Disembarkation in Venice (Chioggia)

[OnTheWater50]

We have been informed our cruise ending in Venice will disembark at Chioggia in November of this year. We are staying independently in Venice for 2 more nights. What time can we expect to have to disembark? I would like to walk around Chioggia in the morning before our transfer to Venice if possible (without luggage!).

Any recommendations for private transfer for 4 people from Chioggia to Venice? It's hard to find much information as this cruise terminal is pretty new for Viking...

[Vineyard View]

I have been curious about this new port for Venice. I did a little research. Apparently there are regular vaporetto and bus schedules. Might be an option? 

[OnTheWater50]

Yes, I have looked into those also but it would take about 2 hours, with luggage. No fun.

[hbtraveler]

3 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

I have been curious about this new port for Venice. I did a little research. Apparently there are regular vaporetto and bus schedules. Might be an option? 

We looked into this back in June trying to get to Chioggia from Venice.  It involves a vaporetto from Venice to the Lido barrier islands, then a bus down the Lido (including a ferry crossing), and then a separate ferry for the last bit into Chioggia.  With luggage, it would have been too much.  We ended up with a private driver that the hotel arranged for 200 euros for the 2 of us.  A lot easier, if expensive.

[Jim Avery]

Face it, Venice doesn’t want us. See Venice on a separate trip, not fra cruise ship 

[Mr Luxury]

Embarking or disembarking in Venice is now a pain.

The only way is to have a private transfer to avoid aggravation.

[longterm]

6 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Face it, Venice doesn’t want us. See Venice on a separate trip, not fra cruise ship 

I totally agree; we're planning a train trip through Switzerland and Italy and will return to Venice that way.

 

Unfortunately, they're managing to make cruise ship visits so difficult that it's going to end up ruining their tourist business there (perhaps that's their end game).

We were on the Italy, Adriatic & Greece cruise in March; we were apparently one of the first cruise ships back to Venice after the pandemic. We docked at Fusina, then the ship moved to Marghera the 2nd day, then back to Fusina again. The bus jaunts back and forth from the ship weren't bad, but I wish we had gotten to get there on a cruise when docking in the lagoon was still an option.

Had they allowed vaporettos or private taxis from Fusina to St. Mark's Square, the experience would have been better--but that's not an option. Docking in a chemical plant wasn't what we expected either; on our beds that morning we found a sheet of paper telling us what to do if we heard an alarm warning us of a problem in the chemical plant. Didn't warm the cockles of my heart. 

Having said all that though, it was great seeing Venice, and we look forward to returning--by land.

 

[Haqdeluxe]

30 minutes ago, longterm said:

Unfortunately, they're managing to make cruise ship visits so difficult that it's going to end up ruining their tourist business there (perhaps that's their end game).

This is exactly their end game and the local government has not been shy to say so!  Not only do they want to curtail daytripping by cruise ship they want to curtail it entirely. Talks of a required pass with a 24hr if not a longer minimum stay.

[Travel R]

3 hours ago, Haqdeluxe said:

This is exactly their end game and the local government has not been shy to say so!  Not only do they want to curtail daytripping by cruise ship they want to curtail it entirely. Talks of a required pass with a 24hr if not a longer minimum stay.

Also note that in 2023 Venice will be imposing a tourist tax for visitors of 5 Euros/day (about $5 US). This fee will will keep down the number of tourists, create less of an environmental/ecological impact on the area, and the city is not going to lose revenue (although one could argue that only municipality will be generating the $, but not the local businesses) --- but as mentioned, it makes this location a little more difficult to visit via cruise. On the other had, there are plenty of other ports that are an hour or so away.

 

Also note, in the mainstream cruising world, the cruise dock is in Ravenna, more than a two hour trek from the city. At least I know that is where RCI is docking. NCL has a few options ranging from 40 minutes to ports in Trieste (almost 2 hours) and Ravenna as well. Not sure of the others.

[Cienfuegos]

Venice seems resigned to the idea that it is more of a DisneyWorld than a living, vibrant city.  The population has dropped for decades. Workers commute into the islands every morning, and go home at night.

 

If they really want it that way, handing out resident passes to the residents and charging admission to the rest seems to be consistent with their plan.

[OneSixtyToOne]

3 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

Venice seems resigned to the idea that it is more of a DisneyWorld than a living, vibrant city.  The population has dropped for decades. Workers commute into the islands every morning, and go home at night.

 

If they really want it that way, handing out resident passes to the residents and charging admission to the rest seems to be consistent with their plan.

For what it’s worth, we traveled independently to Venice in 2016. We took a tour given by a local that was born there, received a English Literature degree at the University of California , and had now returned home. She referred to Venice as a medieval Disneyland and was upset about the damage caused by the cruise ships. 

[Fieldofdreams]

On 9/15/2022 at 8:45 AM, Haqdeluxe said:

This is exactly their end game and the local government has not been shy to say so!  Not only do they want to curtail daytripping by cruise ship they want to curtail it entirely. Talks of a required pass with a 24hr if not a longer minimum stay.

Hello Haqdeluxe,  Also, here from Northern Virginia. We will be in Venice for two nights with Viking docking at Maghera, so what is easiest way to get to travel to St. Mark's Square? Thanks in advance.

[Doortravel]

We used the bus method to get from Lido to Chioggia. 1.25 Hours,

2 suitcases and 3 carryons. leisurely walk to ship from port to 

Embark. We'd already had the 3 day passes for transit so no 

extra cost. After the first ferry ride bus became a local so many

more stops than we expected. Chioggia would have been a good town to explore but we got forced out due to the storm Sept 16th.

