Venice question

[SOShrink]

I have some questions about the Venice & Gems of Northern Italy trip that may pertain to previous cruisers or those familiar with Venice. I have also posted this question in the regular Europe/Italy section of Cruise Critic. Since we will be docked at least 3 or 4 nights in Venice at various times during the week, would it be worth it to purchase a Vaporetto Pass for the week? I am a strong believer in the convenience of passes wherever I travel.

[Talisker92]

I have some questions about the Venice & Gems of Northern Italy trip that may pertain to previous cruisers or those familiar with Venice. I have also posted this question in the regular Europe/Italy section of Cruise Critic. Since we will be docked at least 3 or 4 nights in Venice at various times during the week, would it be worth it to purchase a Vaporetto Pass for the week? I am a strong believer in the convenience of passes wherever I travel.

I came up with the cost tradeoffs. I have bought a 24 hour pass, and it may be worth the convenience of one pass against buying several.

Below was copied from the Vaporetto website.

One-Day Travel Card

Biglietto un giorno €20,-- *

Two-Day Travel Card

Biglietto due giorni €30,-- *

Three-Day Travel Card

Biglietto tre giorni €40,-- *

Seven-Day Travel Card

Biglietto sette giorni €60,-- *

It is definitely better to buy the 7 day.

Edited January 4, 2015 by Talisker92

[SOShrink]

Thank you for such a detailed and helpful answer, Talisker! I am tempted to avoid vaporettos and just walk endlessly which is one of the charms of Venice. But now I feel one can do plenty of walking in addition to using the vaporettos, especially if the ship is docked (at least part of the time) way over in Marittima where the large cruises dock. Biglietti sette giorni it is!

[Talisker92]

Dear SOS,

We had a delightful day riding the vaporettos. We first went to Burano, where they make lace and also had lunch, then to Murano for a glass blowing exhibitlon, then one all the way around the lagoon, ending up at Piazzala Roma. From there we took the #1 down the Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco. We then found a cafe on the Rua Sciovoni, past the Doges' Palace, and sipped a cappuccino watching the sun set through the windows of the Santa Maria Della Salute.

[trav25]

Get a vaparetto pass. Take it and go all around without a care for cost. Look at it like a hop on hop off bus.

[roaming_kiwi58]

We did the Uniworld cruise based around Venice, and also had 2 extra nights in Venice at the beginning. We walked everywhere, and found no need to use a vaparetto at all, but we didn't go out to Burano or Murano, as we had been there before. Venice is relatively small and walking around it was a delight.

 

The River Countess started the week berthed at San Marta, then we moved to Riva Sette Martiri, and at the end of the week we were berthed at Marittima. We were scheduled to return to Riva Sette Martiri at the end, but port authorities changed it. No berth is guaranteed. Riva Sette Martiri is very convenient for the San Marco area. San Marta (or you might be at San Basilio) is a good position for a pleasant walk along Zattere.

 

When we were docked at Marittima, there was a shuttle from the ship to Piazzale Roma, from where we walked to wherever.

 

Depends of course how much you enjoy walking and soaking up the atmosphere along the way.

[SOShrink]

Thanks for that alternative piece of advice, Kiwis! In addition, Rick Steves has an excellent section getting to and from the port area of Venice including using the people mover that takes you to Ple. Roma from the Maritimma. I have a few more day by day questions about this trip and will post them separately as they come up. My first question will probably be about the optional trip to Murano they offer to arriving guests on the first day so thank you in advance! Steve

[Host Jazzbeau]

(1) A ship's shuttle to P. Roma will be much easier than the People Mover.

 

(2) If Uniworld offers a tour of San Marco Basilica at night, TAKE IT. This was the highlight of our visit to Venice. I still tingle at the memory of entering the darkened church and watching the lights come on one by one in total silence! It was magical.

[SOShrink]

Thank you, Jazz. I wonder how often Uniworld's shuttle to P. Roma comes and goes or is it back and forth all day? And you are absolutely right. The night featured excursion to St. Mark's Basilica was one of the selling points for taking this particular trip! So here's the way I see the Port of Venice situation. If docked at Marittima, it clearly makes sense to use the ship's or Port's shuttle (navetta del Porto) to Piazzale Roma and walk or take the Vaporetto to St. Mark's or wherever. As an alternative, I see that there is a blue line express boat (Alilaguna) that goes directly to St. Mark's Square in 30 min from terminal bldg. 103 for €8. I imagine that those would always be packed if there are several cruise ships docked there. But when the River Countess is docked at the Santa Marta or San Basilio docks on the Giudecca Canal, I see that both these spots have their own vaporetto stops so you can get to the Grand Canal or wherever directly from there without needing to take a shuttle. And finally, if we are docked at Riva Setti Martiri, as mentioned by roaming kiwi, you can walk to San Marco from there. Sorry to bore everyone with this, but if someone can correct or add to this, that would be great......

[roothy123]

Hi, SOShrink. This is not a boring discussion, as I will be going to Venice in September and have similar questions. I was going to pose my own questions on this forum, but since they're related, hope you don't mind me jumping on here.

