Airfare

A basic round-trip United States -- Venice flight should cost $700-$1500, depending on where you fly from and when you fly.

We have seen deals as low as $799 recently, but be sure you check out the layovers. Some of the really great deals can take a couple days of travel. If you are thinking of traveling around Italy before or after the cruise consider saving time and money by flying into one city and flying out of another.

Websites such as www.travelocity.com, www.kayak.com, www.orbitz.com offer fare alert services. Type in your parameters and you will receive an email when the fair dips below or matches the price you’ve set. Likewise, download Orbitz’s Insider Deals and Expedia’s Fare Alert, which provide instant notification on special fares.

We suggest that you plan to arrive a day or two before the ship departs so that you will be certain that delays will not cause you to miss the ship’s departure at 5:00 p.m. on September 1st and that your luggage arrives with you. Venice is a marvelous place to visit and enjoy! Be aware that Venice is 9 hours ahead of Seattle.

General information
about ground transportation

(See below for specific information about getting from airport to hotels.)

Venice’s Public Transportation system (ACTV) is both land-based and water-based buses. Passengers buy single tickets for 60 minutes of travel or multi-day transit tickets that allow unlimited use over many days. For information on fares consult the ACTV website www.actv.it/english/home.php.  

The water-based buses (vaporetti) service 17 stations along the Grande Canal in historic Venice, as well as major destinations such as the airport, Piazzale Roma, the sea port, etc. They are slower than the private water taxis (motoscafi) and do not service the smaller interior canals within Venice. The ACTV buses and vaporetti have a limit of one piece of luggage (all three dimensions of luggage must not be greater than 150 cm). Additional pieces of luggage or oversized luggage may require purchasing additional tickets.

Getting from the airport to the seaport and back

The airport is approximately 20-30 minutes from where the ship will be docked. If you will be going directly from the airport to the ship or directly from the ship back to the airport, Costa Cruise Lines offers a shuttle for $24.50 (US) per person each way. We will arrange that for you upon request.

Your flight departing from Venice must depart no earlier than noon March 8th to use the Costa shuttle. Ample time must be allowed to clear customs when you get off the ship.

Getting from the airport to the city of Venice

The airport is located 12 km (7.5 miles) from Venice by land, 10km (6 miles) by water. There are several ways to get from the airport to hotels in Venice: Over land by bus or traditional land based taxi, by vaporetti (the busses that travel by water), by water taxi (speed boats).

Getting to the water taxis and vaporetti

It is about an 8-minute walk from the airport terminal to the boat docks. A free shuttle runs between the airport terminal and the boat docks.

Alilaguna Water Bus
www.alilaguna.it lists times and various lines. Slow but reasonably priced.

The slow Alilaguna Water Bus takes 70-80 minutes and costs 6-12 euros depending on where you want to be dropped off.

The faster and more expensive Alilaguna Golden (ORO) Line is non-stop to and from San Marco–Giardinetti and takes about 35 minutes. Departs from San Marco–Giardinetti about hourly from 7:40-13:30 and costs about 25 euros.

Buy Alilaguna tickets and get more schedule information at the airport’s Public Transport desk. It is to the left as you exit baggage claim. You can also purchase tickets at the airport dock or any other vaporetto stop in Venice that has Alilaguna service.

Water Taxi
The fastest and most expensive option is a water taxi -- speed boats running directly between the airport and your hotel take about 30 minutes and cost about 90 euros for up to four people. Arrange at the airport’s water taxi desk when you arrive. