Cruiseline hotels in Venice

[Fabulous2B50]

Has anyone used the cruiselines hotels in Venice, and if so, does it usually include breakfast? I know transfers are included in the rate. Trying to compare rates on my own at hotels that include buffet breakfast with what the cruiselines do.

[pooh1bear43113]

We had originally booked post-cruise Sofitel Venezia (sp?) (as well as pre-cruise in Barcelona) thru the cruise line then I found out I could get it for less than half of what X was going to charge so I cancelled with X and booked both myself.

 

Our cruise ended in Venice. We booked the ship's transfer to Marco Polo, left our big luggage in the left luggage office at a/p. We each kept an overnight bag with us. We took the blue (I think it was blue!) a/p bus (ATVO) back to Venice (3 Euros) and disembarked at the central hub, P. Roma. The Sofitel was 2 bridges away from P. Roma - an easy walk. It's located on a canal and it does offer boat transfers to the a/p I believe (but expensive). Staying in the location of P. Roma gave us a chance to explore that side of Venice which we had not explored earlier. The day of departure, it was a quick, easy walk back to pick up the Blue ATVO airport bus back to Marco Polo, collect our luggage and head for the check-in.

 

Breakfast was included in the price of our room and the room was very nice - however, before and after cruises the lobby is a crowded mess! Since we had booked independently from the cruise line - we were given priority, i.e., others had to wait hours for rooms to be vacated and cleaned while we were in our room by noon.

 

I'd absolutely do this again - especially in Barcelona and Venice! Saved a good deal of money and while I thought that the transfers would be an issue - I can tell you: the price cruise line charges for the pre- and post-lodging and transportation is just not worth paying. (And we did the cruise line pre- and post hotels on previous Med. cruises - this time it was much more fun - and less expensive.)

[Fabulous2B50]

Is it possible to take a land taxi from the pier to Piazzale Roma, then just get out there and walk to the hotel from there with our luggage?

 

I agree that booking ou our own is cheaper, and I just found an internet rate at the American Airlines website for the Sofitel Venezia that is cheaper than the hotel website! It will be pretty hard not to snatch it up!

Will it be difficult to find a taxi at 5:00 am or can I reserve one to meet us at P. Roma? Or can I get a water taxi to take us from Sofitel Roma to the airport? I will be saving enough money on the room that it will more than pay for the water taxi ride!

[pooh1bear43113]

DH and I were just talking about how/what we'd do differently on our next Med. cruise and the one thing I will research is how to get to Marco Polo from the ship's terminal via public transportation vs. ship's transportation. So I can't help you there. However, I can tell you that once you exit the terminal at the pier, there is a large area where there are skads of busses. I can't remember if there were cabs or not - we had already purchased our ship's transfers to Marco Polo so (stupid, stupid, stupid me!) I didn't pay any attention to what might have been available.

 

 

Since you are saving a good deal on the Sofitel (and it is a nice hotel - especially the lobby bar - very, very nice snacks and drinks and within easy walking distance of many restaurants along the canals) perhaps you should contact them about their "taxi" to Marco Polo. They have their own boat and dock right in front of the door. (This hotel is located close by a lovely old park with huge old trees - a very, very restful place - our room overlooked this park.) When we checked out of the hotel, the desk clerk looked surprised that we opted not to take their boat to the airport. Might be worth checking into before you leave home - thought I saw a price somewhere - might have been on their web site - not sure. That would be very convenient.

 

 

If memory serves me I do not think the pier was too far from the hotel - but then, I was not paying much attention when we left the terminal headed to the airport on the ship's transport. You might also ask the hotel for suggestions on the best way to get over to their place from the cruise ship terminal.

 

 

Any and all e-mail correspondence I had with them was answered promptly and courteously. Several folks on our cruise were also concerned about transportation from pier to their hotels - and found that the hotels were very helpful in helping them "navigate" their way to their hotels - I'd think Sofitel will gladly give you some suggestions.

 

 

You're going to have a great time! Hope I was able to help you some.....

 

[Fabulous2B50]

Thank you SO much! You have really helped me out on my hotel decisions in Venice. I am glad you like this hotel and I will email them prior to booking to see what they suggest about pier to hotel transportation and hotel to airport. Since we have an early flight (6:50am) I would be surprised if they had anyone available or willing to go that early in the morning, but I will at least ask! I just got my FF ticket awarded, and am now waiting for airfares to come back from the moon before I book. Our cruise starts in early June from Rome and ends in Venice, so I have some time to watch airfare prices. Hope the hotel rate doesn't go up! If I booked her ticket now it would be over $1600-coach!

[pooh1bear43113]

Wow on the airline price! Makes our $744/pp for this past May on Delta look like a steal!

 

I'm looking at flights to Miami in December for a cruise and to LA in April for another cruise and am getting discouraged. Normally when I book a cruise, I get right in there and book the air and do pretty well - unless fuel prices drop it looks like the (relatively) cheap tickets are long gone.

 

Good luck and I know you'll enjoy this cruise.

 

(And pay attention to the elevators in this hotel - they are so tiny! I guess they were the same in size as those at our hotel in Barcelona - but the elevator doors in the Sofitel were so small and well concealed they were hard to find. (We'd never have gotten all of our cruise luggage in their elevator! But what fun we had!)

[Fabulous2B50]

Luckily my daughter is only a little more than 5 feet tall, but I am almost 5'8". Go figure! It sounds like we will have to make 2 separate trips up to our room if the elevator is that small!;)