Booked the Ai Mori!
 

I took the first step: I booked the Ai Mori. (Next step will be to e-mail Marco, I guess.) Still waiting for a fare sale on United; SFO-VCE still hovering around $664 all-in.

I booked seven nights, arriving Nov. 18, departing Nov. 25. I used the Hotel Club website, because it says "the rates shown are inclusive of all taxes." The price I was charged was 672 Euros total, or about US $117 per night. This is for a "Double - Single Use" standard room including buffet breakfast. If I cancel (minimum 4 days before arrival date), the cancel fee will be 15 Euros. Changes will cost me 5 Euros. I can live with those fees. My main concern is that I've not used this booking website in the past.

I'm pretty sure I want to come, but I guess I won't be in the "definite" list until I've booked my flights!

(And I'll try to remember to pack those waterproof socks! ;) )

If it is like most other Venice transport passes it is time-stamped, meaning it expires 72 hours after it is issued.

Also, I believe the return trip on the shuttle is included even if the pass has expired.

It has been a long time since I've been in a museum in Venice, but I would imagine they run anywhere from 3 to 10 Euros each. (The Doge's Palace is almost certainly among the more expensive ones.)

The Casino charges for admission to the games rooms -- where there are generally no very cheap tables. About 8 years ago the cheapest Blackjack table (and there was only one at that price) was 5 Euro minimum, but I imagine that has gone up to 10. Worse than the entry charge is the fact that you have to wear a tie and jacket. (If you don't have one with you, they will supply you with them -- with a charge.)

The slots room is free and requires no tie or jacket.

And if you are under 29 you shouldn't even be thinking about taking a Vaporetto! I qualify for TWO under 29 rates and I walk all around the city.

Re: Platbrowngal. If Platbrowngal A is not available, go to the Women's Forum and join in Dorlee's discussion of Venice. You should be able to get Platbrowngal B, C, D, and E there!

Dovster, quit telling people not to ride the vaporetto!

The vaporetto ride up and down the Grand Canal is an absolutely fantastic introduction to Venice! In fact, it's fantastic even for someone who's been to Venice a few times!

Consider the plight of a traveller who has just made a LONG overseas trip and is tired, grumpy, and jet-lagged. I guarantee that the Grand Canal vaporetto ride will revive such a person and lift their spirits!

I really don't like the tie-and-jacket deal in European casinos but I can deal with it, it was the same in Geneva... I try to avoid the smallest of the tables because there's always that one drunken frenchman at the end splitting tens against an ace :(. A 25 Euro table will be fine.

I do not play slot machines, I play only blackjack, 7-card stud or holdem.

And, while I will usually choose to walk distances of 2 miles or less, I normally end up having to take at least a few taxis around in foreign cities... especially after hitting the pubs and all...

There was one night in Dublin where I was especially belligerent, lost my friend, and didn't have any money for a cab, and was wandering up and down Grafton Street asking people if they knew where Conrad was. Eventually I found people who I'd met earlier, and somehow woke up the next morning in my room, at the Conrad. Oh, how nice it would have been to have a "vaporetto pass"-equivalent then...

I take it this vaporetto runs 24 hours a day?

Thoroughly agreed -- but that is one vaporetto ride. Cost: 3.5 Euros. There is no need to buy a Venice Card just for that.

For me, there are two great pleasures in Venice:

1. Sitting at an outdoor table at a bar in St. Mark's Square, drinking white wine and listening to the band. Hopefully, the weather will allow us to do this on the 19th.

2. Walking through Venice, somehow winding up in a new alley each time, and discovering some little spot I have never seen before.

It would be a shame to deprive Platbrownguy of # 2. Besides, he is under 29 "and strong like bull from the Old Country," and thus able to do all the walking in the world.

(This will not apply if he winds up with Platbrowngals A, B, C, D and E. He will have discovered a great new pleasure in Venice that I have never even come close to but he will not be in condition to do much walking.)

Dovster, how on earth did we arrive at "strong like bull from the Old Country"? I like it.

