Venice to Ravenna - NCL no shuttles

[memparrot]

Family of 4 flying to Venice for NCL cruise out of Ravenna.  I called NCL to book shuttle to Ravenna and was told they only offer from Bologna & Forli.  Any suggestions on how to get from Venice to Ravenna?  Train may be an option but concerned about getting luggage on & off as train connection in Bologna and language barrier as we don't speak Italian.   

[MeHeartCruising]

13 minutes ago, memparrot said:

Family of 4 flying to Venice for NCL cruise out of Ravenna.  I called NCL to book shuttle to Ravenna and was told they only offer from Bologna & Forli.  Any suggestions on how to get from Venice to Ravenna?  Train may be an option but concerned about getting luggage on & off as train connection in Bologna and language barrier as we don't speak Italian.   

 

Honestly, I'd call NCL back 2 or 3 times to speak with different agents to make certain you were given accurate information on your first attempts.  I would think since they are selling these cruises as departing from "Venice (Ravenna)" they should be providing transportation from Venice Airport (and/or somewhere nearer the city center) to the ship.

 

Perhaps ask about "transfers" instead of "shuttles".

 

I know that Royal Caribbean's call center staff is proving to be untrained on this topic right now.  So I won't be surprised if NCL's is as well.  It took me 2 calls to get a Royal Caribbean agent to know what I was talking about.

Edited March 8, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[euro cruiser]

Yes, do keep trying.  None of the cruise lines have staff answering the phones who know all of the ins and outs in every port, and for some reason they don't give them access to a database that does have the information.

 

The train is a viable option but it is a bit cumbersome, especially if your starting point is the airport in Venice.  You'd need a bus or taxi to the Mestre train station, then a train with one transfer, followed by another bus or taxi to the port.

 

You might try posting on your roll call to see if there are others in your situation who want to share a transfer service.

 

You're not flying in on the day of your cruise departure, are you?

[memparrot]

44 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

Yes, do keep trying.  None of the cruise lines have staff answering the phones who know all of the ins and outs in every port, and for some reason they don't give them access to a database that does have the information.

 

The train is a viable option but it is a bit cumbersome, especially if your starting point is the airport in Venice.  You'd need a bus or taxi to the Mestre train station, then a train with one transfer, followed by another bus or taxi to the port.

 

You might try posting on your roll call to see if there are others in your situation who want to share a transfer service.

 

You're not flying in on the day of your cruise departure, are you?

Thank you both MeHeartCruising and euro cruiser.  I called again and was successfully able to book round-trip transfers from Venice to Ravenna.

[princeton123211]

4 hours ago, memparrot said:

Any suggestions on how to get from Venice to Ravenna?  Train may be an option but concerned about getting luggage on & off as train connection in Bologna and language barrier as we don't speak Italian. 

If you want to take all the guess work out you can book a private transfer-- it's not a short distance, about a 2 hour drive, but doable. Booking through an app called Blacklane (which we use in Italy extensively and works really well) you can get a Mercedes van transfer to the pier in Ravenna for about 494 Euro all in (including tips etc) seating up to 5 so not a terrible per person cost. A Mercedes E Class for 2 people would be a little less for about 448 Euro in the app. 

 

The train is easy although you will have a connection with no direct between Venice S Lucia and Ravenna. If you do book the train book the Frecciarossa and not the regionals- reserved seating and much nicer train cars. Also we have never had a major issue with the language barrier most train and station staff speak enough English to be helpful. 

[memparrot]

Sorry for the multiple posts.  Transfers booked with NCL were from Bologna not Venice.  Still looking for transportation from Venice to Ravenna.  I did post on Roll Call to see if anyone interested in sharing van.

[little britain]

On 3/15/2023 at 1:36 AM, memparrot said:

Sorry for the multiple posts.  Transfers booked with NCL were from Bologna not Venice.  Still looking for transportation from Venice to Ravenna.  I did post on Roll Call to see if anyone interested in sharing van.

Vqtravels.com. €455 for 6

[redwings1958]

I just booked a FLIXBUS from Venice to Ravenna in July;  1/4 price of the Celebrity Shuttle and leave later in the afternoon to maximize our time in Venezia

https://www.flixbus.com/

[lynncarol]

My husband and I are in our mid-seventies and can assure you that getting around by train in Italy is easy and we don't speak any Italian  The only tricky part is when your train is arriving from some other station, the main schedule board won't post which track platform until, at best, 15 minutes ahead of the train's departure time.  You will see lots of folks in the station staring up at the main board when it gets within 20 minutes of their departure