosa Hey you fancy pants! That’s right – I’m talking to you! Ok, so maybe you don’t consider yourself someone who might sail in a “yacht club” normally, but if you’re looking for something different, then you’ll want to consider taking a cruise in the MSC Yacht Club… Read More
The last thing anyone wants to see when heading out on a cruise is rain. The morning I was departing my hotel to head out for my cruise in Venice, all I saw was an overcast sky filled with clouds threatening to unleash havoc on an otherwise beautiful day. Of course, I hadn’t bothered to… Read More
After a rain soaked start to the day, when I spotted the MSC Yacht Club awning at the entrance to the cruise terminal in Venice, I wasn’t sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. I had read online that there didn’t seem to be a point of arriving before 1:30 pm because they… Read More
After a long flight and an equally long walk throughout Venice, we finally settled on eating and dinner in Venice. Truthfully, I could’ve eaten the second we landed, but around every corner I kept finding more interesting things to look at and photograph. As the sun started to set, I knew it was time to… Read More
The inevitable question of who is Travel Shop Girl and how did you arrive at your name seems to come up regularly these days. Someone recently said to me that I didn’t have shopping on my site. Well, you’re right – I don’t because this isn’t a shopping site. Do I write about shopping? Yes.… Read More
If you’re thinking about traveling to Venice, you’ll be happy to hear that you’ll have plenty — and I do mean plenty — of choices. Whether you choose a worldwide branded hotel, a smaller independent hotel, a B&B, or a vacation rental, the abundance of options can be good or bad, depending on how you… Read More
After two flights that took us from Boston to Paris and ultimately onto Venice, I was finally in Venice! But now I was going to have to make my way from the airport to my hotel. On any other day this would be easy, but as I was sleep deprived and beyond tired, I was… Read More
