Venice disembark and train time

[suuluu]

Hi

We are first time Australian cruisers (family of four) and are doing Fantasia eastern med as part of a month long Europe trip. I have learned much from these boards and understand there can be delays due to fog, and possibly chaotic MSC disembark. I have seen other threads about when to book flights but we are travelling on to Florence October 12 and want to make the most of that day as our other day there some museums are closed. I was going to go to mestre and just buy tickets as I was told trains unlikely to sell out but have seen other threads with cruisers saying trains were sold out all day. So I now think I should book tickets - what would people recommend if the ship in theory docks at 8am? The trains run hourly on the half hour ish. Would 10.30 be ambitious? Also how to be get off the ship early. Can someone explain the bag collection to me and whether we should take our own bags off. We have a 14 yr old and and 11 yr old also. Thanks in advance and sorry for long post!

[caitriona43]

Hi suuluu

You leave your bag outside your cabin the night before you disembark.you can also carry your own luggage off so you can disembark earlier because your not waiting on your bag to be delivered.the only problem you could have is fog .in theory you should disembark quickly .msc want everybody off the ship as quick as possible. when I embarked in July you could board from 10.30am even though our paper work said we could board at 1pm you couldn't enter your cabin unroll 2pm

[AmoMondo]

I've docked in Venice several times but never take off my own luggage - it is too heavy and too much hassle form me. The earliest I've been off is just after 10 but usually it is closer to 10.45 before I'm actually in a taxi. That said, I've never been in the first group off, maybe I half an hour or so behind those.

 

If the ship docks at 8am, I'd estimate foist group off around 9.00-9.15, so 10.30 is doable if you get in the first group and manage to get a taxi straight away to Mestre, without a long wait.

 

Whether you go for ibookingnthe 10.30 or not depends on you and what the other train times are and the financial penalty if you miss it.

[caitriona43]

I was the first group off with a transfer . had to wait for everybody in the group to disembark together.if you had your luggage you could disembark by 830am that's if the ship arrived at 8am. I was off at 9am was due to disembark at 840am was waiting on msc to give the go a head to disembark and I wheeled my luggage off no problem .was pushed for time didn't want my bags to get lost I'm sure they would have been fine . been pushed for time I felt better that I had my own luggage

[suuluu]

I was the first group off with a transfer . had to wait for everybody in the group to disembark together.if you had your luggage you could disembark by 830am that's if the ship arrived at 8am. I was off at 9am was due to disembark at 840am was waiting on msc to give the go a head to disembark and I wheeled my luggage off no problem .was pushed for time didn't want my bags to get lost I'm sure they would have been fine . been pushed for time I felt better that I had my own luggage

Thanks very much to you both for the info. What do you mean first off with a transfer? Is that a transfer you had through MSC? How do you ensure you get off first/early otherwise?

[AmoMondo]

Thanks very much to you both for the info. What do you mean first off with a transfer? Is that a transfer you had through MSC? How do you ensure you get off first/early otherwise?

 

You can't ensure you are off first, you can only request that you are off first. People who have MSC transfers booked get priority, then it is anyone on excursions followed by everyone else with higher decks usually getting priority over lower decks.

 

They will try to accommodate your request but it is not guaranteed you will get it. After all if half the passengers are telling them they have early trains or planes, there is no way they an allow 1000 or more people off at once.

 

Best way to get off earlier would be to walk off with your own luggage after the ship is cleared and they start disembarkation.

[suuluu]

You can't ensure you are off first, you can only request that you are off first. People who have MSC transfers booked get priority, then it is anyone on excursions followed by everyone else with higher decks usually getting priority over lower decks.

 

They will try to accommodate your request but it is not guaranteed you will get it. After all if half the passengers are telling them they have early trains or planes, there is no way they an allow 1000 or more people off at once.

 

Best way to get off earlier would be to walk off with your own luggage after the ship is cleared and they start disembarkation.

Thanks again. A couple more Qs if I could. So if we leave our bags out we get a scheduled disembark and we collect bags from the terminal and that's what takes the extra time as there are so many people - is that right? If we keep our bags what time do we have to vacate the room eg do we have to drag around bags at breakfast? I have no real concept of what the ship is like and how we disembark. Is it a big pain taking your own bags off or not really?

[caitriona43]

Hi suuluu

Go for breakfast 730am/8am leave bags in cabin go back to cabin collect bags disembark 830/845am it will be fine to leave bags in cabin for that time they said that we should vacate cabin at 830am

[caitriona43]

It not a pain to take them off yourself. You only have to get them to the lift which is not far that brings you to floor you disembark on which was the 4th floor all week

[suuluu]

It not a pain to take them off yourself. You only have to get them to the lift which is not far that brings you to floor you disembark on which was the 4th floor all week

Thanks. So if we take our own bags we can get of as soon as they open up and don't need a scheduled time? They don't hold passports do they? I thought I'd read that somewhere along the line. Thanks for your patience answering my Qs.

