Overwhelmed and need reassurance

Venice is a good choice to start and / or end a cruise. Think you will enjoy your time there. Yes, travelers checks, for all practical purposes, are dead. I wish that were not the case but it is. Get an ATM card and have a four digit pin assigned to it. Frankly, I would get a couple of hundred euros from the bank before leaving home. That way you will at least have some walking around money until you locate an ATM.

I will try to give you pointers. First, July is not the best for weather, it will be hot and humid, particularly in Venice. If you want to see the country side on this trip consider heading to the Dolomites which is what the Venetians do in August. You will find the mountains beautiful and the climate accommodating. Barring that try Lake Garda, particularly if you are going to Verona.

Trains are easy in Italy and people will help you without fail.

Yes, Venice seems like a good choice for you. If you hate big cities and heat...avoid Rome in July at all costs. Florence will also be good. The train between the two is indeed easy. As for language - learn a few words in Italian (especially train words) and you will be fine. A phrase book might be helpful. Some people will speak English, but many won't. Most, however, will be friendly and helpful as long as you are polite. You may want to book your train tickets online ahead of time. www.trenitalia.com, venezia s. lucia (train station) to firenze s.m. novella. It's cheaper to buy ahead, and may be easier than waiting in line at the station.

No, no travelers checks! You won't be able to easily find a place to cash them, and forget about a good rate. Just put your trip budget into a good credit union account that will give you an ATM card with the visa logo. There will be a fee to withdraw cash, so get out a medium-large amount at a time. You don't want to be carrying many hundreds of euros at once, but you don't want to pay the fee for 20 euros either. Bring a visa or mastercard - not linked to the ATM - for backup.

It's been several years since I've been to Florence, but I know you really, really need to book your museum visits in advance. Both the Uffizi and the Accademia. Probably others as well as some things in Venice. Otherwise you will be standing in long lines, in the heat, and may not get in anyway. Book online! Rick Steves books go through all the logistical details of how and what to book - I would read his logistics carefully, they save you so much time and energy.

Wow.. you seem to have a lot of negative feelings about places that I don't understand.

I mean. I do understand about avoiding the heat.. Italy IS very hot in summer and I do not do well in heat.. but your fears of "snobbery" and your comments about Italy and Americans.. seems very dated..
I have had no problems with trains in France.. because I find one does not really need language to find the name of where you are going on the boards and then look at the track line.. not sure how language comes into it. DO make sure you travel light.. you will have to do stairs in some train stations and lift and carry your own bags.

Travellers checks in Europe at least , have been dead for at least last 15 years.. ( as a travel agent I am surprised you did not know that ?)

I have had an ATM card for maybe 20-25 years now.. its part of my daily life at home as well as abroad. Since travellers checks are out.. one normally needs to use cash or a credit card.. since I only use a credit card for things like train tickets, hotels ,and a few splurge dinners, I rely mostly on cash, but would never want to carry all the money for one trip. Most folks simply use their ATM debit card to withdraw money every few days as needed. Its easy.

Venice is great. .but walking about may be somewhat challenging for you , lots of uneven pavement, and all those cute little canal bridges.. are usually staired!!

Prague is a big city.. not as big as Rome or Paris.. but its not some small town for sure.

Venice can be hot.. bring a hand fan, hat, and maybe plan on a day on the beach (Lido) if you really need to escape the heat .
Make sure all hotels you book have air conditioning. Its not a given. Also, if hotels do not specifically list an elevator do not assume there is one.

Florence is lovely.. but it will be hot and crowded also.

Go with an open mind.

Forgive me sounding American, I have always been a good will ambassador for the USA. I have not traveled to Europe since 15 years ago when I stopped being a travel agent. Loved LOVED France and took canal barge and loved the countryside. The French are much more like Americans (to me) in personality, meaning impatience, want things done a certain way, little uptight in train travel. One of my favorite cities in the world in Montreal and I believe the French Canadians (Quebec) to be the nicest folks in the world.
My point was given an unfamiliar "wow" place like Greece or Monte Carlo and the French Riv I chose the convenience and ease of Venice, feel like it was right for me. And we found Prague to be very much a walking city, as I remember Venice to be. Rome as I recall, spread out, pockets of loveliness but not in July. And I need to get reservations ahead of time, I can't stand on a queue, that is when my MS is the worst, sort of not walking, standing with no chair in site.

I meant I think that Italy is more like "so there's a strike, have a meal, don't worry" and when I was in Venice, I adored it, so a good choice for me I think. Rome just seemed overwhelming to me. London less so, everything "feels" like a neighborhood there. I loved Paris, found it harder to get around and take a train from, I need to learn a few words of Italian. I only knew a few things Tu es ma coeur and lassiezze la bon temp rouller (or however you spell it) and that was fine but I depended on the kindness of strangers.

And Pat, I just realized you are Canadian, and I wasn't sucking up. I really do love travel (obviously) but I only went to Europe once after my diagnosis of MS and it really does impede traveling: for starters I inject medication daily. I shall have to bring less and travel light, but that only creates more problems, the cold packs I brought to the Caribbean could not be frozen for example, so now that I know this, I shall be able to travel lighter. We had no problems with traveler's checks in Canada until about 4 years ago. With the advance of the ATM card.

Philbop, as mentioned, there are lots of bridges to walk in Venezia (usually not very high, but up one side and down the other). I think most of the Dolomites towns are hilly.

A nice daytrip from Venezia is Padova, which is flat with lots of outdoor cafes to sit when you get tired.

Get the ATM card and be sure to let your bank know that you will be using it for foreign travel (they will probably need the dates). Your bank will forward this info to the card-issuer (Visa, MasterCard), so it's wise to check on that again a few days before you leave. Try to use ATMs that are in a bank lobby, during working hours (in case something goes wrong, like you don't take your card back within 30 seconds).

Have a great trip.

Given all that you have explained, I am PERPLEXED.

WHY did you choose July? You seem pretty in tune as to what you can and cannot do and tolerate, YET you have chosen the absolute WORST time for doing this trip.

There will he heat, there will be crowds, and there will be line-ups (even if you do have reservations or 'skip-the-lines' tickets.)

husband drives a school bus, must travel in july. And btw, it was hotter in New Jersey in July than bermuda, San Juan, Haiti and St Martin, actually it was more humid in New Jersey. My friend who house sat said it was awful, we were on a balcony on a cruise and most days it was pretty pleasant. San Juan the worst. Big city. So we got "on line" as the forts opened.

And thanks Zoe, I shall consider that and also in Florence prolly book a sight seeing "skip the line" day. Venice we shall have 5 nights so we shall still book the museum, but we shall have more time to sight see etc.