Private water Taxi from VCE airport to cruise terminal

[surfer_girl_NJ]

Hi

 

Looking for information from anyone who has done this. Looking to take a private water taxi from Marco Polo airport to the cruise terminal. Date of travel would be Oct 10th and arrival time of flight would be around 9 am.

1) What was the cost?

2) Did you purchase prior or at the airport?

3) Did they take you through the Grand Canal?

4) Did they drop you off at the P. Roma stop or take you into into the cruise terminal (avoiding the people mover).

5) Suggestions on company to use

6) Was it worth the cost?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[dogs4fun]

34 minutes ago, surfer_girl_NJ said:

Hi

 

Looking for information from anyone who has done this. Looking to take a private water taxi from Marco Polo airport to the cruise terminal. Date of travel would be Oct 10th and arrival time of flight would be around 9 am.

1) What was the cost?

2) Did you purchase prior or at the airport?

3) Did they take you through the Grand Canal?

4) Did they drop you off at the P. Roma stop or take you into into the cruise terminal (avoiding the people mover).

5) Suggestions on company to use

6) Was it worth the cost?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

A private water taxi will cost you upwards of 100 euros. No, you do not travel through the Grand Canal - your taxi ride will terminate at the cruise terminal. "Worth the cost" is subjective but ... I would not find it worth the cost - far too expensive. There are other more affordable alternatives and, if you wish to avoid the people mover, you can take a land taxi or the Alilaguna. Great info on the following website:

https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruise-port-transportation-water.htm

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, surfer_girl_NJ said:

Hi

 

Looking for information from anyone who has done this. Looking to take a private water taxi from Marco Polo airport to the cruise terminal. Date of travel would be Oct 10th and arrival time of flight would be around 9 am.

1) What was the cost?

2) Did you purchase prior or at the airport?

3) Did they take you through the Grand Canal?

4) Did they drop you off at the P. Roma stop or take you into into the cruise terminal (avoiding the people mover).

5) Suggestions on company to use

6) Was it worth the cost?

 

Thanks

 

 

We had arranged a private water taxi from the airport to our hotel, and we specifically requested to be taken through the Grand Canal, even though that would not have been the regular route for our hotel (which was just off of St. Marks).

 

It was a wonderful way to arrive!

Yes, it was pricey, but it was our first time there, and this was also a surprise for DH.

It was worth it, definitely.

 

GC

[T.O.cruisers]

3 hours ago, surfer_girl_NJ said:

Hi

 

Looking for information from anyone who has done this. Looking to take a private water taxi from Marco Polo airport to the cruise terminal. Date of travel would be Oct 10th and arrival time of flight would be around 9 am.

1) What was the cost?

2) Did you purchase prior or at the airport?

3) Did they take you through the Grand Canal?

4) Did they drop you off at the P. Roma stop or take you into into the cruise terminal (avoiding the people mover).

5) Suggestions on company to use

6) Was it worth the cost?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

I took the water taxi from the airport to my hotel. I remember it being a very long walk with our luggage to get to the taxi from the terminal building. Been there, done that. Would not repeat. Taxi is much easier and probably cheaper.

[GeezerCouple]

52 minutes ago, T.O.cruisers said:

I took the water taxi from the airport to my hotel. I remember it being a very long walk with our luggage to get to the taxi from the terminal building. Been there, done that. Would not repeat. Taxi is much easier and probably cheaper.

 

Our service included a car from right outside the terminal to right where the water taxi was docked.

 

We had been told it was a "short walk" by many here on CC.

However, given we were going to be arriving after a night flight, and I sometimes have some mild mobility problems, we didn't think that walking would work, especially with luggage for our trip to Venice, and then on to several other cities.

 

It worked great.  There was someone immediately right as we left customs/immigration, in the main airport terminal, holding a sign with our name on it, and it was very easy.  It did seem to be an almost silly/short drive, but it would NOT have worked for us if we had needed to walk!

 

GC

[dogs4fun]

There are reasonable, inexpensive options for cruising the Grand Canal. The vaporetto is such an option, especially nice in the evening when all the hordes from the cruise ships are back onboard their respective ships - bonus: Rick Steves offers a free audio tour of the GC that you can download to your smartphone (I have his Europe app on my phone).

