Royal Caribbean transfer from Ravenna to Venice

[Mick B]

Hi, Not too sure if you can get off with your luggage at the port before. You would certainly need to have made sure any credit owed on your sea pass is paid at guest relations first.

Moreover, why should you lose out on part of your holiday because of a simple error of depending/believing in RCI shuttle/transfers.

I have met loads of people who have booked these and then been let down at the last minute as they have been cancelled at short notice.

 

As for flights, well let me tell you also, this is the first fly/cruise with RCI where I have had to book my own flights.

Firstly, my TA and RCI did have flights but they were at silly o'clock and would have meant not being able to visit anywhere before the cruise.

Secondly, we would find out own flights which suited us and then get our TA to contact RCI and add them on as a package for around £20

Thirdly, I found some better flights but my TA/RCI wanted £200 more to add them on with RCI than what the airline was charging for them (A big jump from £20 to $200 for that service).

Fourthly, I found some even better priced flights than before but my TA could not find them on their system (even though they were on BA's website on my phone in their shop for them to see), so these could not be added on with RCI either. These flights are the ones I have gone with and which now best suit us under these conditions. I doubt I will be travelling out of Ravenna again anytime soon unless RCI gets its act together here and starts treating its customers like they were customers and not cattle.

 

Back to your issue, I would speak to guest relations on board asap and point out your needs to get off as soon as possible and arrange your taxi for say 7am from the port. You should make VCE by 9am and I doubt the airport will be funny if you should have been there at 0830. IIRC, as long as you have checked in and dropped your luggage off and got through passport control and are at the gate in time, you should be OK.

 

None of this helps the fact that a holiday should be a time to relax and enjoy yourself and your surroundings and not be on edge worrying if things will go pear shaped at the end. Again, talk to guest relations upon boarding, get it sorted and then relax and enjoy!

 

BTW Did you say you were on the Symphony? I thought only the Explorer and Enchantment called at Ravenna. 

 

Mick.

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Mick B

[MeHeartCruising]

5 hours ago, Mick B said:

BTW Did you say you were on the Symphony? I thought only the Explorer and Enchantment called at Ravenna. 

 

I was thrown off by the mention of the Symphony as well.  On May 14th, the Symphony is starting a cruise in Barcelona, so I think that poster must have mistyped.  Boy, I'd hate to think how confusing/awful shuttles would be if a ship the size of the Symphony was in the mix. 

Edited April 5, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[cuterlmt]

Yes, Explorer. Sorry about the error. Thank you for the advice. I haven't quite decided what to do, but am leaning towards buying a flight out the next day (hopefully trading what I have without too much of a loss) and staying in a hotel the night before we fly. I'm not concerned about paying off my bill or anything. I am a bit concerned about having to tote our luggage ourselves.

[Mick B]

Hi,

One thing I would recommend, if you can delay your flight, is to delay it by 2 days if you can.

If you have not been to Venice before, then 1 day will not be enough to see everything and do everything and you will end up having to leave the city before you have enjoyed it to go to the airport for your flights.

My suggestion, and I have done this several times, is to stay in a hotel in Mestre, near the train station. The reason is the airport shuttle buses leave from outside here, so on the day you fly you could go onto the island of Venice by Bus/train/tram and still spend most of that 2nd day there too.

 

BTW your tickets for transport around Venice are normally for 24hr 3 day or 7 day, so if you time it right, you can validate a 1 day pass on the first day in the early afternoon and still be able to use it for most of the 2nd day too. It all saves money!

 

So you could in effect get that no.90 bus or a taxi from the port to Ravenna FS, Get a train to Bologna, Change for another train to Venice and get off at Mestre. You would arrive there by say midday and if you cannot check in till later, they will store your luggage so you can get out and start enjoying the city.

