mapleleaves

ugh, that's a nasty port schedule! Odd that NCL isn't offering the Oia tour. What is the tour you're looking at ? Here's an option to consider. Sunset will be around 8:30pm. If there's a long line at the cable car to go down to the tender dock would you be willing to walk down the donkey trail during daylight, say 8pm? If so, ask if your tour would meet and wait for you in Oia. Take the water taxi to Oia, $30 IIRC. It doesn't have a fixed time so you might have to wait an hr at the dock but it would eliminate the cable car wait going up to Fira and also that expensive ride to Athinios.

I like cruisemom's suggestion. And I'll add that there's a small beach at the edge of town. Everyone can enjoy a sandy beach.

How long is your port day? do you have time for your planned activities to make it worthwhile? We only spent 4 hrs there during our cruise, but it was enough time to see the Duomo, the PonteVecchio, have lunch at the Market and browse the adjacent market, (personally I prefer the train over a bus, and the station is less than 10 minutes from the Duomo)

Where is the tour starting point? If this is a private tour, won't they take your luggage? Usually tour groups use Mercedes mini vans, so there should be room. A shared tour, probably has no room for luggage. The train station is a 15 minute walk from the ship. The Left Luggage will probably charge 5-7E per item. I'd be concerned about leaving the luggage in a car park while you're sightseeing. If it all fits in the trunk/boot, fine, but if any luggage is in the back seat and visible, you could fall victim to a smash and grab. How does it compare financially .... the cost of the tour (plus left luggage) vs cost of car rental.

The Shared Shuttle web site says 2 per pax. (in the FAQ) For private it says a boat can take 12 pieces of luggage total. Shuttle | Venicelink

contact the vendor directly regarding your specific excursion. I'd go with the April date due to the amount of snow on the mountains would make the journey incredible, but the downside would be that emerald lake would probably still be iced over. You imight also ask about the chance of a late opening date due to heavy snow? White Pass & Yukon Route Railway | Scenic Railway of the World (wpyr.com)

Since this is a group of adults I suggest getting a travel book about Med cruises so that everyone can learn a bit about each destination, ie Rick Steves has "Mediterranean Cruise Ports". The books provide information about the history, sights to see, activities, tours and DIY options. Some of your family members may want to see Pompeii, while others want to visit Capri. Best to learn about all the options so they can make informed decisions.

but 100e for 5 pax is only 20E pp. Compared to 10E for the vaporetto? No contest! I'd happily pay 20E to ride in style down the Grand Canal, rather than be squished with my luggage on a crowded water bus.

nope, I used the train and Flixbus. A few vendors have been mentioned here. Just do a search on Trieste, using THIS FORUM and look thru those posts.

I'd say 12-15 E. (based on the fact that our party of 4 paid 18E going in the opposite direction)

use the water taxi coop web site to get an estimate. The cost is the same whether there's 1 pax or 5. Explore Venice Water Taxi Rates - Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia

I should have added that our car rental was from the Florence Airport. We spent 3 nites in SanGimignano and 3 at Montepulciano. (preferred Montepulciano).

For the wine tasting, definitely do a tour. But if you want to see more of Tuscany I highly recommend renting a car and spending a night or 2 in a small town. I was nervous about driving in Italy, but it was much easier than I expected. We rented from the car rental center near the airport in order to avoid the city traffic and had easy access to the hwy. The countryside and views were spectacular. And the towns are very close together so you can easily visit several locations. Yes, other drivers will get on your bumper, but on those country roads it's easy to pull over to let them pass, plus it gives you the opportunity to hop out and enjoy the scenery.

A taxi to where .... the airport? We had a late flight so we didn't disembark until 9am. When we went to bfast at 7, there were loads of taxis available and 15-20 people in line. But at 9am there were probably 300 people in line waiting for taxis. A taxi would appear every 5 minutes or so. After an hour, we gave up. There was a private bus offering transfers to the airport so we did that.

P.S. I took a FlixBus after the cruise because we were going to Venice Airport. The bus depot and train station are on the same block, so a 15 minute walk from the ship. Easy, flat walk. We are seniors, and only travel with one carryon wheeled bag, so it was easy to do. The easiest option is the cruiseline transfer since it will take you right to the ship. But, you pay for that convenience. $75 instead of 20E.

