Venice - how hard to get around with luggage?

[Cruise Junky]

IGNORE ME, I JUST READ THE OTHER POST ON SAME SUBJECT.....

 

Hi - we're in a never ending debate whether to do RCI's Brilliance or Celebrity's Millenium and are trying to cover all bases to make an informed decision. We will have at least one flight free (points) and I'm aiming for two so booking the ships air is out. After leaving the ship in Venice, we'd have to do an overnight because the disembarking is too late for the Vancouver flight (plus I'd want the extra time in Venice).

 

How expensive and difficult is it to transport your luggage to a hotel and then to the airport at at least 5:00 am the next morning?

 

Thanks.... the debate continues....

 

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[This message was edited by Cruise Junky on 06-01-04 at 10:26 PM.]

[wwinfl91]

Hi,

 

I've posted our experience with luggage in Venice before on this board and have gotten some negative comments on it but I will do it again as I still think it is a valid option for some.

 

What we did on our Golden Princess Med cruise last summer which ended in Venice on Monday morning. We actually sailed into Venice on Sunday morning. Be sure to be on deck early when the ship arrives in Venice and you will be rewarded with some great opportunites for pictures of the city as the ship moves towards its dock.

 

Anyway we were planning on staying in Venice for several days after we got off the ship and had read about the difficulties of moving even wheeled luggage about in Venice. The city's canal bridges mostly have steps not ramps so if you have luggage it has to be carried over most of the bridges. We got a Princess transfer for our luggage and us to the airport that we used on Monday morning. We then put our luggage out on Sunday night for the ship to handle. We rode the bus to the airport and picked up our luggage which was assembled in front of the airport when we arrived. Once in the airport we found the "held luggage" office which is on the lower level of the Marco Polo airport. After having the luggage x-rayed we received luggage claim tags for the 2 large pieces of luggage we were checking. They allow you to lock the luggage for additional security. Then we took our carry-on luggage including a large backpack, two rolling suitcases (one them full of cameras and computer) and an expandable bag we had brought especially for this purpose and went to the special airport water taxi for a ride back to Venice. We then walked to our hotel and checked in. When our stay was over we returned to the airport again by airport water bus (10 euros a person from St Marks and a little cheaper if you pick it up on the other side of the island). Once at the airport we went to the held luggage office and picked up our 2 larger pieces of luggage and went to catch our flight home. The cost to store the luggage was 2 euros a day when we were there but I believe they were going to be increasing that to 3 per day starting in the fall. But it was well worth not having to worry about trying to move around in Venice with all our luggage.

 

We were returning to our hotel one night on the regular waterbus and ran into an English lady who was arriving for a month's stay in Venice. She had two large and one smaller pieces of rolling luggage as well as a large handbag and a backpack. She got off the same waterbus stop as we did and when it became clear she was trying to drag all of that with her in the same direction we were going we offered to help. We only had to cross two bridges until we reached a point where she was near her hotel and so we split at that point because she said there weren't any more bridges between her and her destination. But it definitely made me appreciate our decision on handling our luggage.

 

Venice is a great city and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

 

Have a great next cruise.

 

HAL Noordam 3/97 West Carib

Hal Westerdam 12/97 East Carib

HAL Veendam 11/98 East Carib

Hal Zaandam 12/00 South Carib

HAL Veendam 10/01 Panama Canal

RCCL Enchantment 09/02 W.Carib

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HAL Noordam 03/03 S.Carib

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HAL Maasdam 05/04 Canada

[TedC]

WWinFL91 had a good idea for the luggage, too bad we didn't follow it.

 

We got off the Westerdam 19 May and spent a wonderful day in Venice.

 

Our hotel appeared to be close to where the HAL shuttle dropped us off at Piazza Roma.

 

But there were three arched bridges between Piazza Roma and our hotel - and we had two large bags on wheels, one 20-inch rollaboard and a back pack.

 

 

The plan was I would wear my backpack and pull or carry the two large bags and my wife would pull the small rollaboard.

 

Everything was fine - until we came to the first arched bridge, which had steps but no ramp.

 

A very kind younger man saw I was struggling trying to carry both large bags over the bridge. He had me carry his briefcase while he carried both big bags over the bridge.

 

I thanked him and tried to give him a few Euros but he wouldn't take them. He asked where we had to go and when I told him and he realized we had two more arched bridges to cross.

 

Again he carried both big bags while I carrried his briefcase. I tried to press a 10 Euro note in his hand but again he refused.

 

 

We were lucky. But not wanting to depend on "the kindness of strangers," we arranged for a water taxi to take us to the airport early the next morning. It was expensive, 80 Euros, but worth it.

 

At the water taxi landing there is a free shuttle to the terminal. Porters will try to take your bags to the bus, but it is a very short walk, not the "1 kilometer" they claim.

 

Because we had an 8:55 am flight from VCE to Munich, I was afraid we could be delayed trying to claim our bags, that's why we didn't leave them at the airport the day we diembarked.

 

There are some nice hotels nearer to Piazza Roma that can be reached by crossing just one bridge, I understand. That would have been a better option, perhaps.

[jsh]

Are there private water taxis at the cruise ship dock waiting when you debark the cruise?

If there are, is there a wait to get one? We will have a lot of luggage and our hotel has a private dock so we have decided that a private water taxi is the way to go.

[ISABELLA]

Thank you WWINFl91 for a liggage advice.

We just back from our Barcelona to Venice on Star Princess and we dropped the luggege at the airport in storage fo 4.50 euro per bag. We, also, shared our experience with another couple, who had 7 pcs of luggage between 2 of them and they planned to drag it all around Venice before we met on a taxi stand. But it is"painful" to see people shlepping suitcases over the bridges.

[ISABELLA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ISABELLA:

Thank you WWINFl91 for a luggage advice.

We just back from our Barcelona to Venice on Star Princess and we dropped the luggege at the airport in storage fo 4.50 euro per bag. We, also, shared our experience with another couple, who had 7 pcs of luggage between 2 of them and they planned to drag it all around Venice before we met on a taxi stand. But it is"painful" to see people shlepping suitcases over the bridges.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Luvcrusin']

There will be 6 of us ending our cruise in Venice. We had intended to stay in Venice one night and then stay at a hotel near the train station the next night, so as to get on the train to the airport by 5:00am!!!

 

For those of you who have experienced this luggage problem, should we consider just storing our luggage at the airport???

[wwinfl91]

I'm glad to see others have been able to benefit from my posts on this board on this topic. As I said before I still think it is a valid option given the problems trying to move around Venice with heavy luggage.

 

Thanks for posting that you were able to use the advice and it worked out for you. It is one of the really great things about the cruise boards that you can post information to help others and then later actually find out later that it worked.

 

Have a GREAT next cruise.

 

HAL Noordam 3/97 West Carib

Hal Westerdam 12/97 East Carib

HAL Veendam 11/98 East Carib

Hal Zaandam 12/00 South Carib

HAL Veendam 10/01 Panama Canal

RCCL Enchantment 09/02 W.Carib

Costa Atlantica 12/02 E.Carib

HAL Noordam 03/03 S.Carib

Golden Princess 07/03 Med

Celebrity Zenith 12/03 W.Carib

HAL Maasdam 05/04 Canada

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