 

BTW there are loads of nice restaurants on the island near the Rialto bridge, but there is also one in Mestre called the Dante on the Via Dante near Mestre Train station. We used to go to it every year and its great value and is normally quite full of regular local Italians and not tourists! And good priced for what you get! We had many drunken nights in there years ago and Filippo the owner is one of the nicest persons I have met in Venice.

 

Hope this helps.

Mick.

 

PS. God I miss the fun of Venice, such a beautiful city!

Edited April 6, 2023 by Mick B
spelling

[mapleleaves]

15 hours ago, cuterlmt said:

Yes, Explorer. Sorry about the error. Thank you for the advice. I haven't quite decided what to do, but am leaning towards buying a flight out the next day (hopefully trading what I have without too much of a loss) and staying in a hotel the night before we fly. I'm not concerned about paying off my bill or anything. I am a bit concerned about having to tote our luggage ourselves.

You may find that the increased airfare for changing your flight costs more than the private driver. Have you checked your Roll Call or FB to see if anyone is interested in sharing the drive to the airport?  They might not have an early flight but would prefer a driver over wrestling with luggage on a train or bus.

 

[little britain]

@cuterlmt - we have a shared shuttle between 6 of us. Works out at €445 if you could find others on the RC to share? 

 

Vqtravels.com

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by little britain

[cuterlmt]

Is it 445 per person or for the group? What time will it leave the port? And get to the airport? Thanks. 

[redsoxfan1210]

I am taking a cruise that embarks in Athens and disembarks in Ravenna. I spoke to the Air2Sea department and was able to get a transfer from Ravenna to Venice "City Center" for $58 USD per person. Couldn't really find any other good options so hoping this one works out.

[Jimani7]

Just joined this forum.  I don't understand.  Why would Royal Caribbean do transfers to Venice when Bologna is a much closer airport?  I expected to see transfers become available as we get closer to our July 16, 2023 sailing.  However, I expected Bologna, not Venice.

[euro cruiser]

Because they sell these cruises as departing from Venice.

[Jimani7]

Yes, I don't understand that.  It's like saying a cruise from Philadelphia is a cruise from New York, except the time to travel between is even more with Venice to Ravenna.  Nonetheless, I would think most people, when they find the cruise is out of Ravenna, would fly into Bologna.

Unfortunately, all of it is a bad reflection on Royal Caribbean, which I have held in fairly high regard until now.

[F19810]

9 hours ago, Jimani7 said:

Just joined this forum.  I don't understand.  Why would Royal Caribbean do transfers to Venice when Bologna is a much closer airport?  I expected to see transfers become available as we get closer to our July 16, 2023 sailing.  However, I expected Bologna, not Venice.

If you want to book transfers before your cruise, you have to call NCL.  One reason why they may have transfers to Venice is because more flights go to Venice.  If you haven't been to Venice before, I suggest spending some time there, it is one of my favorite cities.

[euro cruiser]

Yes, more flights (and even some direct ones) go into/out of Venice but also if people are booking these cruises hoping to see Venice, they have to add time on either before or after the cruise, so that's going to be their starting point for the cruise.  It's not reasonable to see Venice from Ravenna and back in the same day.

[cruisemom42]

8 hours ago, Jimani7 said:

Yes, I don't understand that.  It's like saying a cruise from Philadelphia is a cruise from New York, except the time to travel between is even more with Venice to Ravenna.  Nonetheless, I would think most people, when they find the cruise is out of Ravenna, would fly into Bologna.

Unfortunately, all of it is a bad reflection on Royal Caribbean, which I have held in fairly high regard until now.

 

Every cruise line is doing the same. 

 

It has to do with the situation in Venice -- ships used to dock there via a sail through the heart of Venice (via the Giudecca canal) and into a nice port facility. 

