San Basilio, Venice

[Spree75]

All,

 

I know I got part of the answer I needed in another thread (Thanks Chairsin) but I was hoping to get a fuller answer because I seem to know more than my travel agent... BTW, that's never a good thing.

 

So I have the cruise documents from Seabourn for the August 18 sailing from Venice, on the Spirit, and it says the ship will be at San Basilio. I've looked at port maps and google maps and know that San Basilio is the strip of docks on the southeastern edge of the cruise terminal.

 

My question for those that have sailed from this dock, what is the fastest/easiest way to get to this dock?

 

Do you have to enter the port from the main entrance in the north (across from P. Roma and train station) or can you enter from the southeast where there is a vaporetto stand? If you can enter down there, would the easiest way be to hop the 5.1 vaporetto and get off at S.Marta or S.Basilio and walk the half block to the ship?

 

My travel agent is saying that we will be coming out of the train station and walking over the Ponta della Constituzione (and the steps) with our bags and then having a car drive us from P. Roma to the ship. That just doesn't seem like the best way to do things...

 

Thoughts?

[wripro]

Two words. Water taxi. With every penny.

[Spree75]

It would seem my travel agent and her factor in Italy had a misunderstanding... It now appears we will be having a water taxi take us from the train station to the dock as you suggested wripro. It's a good thing that I am OCD about travel arrangements. What a mess if I discovered these things once we got there....

[Jim Avery]

Two words. Water taxi. With every penny.

 

Henry is right again! Nothing sets the tone of a visit to Venice like arriving in a Water Taxi. Maybe the Captain will take you down the canal where the boatyard is where the Gondolas are built. How I wish there was a water taxi from LHR to Southampton.:D

[secoma4]

Or (if you have the time to kill and want the round trip) from the station you can just catch a regular ferry that has a stop within about 50-100m of where you will be embarking, and probably where the water taxi will drop you. One small bridge and steps to cross to the Terminal building. Water taxi is the most convenient though - it's like comparing a taxi to a public bus doing the same route.

[wripro]

And who wants to schlep luggage on a public bus?

[Jim Avery]

And who wants to schlep luggage on a public bus?

 

You beat me to it. I have used the Vaporetto with my luggage. Never again. It is fine if you want to go a stop or two and have only a small bag but not with wheeled cases. I have never been on one that was not crowded to the max.

[Miss Jet Set]

We are on the same cruise and have done it quite a few times. AS we spend two days

before in an Hotel we take the Water Taxi to the pier and Seabourn baggage handlers

take the luggage from the taxi and the next time you will see it is in your stateroom.

With SB it is 'first class' from start to finish.