Venice Norwegian Check In

Hi All

We will be sailing out of Venice on the 3rd Sep on Star and I have booked a train into Venice from Bologna arriving at 11:30. Assuming another hour to get from the train station to the cruise terminal I estimate that we will probably get to the check in at about 12:30.

My question is basically how easy or busy is check in and boarding at the Venice terminal and is it a bad idea getting there at 12:30 which i assume would be the rush hour? We prefer getting on board as soon as possible but if it is going to be a pain at this time then would rather lunch in Venice and then head to the port a bit later.

Hi All

 

We will be sailing out of Venice on the 3rd Sep on Star and I have booked a train into Venice from Bologna arriving at 11:30. Assuming another hour to get from the train station to the cruise terminal I estimate that we will probably get to the check in at about 12:30.

 

My question is basically how easy or busy is check in and boarding at the Venice terminal and is it a bad idea getting there at 12:30 which i assume would be the rush hour? We prefer getting on board as soon as possible but if it is going to be a pain at this time then would rather lunch in Venice and then head to the port a bit later.

So easy to get on, the Star is small the terminal is big, very easy getting on, dont go for lunch, it will be too cumbersome, we walked right on

Hi All

 

We will be sailing out of Venice on the 3rd Sep on Star and I have booked a train into Venice from Bologna arriving at 11:30. Assuming another hour to get from the train station to the cruise terminal I estimate that we will probably get to the check in at about 12:30.

 

My question is basically how easy or busy is check in and boarding at the Venice terminal and is it a bad idea getting there at 12:30 which i assume would be the rush hour? We prefer getting on board as soon as possible but if it is going to be a pain at this time then would rather lunch in Venice and then head to the port a bit later.

I have no idea when your ship leaves port, (I think it might be late that afternoon) so...

In any event, the train arrives right at the Grand Canal. Plan on taking a few minutes to walk outside the terminal and take it all in. It was a highlight our RTW trip (blog below). If the ship is leaving the same day and/or time is tight... find a cafe very close to the train terminal for lunch, then head off to ship. There are lots of options close by. Going to ship and then trying to get back out could cut into your time. You could do a slow long lunch on the canal. If you want to tour around a bit... google to see if there is a place to leave luggage at the train station.

So sorry you are not getting a night in Venice.

There is no way to predict what you are going to experience with check in. You're going to be better off, just going to the terminal and getting rid of your bag/s. Take a look and then decide .

I just got off the star, if leaving the same day, you need to have a lot of time. Loads of people who didn't plan well, missed their flights. (I was first running off the ship, so I know what time I got to the airport and through lines, no way were those people on their flights).

I would never turn down the opportunity to lunch in Venice! :D I used to want to be on the ship as early as possible, but several cruises ago decided to go after rush hour and see how that worked for me. I now always try to time my arrival for after the rush. I arrived at the Venice terminal at about 2:30 and pretty much walked right on the ship after checking in.

It's a bit of a walk from S. Luca rail station to the ship - especially with luggage. There is a large bridge to cross over, and the ship terminal is far from the people mover stop. You can catch a cab from P. Roma directly to the ship terminal (20 euros in 2014).

Might be best for you to get off the train at Mestre and take a taxi directly to the ship terminal. (about 45 euros (in 2014), 15 mins)

We are no spring chickens so we took cab from P. Roma to ship terminal, and cab again from ship terminal to Mestre. We booked train from S. Luca to Milan but decided to get on train at Mestre instead.

Thanks everyone for your useful insights, luckily when getting off we will be spending two nights in Venice so don't have to run to the airport to catch a flight.

We are catching the high speed Frecciarossa into Santa Lucia and as i understood it this train does not stop anywhere else and goes direct into Santa Lucia. Will do some further research and see if it in fact does stop at Mestre and then will pay the EUR45 odd to grab a taxi from there direct to the ship to make things as stress free as possible!

So easy to get on, the Star is small the terminal is big, very easy getting on, dont go for lunch, it will be too cumbersome, we walked right on

Thanks @txclctr - what sort of time did you get to the terminal?

Don't forget Sept 3rd is Regata Storica day, so will be very busy around Grand Canal from about 2pm. Water transportation will be limited, but you should be ok on land.

This is a major Venice event!

Don't forget Sept 3rd is Regata Storica day, so will be very busy around Grand Canal from about 2pm. Water transportation will be limited, but you should be ok on land.

This is a major Venice event!

Thanks for the heads up. checked my train number and it does stop at Mestre so will get off their and grab a taxi straight to the boat.

When you get to the port, follow the signs to drop baggage. It's done by deck numbers and if you have tags or not. Then you go up the escalator to check in. It was super fast earlier this month and they didn't open Boarding for us until 11.15.

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