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours

The Grand Canal is always congested during the day - gondolas, water taxis, vaporetto & barges - I am always concerned that the gondolas will capsize (they haven't). It is no longer what I experienced on my first visit years ago and it is not what one sees in the movies or in professional photographs. As concerns the Grand Canal, I find both the gondola and water taxi experiences highly overrated and very expensive.

However, if funds are no concern, the water taxi is convenient as it does drop you off at Marittima. You would need to make the short trek from Marco Polo to the taxi dock (not far).

Edited April 8, 2019 by dogs4fun

[cruisemom42]

The OP is specifically headed from the airport to the cruise port, not to a hotel in Venice. 

 

For that path, it just doesn't make sense to consider a diversion via the Grand Canal. And likely would add significantly to the cost.

 

The private water taxi does take you to the cruise terminal and does avoid the People Mover -- but so does a regular wheeled taxi, and for a lot less.

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

The OP is specifically headed from the airport to the cruise port, not to a hotel in Venice. 

 

For that path, it just doesn't make sense to consider a diversion via the Grand Canal. And likely would add significantly to the cost.

 

The private water taxi does take you to the cruise terminal and does avoid the People Mover -- but so does a regular wheeled taxi, and for a lot less.

 

OP asked specifically about the Grand Canal.

 

That wasn't on the path to our hotel.  But we *asked* to include that, and have the "path" changed, and so we *did* get taken along the Grand Canal on our arrival in Venice.

It was terrific.

 

And we could have taken a shared boat of some sort, but that's not what we wanted for our first arrival into Venice.

Arriving via the Grand Canal was terrific, a real treat! 

 

I simply shared information so that OP knew it could be arranged if desired.

 

GC

[surfer_girl_NJ]

Thank you all for your input. I had contacted two companies and It seems, even if I wanted to pay extra for it,  I cannot get a private water taxi to go through the grand canal until after 2 pm if our destination is the cruise port : ( 

Like GC, being our first time here I would have loved to have done this.

 

Since we will have 2 carrryons and 2 larger pieces of luggage I am not sure how the Alilaguna water bus service will work out. Does anyone know how they handle luggage/ is there space for it?

 

I'll be looking into taking a gondola ride...maybe down one of the side canals to avoid the congestion on the grand canal during the day. It is on my bucket list even though I am sure it is not what they 'hype' it up to be.

Thanks dogs4fun for the great links. I think we will also be using the vaporetto at least once to get to the Rialto Market. I am hoping Celebrity has a water shuttle to St. Mark's square.

[GeezerCouple]

6 minutes ago, surfer_girl_NJ said:

Thank you all for your input. I had contacted two companies and It seems, even if I wanted to pay extra for it,  I cannot get a private water taxi to go through the grand canal until after 2 pm if our destination is the cruise port : ( 

Like GC, being our first time here I would have loved to have done this.

 

Since we will have 2 carrryons and 2 larger pieces of luggage I am not sure how the Alilaguna water bus service will work out. Does anyone know how they handle luggage/ is there space for it?

 

I'll be looking into taking a gondola ride...maybe down one of the side canals to avoid the congestion on the grand canal during the day. It is on my bucket list even though I am sure it is not what they 'hype' it up to be.

 

Thanks dogs4fun for the great links. I think we will also be using the vaporetto at least once to get to the Rialto Market. I am hoping Celebrity has a water shuttle to St. Mark's square.

Send me a regular email through our regular e-address (see below in the "signature" section of our post.

I can send you the name of the company we used, and the owner's name.

(IF there is a hard and fast rule about that 2pm, that might not help, but we definitely did it earlier in the day... but that was about 3 years ago or such... not ancient history, but not last month, either.)

 

It WAS worth it, for the extra money.  Although it was "extra", it certainly didn't break the bank, especially given the total cost of such a trip.  We usually splurge on a few "extras" each trip anyway 

 

Ours was a land trip.  But we'd love to have a cruise that ended in Venice, for that sail-in (as long as they still permit them right into the city, for smaller or mid-sized ships, etc.; I don't know what will be allowed in the future).

 

GC

[surfer_girl_NJ]

15 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Send me a regular email through our regular e-address (see below in the "signature" section of our post.