[caitriona43]

No they don't hold your passports settle your bill by credit card they drop an invoice to your cabin late the night before you disembark you sign one copy and give the other copy to reception there usually a member of staff collecting them so you don't have to queue you could do that before breakfast so then you will be ready to go after breakfast

[WA Girl]

I was the first group off with a transfer . had to wait for everybody in the group to disembark together.if you had your luggage you could disembark by 830am that's if the ship arrived at 8am. I was off at 9am was due to disembark at 840am was waiting on msc to give the go a head to disembark and I wheeled my luggage off no problem .was pushed for time didn't want my bags to get lost I'm sure they would have been fine . been pushed for time I felt better that I had my own luggage

Some great info on disembarking, just wondering who you had your transfer with, and were you going to the airport after the cruise

[AmoMondo]

No they don't hold your passports settle your bill by credit card they drop an invoice to your cabin late the night before you disembark you sign one copy and give the other copy to reception there usually a member of staff collecting them so you don't have to queue you could do that before breakfast so then you will be ready to go after breakfast

 

That is not exactly true. It depends on your itinerary and what passport you hold. Passports are sometimes held and not returned until the final morning. If the cruise does not leave the Schennigen (sp.) area, passports will not be held.

[AmoMondo]

It not a pain to take them off yourself. You only have to get them to the lift which is not far that brings you to floor you disembark on which was the 4th floor all week

 

Well perhaps you travel much lighter than I do. Second last time in Vencie we were berthed quite a way from the baggage hall and it was a good 10 minute walk along narrow walkways up and down ramps. I certainly would not have wanted to schlep my large case that far. You don't always get to dock right alongside an area you immediately exit from.

[caitriona43]

I had my transfer with msc it was directly to the airport

[WA Girl]

I had my transfer with msc it was directly to the airport

Thanks, so you could still take your own luggage off with the MSC transfer ?

[caitriona43]

I don't think they would hold your Australian passport but you could always check with msc before you travel.they never held my Irish passport they had all my details before we travelled then when we checked in that had a look at the passports and handed them back to us they were in the safe for the rest of the week .the ports we visited were bari katakolon Santorini Athens Corfu and Dubrovnik we started at Venice.

[AmoMondo]

I don't think they would hold your Australian passport but you could always check with msc before you travel.they never held my Irish passport they had all my details before we travelled then when we checked in that had a look at the passports and handed them back to us they were in the safe for the rest of the week .the ports we visited were bari katakolon Santorini Athens Corfu and Dubrovnik we started at Venice.

 

I've had my UK passport held on Med cruises. It depends on the ports of call.

[caitriona43]

I never had my passports held on any of my med cruises

[Elmartellama]

Our most recent experience with the MSC Fantasia was a bit bad in that matter. We were delayed for one hour due to some protests, and we went out little before 11:00h or so (arrival time was 08:00).

 

There was real tension with some passengers when we passed by the reception area, maybe because of that.

 

I would advice against taking trains before 12:00h. Of course you may be luckier, but you risk losing your train tickets. Maybe in mid-October tickets trains don't sold out so fast and you can still buy them when arriving to the station.

 

Anyway, if you book your train tickets well in time they can be so much cheaper that buying them the same day you are travelling, I mean many months in advance. For example, Milano - Venezia trains start at 9€.

[suuluu]

Well it's all very hard to predict isn't it? Re the passport MSC advise they don't know if it will be taken(!) but we can ask to have them returned the night before if we are disembarking ourselves. The ports are the same as caitriona43 and Elmartellama. I don't think Dubrovnik is in the Schengen area but Aussies don't need a visa if that matters.

 

Thanks for that info about your experience Elmartellama. They delays are obviously something you can't predict - the protests seem to be mentioned more and more too. Yes I realised trains are cheaper the earlier you book, I have booked some from florence to Rome already. I was happy to just buy tickets when we get to the station in Venice as I'd rather pay top price and not waste time at the station or miss a train but then I saw a thread about them selling out. Can you post links to other CC threads? Let's try:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2079719

I'd also want to ensure we get seats together or at least in 2s since we have kids. Until Elmartellama's post i was going for the 11.30 train with likely self disembark. Ahhhh don't know what to do.

Edited August 5, 2014 by suuluu

[Elmartellama]

Dubrovnik is in the European Union, even if not in the Schengen Area. As European Citizen we can move freely inside the European Union, even if not Schengen area. And even if Australians might have to check at the Croatian border, absolutely no one stops you from disembarking in Dubrovnik. I don't know about MSC holding the passports though.

 

I'm sorry, you might get luckier than us, but if you have kids I would play it safe and not stress out too much.

 

I get that you prefer taking an earlier train, but the reason I say 12:00h is just because we exited the boat at 10:50h or so and we were assigned a departing time that was in the middle position. Many more people disembarked after us.

 

We did not ask to get off earlier anyway. You might try that.

[suuluu]

Dubrovnik is in the European Union, even if not in the Schengen Area. As European Citizen we can move freely inside the European Union, even if not Schengen area. And even if Australians might have to check at the Croatian border, absolutely no one stops you from disembarking in Dubrovnik. I don't know about MSC holding the passports though.

 

I'm sorry, you might get luckier than us, but if you have kids I would play it safe and not stress out too much.

 

I get that you prefer taking an earlier train, but the reason I say 12:00h is just because we exited the boat at 10:50h or so and we were assigned a departing time that was in the middle position. Many more people disembarked after us.

 

We did not ask to get off earlier anyway. You might try that.

Thanks for that and a massive thanks for that great photo review - it is really wonderful. We just really don't want to be waiting around at strain station all day wasting precious trip time especially since we only have the following day in Florence when the main attractions are closed! It is a long way from down under and we won't be back too soon unfortunately. Thanks again.