Venice or Barcelona?

[CAKER]

I hope this will help, because it would be a shame if you missed the extra days in Venice! We are leaving in two weeks for this cruise and will arrive in Venice 3 days before we board the Millie. We have reserved a private water taxi from Venice Guide & Boat for our transfer from the airport to our hotel. Our driver will be at the water taxi dock holding a card with our name on it. The dock is about 1/2 mile from the terminal, but the VG&B website has a detailed map and photos of the route to take to the dock. No worries about dragging your luggage to the dock; you can use a 1 euro coin to obtain a luggage cart near baggage claim. Fortunately, our hotel is on the Grand Canal, so we and our luggage will be deposited in the lobby. They also have other options where someone will meet you in the terminal and take care of transporting you and your luggage to your hotel.

 

The day we board the Millie, Lugi will pick us up at our hotel and take us to the ship. Our airport to hotel transfer is 80 euro and the hotel to ship is 55 euro; yes, it's a lot more expensive than the vaporetto, but much less stressful, so spend some extra time in Venice and let someone else worry about your luggage!

 

You can find their website using any search engine - from their home page, click on "Boat Services"...then click the word "more" under the heading "Private Transfers to and from the Airport".

 

I'll post a detailed review of our cruise when we get back... Ciao, Carla

 

I found it easiest by typing in "WATER TAXI VENICE", and got several options. The first "Water Taxi Venice" gave me the info about the different services at the airport. The second one about 5 entries later gave me their various tours, and click on their "special offers" for their multiple usage discounts if you use them for tours as well as transfer services from/to the airport, and/or port. They seem to be very professional.

 

Because of changes at the airport in January 2006, if you do not use these services, you have about a 10-15 minute walk from the terminal to the water taxi dock, shlepping your bags or using baggage trolleys. There are few, if any, porters now.

[Sonrisa7]

I lived in Barcelona for over 5 years. While it's a great city, with lots to see and do, I would say spend your extra days in Venice. And by all means stay in Venice proper, not the Mestre.

[Susan-M]

We did Millennium from Barcelona to Venice last year and had two days in each city. I would have liked more time in Barcelona because there wasn't time to see everything that we had hoped to.

We didn't feel 'shortchanged' with only 2 days in Venice .... perhaps because it was at the end of our cruise and we were worn out by then (although it didn't stop us from trekking all over Venice and taking in as much as we could.)