Boarding time and Venice Dock

[john2003]

A couple of questions. Our group is split between a suite and other staerooms. The suite can board at 11am in Venice and 3pm is the official board time for the lesser mortals.

 

My experience on a previous Oceania cruise was that they allowed us to board before the designated boarding time. I am looking for any current experience in this regard.

 

My second question is that we are a bit confused about where we will find the ship. The "ticket" shows S. Basilio #27 which appears to be the regular berth but the Port Schedule has Marritima #110 which I believe is in the "large" ship area. I am seeking clarification but assuming it is S.Basilio #27, can someone clarify exactly where this is and how close to a vaporetto stop it is. I am asking because the Port Authority web site doesn't show berth 27.

 

Thanks.

[derricj]

A couple of questions. Our group is split between a suite and other staerooms. The suite can board at 11am in Venice and 3pm is the official board time for the lesser mortals.

 

My experience on a previous Oceania cruise was that they allowed us to board before the designated boarding time. I am looking for any current experience in this regard.

 

My second question is that we are a bit confused about where we will find the ship. The "ticket" shows S. Basilio #27 which appears to be the regular berth but the Port Schedule has Marritima #110 which I believe is in the "large" ship area. I am seeking clarification but assuming it is S.Basilio #27, can someone clarify exactly where this is and how close to a vaporetto stop it is. I am asking because the Port Authority web site doesn't show berth 27.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

This link may help you locate berth 27, S Basilio

http://www.vtp.it/pages/comeRaggiungerci/aliscafi.jsp?n=2

[john2003]

Thanks, greta map that resolves one of my issues. Now, I don't know why I couldn't find this map!

[derricj]

The VTP site has a host of other information as well. You can determine how many ships are in port, where berthed, arrival and departure time, ACTV stops, parking etc.

 

I found this site by searching Venice cruise port.

 

 

There have been a number of other threads with posts that the boarding time is mentioned. Just do a search on CC for Oceania Regatta boarding times. I'm sure something will turn up.

 

If you sdon't mind my asking, when is your cruise?

[john2003]

Our cruise is the Oct 27 from Venice to Istanbul.

 

I had found the port site which is the remaining part of my problem, as it shows the Insignia in berth #110 rather than #27 as on my ticketing. These are in different sections of the port.

[derricj]

I see there are a number of vessels in port at the same time. Some are smaller ships. From what I have read elsewhere the ships smaller than Os group have to use S Basilio causing Os to use the larger berths.

 

Insignia arrives about 2 hours before the Silver Sea (which is docked in 27) leaves. If you scroll down to the Insignia departure time it shows the 110 but lists S Basilio.

 

If you purchased transfers from O the problem is elimnated as they will bus you to the ship. If not the ACTV has stops close to that berth's car park according to the map.

 

You could hire a private water taxi and have him drive around til he spots the ship. We board the Regatta on 10-30 and it is supposed to be in 27. I won't know until I see it I guess.

 

Still gonna be a hell of trip.:D :D :D

[rahrah50]

The water taxi stops at S Basilio as well as the water buses and the security post is not far from there. To get into the docking area you must go through security, then to the ship. A water taxi would not be able to take you directly to the ship. We were there for an Oceania cruise in July. Hope you have a wonderful trip!!!!!!

 

Roylynn

[Balliett]

We docked in Venice on 10-2-07, Regatta. Sorry, I dk the slip #. The vaporetto stop was very close. Almost spitting distance. We walked to the second stop which had a ticket booth where we bought the 72 hour pass. Not that anyone checks to see if you have a ticket. Regarding early boarding of the Regatta, we had boarded in Rome at 1pm (as soon as we arrived) although being only "white card" cabin. I think early boarding is no problem. It is early access to your cabin that is the perk for the concierge folks. Cabin access for all was announced at 2:30.

[meow!]

With such a nice location as Venice, unless you are arriving early that very morning, I don't know why you may want to board the ship early. In Spring, 2004, after our Barcelona to Venice Regatta voyage, we stayed a few days extra in Venice (and Barcelona before the cruise too).

 

For the October, 2008 Nautica voyage starting in Venice, the ship is supposed to stay the first night in Venice, leaving in the afternoon of the next day. We plan on arriving in Venice a couple of days ahead of time, and are wondering whether we should board on time and spend the first night on the ship, or should we rather spend an extra night on land and board the ship the second day!

 

A water taxi ride between the ship and the hotel will typically be 80 euros, so boarding the ship the first night (saving the hotel fee for that night) and returning to land for a few hours the next day may not be really worthwhile. Any thoughts from anyone? Thank you.

[tgg]

Has anyone recently arrived at the Venice airport and gone directly to the ship by regular cab, rather than water taxi? Can you tell me what the cost was?

[rettiga]

Meow--

 

Yes, I agree that when you're in Venice you should spend as much time in the city as possible. I've never understood the big hurry to get aboard a ship in a place like Venice--even a ship as nice as O's--unless the idea is to check in, dump the bags and then run back into the city.

 

As to the matter of staying aboard the ship in port, yes, you should definitely do that, because getting to and from town is a piece of cake via the vaporettos. Buy a 24-hour or multi-day pass for the vaps at the P. Roma station or wherever the O shuttles drop you. To my knowledge O always provides regular free bus shuttles to P. Roma while the ship is in port. This being the case, there's no reason to spend money on a hotel when the ship will serve that purpose perfectly well, and let you get into the city easily to boot.

 

Warning: do not buy single ride tickets on the vaps. They are ridiculously expensive. Always buy at least a day pass. You'll use it often throughout the day, and it's a good value.

