NCL changed our Port. Now we sail out of Ravenna. Not sure how to get there from Venice after a 2 night stay.

[Toledosfinest]

A group of 8 have been informed that instead of getting on the Viva in Trieste in October, we will now get aboard in Ravenna, Italy. There were plenty of options to get to Trieste from Venice, but Ravenna has been a bit of a challenge. We are arriving two days early into Venice and staying in the City. We need some Cruise Critic people's ideas on the best way to get from Venice to Ravenna . I have seen that there are no local busses scheduled for that day yet.  Scheduling a private transfer for 8 people with bags has shown to be quite expensive. Most prices for a large van has been anywhere from $1000-$1800 which I feel is a little crazy for a 2.5hr trip. I understand that they have to drive back to Venice possibly empty though. Does anyone have any better ideas?

[kohanfam]

You should look at a post a couple down on this exact topic

[megr1125]

They should have a shuttle from Venice City Center/Tronchetto. You can get there via vaporetto or private water taxi. Trust me, it's easier to use cruise line transfers.  It's far and expensive and there aren't really any other options, maybe rail.  Taxis in Ravenna are few and far between too.

[lynncarol]

I just took a look at the train schedules.  You can get from Venice to Ravenna with one change in Ferrara in a little over two hours and the cost is less than 30 dollars. My husband and I (both senior citizens) always travel via trains throughout Italy, including Ravenna.  Of course, we don't carry a lot of large luggage and have no major mobility issues but its is a great way of travel if your group meets this criteria

[Toledosfinest]

Only thing I worry about is the time of the train and is there only 1 train per day? We would have to arrive in Ravenna by 12:00 pm on Thurs. October 10th. We will have 8 Seniors and 8+ pieces of Luggage. We have no problem with mobility. 

[euro cruiser]

There are trains throughout the day, on both Trenitalia and Italotreno.  

 

Arriving by 12:00 seems early and that deadline reduces your options.  Is this a self-defined deadline?  If the ship doesn't depart until 5 PM, why make your travel more difficult than it needs to be?

 

Using the noon deadline, you have two options on Italotreno, at 7:05 (arrives 10:17) and 8:05 (arrives 11:17).  Both of these are high speed, seat assigned trains to Bologna followed by a regional Trenitalia train (no seat assignments) from Bologna to Ravenna.

 

On Trenitalia you have more options, but I'm assuming you want to minimize the number of changes so if you limit it just to routes with one change there are four trains that will get you there before noon (departures at 5:40, 5:51, 6:53 and 7:40).

 

I should note that only one of the Trenitalia departures, the 6:53, includes a seat assigned segment (Venice to Ferrara), the rest are all regionals.

 

Italo, italian high-speed train | Book no service fee | italotreno.it

 

EN - Trenitalia

Edited April 21 by euro cruiser

[mapleleaves]

1 hour ago, Toledosfinest said:

Only thing I worry about is the time of the train and is there only 1 train per day? We would have to arrive in Ravenna by 12:00 pm on Thurs. October 10th. We will have 8 Seniors and 8+ pieces of Luggage. We have no problem with mobility. 

The only transfer companies I've seen on this forum are NCC VIM Transfer and VQ Travel. (The poster who used VQ last yr said it was 450E for 6 pax)

 

As previously suggested, the NCL transfer might be the easiest option. Maybe $75pp?? 

 

As for the train, there are several departures in the morning, esp if you include the Mestre station as your departure point.  Mestre is on the mainland, directly across the bridge from Venice. You could board the train at Venice S Lucia for 1.5 E and be in Mestre within 10 minutes.  Why do you need to be in Ravenna by noon?   Most cruises depart between 5pm and 9pm.  Actually I'm curious about your cruise in general .....the NCL web site shows that Viva only departs from Athens or Rome during Oct. 

[euro cruiser]

Is it possible that you're overnighting in Ravenna for a Friday departure?  The Ravenna cruise port shows the Viva leaving on Friday at 5 PM.

 

If that's the case, I might see about delaying my boarding until Friday, or at least find out the latest time possible on Thursday.

[Toledosfinest]

We are already arriving 2 days early and staying in Venice. Hotels are pretty expensive there, so two nights will be enough to at least see much of the island. NCL advised that we have to be on the ship on Oct 10th in Ravenna by 5pm, we don't want to worry about getting to the ship on time, so we would like to be on board around 12-1pm.

[Toledosfinest]

13 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

Is it possible that you're overnighting in Ravenna for a Friday departure?  The Ravenna cruise port shows the Viva leaving on Friday at 5 PM.

 

If that's the case, I might see about delaying my boarding until Friday, or at least find out the latest time possible on Thursday.

 

[Toledosfinest]

We want to get on the ship Thursday because it being a new ship, we all want to see the ship. The entire cruise is Port intensive.

[euro cruiser]

In that case I'd lean toward one of the two Italo treno options.  Keep in mind that you've got quite a ride from the Ravenna train station to the cruise port.

 

They aren't accepting reservations yet for October, wait another month and try then.  You can save significantly if you purchase in advance.  

 

Also note that Ravenna apparently (based on comments here and on Trip Advisor) has a dearth of taxis so you might want to prearrange with a car service to get from the train station to the port, unless the cruise line is offering a transfer.

 

 

Edited April 21 by euro cruiser

[Hlitner]

We seldom disagree with Euro-Cruiser,  but the train option might be a bit difficult for 8 seniors (I am also a senior) and you will still need local taxis to get from the train station to the port.  I assume that NCL will provide some transfer options and we would suggest asking them about what is available.  
 

Hank

[euro cruiser]

😄 Oh no Hank!

 

Actually, I didn't mean to suggest that the train was the best option for this group (although the OP does state that they have no problem with mobility) but as I read back my responses it does come across that way.  I was focused on answering the specific question about the number of train options rather than the larger question of how to get there.

 

I agree that if there is a shuttle offered by the cruise line, that would be the easiest routing and probably cost about the same as the train plus taxi option.