NCL Star - flight times from Venice in October

We are booked on the Star out of Venice (Oct 7 - Oct 14, 2018) - $1,699 per person (2 of us) for a Family Suite with extras. Very happy with cruise arrangements ... we did the Western Med on the Epic in 2016 and had a great experience for very inexperienced US travelers to Europe. Admittedly, overseas travel was intimidating, but that was because we feared the unknown.

Now, off to the Eastern Med!

We are now sorting out flights. Flying into Venice the morning of the day before embarkation - heeding advice to arrive a day earlier - plus, we want at least a bit of time to see Venice and rest.

The return flight is where I have a question. I read on posts that there is no self-assist disembarkation in Venice. I hope to use the “suite” privilege of being off early ... does that exist on the Star in Venice? How long is customs?

Next, we are looking at a 12:10 p.m. flight out of Marco Polo to Philadelphia ... is that doable with travel to the airport, luggage check, and security?

We intend to insure the heck out of the trip, especially for trip interruption given some of the posts about fog that time of year. However, we prefer to be back to the US on Sunday for work on Monday, as anticipated ... is the outbound flight realistic? We really don’t (for a bunch of reasons) want to stay another day in Venice - it’s not the worst place to be, for sure, but we don’t want to make a claim if we can avoid it.

Thanks!

Firstly, there is no customs. Once you are off the ship then you collect your bags and go.

You are correct that they don’t allow self walk off in Venice. But if you are in a suite then you can be amongst the first off.

Getting to the airport can be a bit of a pain. Taxis can’t be guaranteed like they can in some other places. I have seen quite a few of them at times, but other times none waiting at all.

I don’t know what time you are arriving, so can’t say for sure whether 12.10 is too early. We have flown out of Marco Polo in the early afternoon (to the U.K.).

I would allow at least an hour, preferably two between stated arrival time and needing to get to the airport. I would also recommend booking a transfer, rather than relying on catching a taxi. It’s difficult to be specific though.

We are booked on the Star out of Venice (Oct 7 - Oct 14, 2018) - $1,699 per person (2 of us) for a Family Suite with extras. Very happy with cruise arrangements ... we did the Western Med on the Epic in 2016 and had a great experience for very inexperienced US travelers to Europe. Admittedly, overseas travel was intimidating, but that was because we feared the unknown.

 

 

 

Now, off to the Eastern Med!

 

 

 

We are now sorting out flights. Flying into Venice the morning of the day before embarkation - heeding advice to arrive a day earlier - plus, we want at least a bit of time to see Venice and rest.

 

 

 

The return flight is where I have a question. I read on posts that there is no self-assist disembarkation in Venice. I hope to use the “suite” privilege of being off early ... does that exist on the Star in Venice? How long is customs?

 

 

 

Next, we are looking at a 12:10 p.m. flight out of Marco Polo to Philadelphia ... is that doable with travel to the airport, luggage check, and security?

 

 

 

We intend to insure the heck out of the trip, especially for trip interruption given some of the posts about fog that time of year. However, we prefer to be back to the US on Sunday for work on Monday, as anticipated ... is the outbound flight realistic? We really don’t (for a bunch of reasons) want to stay another day in Venice - it’s not the worst place to be, for sure, but we don’t want to make a claim if we can avoid it.

 

 

 

Thanks!

I always play the safe side. Add a day in Venice at the end!

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I would prearrange a taxi to be waiting to pick you up at the ship. Have sailed the Jade a few times out of Venice and this is the easiest/fastest way to go. There’s competition for taxis at the taxi stand even if off first. Your flight plan looks good to me but... I’d arrive two days prior. If something happens with flight over then you could be arriving day of if lucky and perhaps even miss the ship. Have a wonderful time. Great itinerary.

I made the 1210 flight last year after cruise. That being said my in bound flight the day prior to embarkation experienced delays and we arrived @ 8pm instead of the planned 9am so did not have the time to explore Venice. Having learned from that experience on this year's trip on the Epic out of Barcelona I am flying back on Monday so I will be certain of some time to site see.

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Definitely get trip insurance...you would have missed your flight on that cruise this past year :).

We got off the star at approx 8am for a pre booked transfer who turned up 45 minutes late after two chaser calls. There were long lines for check in, for security and passport control in the airport so it was a sprint for us to make the gate for 12.30. There was a long line of taxis to grab at the port and we would have been better just jumping in them.

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KeithJenner, Could you explain the " No self disembarkation in Venice" ? I have trained my wife to only bring clothing that will fit into a carry on suitcase. Does this mean we can't just keep our bags( carryon size) with us and walk off? We normally do this on every other cruise we have been on. We are cruising Oct 21st,2018 and coming back on Oct 28th and day of the Venice Marathon. We changed our flight from Sunday to Monday just to allow for this.

