Venice-Transfer to airport At 3 am?

I did search and cannot seem to find an answe...

We are on Star Princess arriving Venice on Nov. 14th-ship overnights in Venice and we disembark on Nov. 15th. We need to be off the ship at 3:00 am (according to Princess) for a 6:40am flight to Germany and on to USA. We have Princess air because it was thousands less than we could get since it is only a few months away.

My question...have any of you ever done this? Princess swears the busses - Princess transfers - will be there by 3:00 am....but I am really concerned that we'll be out on deck waiting and all of Italy will be asleep! I asked to be put on a later (much later!) flight and they are telling us we would have to stay at a Venice hotel the night of Nov. 15th and fly out on Nov. 16th. Something about all this is just not sitting right with us.....

Any one who has overnighted in Venice and got off this early, please let me know that it can be done!

Mucho thanks!

Cindiedee

It really won't make any difference if the bus leaves at 3 or 4 a.m. as the counters at the airport won't be open.

I agree with the previous post .... nothing will be open. The pier is only 20 minutes from the airport so you'll arrive at 3:20. I looked at the Marco Polo web site; Delta opens at 6am. Even the coffee shop doesn't open until 6am. I remember reading somewhere that the earliest area opens at 5am. Which airline are you using ?

You could prearrange a taxi to pick you up at the pier at 4:45am. Usually 35E but probably a surcharge for the early time.

Better yet, why not stay at a hotel for one night so you can fully enjoy Venice and avoid this headache ? That would be a wonderful option !

http://www.veniceairport.it

As others have mentioned the airport is NOT open at 3AM!!

Your first flight to Germany is inside Europe and you do not have to be at the airport sooo early to catch it.

I would not be there before 5AM at the very EARLIEST!

In Italy the line for check in is done by flight.

You will be checking in with the other folks on your first flight . It only takes about 20min. to get to the airport so sleep in a bit!

I want what they are smoking.

Yes, all of Italy will be asleep.

We had a 6:50 AM. flight last month. We checked in and got our boarding pass the night before. Showed up at 5:45 (we were staying beside the airport) and we had LOTS of time.

As others have said, nothing will be open until 5 or 5:30.

I suspect that this is for Princess's convenience. They probably are trying to get two or more trips out of each bus so they can make more money (assuming they simply chartered the bus for a set fee).

As others have posted, the airport won't be open until at least 5:00. Be sure to take a book to read.

Our flight was at 7:30 to Paris, we arrived at 5:30 (as told to do) and the check-in counter for Air France wasn't even open until 6:00.

With a 6:40 flight, the check-in desk should open earlier than ours did.

Good luck!

Well, you can be sure that the transfer buses will be there at 3am if that's what Princess states, but as iancal says this will be for Princess's convenience, not for yours. We were dumped early at Barcelona airport by a Princess transfer on one occasion (though nothing like as early as you), a full 2 hours before the check-in desk or other facilities opened, and there were a lot of very grumpy cruisers, some of them elderly people with nowhere to sit down. Once cruise lines have performed their part of the contract by getting you to the airport in time, they don't really care what inconvenience you suffer. I'd do as others suggest, forget the transfer and order a taxi at a more civilised hour or spend another night in Venice.

Our 6:50 flight was to Frankfurt on Lufthansa. Our 5:45 airport arrival gave us about 25 minutes in the lounge area, after checking bags/going through security, prior to boarding.

We always do our check in and get our boarding passes the night before if possible. It often gives us an extra 20 minutes or so in the AM, depending on the airport/airline.

we have a 6:50 am lufthansa flight but we are staying in sanmarco area. any suggestions on what time to get to the airport and best way and cheapest to get to the airport??

thank u

Venice was the worst airport that we have returned from, There is no where to sit, we all ended up sat on our suitcases. You cannot go airside until after check in and that is only 2 hours before your flight. As others have posted, nothing will be open, so get ready for a long boring wait.

we have a 6:50 am lufthansa flight but we are staying in sanmarco area. any suggestions on what time to get to the airport and best way and cheapest to get to the airport??

thank u

At that time of day, there isn't a good way. You would need vaporetto to Piazzal Roma and then taxi or bus. Need to allow 60-90 minutes. I. e. leave hotel at 4:15- 4:45

Water taxi will get you there in 35 mins including the 10 min walk at the airport but will cost 120 euros. Have to leave hotel by 5:30

A better bet is to change to the airport Marriott for your last night. They are 5 min from airport with a shuttle bus.

We did the same. Stayed at the Hotel Titian, a block down from the Marriott Courtyard, on the night before we had the early flight. Hotel shuttle took us to the airport. We left the hotel at 5:40, got to the airport at 5:45 for our 6:50 flight, went through security and had a 1/2 or so to wait....lots of seating available on that day. But....we did check in the night before to get our boarding passes which I think made things faster for us the next day.

iancal, What airline were you using and where were you going? I have never heard of being allowed to check in at an airport the night BEFORE a flight!

I think he means he checked in on line.

When we were there for a 6:55 AM flite, there was a long line to check in. I noticed a couple of unused kiosk machines and went straight there and we were all checked in in 5 minutes; it gave us a counter number to drop off our luggage and there was no one in that line. Since DH and I have different last names, the kiosk seated us apart--this girl was even able to seat us together. So be on the lookout! We were on Air France heasded to DeGaulle for our connection.

iancal, What airline were you using and where were you going? I have never heard of being allowed to check in at an airport the night BEFORE a flight!

