Venice Questions

[ajtraveler66]

Our tour with NCL Star (April) will start in Venice.  We've already started working with a travel agent, and knowing us, we will want to arrive in Venice the day before the cruise embarks.  

 

We definitely would like to experience a gondola ride  (It doesn't appear to be an excursion offered by the ship).  And any suggestions for a hotel?  What about a great mid-priced meal that night as well.

 

We--a group of four senior citizens--thank you in advance for your help.

[euro cruiser]

Where does your cruise depart from?  Does it use the port in Venice or some other location?

 

For only one night, you might look at hotels close to Piazzale Roma.  That makes getting to the cruise port or to transportation to your port easier, less hauling around of luggage.

 

As for the gondola, there are fixed rates.  You can find them throughout Venice, simply walk up.  If you'd prefer a quieter ride, away from the Grand Canal, choose a starting point further away.

 

Up to six people can share one gondola.  The fare is 80 euro for a forty minute daytime ride.  At night (from 7 PM to 8 AM) the fare is 100 euro for 40 minutes.

 

Gondola info here:  The Gondola, its history and useness (gondolavenezia.it)

 

The city's web site lists the ten main gondola stations along with contact information for each under the heading ELENCO DEGLI STAZI:  Tariffe, orari e stazi Servizio Gondola | Comune di Venezia.

Edited August 10, 2022 by euro cruiser

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, ajtraveler66 said:

Our tour with NCL Star (April) will start in Venice.  We've already started working with a travel agent, and knowing us, we will want to arrive in Venice the day before the cruise embarks.  

 

We definitely would like to experience a gondola ride  (It doesn't appear to be an excursion offered by the ship).  And any suggestions for a hotel?  What about a great mid-priced meal that night as well.

 

We--a group of four senior citizens--thank you in advance for your help.

 

No ships as large as NCL are sailing from Venice any longer. You might want to check with NCL and find out whether they are planning to use Ravenna, Trieste, or the closer (but very industrial) Marghera port.

 

For now, many cruise lines are providing shuttles (for a price) from Venice to these secondary ports. But it may influence where you decide to fly into Italy and/or how long you want to spend in Venice.

[euro cruiser]

NCL Star is using Trieste as its port for Venice:  Cruises to Mediterranean on Norwegian Star (ncl.com)

 

The closest major airport is Venice, so you'll need to figure out transport from Venice to Trieste on departure day.  There are train and bus connections, as well as car services.

[marazul]

Your plan only gives you a jetlagged afternoon in Venice followed by a transfer to Trieste the next morning.   

 

If you want to have a meaningful, if short, visit to Venice, plan to fly in two days before the cruise for two nights in Venice. That would give you the afternoon of the fly-in day and a full day the next day.  You will have to leave early on the day of embarkation for your transfer to Trieste. 

 

Venice is the highlight of any cruise and you should not shortchange it if possible. Ideally, three nights there would be best, but two will give you a good taste of the city.

Edited August 11, 2022 by marazul

[ajtraveler66]

We will be on the NCL Star in April.  The cruise starts in Trieste and then we go to Venice the next day.  (Not sure what port that will be as I understand cruise ships are discouraged to port at Venice...as the title suggests....I am confused).

 

Our schedule does not permit us to come in a day early, so we are at the mercy of the cruise ship itinerary (not complaining...it is what it is).

 

Will we be close to St. Mark's Basilica?  I don't see any excursions available for going there.  Furthermore, we will be there on a Sunday and even though we are Christians we are not Catholic, and it would be great if we could attend a mass there that day.

 

Any suggestions on any of this would be appreciated.  

Edited August 21, 2022 by ajtraveler66

[VMax1700]

Interesting!

I looked at the itinerary and it does mention both Trieste and Venice, however Venice is listed as a tender port.

Maybe they are going to anchor somewhere close to Venice and tender people in and out.  I have not heard of this before, but suppose it is possible as the ban on shipping in Venice only relates to specific areas.

[carlmm]

Indeed interesting. 

I have never heard about tendering in Venice. Would be very interesting if somebody knew where in Venice the tender pier is. Then we could give you further advice.

 

Yet, anyway, where ever you will set foot on Venice soil, it is relatively easy to go to St. Marks as there are many sign pointing the direction to St. Marks square. Still you might like to get a map, eg. to check if it be easier to use a vaporetto = water bus.

