The Grand Tour - Grand Canal to Grand Palace – Venice to Bangkok January 2017 Day 3 (Venice to Doha)

BONZO · 3 Feb 17, 12:52 AM

The Grand Tour - Grand Canal to Grand Palace – Venice to Bangkok January - 2017

Link to trip report index: Here

Day 3 - Monday 9th January 2017

I woke up at about 8.30 after having a very sound sleep, only to find the bed empty with Alison sitting on the floor next to the bed on her ipad! (Alison here: our neighbours were quite noisy around 6am, so I got up and surfed the net for a while and waited for Shaun to wake up!)

Oh well, we got showered, dressed and went down for breakfast which was the same as the previous day – but tasty all the same.

Well, would you believe it? Coffee machine’s packed up again :angry:, never mind, we’ll find a coffee somewhere else at some point! Back in the room we packed up our bags and left them with the front desk for collection later during the day.

First we headed out to St. Mark’s Square only to find that the San Marco Campanile was shut for the day with no reason given.

Oh well, better move onto to something else on the Venice bucket list so we walked to the Rialto Bridge. It was only when we arrived there that we discovered we’d been here last night but hadn’t realised what it actually was. We walked down alongside the canal and took some photos of the iconic bridge.

Ready for our coffee fix we found a small café and sat down for a coffee and used their Wi-Fi and caught up on e-mails etc. Then we noticed there was a new Qatar airlines offer on….interesting discussions ensued about where next we wanted to go!

Anyway, we had a long slow wander taking in the sights before finally heading back to the hotel to collect our luggage and making our way back to the ferry.

We didn’t have long to wait and it was a much nicer boat than when we arrived, at least we could see out of the windows this time.
It was a bit of a long journey because of the route the boat operates, pulling into Murano and then slowly winding its way through the small cut through before pulling out into open water and onwards to the airport.

Reverse schlep into the airport building and once we were in the terminal building we took our winter coats off and placed them into a pack away bag for checking in. We had debated about whether to check our bags in or go hand luggage only but our wheeled bags were very slightly over the Qatar airways limits and we didn’t want to get pulled up in Dohar when we were connecting, so we decided to check the bags in (2 x wheeled bags, 1 holdall with winter coats, hats and scarves in!)

We headed straight to the Qatar check in area, dropped the bags off and headed through a very quiet security area. We then went straight upstairs to the Marco Polo lounge and settled down for some drinks and snacks. It was a fairly small, unexciting space but is undergoing a big refurbishment which can only improve things!

The view of the apron was good and we watched our Qatar A330 being prepared for our flight to Doha.

As soon as the gate was announced we started to get packed up as we knew we would have to go through a passport check, and then wanted to have a quick look in the duty free area before boarding.

After looking (but not buying) anything we started to head over to some available seating when boarding was called. We headed to the gate and onto the place to take our seats (3j and 3k) and were immediately very impressed with the Qatar hospitality as we settled down to a choice of champagne.

There seemed to be so many crew, welcoming us on board, offering drinks and then talking us through the menu, and taking our food orders before take off.

They also asked if we preferred hot or cold towels!

It was nice to sit side by side for a change – on BA we usually sit in a yin-yang layout, so we can see each other but it’s not actually next to each other! Again as a comparison with BA, safety wasn’t so strict – there were lots of items left on the floor surrounding the seats, seats weren’t upright for takeoff, lots of people talked through the safety demo.

Anyway – finally we were on our way! After take off the seatbelt was turned off quite quickly and bowls of warm nuts and drinks were delivered, as well as lovely amenity kits containing perfume or aftershave, a full size body lotion as well as the normal eye shades/socks/ear plugs.

Soon after, the food service began. We both had roasted butternut squash soup to start, then I had a mixed Arabic mezze to start then grilled fillet of beef and Alison skipped the starter and had paneer tikka masala with panna cotta for dessert. We also managed several glasses of wine before having cappucinos and chocolates.

We were really full by now (as well as quite tipsy!) so we both fell asleep.

Next stop will be Doha!

disney owl · 4 Feb 17, 11:53 PM

for airline food it looks delicious

Scotty · 11 Feb 17, 09:40 PM

Shame you didn't get into the Campanile, the views are just stunning.

I just love your trips.

Infinity Red · 18 Feb 17, 11:45 AM

The food looks delicious ! Strange about the safety aspect, items not tucked away etc, you would think the rules would be the same whatever the airline.

Melbatb · 18 Feb 17, 01:31 PM

What nice views to end the Venice part of your trip!

