Perstef81

Thanks!

South Friars will have the best snorkeling. You will need to watch out for the sea urchins

Do you know if they (or Cockleshell) have rentals or do you have to bring your own equipment?

Greystroke,

Do you know if Friar's or Cockleshell rents snorkel equipment? We were hoping to avoid bringing our on this cruise but still wanted to get some snorkeling in.

Thanks!

We are first timers going to Venice (actually first time in Europe!) in just a few weeks. :D:D:D

 

I was thinking about going on-line and pre-booking tickets to St. Marks Basilica to avoid having to wait in line once we get there. I don't want to waste any time while we are there. It sounds like there is going to be so much to see!

 

When I looked at booking the tickets you have to choose a specific time. Our ship docks at 9:00am. We were thinking about going in the morning. How long does it usually take to get from the ship to the Basilica?

 

We are also considering buying vaporetto passes. Not sure yet as we do love to walk and we might not use them enough to make it worthwhile. Our ship is staying over night so we might go back and forth a few times. Can you buy the 12 hour pass where you get on the vaporetto?

 

This is the last day of our trip:(, so we are thinking that we want to spend most of it just walking around and taking in the sights. We didn't book any tours because we want it to be a more relaxed day. Wandering around and getting lost a few times sounds like fun to me! Thanks to everyone who has posted info already. It sure has made planning this trip so much easier.

On the ACTV or Alilaguna it would probably take about 1/2 hour to 40 minutes from the time you get picked up until you get to St Marks. The Alilaguna has a stop right at the port and the Vaparetto (ACTV) you can pick up at the Plazzo Roma. It would take well over an hour to walk (esp if there are a lot of ships in port and the streets are crowded). You can always get a water bus there and then wander your way back when time isn't an issue. I will say though that we took the water bus back form St Marks and it was a really nice view of the Grand Canal. Going there is on the Lagoon side.

You can buy the 12 hour pass at any of the major stops on the Vaparetto. Enjoy your time there. It's one of my favorite cities now and this last cruise was my first time there as well.

If you get the audio guide at Doge's Palace it takes quite a bit of time to get through. Just something to keep in mind. Murano is interesting, but looking back on it since it took so much time to get out there I think i would have skipped it on the port day and just wandered around Venice more.

We did the people mover with our luggage, but just walked to the ship otherwise. It was a good way to burn off the gelato!

I have some photos from Venice on my blog in case you're interested.

http://perstef.blogspot.com/2013/07/venice-italy.html

Enjoy! I can't wait to go back to Venice!