We are booked on the same cruise as you. We are arriving in Venice on (Friday) 2 days before the cruise and leaving (Monday) 1 day after the cruise is over.

KeithJenner, Could you explain the " No self disembarkation in Venice" ? I have trained my wife to only bring clothing that will fit into a carry on suitcase. Does this mean we can't just keep our bags( carryon size) with us and walk off? We normally do this on every other cruise we have been on. We are cruising Oct 21st,2018 and coming back on Oct 28th and day of the Venice Marathon. We changed our flight from Sunday to Monday just to allow for this.

In Venice they don’t allow self walk off disembarkation. It is a rule of the port, not NCL.

However, that refers to suitcases. People still tend to carry off their own carry on size bags anyway, so you will be fine anyway.

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Thanks Keith for the clarification

Booked flights - direct from PHL to Venice and back. Wow, air prices are expensive ... almost the price of the cruise! Well insured for delays with cancel for any reason due to MIL illness.

Booked flights - direct from PHL to Venice and back. Wow, air prices are expensive ... almost the price of the cruise! Well insured for delays with cancel for any reason due to MIL illness.

My friends and I are booked for 8 nt Adriatic 10/28-11/5 and I'm waiting for air fares to drop. I think you may have jumped the gun booking your flights already if you booked Economy. Best time to purchase for US to Europe is 3-6 months out. If you booked Business or First then maybe not so much. Enjoy your trip and let us know how the disembarkation goes.

We booked our flights for October 4 -15 directly with United in February for $1504 total for 3 people. That’s $500 a ticket from our small town in Indiana (this was a steal). 3 hours later the same tickets were a grand total of $5043.

My friends and I are booked for 8 nt Adriatic 10/28-11/5 and I'm waiting for air fares to drop. I think you may have jumped the gun booking your flights already if you booked Economy. Best time to purchase for US to Europe is 3-6 months out. If you booked Business or First then maybe not so much. Enjoy your trip and let us know how the disembarkation goes.

Booked flights - direct from PHL to Venice and back. Wow, air prices are expensive ... almost the price of the cruise! Well insured for delays with cancel for any reason due to MIL illness.

You must be using the same AA flights we are for our Venice cruise in June!

We are booked on the Star out of Venice (Oct 7 - Oct 14, 2018) - $1,699 per person (2 of us) for a Family Suite with extras. Very happy with cruise arrangements ... we did the Western Med on the Epic in 2016 and had a great experience for very inexperienced US travelers to Europe. Admittedly, overseas travel was intimidating, but that was because we feared the unknown.

 

Now, off to the Eastern Med!

 

We are now sorting out flights. Flying into Venice the morning of the day before embarkation - heeding advice to arrive a day earlier - plus, we want at least a bit of time to see Venice and rest.

 

The return flight is where I have a question. I read on posts that there is no self-assist disembarkation in Venice. I hope to use the “suite” privilege of being off early ... does that exist on the Star in Venice? How long is customs?

 

Next, we are looking at a 12:10 p.m. flight out of Marco Polo to Philadelphia ... is that doable with travel to the airport, luggage check, and security?

 

We intend to insure the heck out of the trip, especially for trip interruption given some of the posts about fog that time of year. However, we prefer to be back to the US on Sunday for work on Monday, as anticipated ... is the outbound flight realistic? We really don’t (for a bunch of reasons) want to stay another day in Venice - it’s not the worst place to be, for sure, but we don’t want to make a claim if we can avoid it.

 

Thanks!

We are doing this same cruise in June. My research leads me to believe you will be fine. It sounds like you're using AA direct PHL-VCE-PHL as we are.

Research on the these boards and elsewhere says that the Venice airport is crowded, not well organized, and can take time. Our plan is also to fly into Venice the day before the cruise. Plan is to take the airport bus service from VCE to Venice proper, and we have a hotel near the bus & cruise terminals for that night. We figure we'll be jet-lagged and not up for a lot of sightseeing that day, so we'll take it easy.

After the cruise, we are staying 2 days in Venice and doing our Venice touring then, when we won't be jet lagged and our body clocks will be on Venice time after the cruise. We've booked a hotel down by the lagoon...yes, we know it will be crowded but after all, we may only be in Venice once! Plan is to take the Blue Line water bus from the hotel (stop is right in front of the hotel) to the airport on the morning of our departure. VCE-PHL leaves at 12:10 pm so we're going to time it to get to VCE early enough to allow for crowds, lines, confusion, and so on. Planning on a minimum of 3 hours prior to flight, maybe more if we find the airport is really crazy when we fly in.

One thing I've seen mention of that might affect you is the possibility of fog delaying the ship's arrival back in Venice - apparently this can happen during some parts of the year and I"m not sure if October is one of those months..you might want to check into that when planning your return flight the day the cruise returns.