Venice - from ship to town?

[PelicanLvr]

Yes, anywhere in the world you can get from Point A to Point B faster if you don't take the scenic route.

 

But in Venice you will miss something truly spectacular if you don't ride down the Grand Canal. That is the classic picture of Venice from all the old movies!

 

The Blue Line & Ship transfers seem to all use the sea lane between the cruise terminal and St. Marks(the same way your cruise ship will depart). That is NOT the Grand Canal. The grand canal is the one with the bridges over it that runs thru the center of the city.

 

In our crazy world of efficiency I know we are trained to strive to save time and do everything as fast as possible. Not in Venice! Allow that extra 30 minutes...it is not time wasted, but rather the only way to truly experience Venice.

 

You don't know when you will be back in Venice, so don't miss this experience!

[Cornishpastyman1]

But in Venice you will miss something truly spectacular if you don't ride down the Grand Canal. That is the classic picture of Venice from all the old movies!

 

Allow that extra 30 minutes...it is not time wasted, but rather the only way to truly experience Venice.

Quite so

 

You don't know when you will be back in Venice, so don't miss this experience!

Quite so

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks for the YouTube.

[nelderwoman]

Many thanks Jill

[nzdisneymom]

We are back from our fabulous adventure and now I'm going back to all the threads I asked questions on to report on how things turned out and hopefully it will help others.

 

We arrived in Venice at noon and were off the ship on a ship-sponsored excursion by 1:30 - they took us off Deck 1 right onto a motor launch that took us back the way we came in and over to Burano and then to Murano before returning us to the cruise port area. We spotted the vaporetto stations along the way and tried to get a view as to how they worked, plus I had our Venice map to follow along.

 

FWIW, we loved Burano, but didn't have any time in Murano besides the glass factory.

 

After dinner, DH and I ventured out to find the People Mover - we picked it up at the Stazione Maritima which is the mid-point between Pzle Roma and Trochetta (sp?). For one euro, you can ride the short distance, but from what others reported, it is worth the euro rather than having to guess your way from the port area into town. The People Mover stops running a bit before 11 PM so plan accordingly.

 

We got to Pzle Roma station and purchased 24-hour tickets for the vaporetto for DH and myself and 12-hour for our children who were not with us but would be able to activate theirs the next morning. The person at the ticket office spoke very good English and helped us figure out what was best and she told us that the 12-hour tickets wouldn't start ticking until they were activated - so we got them then to avoid having to stop the next morning.

 

We took route 2 along the Grand Canal as it was getting dusk - it was starting to rain a bit but not enough to dampen our spirits (LOL). We got some good photos along the way. From ship to San Marco Square, including time for ticket purchasing and back-tracking a little, was 1:15. We explored San Marco Square a bit without the crowds as we made sure we knew where we needed to check in for our tour the next morning before heading back, again by way of the number 2 line.

 

The next morning we left the ship at 8:15 and had several others joining us - one family still needed to purchase their tickets for the vaporetto, but we all made it to San Marco Square by 9:40 which still gave us plenty of time to get our tickets exchanged and use the restroom before our tour began. Afterwards, we walked back to Rialto and then took the Vaporetto #2 back to the Pzle Roma.

 

So we got the Grand Canal ride and pictures, experienced local transportation (rather than the express), met some really nice people along the way. And have a great desire to go back to Venice some day and not stay somewhere that it takes an hour to get to SMS :) I want time to wander the streets and canals!

 

Thanks again for all the helpful advice, tips, suggestions for us as we planned this amazing trip of a lifetime!