First time in Venice

[johnds]

In October I shall at last be visiting Venice (On Arcadia)
None of the shore excursions offered by P&O seem particularly appealing and of course all are expensive.
We are supposed to arrive "Early morning" and leave regrettably "afternoon"

Has anyone any advice on what to see, what to do, and if not on our own, who with

Thanks

[Meg 50]

not sure where you'll 'park', but we didn't do a trip last time - just walked and walked and walked. over little bridges, in and out of shops, up side alleys - all sorts. It was wonderful!
We ended up in St Mark's square and caught a vaporetto back to Piazza Roma - the full length of the Grand canal.

[david63]

Assuming that mobility is not a problem then "doing Venice on your own" is very easy. Bear in mind though that it will be very busy and possibly very hot.

P&O normally run a "water ferry" from the ship's dock to just in front of St Mark's Square - you have to pay for this and the rules as to buying tickets seem to change every week (no change there then!)

There is also a monorail that runs from the dock (about 200 yards walk from the dock exit) which takes you over the water (cannot off the top of my head remember the name of the square where it stops). This costs (or at least did last year) 1 Euro each. From where this drops you it is relativity easy (45 minutes - 1 hour) to follow the signs to St Mark's via the Rialto Bridge.

My suggestion would be to take the monorail in and the ferry back.

[Holiday Planner]

The monorail takes you to Piazza Roma. That's the main hub for Vaporoettos and buses, and has a ticket station for Vaporetto day passes. We paid 18 euros each for a 1 day vaporetto pass - which meant we could hop on and off as often as we like . We also did the complete circle in different stages - The Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal, and you can even hop over to one of the islands.

[Orpheus]

When we were in Venice on the Aurora in 2009 my wife and I did this P&O tour Venetian Islands and Gondola and really enjoyed it and found it very good value for the money. We also sail in October to Venice on Azura and this time will be doing Venice on our own.

[Manoverboard]

We did the €1 mono-rail journey into the City limits and P&O's water shuttle-bus back, facing the lagoon at St Marks turn left for 50 yds or so to locate the jetty / pierhead.

Buy a Thomas Cook's Traveller's Guide of Venice for a few £££s on e-Bay. It has 10 detailed walks which you can select, cut out, have enlarged to A4 then laminated ... all at a mere fraction of one P&O excursion.

[lioness]

We took the People Mover (monorail) last time and will do so again in September. This time we are going to Burano and then back into Venice itself. We have the same time problem. Arrive early morning, leaving at 1430. Really cross about it. But never mind.

We also loved Murano, but if it's your first time in Venice, there is so much to see in the main area.

[Orpheus]

Lioness are you sure you leave at 14:30? That is unusual for a visit to Venice

[johnds]

How do I find out exactly what time we are leaving ?

John

[Orpheus]

Hi johnds go to the P&O web site and click on these:- / HOW CAN WE HELP/WHAT WILL THE DRESS CODE BE WHILST I AM ON BOARD/SCROLL DOWN TO ARCADIA/AND THEN YOUR CRUISE NUMBER ( I LOOKED AT J315 ) and this cruise departs Venice at 16:30.

[david63]

How do I find out exactly what time we are leaving ?

John

Whilst what Orpheus says will give you the expected time of departure the only way to find out "exactly" is to listen to the announcement from the Capitan on the actual day.

[Manoverboard]

" Hi johnds go to the P&O web site and click on these:- .... "

Click here for that link ...

[towny44]

We took the People Mover (monorail) last time and will do so again in September. This time we are going to Burano and then back into Venice itself. We have the same time problem. Arrive early morning, leaving at 1430. Really cross about it. But never mind.

We also loved Murano, but if it's your first time in Venice, there is so much to see in the main area.

Lioness, Using Orpheus's info the departure times from Venice for Oriana in Sept is 17:20 and Arcadia is 17:30, so if you are on either of these you should be OK.

[Orpheus]

Yes I agree with david63 and 16:30 does seem a little bit early!!!!!!!!

[johnds]

Thanks for the directions to the website

Not really the most obvious place to look is it ?

We are on J315 so 16:30 it is which isn't I suppose too bad but 18:30 would have been better

We have already had a letter warning of a later arrival into Corfu and I suspect the page you referred to me hasn't been amended

John

[The Tinker]

Also if you are visiting any of the churches/cathedrals remember to take a wrap/scarf for the ladies to cover their shoulders.
We visited in August and as it was so hot had sleeveless tops on and no cardigans etc with us - we managed to find something to cover our shoulders with otherwise they would not have let us in.

[Orpheus]

And I think that you have to take your passports with you.

[david63]

And I think that you have to take your passports with you.

But only to get back on board the ship - and even if you don't have it you will still get back on board.

[The Tinker]

A lot of places insist you carry your passport with you when abroad - can't remember which ports but really it is probably sensible anyway in case you do get left behind!

[sunsetsail2night]

I understand that if the ship has to sail without you, they go into your safe and leave your passport, money etc. with the port authorities.
I carry a copy of my passport with me when I ashore which should be sufficient to get me back on board.

Brenda

[Holiday Planner]

I understand that if the ship has to sail without you, they go into your safe and leave your passport, money etc. with the port authorities.
I carry a copy of my passport with me when I ashore which should be sufficient to get me back on board.

Brenda

Not in Venice! The rules had changed for our cruise there last summer, and several 'old hands' were caught out because they ignored the advice to take passports with them. We sailed late because of it, and Captain Paul Brown was vocal with his rebuke across the public address system!

[The Monocled Mutineer]

As an "old hand" P&O and Venice call-wise we were "caught-out" last year having not heard the advice nor seen the rather well-hidden message in the Horizon newsletter. This was a new rule given the opening up of the new cruise terminal there, and gave us a bit of a 'scare'.

We arrived about 15 mins before "last passengers to board" and it took about 15 mins to resolve. We had our cruise cards on us of course and we gave permission for a purser dept officer to enter our safe to retrieve our passports.

Derek Kane

[Holiday Planner]

As an "old hand" P&O and Venice call-wise we were "caught-out" last year having not heard the advice nor seen the rather well-hidden message in the Horizon newsletter. This was a new rule given the opening up of the new cruise terminal there, and gave us a bit of a 'scare'.

We arrived about 15 mins before "last passengers to board" and it took about 15 mins to resolve. We had our cruise cards on us of course and we gave permission for a purser dept officer to enter our safe to retrieve our passports.

Derek Kane

Oh Derek ... I wasn't going to snitch that it was you!!! .. you weren't the only one, to be fair.