Cruise newbie - Venice excursion

My husband and I are taking our first cruise in May to the Med on Oriana. We are looking at excursions and starting with Venice. We arrive early morning and leave late evening. The intro to Venice trip is 4 hours and finishes at 12.30. The information says half day tours return to the ship and don't offer the option of remaining in St Mark's square. My dilemma is that we're not taking advantage of the longer day to visit Venice. Am I missing something? Any help or advice visiting Venice is most welcome🌝. Thanks

We were in Venice last year, we generally do't do ship tours as we prefer to do our own thing, but if you like the sound of the tour why not book it and when you get back to the ship have a little lunch and then make your way back into the center of Venice, we did this by walking out of the port turning right out of the gate and up to the main road, again a right turn and follow this until you get to the main train station on the left hand side of the street. When you are at the train station get a day ticket for the Vaporeto (not sure if tha'ts how you spell it ) which will then take you to St Marks square via the grand canal.

We went out in the morning had a nice walk round made our way back to the ship for a bit of late lunch and then went back into town until early evening, got back on board for dinner and then on deck for the sail out past St Marks square, the walk is about 15 minutes each way, and it's along the pavement all the way but you have to cross the main road.

Hi there

If you don't especially want to take a tour it is very very easy to do this by yourself, a short walk from the ship is a water boat which takes you to the dockings at St Mark's Square it's pretty cheap and takes maybe 15 minutes you can then spend as much time as you like. I'm sure if you go on the tour there should be the facility, if you tell the tour guide, for you to remain in St Mark's Square and then make your own way back to the ship by the water boat. Hope this helps

Yes, Venice is very easy by yourself. Out of the port and follow the signs to the People Mover - little train which takes you to Piazzale Roma, then pick up the Vaporetto (boat) down the Grand Canal to the main square.

I understood that P&O provide a water shuttle boat service to st marks square.

Can someone please confirm as we will be on Oriana next month.

I understood that P&O provide a water shuttle boat service to st marks square.

Can someone please confirm as we will be on Oriana next month.

Yes but it's not cheap and it does not go down the Grand Canal. For about the same money you can get an all day Vaporetto ticket and travel where you want.

Brian

I understood that P&O provide a water shuttle boat service to st marks square.

Can someone please confirm as we will be on Oriana next month.

They do but it's overpriced and takes you back down the Guidecca canal rather than the much more scenic grand canal. Jean Lyons post gives you the best route to pick up a grand canal vaporetto.

(You beat me to it Brian.)

Yes but it's not cheap and it does not go down the Grand Canal. For about the same money you can get an all day Vaporetto ticket and travel where you want.

Brian

Does that apply to select fare passengers as I understood free shuttle services are part of the select fare booking conditions?

Does that apply to select fare passengers as I understood free shuttle services are part of the select fare booking conditions?

Yet another of the great P&O select fare myths, many shuttles are not included or are free port provided ones.

Does that apply to select fare passengers as I understood free shuttle services are part of the select fare booking conditions?

The "free" shuttle only applies to coach shuttles not water shuttles. The P&O Venice Waterbus shuttle is around £17, maybe more now.

Brian

If you are going to do other things as well as St Marks Square, don't buy a single Vaporetto ticket, buy an all day one. Really useful. And anyway, a trip up and back the Grand Canal is really worth it.

Thanks, appreciate all the useful information.

Hi

We are also on this cruise and have not been to any of the ports of call before, barring Gibraltar, but we always DIY when we can, especially in port cities. We usually only use a P and O trip if there is a journey involved that might involve traffic delays.

This trip is £59 each and looks like it includes a motor boat transfer to St Marks Square which as has been said before will not go down the Grand Canal. You will then meet up with a guide who will walk you around St Mark's Square with entry to the Doges' Palace, and will include a commentary of St Mark's Basillica from the outside.

They will probably say for you to take the P and O shuttle boat back to the ship when you are ready.

There are still 8 weeks before departure. Do a little research online, watch some you-tube guide programs, Rick Steves' offerings are quite good, buy as second hand guide from ebay and an all day vaporetto pass and please yourself. Go to see what YOU want to see and for how long you want. We might see you down a back water canal somewhere :):):)

Yes, Venice is very easy by yourself. Out of the port and follow the signs to the People Mover - little train which takes you to Piazzale Roma, then pick up the Vaporetto (boat) down the Grand Canal to the main square.

Great advice, we got the people mover (p&o don’t advertise there is one for obvious reasons), it’s quick, cheap, and easy. We turned left when we got off and walked, following the cobbled streets by the river to St Marks Sq. Lots of places to have lunch etc. The square was flooded as were some of the streets, and we did wish we had wellies! I think some of the shops shut in the afternoon too.

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Our first time in Venice, we took the 1/2 day tour, as I wanted to visit the Doge's palace etc... once we'd done that, my husband decided he didn't like the crowds, so went off exploring on his own. He strolled through plenty of areas, and discovered that if you had a map, it was easy to make your way back to the ship.

