Venice Logistics

[CHammond]

Yes of course you just need to tell your guide and find out from her where and when to meet at the end

[ural guy]

We're on this cruise in January.  Supposed to dock in Chioggia.  As of now, I have a hotel booked for our second night docked there, so we can stay in overnight in Venice.

 

We've only been to Venice once, on a day fast ferry trip from Yugoslavia back in 1988.  I understand how neat the place is.  Having said that, I wish we could just skip Venice and add on stops in Croatia, Greece, Italy...anywhere not so confusing.  I really didn't clue into the fact that we are on a cruise with different segments pieced together.  We are on the Rome-Athens leg.

[kctwinmommy]

@ural guy we did a similar one. I've been doing my review of our cruise here on the Viking page. I agree, I didn't realize we had booked 3 cruises sold as one. Thus, we didn't really enjoy Venice that much. I know someone else did that though, but just make sure you let Viking know you're staying off the ship.

 

And yes, Croatia was beautiful! One of our favorite places!

[CHammond]

On 6/30/2024 at 12:39 PM, RexMesiter said:

Thanks.  I'm already within the 120 day window and have selected my shore excursions.  The "At a Glance: St. Mark's Square" was the only included tour offered.  I would have much preferred the "Venice On Your Own" if available. I wonder why they did away with that one.  Could you go on the included tour, abandon it once on shore, then go out and explore on your own (including booking a tour from a local vendor) and catch up with the tour when it's time to return to the ship?

There is a possibility they might add it on closer to your trip, keep checking back on My Viking Journey until you leave, have fun whatever you do!

[kctwinmommy]

3 hours ago, CHammond said:

There is a possibility they might add it on closer to your trip, keep checking back on My Viking Journey until you leave, have fun whatever you do!

Although with Venice trying to restrict tourists, it's possible they want more control over the tourist groups that come.

[Cabanaboy59]

I'm new to Cruise Critic and the search feature returns so MANY threads, if this isn't the right place for my post, feel free to point me in the right direction. 

 

I've always thought that I was a pretty good travel planner for my wife and I until I encountered Venice! We will be on Viking's Empires of the Mediterranean in late September (Venice>Athens). We have never been to Venice and I know better than to fly in the day the cruise departs so I figured, "let's do the 2-night extension in Venice at the beginning, surely that will give us enough time to get in some Venice sightseeing". Well, reality just set in....

 

Day 1, our flight doesn't land in Venice until 1:50PM. I figure to clear Immigration & Customs, meet the Viking rep, and make it to the San Clemente Palace Kempinski (of course, on an island), that we will be lucky to be in our room by 4:30PM (hungry and jet lagged). Goodnight to Night #1. 

Day 2 will be jam packed trying to see as much of Venice as we can cram into one day and then back to the island hotel. Goodnight to Night #2.

Day 3 will be checkout and transfer to Viking Saturn with stateroom availability at 1PM.

 

Sorry for the long lead in but the questions that this raises are:

1. Has anyone stayed at the San Clemente Palace Kempinski and do they have their own water shuttle, where does it drop you off (St. Mark's?), regularly scheduled or do you call them to pick you up to take you back to the hotel? If there isn't one, are they a stop on one of the Vaporetto routes?

2. Does the port in Chioggia have a scheduled boat to Venice? We will have some time from early afternoon to Viking Saturn's departure at 11PM on Day 3 and I'm trying to figure out the logistics of getting back to Venice for a few hours, if that is even worth it?

3. Is there much to see in Chioggia if we just decided to get off the Saturn for the afternoon and walk around town?

 

Thanks for any info or suggestions.

[OneSixtyToOne]

37 minutes ago, Cabanaboy59 said:

I'm new to Cruise Critic and the search feature returns so MANY threads, if this isn't the right place for my post, feel free to point me in the right direction. 

 

I've always thought that I was a pretty good travel planner for my wife and I until I encountered Venice! We will be on Viking's Empires of the Mediterranean in late September (Venice>Athens). We have never been to Venice and I know better than to fly in the day the cruise departs so I figured, "let's do the 2-night extension in Venice at the beginning, surely that will give us enough time to get in some Venice sightseeing". Well, reality just set in....

