Boarding in Venice?

[gwesq]

Our cruise tickets very clearly state that the ship will be "located at Venezia Terminal Passengeri."   It then says we are permitted to embark between 12 and 3.  As written, sounds like the ship is right there  (i.e. " SHIP will be located at" ).  I don't believe that is possible though since cruise ships are not allowed there!

How does the boarding process work?  Can I just get a taxi on my own from Piazzale ROma (staying close by) straight to Fusina or Marghera or whatever port the ship is at, and check in & board there?   Or must I check in at the Terminal in Venice & then get on a bus to the ship?  Cruise line not giving much information.  ANyone experience this recently?

[mapleleaves]

which cruiseline ?  If you're being directed to the Venice Cruise Terminal you will probably check in there, but then will be bused or ferried to your ship.

 

[gwesq]

3 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

which cruiseline ?  If you're being directed to the Venice Cruise Terminal you will probably check in there, but then will be bused or ferried to your ship.

 

It would be so much easier to just get to the ship on our own, but I'm trying to find out if that is possible.  I guess I'm a stickler for words, in that they say the SHIP is LOCATED at the Venice Terminal, so they should mean what they say.  Trying to determine how much time to leave to get through all that and get on the ship around noon. Crystal.  

[mapleleaves]

I don't know about Crystal but with MSC the check in process is handled at the Venice Terminal;  you can't choose to show up at the ship in Marghera.

Call Crystal. Or ask on the Crystal forum. Good luck.

[cruisemom42]

Similar to the above, I've been told we MUST check in at the Marittima terminal and then will be bussed to Fusina, where the ship is. Fusina is still considered Venice, so perhaps that is what is tripping you up with regard to language used. But it has no facilities to check you in. I do not think you are allowed into the port "on your own" so to speak.

 

Edited to add:  This is for a different cruise line but same principles apply.

 

Edited September 3, 2023 by cruisemom42

[steamboats]

I´ve been to Venice in August. We were bussed from the airport to the Venice Passenger Terminal at Stazione Marittima. The check-in was there. Then we boarded another bus to Fusina where the ship (Silver Nova in our case) was docked. For disembarkation the people were directly bussed to the airport or in our case to the cruise terminal at Stazione Marittima.

 

When we returned there were 3 ships "in port" - Silver Nova and Nautica in Fusina and MSC Sinfonia in Marghera. All people boarding had to go via the Venice Cruise Terminal. MSC had even boats going over to Marghera.

 

There is no check-in facility at Fusina and there is no parking lot for cruisers. Same for Marghera.

 

The World Navigator was docked at Basilio (which is directly in Venice) but that´s a 200 passenger ship. The Crystal ships are too big to go into Venice. So they pretty likely dock in Fusina. The bigger ships go to Marghera.

 

steamboats

 

 

[loriva]

5 hours ago, steamboats said:

I´ve been to Venice in August. We were bussed from the airport to the Venice Passenger Terminal at Stazione Marittima. The check-in was there. Then we boarded another bus to Fusina where the ship (Silver Nova in our case) was docked. For disembarkation the people were directly bussed to the airport or in our case to the cruise terminal at Stazione Marittima.

 

When we returned there were 3 ships "in port" - Silver Nova and Nautica in Fusina and MSC Sinfonia in Marghera. All people boarding had to go via the Venice Cruise Terminal. MSC had even boats going over to Marghera.

 

There is no check-in facility at Fusina and there is no parking lot for cruisers. Same for Marghera.

 

The World Navigator was docked at Basilio (which is directly in Venice) but that´s a 200 passenger ship. The Crystal ships are too big to go into Venice. So they pretty likely dock in Fusina. The bigger ships go to Marghera.

 

steamboats

 

 

 

@steamboats -- There are multiple terminals at the Stazione Marittima according to this map on the port operator's website:  https://www.vtp.it/en/info-operatori/crociere/.  Do you recall which terminal (103, 107, 117, etc.?) you used? 

 

It's still six weeks until our cruise so hope we'll receive more information from our cruise line (Regent) in the final documents.  On our preliminary docs, they give the check-in location as Fabbricato 248, which seems to correspond to Terminal 103.  We're thinking of arriving by vaporetto from our hotel, so trying to nail down the building we need go to after disembarking the water bus at the Tronchetto stop.  We're not certain if Regent will have local staff at the Tronchetto stop, so want to be prepared to go it alone.  (We know this is in the hands of the local operator, so have little hope that Regent sales agents in the United States would have accurate information.  So, no point in calling to ask--better answers here from those who have experienced boarding in Venice.) 

 

Many thanks, 

[steamboats]

@loriva it may depend on the cruise line at which terminal you have to do the check-in. 107/108 was usually Royal Caribbean Group and with Silversea we checked in there too (as Silversea is part of the RCG).

 

NCHL (which includes Regent) was usually at 117 but that may have changed. 103 and the Isonzo terminals were used by Costa and MSC.

 

There is a big sign at the entrance of the port area where the ships do their check-in (ship name and terminal number).

