Venice train/port questions

Hi everyone,

My husband and I will be traveling from Bologna to Venice on the day of our cruise. We will be getting in at 10:35am to the S. Lucia train station. My hope is to walk over to the port, drop off our luggage and then explore Venice until we need to board our ship. A few questions for you.

Is there a pretty direct way to get to the port from S. Lucia? I see there is a river in between and I can't tell if there are bridges over it.

Can we drop off our luggage with MSC at 11am the day of our cruise? Do we need to check in, board the ship, and then go explore Venice? Or can we drop off the luggage, go explore, and then check in later in the afternoon? (I was thinking between 2 or 3. Our ship leaves at 5pm.) Any suggestions on which would be the best way to go? If we drop off our luggage, but don't check in how will they know where our luggage goes?

Since we will be in Venice on a Sunday am I right in thinking that we won't be able to go inside the cathedrals?

Thanks everyone for your help in advance!

Hi everyone,

My husband and I will be traveling from Bologna to Venice on the day of our cruise. We will be getting in at 10:35am to the S. Lucia train station. My hope is to walk over to the port, drop off our luggage and then explore Venice until we need to board our ship. A few questions for you.

 

Is there a pretty direct way to get to the port from S. Lucia? I see there is a river in between and I can't tell if there are bridges over it.

 

Can we drop off our luggage with MSC at 11am the day of our cruise? Do we need to check in, board the ship, and then go explore Venice? Or can we drop off the luggage, go explore, and then check in later in the afternoon? (I was thinking between 2 or 3. Our ship leaves at 5pm.) Any suggestions on which would be the best way to go? If we drop off our luggage, but don't check in how will they know where our luggage goes?

 

Since we will be in Venice on a Sunday am I right in thinking that we won't be able to go inside the cathedrals?

 

Thanks everyone for your help in advance!

Here are a couple of images to help you get your bearings. It is a ride on the people mover (1 stop) to the cruise terminal and back agian .

If it were me I'd make use of all the time you have and leave your luggage at the left luggage Office in tha bus station ( ~ 6 euros per case) and avoid the wasted time going to the terminal and back.

THe office is is right next door to the people mover entrance and not far from the station as well as being close to a waterbus station, or, you can just walk into the main city area. so it's all very convinient for when you finaly go to the ship to board.

Pete

Wow. That took a bit of time, Pete. Nicely done. Nice guy.

There is also left luggage at the train station. The last time I did it there was a huge queue at the bus station but none at the train station. I only had hand luggage so it was easy. If you are fit and not too much luggage, it is an easy walk to the people mover from the station. There is a bridge which is "graded" to pull the cases over. If I remember rightly it takes at least an hour on the vaporetto from Piazzale Roma to St Marks Square, then another hour back so be careful with your timings. I hope that I have got it right. Enjoy.

That's an old shot of Venice port...Newer pictures on Google Earth or Venezia on Marinetraffic.com show the People Mover. the terminal is closer to the white rectangle above the empty lot (which is still empty). You get off the PM and have to walk to the left and along the circle, then back right, following the road you can see in the picture, all the way down to the terminal by the location labeled for MSC. A very long walk. EM

That's an old shot of Venice port...Newer pictures on Google Earth or Venezia on Marinetraffic.com show the People Mover. the terminal is closer to the white rectangle above the empty lot (which is still empty). You get off the PM and have to walk to the left and along the circle, then back right, following the road you can see in the picture, all the way down to the terminal by the location labeled for MSC. A very long walk. EM

Here is an updated version

Pete

Here is the detailed Tom’s portguide of Venice for cruise passenger – you can always pick up some useful info from his guide :)

http://www.tomsportguides.com/Venice-05-06-2011.pdf

It's probably going to take you longer to get to the ship than you think. I'd check in my bags before deciding what you have time to do. The bridge has long, shallow steps- some of them can be very slippery when wet.

Last time we board the Musica from Venice, we ended up tendered because for some reason, she was only able to dock at the industrial dock. We didn't bother to go back to town after a couple hours to get on board and the embarkation was chaotic, takes too long to get on and off.

Just something for your plan B just in case.

We went on the Fantasia in early July from Venice. We were staying in Mestre so got the bus in to the bus station at about 11.30. By the time we got on the people mover (only 50m from where our bus dropped us off) and then off at the other end and then walked to the ship terminal (which takes a surprisingly long time as it is further than you think), and then lined up to check to put luggage in at drop off point then to other check in to check in properly and on the boat to our room (our luggage was there before we were!) it was about 2pm (so we went up to the buffet for lunch which was open). After lunch we did a quick self tour of the ship, unpacked a little and then headed up to grab some drinks and a good seat to watch Venice float by with.

