shuttle to San Marco

[smj]

Does Oceania provide a free shuttle from the ship to San Marco?

[PETER M]

Just returned Apr 10-24 BCN-VCE. No Oceania shuttle or independent info avaialable prior to docking.

[url="http://www.Alilaguna.it"]www.Alilaguna.it[/url] runs shuttle from Statizione Maritima to SAn Marco at 0935,1005,1105, 1205 returns every 30 min.; last at 1610, 5 eur. Return by water taxi cost 55 eur for 6 people.

No water taxis were available after 1005 departure so walked to vaporetto.
Recommend memorize Alilaguna times.

Dock is very isolated, 3-400 yards to end of custom buildings (check-in & check-out area) and no taxis, local buses, or anyone to ask, available to take you to Piazale Roma (about 1200-1500 yards) over large bridge. Difficult walk 20-40 min; heard several seniors turned back and gave up.

[goeurope]

One thing to keep in mind is that Venice has two main cruise terminal areas, Marittima and S. Basilio, and you've got to check the port's list of ships to see where the INSIGNIA or REGATTA will be moored. If you have Adobe Reader installed on your computer, you can read the PDF file here:

[url="http://www.vtp.it/Allegati/prg2004.pdf"]http://www.vtp.it/Allegati/prg2004.pdf[/url]

For more detailed information on the Venice Cruise Terminal, with links to other resources, I'd suggest reading my four-page article at:

[url="http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruise-terminal.htm"]http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruise-terminal.htm[/url]

BTW, it shouldn't take anything like 20 to 40 minutes to reach the Piazzale Roma from Marittima; 10-15 minutes is more like it if you're used to walking and are reasonably fit. I can understand how the walk might be hard on very elderly passengers. Still, it's shorter thn the walks from some other ports that Oceania visits. I'm a reasonably fast walker, and I think it took me an hour and a quarter to reach the ship on foot in Palma de Mallorca and Lisbon!

--
Durant Imboden
Europeforvisitors.com

[PETER M]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PETER M:
Just returned Apr 10-24 BCN-VCE. No Oceania shuttle or independent info avaialable prior to docking.

[url="http://www.Alilaguna.it"]http://www.Alilaguna.it[/url] runs shuttle from Statizione Maritima to SAn Marco at 0935,1005,1105, 1205 returns every 30 min.; last at 1610, 5 eur. Return by water taxi cost 55 eur for 6 people.

No water taxis were available after 1005 departure so walked to vaporetto.
Recommend memorize Alilaguna times.

Dock is very isolated, 3-400 yards to end of custom buildings (check-in & check-out area) and no taxis, local buses, or anyone to ask, available to take you to Piazale Roma (about 1200-1500 yards) over large bridge. Difficult walk 20-40 min; heard several seniors turned back and gave up.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[ClaudiaF]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PETER M:
Just returned Apr 10-24 BCN-VCE. No Oceania shuttle or independent info avaialable prior to docking.

[url="http://www.Alilaguna.it"]http://www.Alilaguna.it[/url] runs shuttle from Statizione Maritima to SAn Marco at 0935,1005,1105, 1205 returns every 30 min.; last at 1610, 5 eur. Return by water taxi cost 55 eur for 6 people.

No water taxis were available after 1005 departure so walked to vaporetto.
Recommend memorize Alilaguna times.

Dock is very isolated, 3-400 yards to end of custom buildings (check-in & check-out area) and no taxis, local buses, or anyone to ask, available to take you to Piazale Roma (about 1200-1500 yards) over large bridge. Difficult walk 20-40 min; heard several seniors turned back and gave up.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

IS this "water bus" close to th eships docking area.. or is that also a long walk?

Barcelona to Venice on Oceania - "Insignia"
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;5;3;18;00;00&timezone=GMT+0100[/img]
Buenos Aires to Rio Oceania - "Insignia"
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2005;2;2;18;00;00&timezone=GMT-0300[/img]

[img]http://www.gifs.net/animate/mermaidswim.gif[/img]
[img]http://jammerbabe.com/images/gifs/icon_treasurebox.gif[/img]

[corkiv]

The docking and pier information provided by the ship was totally inadequate. Upon arrival we followed a line to people past empty and deserted wharehouse buildings,down a lane past the railroad tracks (freight) up a steep flight of steps, over the railroad tracks, down a steep flight of steps and discovered a launch to the San Marco area. It costs 5 Euro to San Marco which was reasonable under the circumstances. Upon returning we discovered that the bridge route was closed and we had to retrace our way back up to the highway, cross over the railroad tracks and find our way to the ship. There were no signs indicating the direction to the ship. It was off to the left and the view blocked by buildings. There were signs for many other cruise lines but none for the Regatta.