 

I doubt that you will find anyone of Regent at the vaporetto stop at Tronchetto. Tronchetto is an island and is the parking lot for visitors of Venice which arrive by car. The cruise parking is located between the terminal 117 and 107/108. It is quite a walk from the vaporetto stop to the people mover station Troncchetto. For the cruise terminals you have to take the people mover to the middle stop at Stazione Marittima and walk from there to the terminal buildings.

 

There used to be the terminus station of Linea Blu by Alilaguna right in front of terminal 103. But obviously Alilaguna is now serving the Troncchetto stop and then the train station (Ferrovia) St. Lucia. 

 

It is easier to take the vaporetto to Piazzale Roma and then the people mover to Stazione Marittima. The people mover itself is 1.50 Euro single ride. If you do have a daily ticket, it´s included in the ticket.

 

There won´t be anyone at the people mover station at Stazione Marittima by the cruise line. You have to walk and schlepp your luggage to the terminal building. Sometimes there is a free shuttle bus from the people mover serving all terminals (those which are busy that day). I´ve seen it when we disembarked. But this one is not really something you should rely on. At least in the past it was not really reliable and walking is the faster option.

 

steamboats

[cruisemom42]

50 minutes ago, loriva said:

It's still six weeks until our cruise so hope we'll receive more information from our cruise line (Regent) in the final documents.  On our preliminary docs, they give the check-in location as Fabbricato 248, which seems to correspond to Terminal 103. 

 

They likely won't tell you in advance which building specifically will be used because I believe the port authority in Venice doesn't confirm the details until rather late. 

 

However, I did get an email from Azamara (my cruise starts October 4) that their check-in will most likely be in either Building 107 or 117. 

 

As steamboats suggests, you may have to rely on the sign board at the port.

[loriva]

@steamboats Thank you for the very detailed response.  Exactly the kind of information needed to be ready.

 

Yes, I saw Linea Blu used to have seasonal service directly to the cruise port, but it is not on their timetables for this year.  Unfortunately, none of the vaporetto lines appear to service the Piazzalle Roma that I can see from the Alilaguna website.  Maybe the concierge at our hotel will have other information.  

 

The walk from the Tronchetto stop for the Linea Blu to Terminal 117 appears to be 1.3km.  That should be doable with our luggage.  It is difficult to justify a price of €145 for a water taxi for such a short distance from our hotel, the Hilton Molino Stucky. 

 

 

[steamboats]

@loriva many of the vaporetti lines do end/start at Piazzale Roma like line 2 which also serves Tronchetto. Line 1 is the major line going through the Canal Grande and stops at every stop. Line 2 is the fast line through Canal Grande which doesn´t stop at each stop.

 

Lines 3, 4.1 and 5 also go to Piazzale Roma. This is the main stop in Venice as it connects to the road leading to Venice.

 

steamboats

[gwesq]

I heard from someone on the ship now that the ship will dock at Fusina.   Our tickets merely say the ship will be at the Venice Cruise terminal, so no information about which terminal to check in, nor does it say the ship will not be at the Venice terminal.  I do see from cruise schedules that MSC will have a ship (2,000 people) that day as well.  

[loriva]

1 hour ago, steamboats said:

@loriva many of the vaporetti lines do end/start at Piazzale Roma like line 2 which also serves Tronchetto. Line 1 is the major line going through the Canal Grande and stops at every stop. Line 2 is the fast line through Canal Grande which doesn´t stop at each stop.

 

Lines 3, 4.1 and 5 also go to Piazzale Roma. This is the main stop in Venice as it connects to the road leading to Venice.

 

steamboats

 

Ah, a different water bus company!  ACTVs routes do not stop at the dock by our hotel, however.  So, we will need to figure out which walk is easier--from Tronchetto to Marittima with Alilaguna Linea Blu or Sacca Fisola or La Palanca on ACTV Line 4.2.

 

Thanks again,

[steamboats]

1 hour ago, loriva said:

 

Ah, a different water bus company!  ACTVs routes do not stop at the dock by our hotel, however.  So, we will need to figure out which walk is easier--from Tronchetto to Marittima with Alilaguna Linea Blu or Sacca Fisola or La Palanca on ACTV Line 4.2.

 

Yes, there are two companies - ACTV, which is the public transportation of the city, and Alilaguna, which is a private operator.

 

steamboats 

[steamboats]

3 hours ago, gwesq said:

I heard from someone on the ship now that the ship will dock at Fusina.   Our tickets merely say the ship will be at the Venice Cruise terminal, so no information about which terminal to check in, nor does it say the ship will not be at the Venice terminal.  I do see from cruise schedules that MSC will have a ship (2,000 people) that day as well.  

 

As I said before, the smaller ships dock in Fusina. The larger ships like MSC dock in Marghera.

 

But for all those ships the check in is at one of the Venice Passenger Terminals at Stazione Marittima in Venice where the ships docked prior to the cruise ship ban.

 

There are a lot of terminal buildings there:

Isonzo 1 and 2, 103, 107/108, 109/110, 123.

