P&O Venice transfers

[marinefish]

Just returned from Venice on Oriana X111 - two new (to us) bits of information on transfers from the ship to St. Mark’s Square.

First, the P&O launches go from the ship (Marittima Basin) via the Guidecca Canal to near Pieta Church (Chiesa Della Pieta) and this is 4 bridges away from St. Mark’s Square (Piazzo San Marco). Each bridge has 12 to 15 steps up and down, so it is not easy if you have difficulty with stairs. Fares are £15/adult, £7.50/child and £35/family (2 adults and up to 3 children) with unlimited use for one whole day. Children are 17 and under, unlike P&O excursions where they have to be 12 and under. I have never seen the family ticket mentioned before, and whilst individual fares are expensive, the family ticket for a family of 4/5 is more reasonable.

Second, the free shuttle bus, intended primarily for passengers with mobility difficulties, now runs to the Tronchetto Island Vaporetto stop NOT TO Piazzale Roma. We were told on the ship that this is due to construction work at Piazzale Roma, but may become a permanent arrangement anyway. We did not use the bus and very few people seemed to be using it. You then need a Vaporetto ticket at E6.50/person to go anywhere in one direction for up to one hour, ie via the Grand Canal to St. Mark’s Square or other places, plus E6.50/person to get back. Alternatively there are unlimited passes at E16 for 12 hours, E18 for 24 hours, E23 for 36 hours. Time starts when you get on the first Vaporetto, not when you buy the ticket. Linea 2 runs from the “Tronchetto” stop to the “San Marco Vallaresso” stop and if you go inland along Calle Vallaresso you can get to Piazzo San Marco etc. without using any bridges.

Hope this is helpful.

[jeanlyon]

The best way of doing it is to walk from the port to the People Mover train - it costs 1 Euro and takes you to the Vaporetto stop at Piazzale Roma. Then buy the 16 Euro all day ticket which takes you anywhere you want. The ship transfer is a rip off in my opinion.

[BrianI]

Totally agree Jean the €16 12 hour ticket is the way to go. You can go out to the islands like Murano and down the Grand Canal which the P&O waterbus does not do. If you are there overnight the €23 36 hour ticket is even better value.

Brian

[caber]

The best way of doing it is to walk from the port to the People Mover train - it costs 1 Euro and takes you to the Vaporetto stop at Piazzale Roma. Then buy the 16 Euro all day ticket which takes you anywhere you want. The ship transfer is a rip off in my opinion.

 

We did it this way at the end of May. The only downside was that the people mover stopped at 10.45p.m. from Piazzali Roma. We had 2 days in Venice and went back to St Mark`s Square in the evening. We didn`t want to rush back for the last people mover and considered walking from Piazzali Roma to the ship. In the end it was late so we hopped on the P&O shuttle boat from St Mark`s Square. It was around midnight and nobody was taking or selling tickets so we got a free ride back to the ship. We had boarded with the intention of paying a single trip fare.

 

We had bought a 2 day vaporetta ticket online. It was a little cheaper that way.

[tom_uk]

Just to complicate things.... when we were there on Ventura in early June it was a weekend, so there were a number of other cruise ships in port, mainly MSC & Costa ships doing turnrounds. As a result Ventura was banished to a berth right at the far end of the cruise port. From there P&O ran the shuttle launch as described in other posts. They also ran a free shuttle bus round to the main entrance of the cruise port. This was within easy walking distance of the Marittima station on the PeopleMover.

 

On the first morning, it took us quite a while to sort it out - shuttle bus to the cruise terminal entrance, walk to the PeopleMover, use the PeopleMover, then walk to the ticket booths at Piazzale Roma, then find the right vaporetto stop.

 

On the second morning we did an excursion - 'Hidden Venice' (a walking tour). For that we were taken in a small boat from Ventura round to the railway station where the walk began. The walk ended up at the shuttle launch pickup point on the main waterfront near the Doge's Palace, and use of that to get back to the ship was included in the excursion.

[southwinds]

We have walked back to the ship before so its quite possable to walk into the centre... If you get the shuttle to Pizzia Roma area from here you can walk this would save you walking along the main road but I know folk who have done that.

[marinefish]

As I said in the original post the shuttle bus is not currently running to Piazzale Roma, but to Tronchetto Island (the Venice car park) which is in the opposite direction, so the shuttle bus doesn't help at all unless you get on a Vaporetto at Tronchetto.

[BrianI]

The people mover runs from Tronchetto island car park to Piazzale Roma with a stop at the cruise terminal.

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-people-mover.htm

Brian

[southwinds]

You can walk to the Pizza Roma from the ship we didnt but some on our table did.