 

Day 1, our flight doesn't land in Venice until 1:50PM. I figure to clear Immigration & Customs, meet the Viking rep, and make it to the San Clemente Palace Kempinski (of course, on an island), that we will be lucky to be in our room by 4:30PM (hungry and jet lagged). Goodnight to Night #1. 

Day 2 will be jam packed trying to see as much of Venice as we can cram into one day and then back to the island hotel. Goodnight to Night #2.

Day 3 will be checkout and transfer to Viking Saturn with stateroom availability at 1PM.

 

Sorry for the long lead in but the questions that this raises are:

1. Has anyone stayed at the San Clemente Palace Kempinski and do they have their own water shuttle, where does it drop you off (St. Mark's?), regularly scheduled or do you call them to pick you up to take you back to the hotel? If there isn't one, are they a stop on one of the Vaporetto routes?

2. Does the port in Chioggia have a scheduled boat to Venice? We will have some time from early afternoon to Viking Saturn's departure at 11PM on Day 3 and I'm trying to figure out the logistics of getting back to Venice for a few hours, if that is even worth it?

3. Is there much to see in Chioggia if we just decided to get off the Saturn for the afternoon and walk around town?

 

Thanks for any info or suggestions.

 

When we took the Viking extension last year, we stayed at the JW Marriot, which is on the island next to your hotel (we passed by it on route to and from the city). I'm sure the hotel runs shuttles, in addition Viking ran its own shuttles which were more frequent.

 

Here is my Live posting of the trip. It details the Venice portion.

 

Edited July 18 by OneSixtyToOne

[kctwinmommy]

2 hours ago, Cabanaboy59 said:

 

2. Does the port in Chioggia have a scheduled boat to Venice? We will have some time from early afternoon to Viking Saturn's departure at 11PM on Day 3 and I'm trying to figure out the logistics of getting back to Venice for a few hours, if that is even worth it?

3. Is there much to see in Chioggia if we just decided to get off the Saturn for the afternoon and walk around town?

 

Thanks for any info or suggestions.

On our cruise this April/May, there was no shuttle boat going from Chioggia to Venice. So, once you get on the ship, there's no Viking sponsored way to get back to Venice. It's also about 90 minutes each way, so that cuts into your time as well.

 

Chioggia is a cute town. They call it Little Venice, lots of canals and bridges. I wrote up a little bit about it in my trip report (on the page just a short ways down). We didn't do a lot when we went, but it was cute. It will probably grow with possible tours and such if these ships continue to dock here.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Cabanaboy59 said:

Has anyone stayed at the San Clemente Palace Kempinski and do they have their own water shuttle, where does it drop you off (St. Mark's?),

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic -- and Viking Oceans forum!

 

For questions about hotel services, you really should ask the hotel. That way, you will get the most up-to-date information and you may have some recourse if they have given you bad information -- because you will have an e-mail from them. Go to the hotel website to find their e-mail address. Ask them the schedule and exactly where it drops you off.

 

Google is your friend. Google Maps Direction usually include public transportation options.

 

 

 

[ural guy]

On 7/17/2024 at 9:51 PM, kctwinmommy said:

On our cruise this April/May, there was no shuttle boat going from Chioggia to Venice. So, once you get on the ship, there's no Viking sponsored way to get back to Venice. It's also about 90 minutes each way, so that cuts into your time as well.

 

Chioggia is a cute town. They call it Little Venice, lots of canals and bridges. I wrote up a little bit about it in my trip report (on the page just a short ways down). We didn't do a lot when we went, but it was cute. It will probably grow with possible tours and such if these ships continue to dock here.

This really is disappointing.  We're on the January Rome-Athens, so we spend 2.5 days in Chioggia.  To pay so much for a cruise that touts Venice as a main attraction, then the cruise line only takes you there once?, with the included tour.  After that you are on your own with a bus or ferry, on your dime.

 

I'm fine with only one included tour but think there should be better provided connections to that main attraction.  

 

Has anyone ridden the bus?  For January and hopefully less traffic, this may be the quickest.  It drops off at Piazzale Roma, where it looks to be a 15 minute vaporetto ride to our hotel.  