The staff people appeared to be as much in the dark as to the area, transport, locations, etc. as were the passengers.

Upon disembarking the following day the situation was much better with cruise staff available and a supply of taxis also available. We were able to get a cab to the vaporetti and the vaporetti to the train station.

[goeurope]

>>S this "water bus" close to th eships docking area.. or is that also a long walk?<<

That depends where the ship is docked, and on which waterbus you mean. The Marittima piers are about a 15-minute walk from the Piazzale Roma, where you'll find all kinds of vaporetti (waterbuses), while the S. Basilio pier is fairly close to the S. Basilio vaporetto stop. On the other hand, Marittima has the Alilaguna waterbus, which comes right to the pier. See my article (there's a link to it earlier in this thread), which explains things succinctly and includes a link to the official port site.

BTW, the reference to the "bridge route" (the rather decrepit old iron bridge) is accurate, but there's no need to take that bridge from Marittima. If you're walking, you can just follow the road out of the port entrance, turn right, and follow the road to the Piazzala Roma. It isn't a beautiful walk, but the route is fairly obvious and there are no steep steps to contend with.

--
Durant Imboden
Europeforvisitors.com

[corkiv]

Thanks you Durant for the up to date information on the route to the water bus. It's nice to know now, however, the Regatta staff were no help whatsover in providing directions to the vaporetta. Once we alighted from the ship we followed a long line of people past the wharehouses and over the bridge.
Everyone turned right to cross over the "old iron bridge". If we had been directed left and followed your directions the treck would have been much more direct and easier. The point is that the Regatta staff were of no help whatsoever in providing adequate assistance in the form of directions, recommendations. Tey appeared to me more interested in selling their packaged off ship trips.

[goeurope]

>>f we had been directed left and followed your directions the treck would have been much more direct and easier.<<

Actually, the route out of the port entrance and along the road is a bit longer than the route over the steel bridge. But it doesn't have steps, and you don't have to worry about falling through a hole in the rusty bridge deck. :-)

As for the REGATTA staff's lack of information, that's unfortunate, but the Venice tourist office and port authority may deserve part (though not all) of the blame. Some tourist offices and port authorities are better than others when it comes to providing maps and printed literature. The Venice cruise authorities have an excellent Web site, but that doesn't do much good when you're standing on the pier and wondering how to get where you're going.

--
Durant Imboden
Europeforvisitors.com

[ClaudiaF]

No shuttle to St. Marks.. but you walk off the ship about a street.. to the first bridge ( walk over it ) and then get on the bus ( water bus, about 3.50 Eu to St. Marks sq.).. for 5 EU uou get a 90 minute ride all around the Grand Canel to St. Marks SQ.
Make sure if you are leaving ST. Marks Sq. going back to the ship that you do not do the 5 EU trip.. it passses the ship .. and goes directly back to doe..
ask us we did it..
tell ther person you are buying the boat ride from one way NORTH.....

Barcelona to Venice on Oceania - "Insignia"
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;5;3;18;00;00&timezone=GMT+0100[/img]
Buenos Aires to Rio Oceania - "Insignia"
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2005;2;2;18;00;00&timezone=GMT-0300[/img]

[img]http://www.gifs.net/animate/mermaidswim.gif[/img]
[img]http://jammerbabe.com/images/gifs/icon_treasurebox.gif[/img]

[goeurope]

If you're doing the Grand Canal boat ride, you want the #1 vaporetto. That's the local waterbus that zizgags up the Grand Canal. It also runs in the opposite direction.

For general guidance, see my Venice Cruise Terminal article at:
[url="http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruise-terminal.htm"]http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruise-terminal.htm[/url]

For information on the waterbuses or vaporetti, see my Venice Vaporetto Routes article at:
[url="http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vaporetto_routes.htm"]http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vaporetto_routes.htm[/url]

For an index of all my Venice transportation articles (including information on airport boats and buses), see:
[url="http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vi-transport.htm"]http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/vi-transport.htm[/url]

Sorry to drop all the URLs, but questions about Venice port transportation, boats, etc. come up again and again, and after a while it becomes easier to direct people to resources than to repeat information that I've already written. :-)

--
Durant Imboden
Europeforvisitors.com