You can get your boarding pass and choose seats 24 hrs in advance on-line almost anywhere.

We were on Lufthansa. We tried to check in on line but could not-slight glitch because we were travelling on points and the ticket was issued by another airline (Venice-Frankfurt-Calgary). We just went to the ticket counter the night before as we were returning the car. We did the exact same thing last year in Rome when we had an early flight and were staying at the Airport Hilton. Had we been travelling on a revenue ticket my understanding is that on line check in would not have been a challenge. On both occasions we got our seat selection and boarding passes through our Frankfurt transfer & home.

We travel Lufthansa whenever possible-especially on transatlantic flights.

Venice was the worst airport that we have returned from, There is no where to sit, we all ended up sat on our suitcases. You cannot go airside until after check in and that is only 2 hours before your flight. As others have posted, nothing will be open, so get ready for a long boring wait.

Worst airport in the world I've ever experienced although Mexico City was a close second.

Earl.....when I said we checked in it did not mean that we left our luggage-only that we got our seat selections and boarding passes. In the morning, we dropped of the bags-we breezed through. Unlike others, we had no issue with Venice airport-perhaps it depends on how many ships are in port.

Earl.....when I said we checked in it did not mean that we left our luggage-only that we got our seat selections and boarding passes. In the morning, we dropped of the bags-we breezed through. Unlike others, we had no issue with Venice airport-perhaps it depends on how many ships are in port.

I understood what you meant, I was responding to RIFFatSea who didn't seem to have understood. When we arrived at the airport at 7:45 for a 10:30 flight we were through security and luggage deposit in about 15 minutes and had 2 hours to spare. I'm sure you are right -all depends on the number of ships. Cheers

HI Earl,

YES , I know you can check in on line anywhere in the world. I was questioning checking in AT the airport.

In my experience when you check in on line in Europe , even if you print off a boarding pass at your hotel, you STILL have to check in at the desk in the morning and get your "official" boarding pass.

I had not heard of checking in and getting the boarding pass at the airport the night before. Perhaps the prob is just with flights directly to the USA??

even if you get your boarding pass on-line, don't you still have to go to the ticket counter to show your passport and check your luggage ?

That could be so. Travelling within Schengen (a group of European countries with a border treaty that makes cross border travel less cumbersome) countries is easier than travel outside-say to North America. When we landed in Frankfurt (from Venice0 this past May we had to line up and show our passports....almost missed our connection in the process.

When we got our boarding passes etc. the night before, the Lufthansa folks checked our passports etc. Cannot remember how the line went in the AM, but it was very fast to drop off our bags and they only glanced at our passports at the baggge check in area. Of course, once we went through security there was another passport check. When we went to check in on both occations, we were told by the Lufthansa folks that since we had checked in we had show up at the airport no later than one hour prior to flight. When you have an early AM flight, every minute counts.

I am on an early Luftansa flight at 6:45 to Frankfurt, and then onto Air Canada to Toronto in August. I've booked the Princess transfer to the airport, and certainly hope they aren't going to tell me I have to off the ship by 3:00 AM, since it sounds like the airport is not even open until 5:00 AM.

I have also read that the other regional airport in Venice, Trevisio, is closed for renovations and all flights have been diverted to Marco Polo, so some airlines are recomending 3 hours to check in.

Sorry I haven't checked back in since I started this thread...I have the "Notify via email" checked and never had a problem with it....since I never received any emails with updates, I assumed no one had replied to the thread. Decided to check the thread today and low and behold, lots of replies!

So, we are on Lufthansa Venice to Frankfurt departing Venice at 6:40 am. I kept thinking there had to be more flights out of Venice connecting somewhere in Europe...but in order to get the Princess air at much cheaper than we could do on our own, they said it was this flight or pay to stay another night in Venice....which now, I wish we had done and it is too late to change it without substantial $ penalty. So I guess we will be hanging at the Venice airport til things open up.

We have six hours in Frankfurt airport til our next Lufthansa flight to Orlando...we will probably be dead on our feet at that point and can sleep our way back to the USA!

Last year we went to Hawaii and the same thing happened. We had a 5:45 am flight out of Palm Beach so had to be there at 3:45 to check in...so we didn't even go to bed the night prior...got to the airport and the Delta agents didn't even arrive til after 5:00 am...checked us in about 5:20 and then had to stand around and wait for TSA to show up and open security. Of courseis we hadn't followed the rules, no doubt we wouldn't have made the flight...as it was, the flight didn't take off anywhere even close to time.....these are some of the many reasons why we hate flying anymore. We always swear we won't fly again...but then so many cruise bargains pop up and we can't resist!

Thanks to everyone who responded.....we'll do what we have to do to get there and back, but just once, couldn't the airlines and TSA consider the passengers?!!!!

Cheers! Cindiedee

Is there any method to go from Venice hotel to airport DIRECTLY from hotel? Our flight out leaves at 6:30 A.M. We really don't want to be walking with luggage at 3 or 4 A.M. to have to get to a place to be picked up. We are staying at the Albergo Marin, and I'm not sure exactly where it is located. I don't believe it is near airport, however. Thanks.

Also, direct answer to person who began this post: EVen if you stay an extra night in Venice, after disembarkation, you STILL have the same problem of getting to airport, unless you pick a hotel directly next to Marco Polo International.