Venice embarkation and where to stay one night

[Love Sea Days]

Family cruise on the Quest July 12 (after cancelling Crystal) taking train from Rome day before. Where to stay? Where does the ship dock? How difficult is it with luggage getting from train to hotel and hotel to ship! Any information would be most appreciated. 

Thanks

[cruiseej]

After Venice banned most cruise ships from the main canal and cruise port last summer, there was a scramble for docking locations. You should definitely check with Seabourn on this, as not all cruises are departing from the same place. Most are departing from the Marghera industrial port at Fusina on the mainland, just across the causeway from Venice — but you check in at the main cruise port on Venice and get bussed to the ship after checking in.  The Quest is listed on the Marghera port schedule for July 12. The cruise port and rail station are close to each other, but not in the heart of Venice. Google Map Venice to get a feel for what's where. When does your train arrive? If it's early in the day, you might want a more central location so you can sightsee that day and in the morning before going to the ship.

[Love Sea Days]

Thanks so much for the information. To early to book the train but probably take a morning train. Any suggestions for hotels. 

[margbem]

Have a look at Europe for visitors on the internet. There is a huge section on Venice with amazing information.

[shark b8]

Years back we stayed a pre-cruise night at the Abbazia.  I picked it from some of the photos of the grounds, and (mostly) because of location - it was only a short walk from the train station, not too bad even with wheeled luggage. As we all know, moving luggage around can be particularly difficult in Venice, for obvious reasons.

 

Anyway, if memory serves (not always the case), we liked the grounds and overall hotel experience, perhaps more than we liked our particular room.  But for those arriving by train, it was ideal strictly from a logistical point of view.

 

https://www.abbaziahotel.com/index.html

 

 

[cruiseej]

Where to stay really depends on what you want to do during your stay in Venice. If you're going to arrive relatively early the day before the cruise, then you may not want to stay near the train station, because it's not close to a lot of the sites you may want to visit in the city, and you'll need water transportation from there, just as you would from anywhere else, to get to the cruise port the following afternoon. So I'd start with whether you've been to Venice before, and what you want to see while you're there. With a more central hotel location, you could do sightseeing in the afternoon, have dinner, and do some limited additional sightseeing in the morning before going to the ship. 

 

On our last trip to Venice, we stayed at a modest hotel (Hotel Le Isole) not far from St. Mark's Square. On our day of arrival, we had lunch, walked around the city for hours, had dinner, and did a nighttime visit to St. Mark's. The morning of our departure, we had breakfast at the hotel and walked a short distance to visit the Doge's Palace shortly after it opened and before the tourists descended. We went back to our hotel, checked out, and took a vaporetto to the cruise terminal to check in. (We had an extra day, so we visited the islands of Murano and Burano on the in-between day.)  On another visit, we stayed nearby at the Hotel Locanda Vivaldi looking out over the large and busy San Marco Canal.

 

Before considering different hotels people may suggest, consider first: location. Does it matter where in the city you are located, considering your short time in the city. Next, consider your mobility with luggage: some hotels have private water taxi docks right at the hotel; some require you to walk a block or two, or more, with your luggage to get to a dock. Will you go for private water taxis from the train station to the hotel, and hotel to port, or would you prefer to be close enough to a vaporetto stop to take the water bus to the port? (It's pretty easy, if you're able to manage walking with your luggage.) Next, consider how much you want to spend/how fancy a hotel you want. You're only staying one night, so some people want something small, quiet, convenient with a comfortable bed, clean shower, and nice breakfast for $200-$300/night — and some people want the St. Regis for $800 or the Gritti Palace for $1,500. So to get recommendations which will be useful to you, if you provide more information about where you want to be, what you want to do, how your mobility is, and a ballpark price range, I'm sure others on this forum can offer many great hotel options.

[marazul]

Bauer Palazzo.

On the Grand Canal, with a water door so taxis can pull right up, a wonderful terrace, etc, etc.