The airline food looks good - one day I will get to enjoy the front end of the plane

3 Feb 17, 12:52 AM	#1
	3 Feb 17, 12:52 AM BONZO Imagineer
BONZO Imagineer Join Date: Mar 02	The Grand Tour - Grand Canal to Grand Palace – Venice to Bangkok January 2017 Day 3 (Venice to Doha) The Grand Tour - Grand Canal to Grand Palace – Venice to Bangkok January - 2017 Link to trip report index: Here Day 3 - Monday 9th January 2017 I woke up at about 8.30 after having a very sound sleep, only to find the bed empty with Alison sitting on the floor next to the bed on her ipad! (Alison here: our neighbours were quite noisy around 6am, so I got up and surfed the net for a while and waited for Shaun to wake up!) Oh well, we got showered, dressed and went down for breakfast which was the same as the previous day – but tasty all the same. Well, would you believe it? Coffee machine’s packed up again :angry:, never mind, we’ll find a coffee somewhere else at some point! Back in the room we packed up our bags and left them with the front desk for collection later during the day. First we headed out to St. Mark’s Square only to find that the San Marco Campanile was shut for the day with no reason given. Oh well, better move onto to something else on the Venice bucket list so we walked to the Rialto Bridge. It was only when we arrived there that we discovered we’d been here last night but hadn’t realised what it actually was. We walked down alongside the canal and took some photos of the iconic bridge. Ready for our coffee fix we found a small café and sat down for a coffee and used their Wi-Fi and caught up on e-mails etc. Then we noticed there was a new Qatar airlines offer on….interesting discussions ensued about where next we wanted to go! Anyway, we had a long slow wander taking in the sights before finally heading back to the hotel to collect our luggage and making our way back to the ferry. We didn’t have long to wait and it was a much nicer boat than when we arrived, at least we could see out of the windows this time. It was a bit of a long journey because of the route the boat operates, pulling into Murano and then slowly winding its way through the small cut through before pulling out into open water and onwards to the airport. Reverse schlep into the airport building and once we were in the terminal building we took our winter coats off and placed them into a pack away bag for checking in. We had debated about whether to check our bags in or go hand luggage only but our wheeled bags were very slightly over the Qatar airways limits and we didn’t want to get pulled up in Dohar when we were connecting, so we decided to check the bags in (2 x wheeled bags, 1 holdall with winter coats, hats and scarves in!) We headed straight to the Qatar check in area, dropped the bags off and headed through a very quiet security area. We then went straight upstairs to the Marco Polo lounge and settled down for some drinks and snacks. It was a fairly small, unexciting space but is undergoing a big refurbishment which can only improve things! The view of the apron was good and we watched our Qatar A330 being prepared for our flight to Doha. As soon as the gate was announced we started to get packed up as we knew we would have to go through a passport check, and then wanted to have a quick look in the duty free area before boarding. After looking (but not buying) anything we started to head over to some available seating when boarding was called. We headed to the gate and onto the place to take our seats (3j and 3k) and were immediately very impressed with the Qatar hospitality as we settled down to a choice of champagne. There seemed to be so many crew, welcoming us on board, offering drinks and then talking us through the menu, and taking our food orders before take off. They also asked if we preferred hot or cold towels! It was nice to sit side by side for a change – on BA we usually sit in a yin-yang layout, so we can see each other but it’s not actually next to each other! Again as a comparison with BA, safety wasn’t so strict – there were lots of items left on the floor surrounding the seats, seats weren’t upright for takeoff, lots of people talked through the safety demo. Anyway – finally we were on our way! After take off the seatbelt was turned off quite quickly and bowls of warm nuts and drinks were delivered, as well as lovely amenity kits containing perfume or aftershave, a full size body lotion as well as the normal eye shades/socks/ear plugs. Soon after, the food service began. We both had roasted butternut squash soup to start, then I had a mixed Arabic mezze to start then grilled fillet of beef and Alison skipped the starter and had paneer tikka masala with panna cotta for dessert. We also managed several glasses of wine before having cappucinos and chocolates. We were really full by now (as well as quite tipsy!) so we both fell asleep. Next stop will be Doha! __________________ http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sign...igpic534_1.gif 1988 ~ Contemporary ~ Honeymoon 1989 ~ Off site 1994 ~ EuroDisney ~ Santa Fe 1999 ~ Off site 2001 ~ CBR (Aruba) ~ Poly (Tahiti) 2003 ~ WL & HRH 2004 ~ Pop Century, RPH, CSR, PBH, Contemporary 2006 ~ DLP ~ Newport Bay 2007 ~ POR ~ HRH ~ GF 2008 ~ All star sports, BCV, RPH, Vero Beach, VWL 2010 ~ OKW ~ BCV ~ HRH ~POP Century ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL 2013 ~ AKL ~ HRH ~ BCV ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL Edited at 01:05 AM.