 

I will be on the new Viking ocean cruise ship Star. She will be 930 pax so she may end up being assigned to Marittima. However, I am hoping it will be in the San Basilio area instead. It is too early to get this info from Viking or the port website, so I have to make my plans based on an either/or situation of docking at Basilio (or Santa Marta) or Marittima. We're going 2 days early and staying not far from San Marco Square. We're thinking of taking our luggage with us to the hotel as the walk is not long and there are no bridges from the San Marco Danieli stop. However, there are few vaporettos that go to the San Basilio stop, which looks close to the terminal there and where I THINK river cruise ships usually are assigned. I'd prefer getting off at the Basilio stop since the Zattere stop looks to be about 170 yards farther, plus I think has a bridge to cross, which might not be fun with luggage.

 

I know quite a bit about docking at Marittima, but much less about San Basilio. I guess my questions are:

1. Is it much of a walk from San Basilio stop to the area where cruise ships of any size are likely to dock? I hear that sometimes big ships as well as river ships (boats?) are assigned to Basilio. Is that area far to the west (which I think is S. Marta) used mostly when there are lots of ships in town? It would be nice to dock as far east as possible.

2. Is it much farther/harder from the Zattere vaporetto stop? Is the Zattere ACTV the same place that the Alilaguna boat stops? (I suppose I could figure this out from looking at the ACTV diagram and Google Earth, but if anyone knows right away, that would be wonderful! I don't know where terminal building 103 is.)

3. There is reputed to be luggage storage at the San Basilio terminal when ships are in town, but I've been unable to find info about this. Has anyone ever used it? If you've used the luggage drop place at P. Roma, was there a long line to use it?

4. Would anyone happen to know when the vaporetto schedules change over from their winter schedule to non-winter? I asked on the veneziaunica.it site but they didn't answer that question, only another question I had related to the vaporetto schedules on the actv.it site.

 

As to your original question about buying a pass, my sense is that a lot of Venice can be walked within an hour's time, so if you're willing and able to walk, you may not do as much traveling on vaporettos as you might think. Also, there are occasionally transit strikes, and even less so, service interruptions due to high water, so it's possible you may not use the pass as much as you think you might. Then again, from what I hear, both these situations generally don't shut down ALL water traffic, and usually not for more than 4 hours at a time (they're planned and announced; go figure!) so it's probably not a huge risk to buy passes. Also, the high water is more often in late fall/early winter, I think, and also doesn't last all that long, so again, perhaps not even worth worrying about.

 

Thanks.

Edited January 11, 2015 by roothy123

[JVilleGal]

Roothy123 you do know this is the River Cruise board and not the Viking Ocean cruise board don't you???

 

This is the board you may also want to visit :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38566393

 

 

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Edited January 11, 2015 by JVilleGal

[roothy123]

Roothy123 you do know this is the River Cruise board and not the Viking Ocean cruise board don't you???

 

This is the board you may also want to visit :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38566393

 

 

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Yes, I do, but there is very little knowledge about where Viking Oceans might dock as they haven't started their cruises yet. I was hoping, therefore, that someone who has been to Venice on a river cruise might be able to help me! Then again, maybe there isn't any hope for me!

[JVilleGal]

Mediterranean Ports board may be another great resource.

 

As to the Plaza Roma luggage drop I used it and there where long lines. It closed minutes after I left my bags because it was full. This was pretty early in the morning still, so be advised about that possibility.

 

 

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[SOShrink]

Roothy, thanks for the excellent information and challenging questions. I'm sorry, JVillegal, but is there a problem with cross-participation in our boards? I'd like to think any traveler can offer info or ask a question on any thread even if it is redundant or covered in another section. I'm sorry if I misread what you wrote. Or do you two know each other and you were just kidding?

[roothy123]

Oh, no harm done. I just assumed JVilleGal was being helpful, not challenging my comments.

 

I'll see what, if anything, others say about Venice dock locations, and if I don't get enough info from here, I'll try something else.

 

I DID manage to find a port diagram I had copied a while back. (See attached.) It shows a location for a shuttle from the Marittima port to the San Marco area. Therefore, I'm getting the impression that the port provides a shuttle to San Marco, and the cruise lines have nothing to do with it. It's not clear whether it stops at S. Marta and San Basilio, but at least it sounds like once I embark the ship, I will have a way back to San Marco if my vaporetto pass has expired by that time and I want to go back out. (We don't leave Venice until midnight.)

[JVilleGal]

Roothy, thanks for the excellent information and challenging questions. I'm sorry, JVillegal, but is there a problem with cross-participation in our boards? I'd like to think any traveler can offer info or ask a question on any thread even if it is redundant or covered in another section. I'm sorry if I misread what you wrote. Or do you two know each other and you were just kidding?

 

 

No just trying to give Roothy123 more places to look for information.

 

While answering at least one of her questions:)

 

 

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Edited January 12, 2015 by JVilleGal

[Host Jazzbeau]

I would point out that Viking Ocean ships at 900+ passengers are not that small now that Venice is banning the large cruise ships (Celebrity Constellation is close to the tonnage limit, with 2,170 pax). So I suspect they are more likely to be at Marittima than might have been the case earlier.