The next time, he just took off on the water buses and covered much of the city by himself. I took the shuttle boat with friends and wasted much of the day with them in wine bars.. :D

We have one of those PopOut maps which we find very useful. It's easy to get lost in Venice but that's part of the charm of this city. There are direction signs at first floor level on buildings pointing to S. Marco, Rialto or Accademia. Using those to get your bearings then checking out the Squares (often with Churches) on the PopOut map, it's quite easy to find out where you are and find your way around. The back streets (canals) are great to explore and I feel it's a lovely contrast to the main tourist sites which are very busy and crowded - although these are 'must sees'.

As others have said, unless you have walking issues, I'd adopt a DiY approach - the vaporetto via the Grand Canal (fabulous views/photos which you can't get other than from the water) then hit the sites you want to see then just wander. Great city. Enjoy!

We have booked a P&O's'Gondola Ride' excursion.

This includes a water bus trip which drops you off near st Marks Square for your Gondola ride after which you have some free time before you return by water bus. What we wanted to do was to stay longer and return by P&O water shuttle later in the day but now we will consider the Vaporetto to get us back to Piazzale Roma later in the day.

As we will only require a one way ticket back we probably would not require the all day ticket? Do you buy your ticket on the Vaporetto?

Also, how long does it take to walk back to the ship from the Vaporetto drop off point in Piazzale Roma.

Last year I think a single ticket on the vaporetto was 7.5 Euro. You buy the tickets at a booth before getting on the vaporetto.

I think it's about a 15 minute walk to P. Roma - less than10 minutes if you hop on the people mover to take you part of the way from the P.Roma to the port entrance.

We reckoned it took us about 45 minutes to walk from the P.Roma to San Marco at a fairly leisurely pace so you may feel like wandering back and enjoying the canals without using the vaporetto - but if you don't get a trip down the Grand Canal as part of your excursion (I think the water bus may take you via the Guidecca Canal) then I'd definitely go back from S. Marco to P.Roma by vaporetto. One of the best experiences in Venice imo.

If you have no mobility problems, it's all an easy walk. We found a few tips online, basically follow your nose out of the port, walking past the monorail, over a red brick bridge with a petrol station at the end and turn right. You'll come to an open area, look for a bridge on the left and then follow your feet. There's lots of signs on the building to lead you to the main tourist areas and back to the port. Most travellers advise just follow your nose and get lost. It's a small island you can't go to far off the track.

Just been on Google maps, here's the aforementioned bridge: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@45.438473,12.3187609,3a,75y,88.76h,97.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s00LqpMdSuxTQM0c9B84Egg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

You can prebook a Secret Itineries Tour of the Doge’s Palace. We did it last time and really enjoyed it.

We have prebooked the Secret Itineraries/Doge's Palace trip on line on the advice of friends. Unless you speak fluent Italian, make sure you book the English language tour!! Quite simple to do on line and a good price. We have left the rest of the day free to wander. We are assured you can't get lost in Venice so fingers crossed!

As others have said, Venice is very easy to DIY. The vaporetto from Piazzale Roma to St Marks is the best value thing you can do in Venice and much better than the water ride to St Marks as you don't see the Grand Canal on that. Just gen up on using the People Mover and Vaporetto and save some money. Buy a Day ticket on the vaporetto and use it to visit Murano or San Giorgio Maggiore. Also don't miss the sail in and out of Venice.

Yes, Venice is very easy by yourself. Out of the port and follow the signs to the People Mover - little train which takes you to Piazzale Roma, then pick up the Vaporetto (boat) down the Grand Canal to the main square.

In my opinion the Vaporetto trip down the Grand Canal is amazing .I liken it to sailing down a painting ,it's the only way you should enter Venice

Just arrived back from a fabulous cruise onboard Oceana and thanks to all the useful information in this thread we had a brilliant day in Venice.

We pre booked with P&O a Gondola Ride which included a motor launch with a guide. This took us from the ship to St Marks Square via the Canale Della Giudecca. After the Gondola ride you had some free time to explore on you own and then return back via motor launch to the ship but not via the Grand Canal.

We chose to stay and we made our own way back from St Marks Square by purchasing a Vaporetto ticket to take us back along the Grand Canal to Piazzale Roma. From there we purchased a People Mover ticket for the short trip back to the port.

These are the current prices we paid.

P&O Gondola Ride. £43.00 pp (with our p&o discount.)

If you arrange your own Gondola ride they appear to charge 80-100 Euro per Gondola but they hold up to six people.

Vaporetto ticket (Line 1) to Piazzale Roma via the Grand Canal 7.5 Euro pp.

People Mover ticket to port. 1.5 Euro pp.

If you use The P&O motor launch it costs £8.0 pp one way or £16.00 unlimited use for the day to and from the ship but not via the Grand Canal.