Chioggia

[avw]

3 hours ago, hamrag said:

Interesting, we walked off the ship and there were two taxis side by side. We walked up and asked if they could taxi us to the Grande Italia hotel. From stepping out the cruise terminal to hotel took 10 minutes. We booked the same taxi there and then for our airport transfer at 7pm later that day!

Actually, it was the Grand Italia hotel that told me that there are only 3 taxis in town and that they always book them in advance for their guests. It is a small town, so taxis MAY be free at certain times because residents can walk wherever they want to go, but it wouldn't be wise to count on that, especially if you want to get somewhere out of Chioggia, like to an airport or another town. 

[tyler6597]

We took the cruise on 5-6-23 to 5-18-23. We departed from Barcelona, and we ended the cruise in the port of Chioggia, Italy for an overnight stay on 5-17-23 to 5-18-23. If you want to visit Venice from the port of Chioggia, you have to walk over 1 mile to the bus stop. The bus runs every hour and it cost less than 5 Euros. It takes an hour or so for the bus gets to the bus terminal right outside Venice. The walk is short to find transportation via water to the area of St. Mark's square. When you leave you must again find transportation via the canals back to the bus terminal. When you get back to the Chioggia area the nearest bus stop to the ship is again over a mile walk back to the ship. If you are in decent shape the long walk to the bus stop or back to the ship is a piece of cake.

 

Our situation was different because my wife has a walking problem in her right legs which caused her to drag her leg although she uses a rollator and in the past two years, I've had both my knees replaced. We're also both 71 years old and we're not used to walking that far. There were a lot of fellow cruisers that took that walk to get to Venice and it was exhausting. The last day we departed the ship and Azamara had motor coaches within 50 feet of the ship.

 

Why can't Azamara provide transportation to and from Venice. How hard is it to have motor coaches shuttling paid guest back and forth to Venice on the day before we depart. The shore excursions were very limited which was very disappointing. If they can have 10 busses next to the ship at the port in Chioggia on disembarkation morning, why can't they provide busses to Venice and back to the ship at the port of Chioggia. We love Azamara cruises but the port in Chioggia quite frankly was a poor choice and I don't have a solution for that but if that's the closest port to Venice then please provide transportation for us to get to Venice and back to Chioggia. 

Tyler

[avw]

On 5/25/2023 at 11:58 AM, tyler6597 said:

We took the cruise on 5-6-23 to 5-18-23. We departed from Barcelona, and we ended the cruise in the port of Chioggia, Italy for an overnight stay on 5-17-23 to 5-18-23. If you want to visit Venice from the port of Chioggia, you have to walk over 1 mile to the bus stop. The bus runs every hour and it cost less than 5 Euros. It takes an hour or so for the bus gets to the bus terminal right outside Venice. The walk is short to find transportation via water to the area of St. Mark's square. When you leave you must again find transportation via the canals back to the bus terminal. When you get back to the Chioggia area the nearest bus stop to the ship is again over a mile walk back to the ship. If you are in decent shape the long walk to the bus stop or back to the ship is a piece of cake.

 

Our situation was different because my wife has a walking problem in her right legs which caused her to drag her leg although she uses a rollator and in the past two years, I've had both my knees replaced. We're also both 71 years old and we're not used to walking that far. There were a lot of fellow cruisers that took that walk to get to Venice and it was exhausting. The last day we departed the ship and Azamara had motor coaches within 50 feet of the ship.

 

Why can't Azamara provide transportation to and from Venice. How hard is it to have motor coaches shuttling paid guest back and forth to Venice on the day before we depart. The shore excursions were very limited which was very disappointing. If they can have 10 busses next to the ship at the port in Chioggia on disembarkation morning, why can't they provide busses to Venice and back to the ship at the port of Chioggia. We love Azamara cruises but the port in Chioggia quite frankly was a poor choice and I don't have a solution for that but if that's the closest port to Venice then please provide transportation for us to get to Venice and back to Chioggia. 

Tyler

It isn't Azamara's choice to dock outside Venice. It is Venice that doesn't allow cruise ships in their city. Chioggia is actually a much better option compared to other cruise lines that dock much further from the city of Venice. On the immediately preceding cruise, Azamara offered a "Venice "on your own" excursion that takes you to Venice via a double decker boat that picks up and returns right next to the ship. It drops off right in Venice, about 5 minutes walk from St Mark's Square. The boat ride takes around 1 1/2 hours each way (because it must go very slow) and you have approx 4 hours on your own in Venice. There was a cost, of course. Unfortunately, but understandably, the distance and time required to travel to Venice is much more than a free port transfer can provide.