Question for Mediterranean Cruisers - Venice Disembarking

[ama]

We are a party of 7 (3 adults, 2 seniors, and 2 kids). We have cruised before, but this will be our first time on Celebrity and first time cruising in Europe.

 

We arrive back in Venice on a Wednesday morning and officially disembark on Thursday morning and have to catch a flight at 11:35am.

 

Are we able to do the normal disembarkation or do we need to do the "self" disembarkation, where you can leave at anytime but you have to carry your own luggage? We will have a lot of luggage, so I'd rather do the normal disembarkation, but don't know if we will have enough time to get off the ship and get to the airport.

 

Does Celebrity provide a shuttle from the port to the airport? Cost? I'm trying to see if we are better off booking a private van/taxi to take us to the airport? Water taxi better? Thanks!

 

What time should we disembark to give us enough time to get to the airport? Thanks!

[Whirled Peas]

It is a long boat ride from the port in Venice to the airport on the mainland. You should try to book a water taxi in advance to meet you at the port and take you to the airport. Also, disembark as early as possible. A water taxi will be pricey, but I think it's the only way you can reasonably expect to make it to the airport in time for your international flight.

 

I don't know if Celebrity offers a shuttle to the airport. If tney do, find out when it departs the port and when it arrives at the airport before counting on that option.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Whirled Peas

[Cruising89143]

Last June we debarked the Splendour OTS at 7:00 carrying our own luggage off of the ship. I had a private car set to pick us up at 8:00 as I didn't expect debarkation to go so quick and smooth. (No customs or immigration to process). It's about a 20-30 minute ride to the airport depending on traffic. We arrived around 8:30 for a 10:50 flight home. The lines at Delta for coach was long. Luckily we were flying Business class and moved through the check-in process quickly. We made our flight easy.

 

This June we are on the Equinox and plan to leave the ship at 7:00 once again using self debarkation and the same car service to the airport. We have the same 10:50 flight to Atlanta. Not sure how long it will take going through the standard debarkation process and waiting on your luggage. RCI offered shuttles to the airport so I would assume that X would do the same but you would have to wait for the luggage to be loaded and a full bus before heading out. With your flight time not sure I would risk getting to the airport late. It's a small airport and gets busy.

 

This is the company we used last year and have booked for this year.

http://www.venicelimousinerent.com

 

Hopefully others here can give you more first hand experience.:)

Edited April 23, 2014 by cruisingator2

[TheMediaman]

Read the section on reaching the airport from the city. It will answer many of your questions. http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/early-flights-from-venice-airport.htm

[Cruise_Christy]

I have disembarked at Venice, although not with Celebrity. I would recommend doing a self disembark and going early for that flight, leaving the boat as early as possible (hopefully 7am for you). We took a taxi, it cost 35E and took 20-25 minutes (but this was for 3 people in a small taxi). Water Taxis were quoted at 100E at the time.

 

The airport itself was very busy and very slow and very disorganised, I would strongly recommend leaving extra time if possible. I would say of all the ports & airports I have visited, Venice is one of the slowest and I would definitely allow as much time as possible for it. Better to get up and off as early as possible than have the stress of running late for a flight.

[lovestx]

We are on that same flight in June and I wasn't planning on self-disembarking. In reading threads on the Port section of CC, I learned from many that the lines at the Venice airport don't even open until two hours before your flight so there is no need to get there too early. Surprised to hear otherwise here so am hoping someone will add details.

 

When we disembarked in Rome two years ago, I learned that the airport lines were very slow and planned for it. And folks were right (though we had status so cut some of the lines).

[jveevers]

Am thinking that as the Ship is docked all night, you should be able to disembark at any time, even 5am if you wanted too..

[Travel Girl TX]

Here's my post from last July when we disembarked the Celebrity Silhouette after an overnight stay in port. Please note prices are from July 2013. We did the self-disembarkation and left the ship at 6:20 for our 7:00 a.m. pick up because we did not know how long it would take to go through the disembarkation process. The only problem we ran into was Celebrity changing the disembarkation to deck 2 and then back up to deck 4 (or maybe 5 - can't remember for sure). We walked right through the terminal and no said a thing to us. We were outside by 6:30.