[claranda]

It depends on your budget and other things, but we usually stay at the Moresco, which is down at the bottom of Shark B8’s map, just beyond the gardens. I would recommend a hotel at this end - like the Moresco  or the Abbazia - because a) once you’ve dumped your luggage  you have very easy access to the vaporetto stops at Piazzale Roma and/or Ferrovia, which will take you all the way up the Grand Canal and back at your convenience, getting off where you choose (suggest you get the 24hour travel card) and b) because if you are near Piazzale Roma you can either walk to the cruise terminal or get the People Mover for a couple of stops to it. This is what we are doing in March. 

[alidor]

Have also stayed at the Moresco and would highly recommend it.  You can walk from where the airport bus drops you off and if I remember right, you only had to cross one bridge.

[Hlitner]

For one night we would probably opt for convenience and reasonable cost.  For us that would mean a hotel in or near the Piazale Roma where many are happy with the Olimpia or Santa Chiari.  We have also previously stayed at the B&B-like Ca Doge which is also right in the Piazale Roma.  That part of Venice is within walking distance of the train station (assuming you an handle your luggage) and gives you easy access to land taxis which can take you right over to the Maritima Port (we are assuming this will be your check-in place although you do need to verify this with Seabourn).   If budget is not a consideration then you could opt for any of the higher end hotels (such as the Danieli or Gritti Palace).  Just beware that if you decide on a location that is away from the Piazale Roma you may want to rely on private water taxis (for your transfers with luggage) which can easily cost 100 Euros (one-way).

 

Hank

[RetiredandTravel]

We loved the Gritti Palace, nice restaurant on the canal.   Door to door water taxi's.

 

[Emdee]

We stayed a few days at the Danieli which is very nice and well located. I think it has become a four seasons now. 
One  funny thing we saw  was a gondola traffic jam on a little canal which our balcony overlooked. They were literally a few feet apart…

[crusinbanjo]

Mrs Banjo and I stayed ay the Grand Canal Hotel.  It is a good location on the canal and a nice boutique hotel.  Also an easy walk from the bus terminal if you are taking public transport from the airport.

[auldlassie]

Gritti Palace for me, right on the Grand Canal and practically opposite the beautiful Santa Maria della Salute. Private water taxi dock at the hotel. Then step out into the fabulous heart of Venice and make the most of your day. Here's Salute looking magical, painted by someone close to my heart.

[cruiseej]

I'm surprised at the number of recommendations for Gritti Palace. I have no doubt it's a fabulous hotel from reading the reviews, but it runs $1,500 to $2,700+  per night (breakfast $75 additional) in July. That's way out of my hotel price range, but is it really worth spending that much for a one-night stay before a cruise?

[RetiredandTravel]

6 hours ago, cruiseej said:

I'm surprised at the number of recommendations for Gritti Palace. I have no doubt it's a fabulous hotel from reading the reviews, but it runs $1,500 to $2,700+  per night (breakfast $75 additional) in July. That's way out of my hotel price range, but is it really worth spending that much for a one-night stay before a cruise?

 

It really just depends on what someone's budget is.  The 10 day Seabourn cruise from Venice appears to range from $1300 to 3000 (w/o excursions) a day so the Gritti's prices don't seem out of bounds.  I will admit the Gritti was cheaper when we stayed there.

[Fletcher]

The problem with the Gritti and other so-called luxury hotels in Venice is that only the toppest of the toppermost suites have the view most people fancy.  You know, it's 8am, the first rays of the sun have hit your suite, you have a bellini in your hand, you open your window and there it is, a brick wall. Not the canal grande.  Caution is the watchword here.

 

And don't forget, the Gritti was once a Sheraton and I always say, once a Sheraton always a Sheraton. 

[RetiredandTravel]

I don't have some special attachment to the Gritti, we just enjoyed our time there.  We had a basic one bedroom and it had a beautiful view of the canal, not sure if we paid extra.

 

It does have to be one of the higher rated Sheratons.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187870-d230427-Reviews-The_Gritti_Palace_a_Luxury_Collection_Hotel_Venice-Venice_Veneto.html

 

 

[rl787]

I have stayed at the Gritti also and yes it has a price tag to match but I must say it is a memorable experience...............I do feel it is one of Italy's leading hotels. However for one night pre cruise I personally do not feel it would be worth the cost as you won't really have time to enjoy the experience. A 5 star hotel that we like very much and at a considerably lower price but still beautiful is the Londra Palace, it has a lovely small hotel feel and it is also on the Grand Canal..............if you have not already booked somewhere the Londra Palace is worth a look.