 

However, for a number of reasons -- including concerns about the damage these ships were causing to the old foundations of Venice's buildings, the potential ill effects if one of these ships were to meet with a navigational accident and cause physical damage to the old buildings, and concerns over the effects of pollution in the ecosystem of the lagoon in which Venice sits -- ships are no longer allowed to make that transit into and through Venice. Remember: Venice in its entirety is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

This decision was made just as the restart from Covid was happening, and ships had to scramble to find places to dock nearby as itineraries were already set for the season (not to mention the season to come). Some smaller ships were able to gain permission to dock nearer to Venice in industrial ports such as Chioggia, Marghera or Fusina. Others had to find berths in ports that were 2-3 hours away (Trieste, Ravenna).  To avoid disappointing passengers who'd booked to see Venice, they still try to include that city in some way or another -- although it's pretty hard on a day visit due to the distance.

 

[xav14]

 

On 4/4/2023 at 8:09 AM, cuterlmt said:

thank you - one of my mistakes was relying on a schedule which showed RCI having a shuttle that would get me to the airport in time for a flight leaving by 11am. AFTER I booked the flight, I contacted RCI and got the run around, but finally after the 4th call they admitted they do not have a shuttle that early now. I got a good deal on the flight. At least I thought so. 

As far as the flight, it goes from VCE to Atlanta, which was part of the great thing about the flight - one stop, and then home. 

I will say that on our last cruise through NCL, I let them do the air, and it was so much less stressful, just letting them take care of all of it. I didn't spend hours trying to figure it out.

Thank you again.

 

I hope you were able to figure this out. I would love to learn what you think is the best option. We will be in the Explorer of the seas from June 4 - 11th.

 

The problem is how to get from Porto Corsini in Ravenna to Marco Polo Airport on time for that 11:35am flight back to ATL. We are a party of 4 so, I am thinking on splitting the cost of a private transport. Any suggestions? RC only let’s us book their transport option if our flight departs after 12:15pm.
 

We are all traveling light with 1 backpack and 1 carry-on. Would that help to get us out the ship first thing in the morning?

 

We already booked the bus with RC from Tronchetto to Ravenna’s Porto Corsini departing at 9am.

 

thanks!

 
 

[mapleleaves]

2 hours ago, xav14 said:

 

I hope you were able to figure this out. I would love to learn what you think is the best option. We will be in the Explorer of the seas from June 4 - 11th.

 

The problem is how to get from Porto Corsini in Ravenna to Marco Polo Airport on time for that 11:35am flight back to ATL. We are a party of 4 so, I am thinking on splitting the cost of a private transport. Any suggestions? RC only let’s us book their transport option if our flight departs after 12:15pm.
 

We are all traveling light with 1 backpack and 1 carry-on. Would that help to get us out the ship first thing in the morning? 

 
 

With a flight at 11:35am your only option is a private transfer, OR, you could bluff your way onto the first airport shuttle by telling RCI you're on Flight ?? to PHL at 12:15pm. ( but find a real flight#)   My guess is that those shuttles will leave at 7am with the intent of arriving to the airport by 9:30am. 

 

NOTE: When you arrive at VCE prior to your cruise, take the time to check out the airport.  When I was there in Oct I noticed overhead signage directing pax with nonstop flights to USA to a location on the ground floor. I was going to London and no bags to check so I went to Security which is on the floor above. So get that sorted out ahead of time .... you don't want to be waiting in the wrong line!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[euro cruiser]

3 hours ago, xav14 said:

The problem is how to get from Porto Corsini in Ravenna to Marco Polo Airport on time for that 11:35am flight back to ATL.

 

Check to be sure RCI will let you off the ship in time.  Even with a private transfer you'd need to be on the road leaving Ravenna no later than 6:30 (and that's cutting it too close for my comfort, but maybe not for youers), before you book the flight check to see that they'll let you off that early.

[MeHeartCruising]

13 hours ago, xav14 said:

 

I hope you were able to figure this out. I would love to learn what you think is the best option. We will be in the Explorer of the seas from June 4 - 11th.