 

Thanks, I'd appreciate any boots on the ground reports and suggestions.  

[kctwinmommy]

@ural guy - I won't lie, I was totally turned off by our time in "Venice" but that wasn't really high on my list to begin with. But yes, you're right, with the amount of time you spend in that area, it would be nice if there were more Viking options. Of course, we were also there at the beginning of tourist season, as well as the weekend the pope was holding mass that Sunday, so that also affected things for our specific cruise. It was also the 2nd or 3rd day I think for the tourist fee ticket you needed.

 

You mentioned your hotel, are you planning to spend a night in Venice then? Hopefully others have suggestions on ways to get to Venice to spend more time there. We just didn't look into any as we didn't even know our options until we got onboard our cruise. There were NO excursions listed on MVJ for us to pick from. Another disappointment for us.

[ural guy]

Yes, we plan on staying the second night at Ego Residence Venice, which is right on the Grand Canal next to the Rialto docking spot.  Someone suggested doing an overnight to avoid the 3 hr RT, and it sounded like a good idea.

 

Venice to me is right there with Bruge and Rothenburg ODT.  Crowded with day visitors, but it you stay overnight, the evening and early morning are pretty special.

[kctwinmommy]

4 hours ago, ural guy said:

Yes, we plan on staying the second night at Ego Residence Venice, which is right on the Grand Canal next to the Rialto docking spot.  Someone suggested doing an overnight to avoid the 3 hr RT, and it sounded like a good idea.

 

Venice to me is right there with Bruge and Rothenburg ODT.  Crowded with day visitors, but it you stay overnight, the evening and early morning are pretty special.

Nice! I know others have posted about doing that. I do think you need to let Viking know though, not sure. Just what others have said. Have a great time then, you will definitely enjoy Venice that way I'm sure.

 

I was there many years ago, so I'm good now, I don't need to go back. LOL!

[RexMesiter]

On 6/30/2024 at 1:39 PM, RexMesiter said:

Thanks.  I'm already within the 120 day window and have selected my shore excursions.  The "At a Glance: St. Mark's Square" was the only included tour offered.  I would have much preferred the "Venice On Your Own" if available.

Update for those on the October 2024 Italy, the Adriatic and Greece tour.: A "Venice on Your Own" option (Included tour) has been added to the last day of the Venice stop.  We signed up for that as well as the other Included tour (St. Mark's Square) on the first day of the Venice stop - pleasantly surprised that we were able to book 2 included tours at the same stop.

[longterm]

On 6/26/2024 at 10:51 PM, formernuke said:

Unless it has changed(we were one of the first Viking ships to dock in Fusina during the pandemic), Fusina is an industrial port that you can’t just walk out of. You must go in an escorted bus until off port grounds. If more recent cruisers have a different experience I’d like to know as well. 

We were probably on the same cruise with you, which started in Rome on March 5th I believe; we docked in Fusina, which is a rather grimy place--looking out of our stateroom, our view was of what appeared to be an abandoned chemical plant. On our bed was a paper that told us what to do in case of a chemical emergency--not encouraging.

The only way out of Fusina is by a shuttle; you can't walk out because you're deep in a chemical plant.

We're going on the Barcelona to Istanbul cruise in 2026; my plan is for us to leave the ship when we arrive in Venice, stay at a hotel in town for 2 nights, then return to the ship and continue the cruise. That way we don't have to worry about excursions that are mostly bus rides back and forth. 

Our plan at this point is to go into town on a free excursion, peel off from the group, and stay in town for 2 nights, then find our way back to the ship on our own. If that doesn't pan out, we'll just find transportation from the ship to town, then back again two days later.

 

[kctwinmommy]

22 hours ago, RexMesiter said:

Update for those on the October 2024 Italy, the Adriatic and Greece tour.: A "Venice on Your Own" option (Included tour) has been added to the last day of the Venice stop.  We signed up for that as well as the other Included tour (St. Mark's Square) on the first day of the Venice stop - pleasantly surprised that we were able to book 2 included tours at the same stop.

Don't be surprised if they cancel one of those. We were unable to book 2 included tours on our 3 days in Venice. We were told by guest services that no, you can't have 2 included tours.