 

The only one where ships are still docking is San Basilio 22. Smaller ships which are still allowed to pass through the Guidecca Canal can dock there and also the only river Cruise ship which is still operating there - the S.S. La Venezia by Uniworld. There's also another docking area left of St. Mark's Square which is called Sette Martiri where the river cruise ship can dock when San Basilio is occupied.

 

steamboats 

[Vineyard View]

11 hours ago, loriva said:

 

@steamboats -- There are multiple terminals at the Stazione Marittima according to this map on the port operator's website:  https://www.vtp.it/en/info-operatori/crociere/.  Do you recall which terminal (103, 107, 117, etc.?) you used? 

 

It's still six weeks until our cruise so hope we'll receive more information from our cruise line (Regent) in the final documents.  On our preliminary docs, they give the check-in location as Fabbricato 248, which seems to correspond to Terminal 103.  We're thinking of arriving by vaporetto from our hotel, so trying to nail down the building we need go to after disembarking the water bus at the Tronchetto stop.  We're not certain if Regent will have local staff at the Tronchetto stop, so want to be prepared to go it alone.  (We know this is in the hands of the local operator, so have little hope that Regent sales agents in the United States would have accurate information.  So, no point in calling to ask--better answers here from those who have experienced boarding in Venice.) 

 

Many thanks, 

We took a private water taxi from our hotel to the terminal this May after staying in Venice four nights prior. We were sailing Seabourn and there were agents there to grab our checked bags when we arrived at the Marittima terminal. It was a lengthy walk to the check in terminal so be prepared for that possibility. We also disembarked there, took the cruise shuttle bus from Fusina to the terminal, then their bus to the airport,  taxi to the hotel, then transportation back to the island for the day prior to our departure the next day. I say all of this as it is impossible to board or disembark independently in Fusina, and unless there were pax on early flights on disembarking day, then we had to go back to the old, empty terminal. It was strange being in that huge space again without anyone there for the most part. 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Vineyard View

[steamboats]

@Vineyard View yes, there might be cruise line staff waiting at the watertaxi stop which is inside the port basin (where the Linea Blu used to end). But there won´t be any staff at the ACTV/Alilaguna stop at Tronchetto or at the People Mover station Stazione Marittima.

 

steamboats

[Vineyard View]

8 hours ago, steamboats said:

@Vineyard View yes, there might be cruise line staff waiting at the watertaxi stop which is inside the port basin (where the Linea Blu used to end). But there won´t be any staff at the ACTV/Alilaguna stop at Tronchetto or at the People Mover station Stazione Marittima.

 

steamboats

Good point. We only experienced the water taxi stop and it worked quite a bit better than some of the comments I heard from other passengers. I can’t speak to the other options, but I was sure glad to have staff there to assist. It is a BIG mostly empty port. 

[princeton123211]

On 9/4/2023 at 9:05 AM, loriva said:

It is difficult to justify a price of €145 for a water taxi for such a short distance from our hotel, the Hilton Molino Stucky. 

That pricing is from the airport to Venice (and is a little high even for that). It wouldn't be that much from the Hilton-- more like 65 Euro, which is still a lot, but not nearly what you think it is. 

[loriva]

7 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

That pricing is from the airport to Venice (and is a little high even for that). It wouldn't be that much from the Hilton-- more like 65 Euro, which is still a lot, but not nearly what you think it is. 

 

Those are the prices I'm finding online.  I did find a provider yesterday that was quoting €129 from the airport and €99 from the Hilton to the cruise terminal.  Still a lot for a 10-minute ride.  And reportedly it is a longish walk whether you use a water taxi or the water bus.

 

Greatly appreciate everyone's experience and comments.

 

Many thanks,

 

[mskaufman]

We are looking at a cruise that boards in Trieste and then the next day the itinerary says Venice, so I guess its moving to Fusina. I wonder if they will provide transportation to the city center?

[princeton123211]

21 minutes ago, loriva said:

Those are the prices I'm finding online.

Don’t book a water taxi in advance as it will be overpriced- just have the Hilton call you one and it will be much less than €100. More in the €50-60 range. Confirm cost before you leave the dock. 

[mapleleaves]

The water taxi cooperative shows 74E for the fare from Moilna Stucky to Venice cruise pier.

 

Explore Venice Water Taxi Rates - Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia

Edited September 6, 2023 by mapleleaves

[Vineyard View]

3 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Don’t book a water taxi in advance as it will be overpriced- just have the Hilton call you one and it will be much less than €100. More in the €50-60 range. Confirm cost before you leave the dock. 

This is what we did. It worked out great and honestly was very much worth it. 

[steamboats]

On 9/4/2023 at 6:30 PM, loriva said:

 

Ah, a different water bus company!  ACTVs routes do not stop at the dock by our hotel, however.  So, we will need to figure out which walk is easier--from Tronchetto to Marittima with Alilaguna Linea Blu or Sacca Fisola or La Palanca on ACTV Line 4.2.

 

Sorry, I didn´t answer to the last part... I´d suggest to walk to Guidecca Palanca (Stop B) for Line 2 to Piazzale Roma. For Sacca Fisola you have to walk to the bridge and then back to the Guidecca Canal. At Sacca Fisola there´s also line 2 to Piazzale Roma.

 

steamboats