 

July 2013 post

I just disembarked off the Celebrity Silhouette yesterday in Venice. I've used the Celebrity transfer before and this time I went with a private transfer service. Celebrity is charging $39 a person for the transfer.

 

This time I used Click Airport Transfer and it was originally 39 euros for the 2 of us. However, 8 other people on our Roll Call were also on the same flight so we were able to get 2 spacious and clean vans for 9 euros a person. I had a lot of communication with them as we kept changing our reservation as more people joined our group.

 

We had scheduled a 7:00 a.m. pick up and they were right outside the terminal with my name on a sign at 6:30 a.m. We were at the airport and checked in for our 10:15 a.m. flight by 7:20. I highly recommend Click Airport Tranfer. Here's the link to their site http://www.clickairporttransfer.com/...-transfer.html

 

There are cabs available and they were charging 50 euro a ride whether you had 2 - 4 people and no extra luggage charge. At 6:30 a.m. there were cabs available, not sure what the availability would be later on.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Here's my post from last July when we disembarked the Celebrity Silhouette after an overnight stay in port. Please note prices are from July 2013. We did the self-disembarkation and left the ship at 6:20 for our 7:00 a.m. pick up because we did not know how long it would take to go through the disembarkation process. The only problem we ran into was Celebrity changing the disembarkation to deck 2 and then back up to deck 4 (or maybe 5 - can't remember for sure). We walked right through the terminal and no said a thing to us. We were outside by 6:30.

 

July 2013 post

I just disembarked off the Celebrity Silhouette yesterday in Venice. I've used the Celebrity transfer before and this time I went with a private transfer service. Celebrity is charging $39 a person for the transfer.

 

This time I used Click Airport Transfer and it was originally 39 euros for the 2 of us. However, 8 other people on our Roll Call were also on the same flight so we were able to get 2 spacious and clean vans for 9 euros a person. I had a lot of communication with them as we kept changing our reservation as more people joined our group.

 

We had scheduled a 7:00 a.m. pick up and they were right outside the terminal with my name on a sign at 6:30 a.m. We were at the airport and checked in for our 10:15 a.m. flight by 7:20. I highly recommend Click Airport Tranfer. Here's the link to their site http://www.clickairporttransfer.com/...-transfer.html

 

There are cabs available and they were charging 50 euro a ride whether you had 2 - 4 people and no extra luggage charge. At 6:30 a.m. there were cabs available, not sure what the availability would be later on.

 

Thanks for that info TravelGirl. We are disembarking on June 22 from Silhouette and also have an early flight (10:20am) and were thinking to catch a cab at the pier but maybe we should book a service to be sure there's someone there for us. Do you think we need three hours at the airport before the flight? I'm hearing lots of horror stories about Venice airport:eek:

Cathy

[lovestx]

Thanks Travelgirl...

Barwick Cruiser and I are on the same Silhouette cruise (Hi Cathy!). Your detailed response is very helpful and does not have me too worried about Marco Polo. We were planning on an 8:30 a.m. pick up for our 11:35 flight. May stick with that.

[Travel Girl TX]

Thanks for that info TravelGirl. We are disembarking on June 22 from Silhouette and also have an early flight (10:20am) and were thinking to catch a cab at the pier but maybe we should book a service to be sure there's someone there for us. Do you think we need three hours at the airport before the flight? I'm hearing lots of horror stories about Venice airport:eek:

Cathy

 

You should plan to be there 2 1/2 hours - 3 hours before your flight. Last summer there was some construction on the road to and from the airport so you never know if that will cause some trouble. I've flown out of the Venice airport many times and it can get crazy with the waits to check your luggage and get through security. It is much calmer at the airport if you arrive around 7:30 and it gets quite crowded later in the morning. Our plan was to get to the airport at 7:30 or a little later for our 10:15 flight. There was a large US Air non-stop leaving after our flight so that made it very crowded in the terminal. Another time I was at the airport 2 hours ahead for a 10:50 flight and had no spare time. I've learned my lesson at the Venice airport and would rather get there early than feel rushed.

 

Also, even if your check in/luggage drop off counter doesn't open until 2 hours before the flight, people are already lined up to check in. If the check in counter number isn't posted, I try to figure out where the check in counter will be located. Lufthansa's counter was open over 3 hours before our flight time.