Getting from the train station to the port is a bit further yet. We did that on the reverse journey - ie walk from ship to people mover, take people mover to bus station, walk from bus station (over bridge with bags) to train station. We put our luggage in storage in the train station. When we stored it there was only 3 people in the queue so about a 5 minute wait. Luckily we came back to pick up earlier than we originally planned before our train as the queue to pick up luggage was about an hour long (which is very stressful as you count down to your train leaving and only just make it). I see someone else here said they had long queues at the bus station for luggage storage so keep in mind that either can be long.

To be honest, having visited Venice three times and cruised out and back once, the best view is from the upper decks of the cruise ship with a cocktail in your hands. From there you can't see the throng of tourists in the packed streets, the over priced food and drinks and the muck floating in the canals, instead you still get the romanticised view.

To be honest, having visited Venice three times and cruised out and back once, the best view is from the upper decks of the cruise ship with a cocktail in your hands. From there you can't see the throng of tourists in the packed streets, the over priced food and drinks and the muck floating in the canals, instead you still get the romanticised view.

Just for me personally, I've been to Venice twice and stayed both times. I'd kick myself if I found out later in life how beautiful it is to wake up in a Venetian hotel on the canal, and not done it myself.

I think if a person goes to Venice they should experience it inside and out before retreating to a ship's berth and staying there. There are touristy spots, mostly around the water's edge. But so what? You have to drudge through that in practically every city in which a cruise ship docks. But it's in the walking and meeting people that you actually experience a city. Frankly, I like the shopping. That's preferential, I suppose. But Venice is about 100 bad tides away from disappearing into the sea. And soon we may not even have the chance to see her again.

If you've never been ... I suggest you trust your heart and take her in as much as you can. If after that you find her so offensive and expensive, then you can decide to look down on her from the 16th deck of a cruise ship.

And we all know that cruise ships aren't over priced, with over priced food and drink, and muck in the heads, and filled with throngs of tourists. That just never happens, right!

Thank you all for this advice, especially the pictures. I am a visual person, so this helps immensely.

I guess we will plan for everything. We'll have bigger suitcases, so probably the train station won't work for luggage hold. First go to the bus station, see how bad the line is. Hoof it to the ship if the train station is long and see how long that stuff is.

I am really hoping to walk around Venice even if it's just for an hour, but I am okay if I just see it from the ship. I'll go in with a go with the flow attitude.

My friend that we are visiting in Bologna before hand might come with us to Venice. She hasn't cruised, but she's Italian, so she will be helpful no matter what.

Thank you again!!!!!

Thank you all for this advice, especially the pictures. I am a visual person, so this helps immensely.

 

I guess we will plan for everything. We'll have bigger suitcases, so probably the train station won't work for luggage hold. First go to the bus station, see how bad the line is. Hoof it to the ship if the train station is long and see how long that stuff is.

 

I am really hoping to walk around Venice even if it's just for an hour, but I am okay if I just see it from the ship. I'll go in with a go with the flow attitude.

 

My friend that we are visiting in Bologna before hand might come with us to Venice. She hasn't cruised, but she's Italian, so she will be helpful no matter what.

 

Thank you again!!!!!

Did you notice there are TWO left luggage offices at the bus station , one next to the people mover and another south east of the first about 50 yards down the road.

Just a thought

Pete

Pete,

No I didn't. Thanks for pointing that out. I will check both!! Thank you!

Becky

decision to move Venice port increases

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2432992/Venice-cruise-ship-stand-Cruise-industry-talks-moving-Venice-port-protest-delays-ships.html

I guess we will plan for everything. We'll have bigger suitcases, so probably the train station won't work for luggage hold. First go to the bus station, see how bad the line is. Hoof it to the ship if the train station is long and see how long that stuff is.

Something to think about.. I have done a few cruises that started/ended in Venice and at the station they had a Cruise Luggage Drop Off on the same side of the station as Left Luggage. I can't remember the cost (think like 5-10 euro per bag) for it but I have seen it everytime I have been there.Only thing is you need to have your luggage labels already to use it. It is then delivered to your ship.

Hope that helps and Venice is one of my fav ports for sailing in and out of so enjoy you whilst you can :-)

Dan