[Love Sea Days]

Thanks one and all for the wonderful suggestions….!

[auldlassie]

Fletcher, surely your comment re views from rooms applies to almost every hotel anywhere? 

 

And no, I've never had a room and service there like any Sheraton I have stayed in.  Nor any Marriott (its current owner). Not even remotely. It feels entirely unique. We have had such wonderful service there, especially when once we needed help with tracing missing luggage and arranging clothing for a special event in a rush, even tailoring it to fit there and then, and finding a doctor for me when I once fell rather ill.  Long stories, but they were skilful, speedy and organised all we required. That made difficult situations much less of a problem for us, which was at the time, beyond mere financial cost. 

 

Speaking of the cost, obviously that is relative to anyone's personal budget. If anyone here doesn't think they'd want to spend that much, then don't. It's that simple. The Gritti has a variety of movie star signed photos in the interior and I can relate to the one from Rupert Everett on which he wrote something along the lines of "the cost is not what you might call value for money,  but it is worth every penny!" That's how it feels to me.  Yes it is expensive, but I have never felt at the end of my stay that I have overpaid.  In fact, I just always want to stay longer. 

 

Every time I am going to stay there I look forward to it greatly and it has never let me down. That is my absolutely honest experience over 30 odd years. It has always been lovely and often even better than that. Truly one of my most favourite places - on land - to be!

 

Here's a light-hearted word or two about the Gritti and Venice from Mr Everett himself a few years back - 

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/29/keiran-onightley-off-season-queen-story-by-rupert-everett 

Edited February 7, 2022 by auldlassie
correcting a quotation

[cruiseej]

@auldlassie I'm the one who brought up the high price of Gritti Palace, at least in peak season, so I want to first clarify that I wasn't suggesting it isn't worth the cost, only that at $1,500+ per night, it's above the level I pay for a hotel. Your response illustrates very well some of the intangible values and services which one may receive when staying at such an expensive hotel.

 

There are people on this forum who have the means to do multiple world cruises. I doubt we'll ever do a single one, but if cost were no issue, perhaps we would! To those for whom the price of a world cruise or a $1,500/night hotel is not an issue, I say, well, why wouldn't you? 🙂

[legal holiday]

Does anybody know where the Seabourn Quest will dock in the Venice area for the June 4, 2022 cruise out of Venice.  Apparently, cruise ships are no longer docking directly in Venice because of municipal prohibition.

[jenidallas]

We stayed at the Gritti Palace for three nights in 2018 prior to embarking on the Ovation.

 

Pros… access was easy coming in at night from the airport on a water taxi and then leaving again for the port on a water taxi.  We were also in Venice during the record flooding that October and the hotel was well-prepared for the floods.  They took good care of us at the start of our 35 day wedding/honeymoon trip, of which 70% of the time was on Seabourn, the remainder air/land.  

 

Cons… many of the rooms at that property are small.  You are paying for location location location, which was really a con during the flooding as it was difficult to get anywhere on foot from that area.  Depending on the time of year, that entire part of Venice is overrun by tourists and you can have a much more luxurious stay at one of the properties that is further away from St Marks or the Grand Canal if you don’t need to be right there.

 

 

[curmudgeon98]

8 hours ago, legal holiday said:

Does anybody know where the Seabourn Quest will dock in the Venice area for the June 4, 2022 cruise out of Venice.  Apparently, cruise ships are no longer docking directly in Venice because of municipal prohibition.

That is an excellent question.  I've been curious whether some of the smaller ships like Seabourn or Azamara might get a dispensation to fit into the old Venice port, but it's pretty doubtful.  For cruises that haven't announced a shift to one of the other ports (like Ravenna or Trieste), I think Marghera on the mainland will be it.  Smaller ships can use the Fusina "Ro-Ro" dock (the dock for the RollOn-RollOff truck ferries), larger ships may be stuck with the container dock further into Marghera.  That seemed to be the case last fall. While there may have been some progress since then, there are not many options.  I expect check-in will be at the old docks on the edge of Venice proper, because that's the only area with facilities for handling passenger and baggage check-in.