Length of bus ride to Venice

[MalibooNewYork]

Does anyone know how long the bus ride is from our Venice docking into Venice? Thank you.

[whyask]

We were there on Viking Sky on 5/20 and 5/21. For the Viking excursion on the 20th traffic was bad and it took between 45 and 60 minutes. On the 21st for a disembark it was around 35 minutes with almost no traffic. 

[Vineyard View]

Did you have to wait long for the transportation/bus from the ship?  Do you know if this timeframe was for excursions only or were DYI passengers available to take transportation  into Venice? Thank you 

[PRH]

No one is permitted to DIY into or out of Fusina.  You must take the Viking bus in both directions.  Viking drops you off at the old cruise terminal—near the people mover, bus station and train station.

[photopro2]

Does anyone recall when the last shuttle bus left the old cruise terminal when the ship was overnighting in Fusina? I am interested as part of planning what we may be able to do in Venice that evening.

[PasadenaDave]

1 hour ago, photopro2 said:

Does anyone recall when the last shuttle bus left the old cruise terminal when the ship was overnighting in Fusina? I am interested as part of planning what we may be able to do in Venice that evening.

According to my Viking Daily for that day it was 10:30 pm.  We arrived that day in Fusina at noon

[Vineyard View]

8 hours ago, PRH said:

No one is permitted to DIY into or out of Fusina.  You must take the Viking bus in both directions.  Viking drops you off at the old cruise terminal—near the people mover, bus station and train station.

Thank you. I wasn’t clear. My fault. I meant to say, if you did not have a Viking excursion booked, and were going to DIY in Venice, did that cause a delay in getting onto busses?  I guess in other words, were people booked on excursions given priority to board the bus over those who weren’t booked? 

[whyask]

On 5/31/2022 at 5:41 PM, Vineyard View said:

Thank you. I wasn’t clear. My fault. I meant to say, if you did not have a Viking excursion booked, and were going to DIY in Venice, did that cause a delay in getting onto busses?  I guess in other words, were people booked on excursions given priority to board the bus over those who weren’t booked? 

We’ll, that’s a timely question. It was one of the few times Viking dropped the ball. On the 20th we had 2 excursions. During the day a lengthy tour walking in Venice, during which, the Viking “escorts” turned it over to a local and knowledgeable guide who took longer than expected. This caused a relatively short allotment of time between the day excursion and our evening gondola excursion so I asked the “escort” taking us back to the water taxi if we should just wait in Venice for the evening gondola excursion instead of only having around 30-45 minutes at the ship before the scheduled 2nd trip to Venice that day. She said “you’ll need to go back”. You’ll have enough time. So we trudged on back, rushed to clean up a bit and grab something from the World cafe before heading back to the bus for trip 2. We rushed ourselves to only find that the new “escorts” were waiting and waiting to find missing passengers who were supposed to be on the bus. After waiting over 20 or 30 minutes past the scheduled time we left with just 6 passengers. Very odd since I knew there should have been many more. When we arrived back at St. Marks square we were told we are going to meet some that were waiting there. Apparently some others who had different day excursions were told “ No do t go back, just wait in Venice. Those waiting in Venice kept asking why is it taking so long, not knowing the “escorts” were late because we waited at the ship for them. Anyway that happened. 
BTW, both excursions were good and I don’t have info on if those just using busses for “on their own” had delays. I expect they did not as there were plenty of busses. 
Regarding the 21st disembark day, those of us on our own were given the option the day before to choose the option of having Viking arrange a private water taxi to whatever hotel in Venice we had booked. This was at a premium price but worth it to us. It appeared their were at least more than another dozen couples who chose it also. It was a shorter ride as I said and we were totally taken care of by Viking with the private water taxi who did an excellent job helping us to the hotel Rosa Salva( highly recommended it). 
Hope this helps. 

[whyask]

On 5/31/2022 at 12:19 PM, photopro2 said:

Does anyone recall when the last shuttle bus left the old cruise terminal when the ship was overnighting in Fusina? I am interested as part of planning what we may be able to do in Venice that evening.

I believe it was 10:30pm. Our gondola excursion was scheduled to end later so they were holding a bus just for those on that excursion. 

[Vineyard View]

Thank you Whyask. I think that for the itinerary we are looking at, with a turn around in Venice, it makes sense to keep watching how this Venice situation rolls out for a bit. 
I am glad that you enjoyed your excursions, but it sounds like there are a lot of nuances with the new environment in Venice to be worked through. 

[MalibooNewYork]

I found the discussion about Venice and the possible quirks? problems? that could arise helpful. I don't know what I'd do without CC. Thank you. I leave tomorrow for the June 6 sailing. So excited.

[stu52]

Our Iconic Adriatic Antiquities cruise in October starts in Venice.  Since we are doing Venice on our own 3 days prior to embarkation, we may skip the Viking excursions and just enjoy the on-board amenities for the first day and a half.  Embarkation at the cruise terminal in Venice and then the bus ride to the ship will be enough for us after having been in Venice proper for 3 days.

[whyask]

Can’t say I blame you but be sure you find some great private excursions during your “on your own” days. It takes a day or so of getting lost in Venice to get comfortable. Staying very close to St Marks Square was the best choice we made regarding Venice. If you are early risers, walking into an empty square at 7am is awesome. 

[Vineyard View]

I agree with Venice and enjoying getting lost!  I also think that your plan of starting or ending in Venice to explore may very well be a better alternative than a B2B for the foreseeable future? That is a shame, as the itinerary ‘Italy, the Adriatic, and Greece’ has been calling to me for a good while. Not so sure at this point what to think. 

[PasadenaDave]

I disagree.  We concluded out cruise in Venice last month on the 21st and we extended in Venice for two nights.  We had a full excursion on the day we docked, the day we left the ship we were at the hotel and ready to see the town by noon and we had the entire day three to explore.

 

day three we walked across San Marcos Island and took the water bus to Murano and Burano on our own.  Venice is easy to get around with a decent map, yes I am old school.

 

Viking is one of the only larger ship beginning or ending a journey within close proximity to Venice.

[Vineyard View]

I am not sure which comment you were referring to PasadenaDave. I agree with you that beginning or ending in Venice makes sense. The itinerary I was referring to is basically a B2B with turn around (3 days) in Venice. I am just not sure how that looks or would work with the new docking situation. 

[PasadenaDave]

1 hour ago, Vineyard View said:

I am not sure which comment you were referring to PasadenaDave. I agree with you that beginning or ending in Venice makes sense. The itinerary I was referring to is basically a B2B with turn around (3 days) in Venice. I am just not sure how that looks or would work with the new docking situation. 

A turnaround would be good with I assume:

 

Day 1 noon docking and last shuttle return at 10:30

 

Day 2 All day until 10:30pm last shuttle 

 

Day 3 All day, but you might have a sail tIme of 5:00 pm

 

2 1/2 days in Venice is a good time.