 

 

[OneSixtyToOne]

Just to follow up on the "ships in the Venetian lagoon" topic, last week's episode of NOVA on PBS was about flooding in Venice. One part demonstrated how ship traffic is destroying the shoreline of the lagoon. Please watch it if you can.

Edited October 5, 2022 by OneSixtyToOne

[longterm]

19 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Just to follow up on the "ships in the Venetian lagoon" topic, last week's episode of NOVA on PBS was about flooding in Venice. One part demonstrated how ship traffic is destroying the shoreline of the lagoon. Please watch it if you can.

It's available on YouTube; search for "Nova" and you'll see "Saving Venice." Definitely worth watching.

[shmabbies]

Longterm,  Do you remember when you had to be off the ship on that particular itinerary?  Our itinerary says ship arrival at 7am, but we were instructed not to book flights before 1pm (which pretty much eliminated all the good flights, but we did it).  Do you recall by any chance the latest you could stay on the ship?   Thanks for any information!

[longterm]

7 minutes ago, shmabbies said:

Longterm,  Do you remember when you had to be off the ship on that particular itinerary?  Our itinerary says ship arrival at 7am, but we were instructed not to book flights before 1pm (which pretty much eliminated all the good flights, but we did it).  Do you recall by any chance the latest you could stay on the ship?   Thanks for any information!

We didn't disembark in Vienna; we went on to Athens, where we did the post extension.

[shmabbies]

Longterm, Yes, I don't think my question was clear that I was asking about disembarkation in Athens and I apologize for that.   I certainly wasn't asking about disembarkation in Vienna on VO though - I think you meant Venice - meaning we are both drinking the same kool aid today haha.

[longterm]

20 minutes ago, shmabbies said:

Longterm, Yes, I don't think my question was clear that I was asking about disembarkation in Athens and I apologize for that.   I certainly wasn't asking about disembarkation in Vienna on VO though - I think you meant Venice - meaning we are both drinking the same kool aid today haha.

Ah... 🙂

I think we left the ship around 8 or 8:30 am, went straight from there to the Acropolis, then to the nearby museum. Our luggage was waiting for us at the hotel, IIRC.

 

[Fieldofdreams]

4 hours ago, longterm said:

Ah... 🙂

I think we left the ship around 8 or 8:30 am, went straight from there to the Acropolis, then to the nearby museum. Our luggage was waiting for us at the hotel, IIRC.

 

Longterm - From what I read from your posts about post cruise extension Athens you generally thought it was a reasonably good post trip, correct? Don't recall what your suggestions are for the free time in between? Thank you

[shmabbies]

Longterm, Thank you so much for that information.  Amazing how helpful some of these tiny details are!

[longterm]

14 hours ago, Fieldofdreams said:

Longterm - From what I read from your posts about post cruise extension Athens you generally thought it was a reasonably good post trip, correct? Don't recall what your suggestions are for the free time in between? Thank you

Yes, we thought it was definitely worth it; the 3 excursions were all excellent--particularly Delphi, which I loved. The Acropolis and Parthenon were of course a must-see, and the museum there is perhaps the finest I've ever visited.

 

Mycenae is also a great place to see, and on that day we also crossed the Corinth canal.

 

We had previously booked a local tour guide for 2 days; since we were already seeing most of what she usually showed, she had to be creative to come up with other places to visit. She took us out to the temple of Poseidon at Sounion, which was well worth the drive; on the way back we had a nice dinner at a Greek restaurant. 

 

We also visited the Plaka area, wandered through a lot of shops there; the highlight was the meat and fish market, which was fascinating.

 

We didn't get to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, but others raved about it.

[Fieldofdreams]

2 hours ago, longterm said:

Yes, we thought it was definitely worth it; the 3 excursions were all excellent--particularly Delphi, which I loved. The Acropolis and Parthenon were of course a must-see, and the museum there is perhaps the finest I've ever visited.

 

Mycenae is also a great place to see, and on that day we also crossed the Corinth canal.

 

We had previously booked a local tour guide for 2 days; since we were already seeing most of what she usually showed, she had to be creative to come up with other places to visit. She took us out to the temple of Poseidon at Sounion, which was well worth the drive; on the way back we had a nice dinner at a Greek restaurant. 

 

We also visited the Plaka area, wandered through a lot of shops there; the highlight was the meat and fish market, which was fascinating.

 

We didn't get to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, but others raved about it.

Longterm- Once again thanks for sharing.your insight, very helpful.

[SueandJay]

We will be embarking at Chioggia on Viking in June, but are planning to spend about five days in the city of Venice before. Our concern will be getting from the city out to the cruise port in Chioggia. Our current plan is to take the vaporetto to Piazzale Roma, and then take a taxi or Uber from there to Chioggia to the cruise port. Any thoughts on that plan?

[SJD117]

4 minutes ago, SueandJay said:

We will be embarking at Chioggia on Viking in June, but are planning to spend about five days in the city of Venice before. Our concern will be getting from the city out to the cruise port in Chioggia. Our current plan is to take the vaporetto to Piazzale Roma, and then take a taxi or Uber from there to Chioggia to the cruise port. Any thoughts on that plan?

That’s what we’re doing next month, on Easter Sunday to be precise. Vaporetto to P. Roma, then land taxi to Chioggia port. There are cheaper ways to get to Chioggia, e.g., the No. 80 bus also from P. Roma, but we decided to spring for a taxi to ease the transfer to the ship. We booked the taxi through our B&B — let me know if you’d like the company name.