I took the train to Trieste last yr. ooops, it's not last year anymore. It was Sept 2022 ! I had read that seating was limited out of the Venice S Lucia station, with no room for luggage, so I chose to board in Mestre instead. In Mestre I could purchase a Business Class seat on a Frecci train. With Bsns Class you can choose your seat, so I chose a seat near the luggage rack. There were only 5 or 6 people in our carriage so in the end we just brought the luggage to our seat. Enjoyed the ride. Comfortable seating. It was 15-20E for the ticket. Left Mestre around 10:30am. It's easy to get to Mestre; board the train in Venice for less than 2E, takes 7-8 minutes, then change in Mestre. The only downside was that it was pouring down rain and the Trieste train station is a 15 minute walk to the ship. We waited an hr for a taxi.

Can you easily manage your luggage? The train would be an easier option ....hop on a vaporetto and disembark at the stop right outside the Venice S Lucia station. As for the bus terminals; Mestre is on the mainland across from Venice. Tronchetto is a huge parking lot at the edge of Venice, near Piazzale Roma. The #2 vaporetto from St Marks will stop at Tronchetto. The bus will be near the People Mover stop (monorail) mappa_delle_linee (avmspa.it)

If you look over the first few pages of this forum, you'll see that this question is asked and answered almost every day. The cruiseline transfer is about the easiest option since it takes you to or from the ship. Some cruiselines only provide their transfer from Venice airport, but others also have a stop by the People Mover station in the Tronchetto parking lot at the edge of Venice. Two other common transfer options are the train and Flixbus. Both are under 20E and the ride is about 2:15 hrs.( I took the fast train from Mestre but for the return I used FlixBus to VCE) - you can take the train from Venice S Lucia station or a fast train from Venice Mestre station. - flixbus picks up at the airport and also in Tronchetto by the People Mover station. The train and bus depots are on the same block, about a 15 minute walk to the pier. Or you can wait for a taxi, a long wait if it's raining.

You can email RadioTaxi for an estimate to go from Chioggia to Mestre train station. ( I assume you want Venice Mestre not Venice S Lucia) Taxi Venice and Mestre: Cooperativa Radiotaxi in Venice, the main authorized taxis (radiotaxivenezia.com)

You don't necessarily need a tour at every port. If you do some research you'll find that many ports and activities can be done DIY. There are a few books specific to Med cruises; check the travel section of your library. The books provide information on history of each port, things to do, places to go, tours and DIY options. ie Rick Steves has Mediterranean Cruise Ports. There are also locations where you may prefer to have the knowledge of a professional guide to accompany you. We did Rome, Florence/Pisa, Corfu on our own using buses, trains, and taxis. For Naples we hired a private driver for the day to take us along the Amalfi Coast. Enjoy your research and planning.

TripAdvisor has an AIR TRAVEL forum. This is what search on 'maroc' shows: Tripadvisor Forums Search Perhaps post your questions there to get feedback from travelers with experience.

Typically the ship's excursion takes you by bus to Oia where you have 90 minutes on your own, then you board the bus again and it drops you in Fira. They will give you a voucher to ride the cable car down when you're ready. If you want to stay longer in Oia, you could take a taxi or the public bus (KTEL bus) back to Fira. But keep in mind that the bus only runs every 30 minutes or so, and can be full.

No specific thoughts to share. It's not an area I'd be interested in staying so I haven't looked into it. Looks like a nice hotel. (maybe 1 bridge to cross.) Enjoy!

The 2 private transfer companies I have seen posted here are VQTravels and NCC VIM. They both have web sites if you want to get a quote. Since you aren't cruising out of SanBasilio, there is no benefit for staying near there. A hotel near or on the Piazzale Roma would be more convenient. In the attached list, the hotels marked ' 0 bridges to cross' means that your car/van can drop you off at the hotel door. 'How Many Bridges?' hotel listings for Piazzale Roma | Venice for Visitors (europeforvisitors.com) And the Arlecchino, Olimpia, and Papadopali are only a block and a small bridge from the drop off point at Piazzale Roma. A cab to the airport takes 20 minutes, but a water taxi would be a great experience. There's plenty of video on youtube.

You might want to check out the Savoia Excelsior in Trieste. It is right across the street from the cruise pier so some rooms provide awesome views of the ship docked.