 

The problem is how to get from Porto Corsini in Ravenna to Marco Polo Airport on time for that 11:35am flight back to ATL. We are a party of 4 so, I am thinking on splitting the cost of a private transport. Any suggestions? RC only let’s us book their transport option if our flight departs after 12:15pm.
 

We are all traveling light with 1 backpack and 1 carry-on. Would that help to get us out the ship first thing in the morning?

 

We already booked the bus with RC from Tronchetto to Ravenna’s Porto Corsini departing at 9am.

 

thanks!

 
 

I Am currently on the Explorer doing a B2B.  The attached file show the transfer timing from our turnaround day in Ravenna yesterday, May 14.  I would expect similar with future sailings.  I agree with the previous poster who suggested you research a flight that departs Venice at 12:20 pm and gather all the facts about it.  Then tell Royal Caribbean that is your flight.  They will link that info on your account, but I’m pretty certain they do not validate this with the airline.  As you can see, the will be starting very early for Venice departures.  They warn, however, that it can take 3 hours for the trip.  So even the 6:30 group might not get there much before 10am.  I doubt that bus will leave at 6:30.  That’s when people would start off the ship, get their luggage, find the bus, get loaded on the bus, and wait for everyone else to do the same.  I would expect a 7am bus depart, at best. 

[xav14]

11 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

I Am currently on the Explorer doing a B2B.  The attached file show the transfer timing from our turnaround day in Ravenna yesterday, May 14.  I would expect similar with future sailings.  I agree with the previous poster who suggested you research a flight that departs Venice at 12:20 pm and gather all the facts about it.  Then tell Royal Caribbean that is your flight.  They will link that info on your account, but I’m pretty certain they do not validate this with the airline.  As you can see, the will be starting very early for Venice departures.  They warn, however, that it can take 3 hours for the trip.  So even the 6:30 group might not get there much before 10am.  I doubt that bus will leave at 6:30.  That’s when people would start off the ship, get their luggage, find the bus, get loaded on the bus, and wait for everyone else to do the same.  I would expect a 7am bus depart, at best. 

RC customer service suggested to request early departure as soon as we are on the ship. They say that not having luggage to pick up will be a huge help. Of course, RC also proposed to purchase The Key program to get all VIP perks, but I do not think it is necessary in my case.

 

I think I will opt in for private transportation (NCC). Quotes range from €300 to €385 so far.

 

Do we have to go through customs on our way out of the ship?

 

thanks

[F19810]

12 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

I Am currently on the Explorer doing a B2B.  The attached file show the transfer timing from our turnaround day in Ravenna yesterday, May 14.  I would expect similar with future sailings.  I agree with the previous poster who suggested you research a flight that departs Venice at 12:20 pm and gather all the facts about it.  Then tell Royal Caribbean that is your flight.  They will link that info on your account, but I’m pretty certain they do not validate this with the airline.  As you can see, the will be starting very early for Venice departures.  They warn, however, that it can take 3 hours for the trip.  So even the 6:30 group might not get there much before 10am.  I doubt that bus will leave at 6:30.  That’s when people would start off the ship, get their luggage, find the bus, get loaded on the bus, and wait for everyone else to do the same.  I would expect a 7am bus depart, at best. 

Do you know if you can go into Ravenna after checking in for your second cruise?  Theist departure listed is 9:45, are there any shuttles for B2B people and are there shuttles to go from Ravenna to the port?

Judy

[MeHeartCruising]

9 hours ago, F19810 said:

Do you know if you can go into Ravenna after checking in for your second cruise?  Theist departure listed is 9:45, are there any shuttles for B2B people and are there shuttles to go from Ravenna to the port?

Judy

There was indeed a bus shuttle to/from the ship/Ravenna train station.  Apparently, it was actually the bus station, but was a short walk to the train station.  It was supposed to start running at 7:30 from the ship.  The ship could not tell me how often it would run.  Probably when full.  The ship also could not tell me when it stopped running.  If you’re on the ship you can buy the shuttle ticket from guest services for $10 per person.  If you get on at the bus station, they apparently take your cabin number and bill your account.  I did not ask if you could purchase round trip tickets from the ship.  
 