I can send you the name of the company we used, and the owner's name.

(IF there is a hard and fast rule about that 2pm, that might not help, but we definitely did it earlier in the day... but that was about 3 years ago or such... not ancient history, but not last month, either.)

 

It WAS worth it, for the extra money.  Although it was "extra", it certainly didn't break the bank, especially given the total cost of such a trip.  We usually splurge on a few "extras" each trip anyway 

 

Ours was a land trip.  But we'd love to have a cruise that ended in Venice, for that sail-in (as long as they still permit them right into the city, for smaller or mid-sized ships, etc.; I don't know what will be allowed in the future).

 

GC

Hi GC

Thanks for the info. I sent you an email. Hopefully you have received it.

 

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, surfer_girl_NJ said:

Since we will have 2 carrryons and 2 larger pieces of luggage I am not sure how the Alilaguna water bus service will work out. Does anyone know how they handle luggage/ is there space for it?

There is plenty of space for luggage on the Alilaguna - you will have no issues should you decide to utilize this option.

FWIW: Gondola rides on the Venice canals other than the Grand Canal are quite lovely - peaceful, serene and, IMHO, a worthwhile experience.

Since your desire is to have a trip down the GC upon arrival, hope you are able to find a water taxi that will accommodate you - you should do whatever you wish as it is your trip.

Edited April 9, 2019 by dogs4fun

[cruisemom42]

10 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

OP asked specifically about the Grand Canal.

 

That wasn't on the path to our hotel.  But we *asked* to include that, and have the "path" changed, and so we *did* get taken along the Grand Canal on our arrival in Venice.

It was terrific.

 

And we could have taken a shared boat of some sort, but that's not what we wanted for our first arrival into Venice.

Arriving via the Grand Canal was terrific, a real treat! 

 

I simply shared information so that OP knew it could be arranged if desired.

 

GC

 

I didn't mean to offend. It was my impression that the post was more about getting from the airport to the port, so I just wanted to be sure the OP understood that the other experiences were somewhat different to what she was asking about. 

[surfer_girl_NJ]

 

22 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

There is plenty of space for luggage on the Alilaguna - you will have no issues should you decide to utilize this option.

FWIW: Gondola rides on the Venice canals other than the Grand Canal are quite lovely - peaceful, serene and, IMHO, a worthwhile experience.

 

Thank you for the info on Alilaguna luggage situation. If my hubby does not 'spring' for the private water taxi I will most likely use Alilaguna. Also, thanks for the input on the Gondola ride, I will definitely take a ride down a side canal.

[mapleleaves]

you could contact the Consorzio to ask about a price that includes the Grand Canal as a sightseeing extra.   

https://www.motoscafivenezia.it/en/transfers.php 

 

[GeezerCouple]

11 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

you could contact the Consorzio to ask about a price that includes the Grand Canal as a sightseeing extra.   

https://www.motoscafivenezia.it/en/transfers.php 

 

 

We had tried to arrange this with them a few years ago.

I'm forgetting why it didn't work out (perhaps the fact that we were concerned with that walk from the airport?).

 

Anyway, we ended up finding a transportation service that has since provided car service in several locations. 

Always superb.

 

GC

[Hlitner]

Getting back to the OP's question, if you do decide to hire your own water taxi (not sharing with others) at VCE, the boat will happily take you on any route or even go out of their way to cruise along the Grand Canal (this is a major detour if just going from VCE to the cruise port).  The catch is that you will be charged more Euros....possibly a lot more Euros.  You can certainly negotiate a price but I would think a detour to the Grand Canal will cost you at least another 50Euros over the normal fare (about 100 Euros).

 

How do most folks go from the airport to the cruise terminal?  Many take the express ATVO bus to the P. Roma and then use the People Mover to get over to the port.  Others will simply grab a land taxi which will take you directly from the airport to the cruise terminal (this is most efficient method).

 

Hank

[surfer_girl_NJ]

On 4/10/2019 at 4:37 PM, mapleleaves said:

you could contact the Consorzio to ask about a price that includes the Grand Canal as a sightseeing extra.   

https://www.motoscafivenezia.it/en/transfers.php 

 

 

I will look into this also. Thanks : )