 

tgg--

 

If you're reasonably in charge of your luggage instead of the other way around, the easiest and cheapest way from the airport is the city bus to that same P. Roma. The fare is trivial, just a couple Euros; it takes about 20 minutes, and you're a shuttle bus ride from the ship. But on the city bus you have to handle your own bags, so if you can't easily do that you'll need to take a cab or a water taxi.

[meow!]

Thank you kindly for your informative reply. We will look into that!

[john2003]

Thanks for the added information.

 

I did not plan to go aboard and stay, but we are three parts of a family split across the atlantic arriving at different times so the ship is a place to join up. Also when we check out of our hotel (we have added a couple of nites) I would like to get the bags to the ship and then feel I am free to enjoy the rest of the day in Venice.

[Balliett]

tgg, in case no one else replies, we arranged for a limo to meet our ship in venice two years ago, to go to the airport. No problems at all. The cost was about 40 euros, if memory serves. easily arranged online. quicker and cheaper than cruise ship bus.

[phillipahain]

The bus from the Airport right to Place Roma which is the Transport hub in Venice and where Oceania run their own free shuttle to the berth from is very very cheap

 

about 4 Euros each

[tgg]

Balliett and phillipahain,

 

Thanks for the information I am looking for. With the euro exchange rate climbing to 1.50 (including fees), we may opt for the bus.

 

Now I know the pain the Canadians used to feel when they came to the US with their dollars that were worth 64 cents.

[john2003]

I have seen a few references to Oceania running a free shuttle in Venice but as far as I know we didn't receive any notifiation for our cruise Oct 27.

 

If it leaves from P. Roma, where would we go to see if it is running on Saturday to S. Basilio?

[tgg]

Looking for the same information as john2003, I called Oceania and asked about the shuttle bus that runs from the ship to P. Roma and the hours of operation. I was told that there is no shuttle bus. The person I spoke to said that you could only get to P. Roma by water.

 

I'm now totally confused. Can someone please unconfuse me.

[rettiga]

The person you spoke to at Oceania is an idiot.

 

Piazalle Roma (P. Roma for short) is at the head of the Grand Canal, just up from the train station. It is a strategically important place because it's pretty much as far as you can go by land. It is a combination bus terminal, car park, vaporetto terminal, etc. It can be reached by land easily from either of the two ship terminals: San Basilio or Maratima.

 

As of last fall, O ran free bus shuttles constantly from the ship to P. Roma. We were there for two days and we took the shuttle a number of times. This may have changed and they may have stopped running the busses, but since the person who told you they're not doing it is the same person who told you that you can't get to P. Roma except by water, I wouldn't put a lot of trust in him or her.

 

It is actually possible to walk from the ship to P. Roma (and you don't have to walk on water), but that's a nusiance and takes up valuable time. I'd be really surprised if Oceania, with so many older passengers, has stopped running the shuttles.

[tgg]

To Rettiga or anyone else looking for the Oceania shuttle bus from P. Roma to the pier:

 

We just got back from Venice, and looked for the shuttle bus, but guess what. THERE IS NONE.

[scdreamer]

We docked in Venice in late October, and there were shuttles. They weren't as clearly marked as I thought they should have been - we felt fortunate to have found the ones we used, had to ask other cruiseline reps who were out on the pier. Coming back to the ship was even worse - no rhyme or reason as to where or when the shuttles picked up passengers.

[john2003]

Now that we have returned I can report that Venice was not handled very well.

 

The confusion as to the location of the ship continued to the last minute as we were contacted after we left with a change from our ticketing. Actually to what the port computer had said for months. I could be generous and say this was the ports fault but as the entry on the port computer was also suspect I will split the blame between Oceania and their local agent who was not on top of it.

 

Boarding was actually very smooth except for the absence of info on shuttles. We pieced it together and it worked fine except no one told us to drop our luggage so we ended up carrying everything with us onto the ship.

 

We used the shuttle again later in the day and the last return was an Oceania specific shuttle (maybe because the port shuttle had quit) which was appreciated but some notifciation would have been beneficial for both parties.

 

The second day was not very smooth. Getting off was fine and the shuttle worked well. We were not advised about the marathon which created chaos everywhere. My relatives ended up having to walk back to the ship as no traffic could get into the port. Again, a knowledgeable local agent would have provided some warnings about this. When we returned there was a shuttle but no signage to tell us how to get to the ship. It was physically in the same berth but according the the port board had moved. We could not access the terminal as we had the day before. Lots of frustrated passengers getting turned away at gates until we found the right one.

[Bonbeak]

I must be crazy but boarding the Regatta Oct 2 in Venice was one of the fastsest and easiest embarkations we ever had on any cruiseline. We even took the vaporetto all of the way from San Angelo with a transfer at Rialto to San Basilio (35minutes) and we were right there. A one minute walk. They offered to take our two carry ons but since we did not have the rest of our luggage (arrived the next day) we said "no" and took on our two small bags. Check in was on board. We were about 1pm when our time was supposed to be 3pm and we went directly on.

 

The next day in port was easy with either walking down the quai or taking the vaporetto again. Our pass got a lot of use and we never once paid $130 USD for a water taxi. Even if we had had our bag, we could have handled the vaporetto.

[john2003]

We were told the ship would be in San Basilio which is normal for Oceania as far as I can tell. In fact it was in the main port Marittima. Hence some of the issues. There is no Vaporetto service to Marittima, you have to get a shuttle to/from Piazza Roma.