 

The attendance of a mass is free for everybody. Sundays it is 8.30, 10.00 and 12.00. Use must use the Porta dei Fiori on the north side, i.e. left when you look at the facade. 

[MeHeartCruising]

Tendering into Venice is a controversial move that NCL is trying out with the blessing of Venice port officials, but not the blessing of local politicians.  Details can be found in the article linked below.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-ship-tenders-guests-into-venice-to-dodge-ban/77385

 

According to the article, the tenders are dropping passengers off right at St. Marks Square.

 

Here is the Basilica's website with visit (and worship details)

http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/informazioni-per-i-turisti/orari-di-apertura/?lang=en

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[cruisemom42]

6 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Tendering into Venice is a controversial move that NCL is trying out with the blessing of Venice port officials, but not the blessing of local politicians.  Details can be found in the article linked below.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-ship-tenders-guests-into-venice-to-dodge-ban/77385

 

According to the article, the tenders are dropping passengers off right at St. Marks Square.

 

 

 

Very interesting article, thanks for posting it. I was scratching my head trying to figure this one out.  I wonder if this experiment will be successful?

 

(Although I did have to laugh at one sentence in the article: "In August 2021, Italy banned ships over 25,000 gross tons from using the large Giudecca Canal to enter Venice, which cut off cruise ships from docking at St. Mark’s Square."  Hmmm, I don't think cruise ships have ever docked at St. Mark's Square!)

[MeHeartCruising]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Very interesting article, thanks for posting it. I was scratching my head trying to figure this one out.  I wonder if this experiment will be successful?

 

(Although I did have to laugh at one sentence in the article: "In August 2021, Italy banned ships over 25,000 gross tons from using the large Giudecca Canal to enter Venice, which cut off cruise ships from docking at St. Mark’s Square."  Hmmm, I don't think cruise ships have ever docked at St. Mark's Square!)

 

Haha.  I didn't even read the article that far.  Can you imagine ships parking and unloading right at the Square.  My goodness what a mess that would be.  And how much it would destroy the views at that location.  Lordy.

[carlmm]

4 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Tendering into Venice is a controversial move that NCL is trying out with the blessing of Venice port officials, but not the blessing of local politicians.  Details can be found in the article linked below.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-ship-tenders-guests-into-venice-to-dodge-ban/77385

 

According to the article, the tenders are dropping passengers off right at St. Marks Square.

 

Here is the Basilica's website with visit (and worship details)

http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/informazioni-per-i-turisti/orari-di-apertura/?lang=en

 

Thank you for this information.

 

Might be an option that in some regards (direct access to the heart of the city) is even preferably to docking at the former cruise terminal.

[Hlitner]

Very interesting article.  So NCL did it with one of their smallest ships which only had about 1500 passengers at the time.  Depending on where they anchored it could have been a very long tender ride.  But that sure does open up possibilities for the smaller luxury vessels.  I find it curious that this was opposed by the local tourist folks.  The main objection to cruise ships was the risk they posed when moving up the Giudecca Canal and the "overpressure" impact along the shoreline from a large vessel.  But tenders should not be an issue.   

 

Hank

[MeHeartCruising]

Here are a few more articles that I found on the topic.  None of them seem to be updated to include anything more than the testing of the program using the NCL Gem earlier in the year, but it would seem they were granted additional approvals for upcoming cruises given the OP's cruise.  Or NCL is being optimistic at this time.  The articles indicate the ship docks off the cost of Lido.  Not the shortest of tender rides.

 

https://maritime-executive.com/article/venice-tests-tendering-cruise-passengers-to-permit-large-ships-in-port

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/news/10665-ncl-norwegian-gem-passengers-ferried-into-venice

 

https://www.corfubarbati.com/2022/07/26/venice-tests-cruise-passenger-tender-to-allow-large-ships-into-port/

Edited August 21, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[steamboats]

Just to mention... The Gem did not use the ship´s tender boats. The boats getting the passengers ashore were local boats (larger than the regular tender boats).

 

steamboats

[ajtraveler66]

10 hours ago, steamboats said:

Just to mention... The Gem did not use the ship´s tender boats. The boats getting the passengers ashore were local boats (larger than the regular tender boats).