[Barwick Cruiser]

You should plan to be there 2 1/2 hours - 3 hours before your flight. Last summer there was some construction on the road to and from the airport so you never know if that will cause some trouble. I've flown out of the Venice airport many times and it can get crazy with the waits to check your luggage and get through security. It is much calmer at the airport if you arrive around 7:30 and it gets quite crowded later in the morning. Our plan was to get to the airport at 7:30 or a little later for our 10:15 flight. There was a large US Air non-stop leaving after our flight so that made it very crowded in the terminal. Another time I was at the airport 2 hours ahead for a 10:50 flight and had no spare time. I've learned my lesson at the Venice airport and would rather get there early than feel rushed.

 

Also, even if your check in/luggage drop off counter doesn't open until 2 hours before the flight, people are already lined up to check in. If the check in counter number isn't posted, I try to figure out where the check in counter will be located. Lufthansa's counter was open over 3 hours before our flight time.

 

Great news! We're also booked with Lufthansa and I'd rather stand close to the front of the line for checkin than show up and end up near the back haha! If we get a pickup at the pier for 7am on a Sunday morning does that sound reasonable for our 10:20am flight? Thanks for all your info!

Cathy

[ama]

Thanks everyone! I will pre-book a land taxi/van for our group to be on the safe side and aim for 2.5 - 3 hours prior to our flight. Thanks for the recommendations. I suppose when I get on board, I can see if we need to do self-embarkation and carry luggage off ourselves or if Celebrity starts their "normal" disembarkation early enough for us.

[Travel Girl TX]

Great news! We're also booked with Lufthansa and I'd rather stand close to the front of the line for checkin than show up and end up near the back haha! If we get a pickup at the pier for 7am on a Sunday morning does that sound reasonable for our 10:20am flight? Thanks for all your info!

Cathy

 

Yes, you'll be fine with that pick up time especially on a Sunday.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Yes, you'll be fine with that pick up time especially on a Sunday.

 

Thank you!!

[Travel Girl TX]

Thanks everyone! I will pre-book a land taxi/van for our group to be on the safe side and aim for 2.5 - 3 hours prior to our flight. Thanks for the recommendations. I suppose when I get on board, I can see if we need to do self-embarkation and carry luggage off ourselves or if Celebrity starts their "normal" disembarkation early enough for us.

 

You are correct to make the self vs normal disembarkation decision once you see the time frames Celebrity is using.

[dave9898]

My husband and I will be disembarking Sillhouette in September for our 11.05am flight. Have booked transfer to airport through TA, so not sure what time that will be till we get all paperwork through. As husband suffers from COPD, I am a little concerned at the thought of dragging 2 large suitcases off ship. could anyone tell me if there would be anyone on hand to assist (if needed). Also can you just walk straight of ship, or do you decend via a sloping gangway?

[upwarduk]

You could of course check in on line before hand! That will save you time.

[Travel Girl TX]

My husband and I will be disembarking Sillhouette in September for our 11.05am flight. Have booked transfer to airport through TA, so not sure what time that will be till we get all paperwork through. As husband suffers from COPD, I am a little concerned at the thought of dragging 2 large suitcases off ship. could anyone tell me if there would be anyone on hand to assist (if needed). Also can you just walk straight of ship, or do you decend via a sloping gangway?

 

Not sure if there would be someone to help with your luggage. I have seen Celebrity personnel push wheelchairs. Check on board for that type of service.

 

At the Venice pier you are connected via an elevated walkway to the terminal. I can't recall if there is a slight slope to the walkway. Once inside the terminal there are escalators to take you down to the ground floor. I wasn't looking for elevators, so wasn't aware if any were right there. If you do the very early self-disembarkation they had the people exiting deck 2 which was at ground level. At 6:20 a.m. we were initially told at deck 4/5 to go down to deck 2 and then deck 2 personnel said we were too late for that and they sent us back up to deck 4 or 5 to exit via the walkway

 

This was all based on our experience last July 2013.

[dave9898]

Travel Girl TX. Thank you for that information its just what I needed to know, and I am now confident that DH will be able to cope. I just didnt know what to expect as we have always sailed from Southampton before.