Pensione La Calcina in Venice

Has anyone stayed at this hotel in Venice? It says it is parallel to the Grand Canal. We want a place that is easily accessible with all of our luggage. We will be flying into Venice pre-cruise and I am paranoid about all the luggage we will have to get to the hotel. Should we use the vaporette or the Alilguna to get to what ever hotel we decide on? Then how to get to the ship on sailing day? I have heard so many stories of wheeling luggage all around the town! I want to avoid this but don’t think we can afford to take a private water taxi. Any advice would be appreciated.

Mahalo,

Ginger

PS. WE aren’t even going until next Oct. but I want to be fully prepared. My DH thinks I am nuts!!!:o

and plan on returning in Sept. prior to our cruise in September. We are doing the Sept 11 Grand Princess. I don't want to say much about the hotel except that we are returning and they have no elevator. Have fun planning. I planned hard for at least 10 months last time and am planning hard for our next trip. Lets just leave it that you are right on target with your plans so far.

We loved our Barcelona to Venice trip so much I convience DH to give me a Venice to Rome via Greek Islands for my 50th birthday. Maybe you guys want to go a little earlier to get some better weather...being from Hawaii and all. This is the PERFECT way to see Europe the first time. Just plan on spending a small bundle for some tours or extras. We did ours half ships tours half on our own. P.S. Shhhh about the La Calcina

This will be our first trip to the Mediterranean but hopefully not our last. We are on the Grand Princess also but from Venice to Barcelona in Oct. 5 2005. Our weather here never varies much more than 10 degrees year round so any change from that is good. We already have private tours booked for Rome, Naples Florence and Athens, which we are hoping to share when it gets closer to the date to travel. We will be pre cruise for 2 days in Venice and post cruise 2 days in Barcelona. If you have any good tips or info for me I would appreciate it. Where did you stay in Barcelona? You can always email me directly if you would like. Queeng@hawaii.rr.com

Thanks so much for your input.

Ginger

:confused: Still trying to find out the best way from plane to hotel with lots of luggage. Haven't been able to do air yet (to early) but any suggestions there would be appreciated too!

Hi Ginger,

We have the same concern about lugging luggage in Venice. We will use one of these plans:

(1) Check big luggage into the hold area at the Marco Polo airport and then take our carry-ons with us on the Alilguna (20 EU round trip) to our hotel. We are staying at the Locanda Orseola which is very highly rated on tripadvisor. We found some great comments about La Calcina and e-mailed them but we will only be staying 1 night pre-cruise & they would not book us for less than 3 (or was it 2?). We would return to the airport via the Alilguna to pick up our big luggage then take a taxi to the port for embarkation.

(2) This one I plan to confirm with the kind folks at Locanda Orseola that it will work. It will be less expensive and we think quicker. Take ATVO blue bus from the airport to Piazzale Roma (3.70 EU) and store luggage there (3 EU per day each piece) Buy 24 hr. vaporetto pass (10.50 EU)– take vaporetto to St. Mark’s square. When ready to board the ship, take the vaporetto back to Piazzale Roma, pick up luggage and take a taxi to the port. I believe the Piazzale Roma is the main bus terminal and that they have luggage storage space - and taxi's should be available from there to the port. It is much closer to the port than the airport is - so should be a less expensive taxi trip. The trip between Piazzale Roma and St. Mark's Square on the vaporetto will be right down the Grand Canal!

We may get the 72 hr. vaporetto pass instead of just the 24 hr - have not decided for sure. We arrive Sat. 9:55 a.m. - embark the Grand Sun. afternoon, but we overnight on the ship and sail from Venice Mon. afternoon -so might get enough use out of the 3 day. :D We're cruising with ijkh on 9/11/05.

Here are a couple of websites with transportation information for Venice:

http://www.europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/transportation_index.htm

http://www.alilaguna.it/

Luggage carts at Marco Polo are free to use.

I hope something of all this jumble is helpful to you.

Julie

juliejoe@swbell.net

Julie,

Thanks for the reply. Yes it did make sense to me even if I still find getting to and from Venice very confusing.:cool: I have read other posts about storing bags and that sounds like a great idea I just wasn’t sure the logistics of it all.

We are going October 5 2005 so still have plenty of time to plan all this stuff out.

I still have not heard from La Calcina. We were planning on 2 nights pre cruise I hope that is enough to make a reservation.

I had read a previous post of yours earlier and was going to email you re: tour guide info.

I will check out the web sites.

Mahalo,

Ginger

They required a min. 3 night stay

Hi all,

Just returned from the Rome to Venice on the Star Princess. We stayed at the Locanda Orseolo and it was wonderful! We did take a water taxi to the airport. Every other way was just too hard. We also took a water taxi from the ship to San Marco square and then just walked from there. It was the highlight of our trip. If I can answer any questions, let me know. I did get some of the most resonably priced souvenirs at the airport! Ask for room #25, it was great. Not all of them look out on the canal, some look down on the courtyard which is kind of dismal.

kssafrg

we are booked into Loconda Orseola next september. What was the cost of the water taxi from the airport to the hotel?

kssafrg

 

we are booked into Loconda Orseola next september. What was the cost of the water taxi from the airport to the hotel?

It cost about 80 euros. We were there last month and are booked for next July. We loved it!

I agree about the water taxi- it was expensive but very romantic and memorable!

We stayed at Pensione Accademia on our Barcelona- Venice cruise last year and it was superb. We are going to stay at La Calcina next April and were able to get a reservation for just one nite at that time. They have been extremely responsive to my emails. If you have not heard back from them by now I would email again.

best wishes....Nancy

There is another thread on Venice that you should check out. Although I am repeating myself from there I do have a few words of advice having just got back from Venice myself.

Luggage in Venice can be a problem. there are bridges everywhere. there is a service that for 10 Euros per bag will move your luggage by boat to your hotel. Too expensive for my taste. The water bus from the airport is 10 Euros each per person. Luggage is stowed and stacked by the entranceway. This line expects people to have luggage and seems to cope.

The regular water bus is slightly different. We used it to go from our hotel on the Lido to the Pz Roma to catch the ships free bus to the ship. Our water bus filled up just before our stop and the entranceway was clogged with people making our exit a bit difficult. Manners won't get you off the boat so don't be afraid to be a little agressive. It seems to be the local thing to do. The Pz Roma is the main bus station. Taking a bus there from the airport and leaving your main luggage is probably a good option. You can then take a water bus to your hotel location. We stayed at the Albergo Belvedere on the Lido. We had a room with a view of St Marks. It was from a distance but still pretty cool. It is a 3 star hotel with breakfast included. We got a 3 day pass for the water bus for the 2 days that we had in Venice. Think it was 22 Euros each. We used the pass lots especially for a couple of trips up and down the Grand Canal. We did the secret tour of the Doge's palace. Well worth it. My wife says if it is the secret tour how come so many people know about it. Its a tour of the secret places of the palace like the jail cell where Cassanova was held. Have a great time.