The way our B2B was processed, we had an option to stay on the ship that morning and have everything done in a lounge at 8:30.  If you did that, you left with your new keycard.  Then, you could stay on the ship or go off.  If you want to go off, you need to get an “in transit” card to show the staff when you return to the terminal.  This will let you bypass the checkin process.  
 

The other way you could choose was more unclear from the instruction letter.  With this manner, you got your “in transit” card the day before the end of the cruise.  You could then skip the B2B meeting and just get off the ship.  So you could get off at 7:30 if you wanted to.  The letter said that your checkin for the second cruise would happen in the terminal when you returned to the ship later in the day.  So, presumably, you would need to have your passport with you.  However, when I asked Guest Services about this process, I was told that my checkin would happen automatically.  I did not feel comfortable with the agent’s knowledge on this.  
 

As it turned out, the day was very bad weather with cold pouring rain.   So I just decided to stay on the ship.  I was processed in the lounge at 8:30 and was free to roam the ship after that.  From the announcements they were making, it sounded like the weather was delaying the shuttle buses into Ravenna.  There was not enough room in the terminal to wait in the dry space.  So they asked people to stay on the ship for a while.  
 

Info about these shuttles was confusing and needs to be tightened up by Royal.  Hopefully as the season gets more underway, that will happen.  

[MeHeartCruising]

10 hours ago, xav14 said:

RC customer service suggested to request early departure as soon as we are on the ship. They say that not having luggage to pick up will be a huge help. Of course, RC also proposed to purchase The Key program to get all VIP perks, but I do not think it is necessary in my case.

 

I think I will opt in for private transportation (NCC). Quotes range from €300 to €385 so far.

 

Do we have to go through customs on our way out of the ship?

 

thanks

I did not leave the ship, so I don’t know. 

Edited May 16, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[cuterlmt]

We ended up changing our flight to the next day. It was just too stressful to worry about catching a plane. I was very thankful we did as Royal was not very good with info on the transfers. I did not schedule a transfer until I was on the ship because I wanted to see if they had shore excursion options since we decided to stay the night. After we had a bad experience the previous week with a shore excursion to the airport (not Royal cruise), we decided to just do a transfer. I went to guest services 4 days in a row before they had information on transfers and booked our transfer to VCE - we went ahead to VCE because we got a shuttle from VCE to a hotel to stay the night. That worked out great.

But I will tell you it took a long time to get through security going back to the US - they have a separate line for those travelling back to the US. We ended up having to get pulled out of line to get on the plane in time. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and it just took some time to get our luggage checked in, and then go through security. 

[mapleleaves]

31 minutes ago, cuterlmt said:

 

But I will tell you it took a long time to get through security going back to the US - they have a separate line for those travelling back to the US. We ended up having to get pulled out of line to get on the plane in time. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and it just took some time to get our luggage checked in, and then go through security. 

On my last flight from VCE I noticed an overhead sign for 'pax with direct flights to the US '. It seemed to direct people down a hallway on the ground floor, yet Security was upstairs.  I always fly to London first, so I went to security and then my gate.  What's the process for pax with US flights? how is it different? 

[cuterlmt]

it is up

55 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

On my last flight from VCE I noticed an overhead sign for 'pax with direct flights to the US '. It seemed to direct people down a hallway on the ground floor, yet Security was upstairs.  I always fly to London first, so I went to security and then my gate.  What's the process for pax with US flights? how is it different? 

It is upstairs, but it was very confusing. Our airline told us where to go, so that was good - and we knew to go to our airline check in because we needed boarding passes and to check our luggage. But other people thought that they had to start on the 2nd floor and weren't checking in with their airline first and had to be re-directed with the luggage to tag their luggage for their flight. And then you go through security and passport control. It wasn't really very difficult, just a very long line that took a long time to get through.