 

steamboats

Curious ... should you see this.  Did NCL Gem offer shore excursions that included St. Mark's Basilica and possibly a gondola ride to go with it?  I'm thinking that maybe a ship excursion would be adviseable in a tender situation.  (We'll be on NCL Star).

[MeHeartCruising]

1 hour ago, ajtraveler66 said:

Curious ... should you see this.  Did NCL Gem offer shore excursions that included St. Mark's Basilica and possibly a gondola ride to go with it?  I'm thinking that maybe a ship excursion would be adviseable in a tender situation.  (We'll be on NCL Star).

 

I'm not the one you asked, but I would think that using tender boats in this manner in Venice would be one reason you should feel totally free to not do a ship excursion unless you might want to visit one of the other islands in the area.  

 

Once the tender drops you off most of what you want to do in Venice is accomplished by walking to it.  There may be a few places you want to go where it might be quicker (or required) to hop on their boat "bus" network (called vaporettas), but there is so much to see without doing that.  Assuming the tenders drop you off at St. Marks Square as the articles seem to say, you could visit the Basilica, Doge's Palace, the Square with only a few feet of walking.  You can visit Rialto bridge by walking a short distance (5-10 minutes or so).  You will immediately see gondolas for hire in the area.

 

As long as you know when the last tender is and you keep track of where you are and know how long it will take you to walk back to the tender, I see no need for a ship excursion here.

 

If you want to visit Murano or Burano islands, then perhaps an excursion makes sense.  But even these can be reached via the vaporetta network.

Edited August 22, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[steamboats]

14 hours ago, ajtraveler66 said:

Curious ... should you see this.  Did NCL Gem offer shore excursions that included St. Mark's Basilica and possibly a gondola ride to go with it?  I'm thinking that maybe a ship excursion would be adviseable in a tender situation.  (We'll be on NCL Star).

 

I haven´t been onboard. I only heard that they got three local boats but wanted four. So they were short of one boat. But the tenders drop you off in downtown to explore it on your own or you book a tour - as in all other tender ports. It´s up to you! Usually they operate one tender for booked shore tours. And during peak hours (especially in the morning) you do need a free tender ticket if you just want to go ashore. 

 

steamboats

[lisiamc]

I haven’t seen gondola rides mentioned lately - it used to be a very popular topic. It is a much better idea to do this independently than as part of a tour. You will see lots of gondolas, and the price is fixed, with possibly a small variation if you want the gondolier to sing (although I’d personally pay extra for a quiet one!) There are a few different routes, as well.
 

If you do it as part of a tour, you will most likely be joining others on the tour in the gondola and paying a premium for it, although that might have changed in light of Covid. If you arrange your own, their will only be the people in your own party. I think six is the maximum.

[cruisemom42]

21 hours ago, ajtraveler66 said:

Curious ... should you see this.  Did NCL Gem offer shore excursions that included St. Mark's Basilica and possibly a gondola ride to go with it?  I'm thinking that maybe a ship excursion would be adviseable in a tender situation.  (We'll be on NCL Star).

 

I would suggest that there's no real reason to do a shore excursion. 

 

The entrance to St. Mark's will be a matter of a block or two walk from where you are dropped off (if dropped off at St. Mark's). In my experience, guides are not allowed to stop and lecture in the basilica anyway, at least not when it is crowded. Don't overlook going upstairs (steep steps to your right when in the narthex) to see the museum, get close to the mosaics and be able to go out on the upper terrace where the bronze horses stand -- it's an excellent view without having to do the campanile (bell tower). 

 

You'll also always find a number of gondolas tied up near St. Marks. Look at the photo below. All of those small dark boats in the water near the "Gondola Service Station" are gondolas. You may want to talk to several before deciding. Ask them to take you through some of the smaller canals. The Grand Canal is scenic but also very busy with other (larger) boat traffic.

 

 

[Vineyard View]

Will be interesting to see how this develops. We are sailing on a much smaller ship next year than this out of Venice. It would sure be a lot more convenient - and if this can also prevent the concerns environmentally it would be a big win. That said, I am sure that the available ‘space’ for ships to do this  would limit the numbers. Thank you for the information.