Unfortunately, I have neither the miles nor the euros for five first class tickets on Air France in addition to mine :(... but I like your plan :cool:. I shall arrive with platbrowngal A, and meet platbrowngals B, C, D, and E at intermediate points along the way. :D

And I do definitely want to go for a wander in Venice and get very lost, and then only use the map to find my way back.

I still may buy this venice card yet, however. We shall see.

Once upon a time, in a land very far away and long before you were born, there was a man called Danny Thomas.

Danny had a television show, called, for some reason, "The Danny Thomas Show". Even stranger than that, when it went into reruns it became, "Make Room for Daddy."

The oddest part about the show is that its theme song was the Irish classic ballad, "Danny Boy". It was odd because Danny was not portraying an Irishman, but rather an American comedian of Lebanese descent.

In the show, his Uncle Tonoose was played by that fine old Lebanese character actor, Hans Conreid, who spoke broken English in an accent which by no stretch of the imagination resembled Arabic. This was perhaps just as well, because if he did have a good Arabic accent he probably would have been SSSSed at the airport so much that he never would have gotten to the show in time.

Uncle Tonoose's brother, Habeeb (owner of Habeeb and Sons, Toledo), had a son for whom Uncle Tonoose was determined to find a wife. He asked Danny to set Habeeb's son up with a beautiful showgirl, saying that she should be honored to have such a husband because "he is strong like bull from Old Country."

You are now the inheritor of Danny's uncle's brother's son's description.

Is Platbrowngal A now definite? Does she know about your plans vis-a-vis B, C, D, and E?

If she objects, can I have them until the UIG arrives?

E-mail to Ai Mori d'Oriente
 

What should I say in my e-mail to Marco Musco, other than mentioning FlyerTalk and my dates of stay? Should I be so crass (dare I say barbarian) as to ASK for an upgrade, or should I be subtle (or supersubtle*) as a Venetian? ;)


* See Henry James and William Shakespeare

I said hello, gave details of my stay and said I'd been told by the organisers of the do that Marco was being so kind as to offer us upgrades if available. I then thanked him for his very kind offer.

I got a very nice email back. :)

That said, I don't rate my chances, given I'm only staying one night and most are staying several. Basic logistics means I'm likely to be out of luck :(

I will be in touch with Platbrowngal A tomorrow. There is now a Platbrowngal F who somehow found out about this trip and is pestering me to go. She's not high on my list of "women I'd take to Venice", so I'll make you a deal. If I come with F, then you can have her until I round up B, C, D, and E.

On topic, however, I am delighted to be associated with Danny's uncle's brother's son. I will do my best to uphold the reputation :rolleyes:.

I also wrote Marco and received a very nice e-mail in return. I forget the exact wording but it went something like this:

Dear Signor Cholula:
We are very pleased that you and Signora Cholula will be joining us in November! We will be glad to offer you upgraded accommodations at our fine hotel. Your friend, obscure2K, put in a good word for you and we will honor her request for the second best room available.
The fact that you also know Dovster will not be held against you.
Francamente,
Marco

Hey! How come Marco was so nice to you and not to me?

He told me that "You will be given the worst room possible. There are some things we are willing to overlook but knowing Cholula goes beyond the pale!"

Marco is a man of superb taste and has evidently heard of your preference for Ramada Inn. He has selected a room at the Al Mori which will make you feel right at home.....:p

I just re-read Platbrownguy's post above and am starting to get worried about him (and very interested in meeting Platbrowngal A):

I will be in touch with Platbrowngal A tomorrow. There is now a Platbrowngal F who somehow found out about this trip and is pestering me to go. She's not high on my list of "women I'd take to Venice", so I'll make you a deal. If I come with F, then you can have her until I round up B, C, D, and E.

I can have her UNTIL he rounds up the others?

I can only presume that by herself, or even in combination with B, C, and D, she is of little interest to him. It is only when he has all five of them that I would have to return F. Surely a man who is confident enough in his abilities to satisfy five women at one time is a dangerous person to have around our female folk!

On the other hand, Platbrowngal A, by herself, is able to match the other five. She must, indeed, be a remarkable woman!

Perhaps he’ll relent and decide to bring platbrowndude instead thus saving us all a lot of grief.....