Quest Sept.20th Final Word

[GailnBrad]

FYI....I just talked with Azamara directly...they stated we leave out of MARITIMA. See you there :)

[Eileen G]

You can't believe a person you call on the phone at Azamara. If you look at the Venice port authorty schedule you will see that there 4 other cruise ships docked at Marittima, 2 MSC,1 Costa and 1 Lloyd. They have us docked at San Bascilio. I believe the Venice port authorty.

 

http://www.vtp.it/calendario/ricerca.jsp?CercaNave=OK&password=null&CodNave=&CodArmatore=&Giorno=20&Mese=09&Anno=2010

[takemewithyou]

FYI....I just talked with Azamara directly...they stated we leave out of MARITIMA. See you there :)

 

That is what the docs say and that is what Azamara keeps telling people - but the Venice port schedule is probably the most accurate thing to go by! :)

 

Are you arriving early in Venice?

Just have your hotel double-check and call the port before you leave.

Most of us who are sailing with you feel we will be leaving from San Basilio.

 

The people who answer the phone for Azamara are notoriously wrong!

[sofi]

Venice isn't very big and you can see where the cruise ships are from several vantage points. If you are at the Hilton (not that I'm recommending it) and go up to the rooftop, you can see the ships at the Marritima port. San Basilio is right across the canal from the Hilton, you can see that from sea level.

ITA you cannot get a straight answer from Azamara about this, but the port info seems to be accurate.

[roberts2005]

Venice isn't very big and you can see where the cruise ships are from several vantage points. If you are at the Hilton (not that I'm recommending it) and go up to the rooftop, you can see the ships at the Marritima port. San Basilio is right across the canal from the Hilton, you can see that from sea level.

ITA you cannot get a straight answer from Azamara about this, but the port info seems to be accurate.

 

 

We are staying at the Hilton. Any idea what a private water taxi should cost?

 

Any idea who the hotel's concierge should call to confirm dock before we leave hotel.

[sofi]

roberts2005-

We found that the concierge at the Hilton misled us. He was very anxious to book a water taxi at 60 euros for a distance that was so close as to be swimmable (without luggage, LOL).

When we asked about taking the vaporetto, he told us to take the hotel shuttle to San Marco, which we did, and then the vaporetto to Piazzale Roma, where you catch the port shuttle. What we found was that the Hilton shuttle first stops at Zattere, right across the canal from the Hilton, and then San Marco, farther away. When we got on the vaporetto, it stopped at Zattere (retracing our steps) and then continued to Piazzale Roma, where we got the port shuttle to the embarkation point. If the concierge had told us this information, it would have saved us almost an hour! And, if the ship is actually docked at San Basilio, which you will be able to see clearly if that is the case, just take the hotel shuttle to Zattere and walk. It is only about a block!

Another thing we wish we had known in advance, if you take the Alilaguna water bus (this is not a vaporetto, but a private bus company) from Venice Airport, it stops right at the Hilton front door.

All this information was hard to come by and we learned the hard way. Hope it will be useful to you and you won't have to waste all the time we did. I don't know why it is so hard to get information about navigating the port of Venice, but it really is. You would not believe the stories we heard from other passengers about their ripoff experiences in the water taxis. They said you should never let the hotel book it for you.

btw, we didn't care for that Hilton even though we booked it on Hhonors points so it was free. We would not stay there again.

P.S. I forgot to mention that the staff on Azamara said that there is a vaporetto stop right at the port, eliminating the need to take the shuttle from Piazzale Roma, but no one is ever told about it. We didn't learn about this till after we were on the ship, so I don't know exactly what stop or line this is, but it would be very convenient if you could figure out how to get there.

[Redacted]

Hi all. We're on the Journey on Sep. 26 which according to the port folks is leaving from San Basilio. The S. Basilio stop is served by the 2, 8 (seasonal), and 61/62 routes.

 

Here is a description of the vaporetto routes:

 

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vaporetto_routes2_table.htm

 

Here is an image of the vaporetto routes:

 

http://www.venice.nu/mapfiles/vaporetto2010map.html

 

And here is a good site for vaporetto planning (it will help you plan a trip from one stop to another):

 

http://www.actv.it/en

 

Good luck!

[roberts2005]

roberts2005-

We found that the concierge at the Hilton misled us. He was very anxious to book a water taxi at 60 euros for a distance that was so close as to be swimmable (without luggage, LOL).

When we asked about taking the vaporetto, he told us to take the hotel shuttle to San Marco, which we did, and then the vaporetto to Piazzale Roma, where you catch the port shuttle. What we found was that the Hilton shuttle first stops at Zattere, right across the canal from the Hilton, and then San Marco, farther away. When we got on the vaporetto, it stopped at Zattere (retracing our steps) and then continued to Piazzale Roma, where we got the port shuttle to the embarkation point. If the concierge had told us this information, it would have saved us almost an hour! And, if the ship is actually docked at San Basilio, which you will be able to see clearly if that is the case, just take the hotel shuttle to Zattere and walk. It is only about a block!

