During the one and only time we cruised out of Venice, we (family of 4) had the hotel get a water taxi to shuttle us from VCE to the hotel. The price was a bit expensive, but it was for 4 of us and it was a nice convenience after taking a redeye flight over the Atlantic. When we showed up at the dock, we did not see our water taxi. So after a quick call to the hotel, one arrived fairly quickly.