Doges Secret Itineraries Tour (Venice) you can book now for April through July

[katiebeth]

Great information on this tour! I will try to book ours today. We will be in Venice in June on the Millennium.

 

I do have a question regarding the amount of walking involved with this tour. My husband and I will be traveling with our two children ages 10 and 12 and my parents who are in their mid-seventies. My mother does have some diffiuculty with walking and probably is not capable of doing a lot of stairs or steep inclines.

 

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has done this tour or has knowledge about the amount of walking involved.

 

Thanks again and we are really looking forward to this trip! Happy Sailings!

 

Nancy

[Cruisingonceagain]

Anyone out there know the response to this question? I have done research on this, and will post if we don't get responses. I'd like to hear first from the experienced ones. Thank you.

 

I'm posting results of my research, in the hopes someone out there will have other information. You can reach St. Mark's (near the Doges Palace) from the Marittima Stazione (where the ship is docked) by:

1) Walking to the Piazzale Roma (about a 15 minute walk from the ship), grab the vaporetto no. 1 or 82 to get off at San Marco stop. Vaporetto no. 82 (express) is faster, and based on the website (http://www.actv.it/english/home.php), it takes about 44 minutes, although some guidebooks say 25 minutes. I'd go with what the website says. One way is €5. A cheaper option would be to buy a 24 hour vaporetto pass for €12 if you plan to use the vaporettos more than twice. I would allow a lot of time from leaving the ship to your appointed tour meeting time (that is, 20 minutes before your scheduled tour). You would need to allot time for walking, waiting for the vaporetto (please check their timetable), travel time, and walking time from San Marco station to Doges Palace (this should not be a long walk).

2) Taking the private water shuttle ran by Alilaguna from Stazione Marittima to San Marco. Based on their timetable (http://www.alilaguna.it/?lang=en), the first blue shuttle from Stazione Marittima leaves at 8:35 a.m. and gets to San Marco by 8:55 a.m. I understand based on several posts that the walk from the ship to Alilaguna's station is a couple of minutes. One way is €5. People who took this route said it was definitely worth the extra expense.

3) I have read posts that you can walk from the ship to San Marco in about an hour, but this seems to be a very long walk.

 

Whichever way you decide, please verify that you can buy return tickets from San Marco at the San Marco ticket office, or wherever you plan to return from. I read a post where the San Marco express vaporetto ticket office closed at 6:30 p.m. and they had to take the local one and it took a lot longer to get back to the ship.

[Mark_in_Colorado]

how far is it from the ship, and how do we get there?

 

When we were on the Celebrity Millenium last year, they provided free shuttle transportation by tender boat from the ship (docked at Marittima) to one of the vaporetto stops near Piazza San Marco. I am sure that Carnival will also provide transportation (whether free or for a small charge) to near Piazza San Marco. I'm sure no cruise line would leave it up to you to find your own way from Marittima on foot. It really isn't practical to have a couple of thousand passengers making their own way between Marittima and Piazzale Roma.

[Andym]

Nancy,

There are a lot of steps, so it may not be suitable for your parents.

[katiebeth]

Dear AndyM,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it.

 

These boards are great! So many kind people taking the time to provide helpful information to others!

 

Happy Sailings!

 

Nancy

[Mark_in_Colorado]

Paritial quote - 1) Walking to the Piazzale Roma (about a 15 minute walk from the ship), grab the vaporetto no. 1 or 82 to get off at San Marco stop. Vaporetto no. 82 (express) is faster, and based on the website (http://www.actv.it/english/home.php), it takes about 44 minutes, although some guidebooks say 25 minutes. 2) Taking the private water shuttle ran by Alilaguna from Stazione Marittima to San Marco. Based on their timetable (http://www.alilaguna.it/?lang=en), the first blue shuttle from Stazione Marittima leaves at 8:35 a.m. and gets to San Marco by 8:55 a.m. I understand based on several posts that the walk from the ship to Alilaguna's station is a couple of minutes. One way is €5. People who took this route said it was definitely worth the extra expense.

 

Note that Line 82 will take you from P. Roma to San Marco (Vallaresso) via the Grand Canal on alternating runs (every other run only goes as far as Rialto) in 30 minutes. Alternatively, line 82 also runs from P. Roma to San Marco (S. Zaccaria) via Giudecca and San Giorgio every ten minutes, taking 38 minutes. Line 1 will take you from P. Roma to San Marco (Vallaresso) in 38 minutes via the Grand Canal.

 

FYI - In looking at the timetable for Alilaguna, it looks like the last run of day from San Marco back to Marittima is at 16:10 (4:10pm).

[Cruisingonceagain]

Mark,

 

Thank you for the great information. I have no idea if Carnival will provide a shuttle to bring the Liberty passengers from the port to the P.Roma or some other point where they can grab a vaporetto. Any past Carnival Liberty cruisers who may know?

[Cruisingonceagain]

For those who may be interested in whether Carnival provides a shuttle to the vaporetto or not, they did not in 2005 according to SueMo, a past Liberty Med cruiser. Hopefully, 2006 will be different. (I posted the question on a separate thread.)

[cawhite]

Hi Cynthia,

 

I actually called Carnival today and talked to the people who handle shore excursions. They said they do not provide transportation (paid or otherwise) from the ship in any port... except for those associated with Carnival tours.

 

Carole

[Cruisingonceagain]

Hi Cynthia,

 

I actually called Carnival today and talked to the people who handle shore excursions. They said they do not provide transportation (paid or otherwise) from the ship in any port... except for those associated with Carnival tours.

 

Carole

 

Carole,

Thanks for checking. I guess we have to make sure we know exactly how to get to a vaporetto stop before we get there. Here's a link that might help those who need to figure their way around Stazione Marittima and back:

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruise-terminal-marittima.htm