Another thing we wish we had known in advance, if you take the Alilaguna water bus (this is not a vaporetto, but a private bus company) from Venice Airport, it stops right at the Hilton front door.

All this information was hard to come by and we learned the hard way. Hope it will be useful to you and you won't have to waste all the time we did. I don't know why it is so hard to get information about navigating the port of Venice, but it really is. You would not believe the stories we heard from other passengers about their ripoff experiences in the water taxis. They said you should never let the hotel book it for you.

btw, we didn't care for that Hilton even though we booked it on Hhonors points so it was free. We would not stay there again.

P.S. I forgot to mention that the staff on Azamara said that there is a vaporetto stop right at the port, eliminating the need to take the shuttle from Piazzale Roma, but no one is ever told about it. We didn't learn about this till after we were on the ship, so I don't know exactly what stop or line this is, but it would be very convenient if you could figure out how to get there.

 

 

Thanks for the tips on the Hilton. Got a great price on Priceline. Did you use the rooftop pool?

[IMswimmer]

Hey there:

 

Thanks for all the info. I, too, had emailed Azamara about which dock Quest will be at, and they told me Marittima. However, from the port authority schedule, it looks as if the ship will be at San Basilio. We are a group of 8, and had arranged a limousine to get us from Marco polo airport to Marittima. Can some one tell me if the ship is indeed going to be at San Basilio, can the limousine get us there as well??

 

Thanks.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

I noticed the posts on this topic, and I've asked the Question to Azamara. Hopefully, I will have an answer for you shortly. Stay Tuned !

[2tsquared]

Hi Everyone !

 

I noticed the posts on this topic, and I've asked the Question to Azamara. Hopefully, I will have an answer for you shortly. Stay Tuned !

 

Andy,

 

The confusion over the embarkation terminal just seems to be an ongoing source of confusion. I emailed my TA today; she called AZ twice, speaking with 2 different reps; they both claim we are departing from Marittima (see my post #776 on the 9/20/10 Quest Roll Call).

 

Maybe you can get information that will actually put finality to this issue.

 

Thanks,

tt :)

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

Per Azamara, Journey will be docked at San Basilio, Berth 29. I hope this helps. Enjoy your Cruise !

[takemewithyou]

Hi Everyone !

 

Per Azamara, Journey will be docked at San Basilio, Berth 29. I hope this helps. Enjoy your Cruise !

 

Thank you very much, Host Andy! :D

 

That's what we thought, but not what the docs say or what the phone calls to Azamara of late have said! :rolleyes:

 

This will help a lot of people....who read Cruise critic, at least!

[TourDeCruise]

Per Azamara, Journey will be docked at San Basilio, Berth 29. I hope this helps. Enjoy your Cruise !

Thanks, Andy! You asked about the Quest for the 20th and not the Journey, right? Like others on this thread, we are on the Quest on the 20th.

 

Thanks for all the info. I, too, had emailed Azamara about which dock Quest will be at, and they told me Marittima. However, from the port authority schedule, it looks as if the ship will be at San Basilio. We are a group of 8, and had arranged a limousine to get us from Marco polo airport to Marittima. Can some one tell me if the ship is indeed going to be at San Basilio, can the limousine get us there as well??

 

Thanks.

 

IMswimmer: We have a very active rollcall thread for the September 20th Quest cruise at the hyperlink below. Come and join us on the rollcall thread and at the meet-and-greet events including Azamara's official meet and mingle for which you would need to signup via the blue Azamara Meet and Mingle graphic on the upper right of the page, if interested. Meanwhile I will add your screen name to our rollcall list.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1013406

 

Kathy

[Andy]

Thanks, Andy! You asked about the Quest for the 20th and not the Journey, right? Like others on this thread, we are on the Quest on the 20th.

 

 

 

Kathy

 

Hi Kathy !

 

Yes, I asked about Quest 9/20 (Sorry about the typo !)

[TourDeCruise]

Thanks, Andy! That's what I figured, but with only a few more days until we leave. . . .I wanted to make sure. Kathy

[Andy]

Thanks, Andy! That's what I figured, but with only a few more days until we leave. . . .I wanted to make sure. Kathy

 

My pleasure Kathy. Have a wonderful time on Quest. I look forward to hearing about your Cruise when you return home. Bon Voyage !

[IMswimmer]

Thanks for the invite. No time to look at the site yet, but hopefully can check it out before leaving tomorrow. Hope to meet with you soon.

[TourDeCruise]

Host Andy and all:

 

This morning my dh Jack (real name John) received an email from our TA that said:

 

Hi John and Kathy

 

The correct pier in Venice is San Basilio Pier #29

 

I hope you have a fantastic cruise.

 

A few of us have updated everyone on our Quest September 20th rollcall. Thanks Host Andy and everyone else for your help on clarifying the correct pier (cruise documents & some Azamara reps had it wrong).

 

Andy: We'll be sure to update you about our cruise.

 

IBswimmer: Glad you had a chance to post on the rollcall.

 

Kathy