Boarding Ship in Venice - Luggage and Timing?

Hi! We will be boarding the MSC Musica in Venice. Itinerary says departure is 5pm. We want to make the most of the day in Venice and board as late as possible. Some questions:

1) Should we drop off our luggage in the morning, sight-see, and return to the port? Or should we just bring our luggage when we are ready to board? If drop off in the morning, do we check in for our cruise then, too? Or later when we are ready to board?

2) Does anyone know the cut-off time for boarding? We don't want to cut it too close, but we want to spend as much time as possible exploring Venice, as when we return from the cruise we head straight to the airport.

Also posting this in the MSC forum.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Where is your starting point that day .... the airport? train station? a hotel in venice or elsewhere?

Good question! Hotel, near the Riva de Biasio station. Trying to decide if we will take the Vaparetto or splurge for a Water Taxi...

Since you have limited time, I'd ask the hotel to hold onto my luggage in order to start sightseeing right away.

For a 5pm sailaway, you probably need to be on board by 3.

Water taxi would be the quickest option, but pricey. I'm a budget traveller and travel light, so i'd walk or take a water bus to Piazzale Roma, then the People Mover to the pier.

Thanks, Mapleleaves! I was thinking of taking the Vaparetto to Piazzale Roma and then taking the People Mover. I was leaning towards doing as you suggest and leaving the luggage at the hotel until we go to the port to check-in, but someone advised we drop off our luggage in the AM, so I wanted to get input from others. Glad you are reassuring my instinct :) I suppose it seems a bit silly to travel to the port twice in one day.