Departing Veendam in Venice

[BamaTraveler]

To those of you who have sailed out of Venice...Will I have enough time to leave the ship and make my way to the airport in order to make an 11:40 am flight back to the states?

Thanks!
Ashley

[wwinfl91]

I haven't had to catch a flight that early but on our 2003 Golden Princess cruise that ended in Venice they began taking people to the airport via Princess transport very early in the morning (around 4 AM or so). I would suggest you request as early as possible transport to the airport through HAL. That way they will take your bigger pieces of luggage the night before and will bus you to the airport the next morning.

Have a great next cruise.

[Cruising Illini]

We left from Venice October 05 but stayed overnight half-way to the airport at LaGuana Palace Hotel -- an excellent plan. Anyhow, I would guess it is at least 1 hour to the airport and unless you have a car ordered ahead of time, it looked impossible to get a cab on your own. The check-in at the airport was a VERY long line and this is prior to the new regulations. They won't allow anyone to line up prior to 2 hours before a flight.

Make sure to get on the first bus leaving the ship -- ask at the front desk when you get your tags if it is the first. The ship usually won't guarantee any flight connections before noon unless this is something they have booked.
Anyhow you can figure at least 3 hours from the time you reach the airport until you get to the gate.

Best of luck --

[Cruising Illini]

P.S. I should mention that we were on the Rotterdam and didn't start unloading until about 8 am -- we had not been in Venice overnight. EC

[xpcdoojk]

I think that not taking advantage of the fact that you are in Venice and spending a couple of extra days there after the cruise is a shame. JMHO

jc

[wwinfl91]

I forgot to mention that we came into Venice the day before and spent the night on the ship before disembarkening. I suspect that is also the case in your cruise if you are on one of the Veendam's Venice to Venice cruise.

Have a great next cruise.

[BamaTraveler]

Thanks for the info. I hate to be in a panic about cutting it too close so we'll probably try a later (though much longer/less direct) flight home. We're spending extra time in Venice before the cruise and can't leave our preschoolers home with the grandparents for much longer, so we really need to leave on that day.

[wwinfl91]

IMHO you probably will be fine with the 11:40 AM flight assuming your ship came in the day before and you get a HAL transfer from the ship to the airport. I would suspect you will find people beginning to go to the airport as early as 5 AM. Just be sure to ask for the earliest possible transport to the airport and if you don't get go to the pursor's desk and ask again in a more forcefull manner.

The Venice airport is actually quite small and not at all hard to manage.

By the way I'm also glad to hear you are spending time in the city before the cruise. We loved out 4 day stay in 2003 and hope to return again. Here is a really good web site with lots of info on Venice.

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/

Have a great next cruise.

[Sea King]

you could really be cutting it close

IMO too close

you should plan to arrive at the airport at least 1 1/2 hours in advance of your flight or by approximately 10 a.m.

depending when the ship is cleared (no firm way to predict), you may or may not make the airport .. suggestion: try private transport when you debark vs. traveling with a bus .. there's also a water taxi you can try

if you go by water, the airport is no more than 20 minutes away

actually, a very scenic trip (depending on weather)

IMO, stay over, enjoy Venice and then leave the next day with no worries:)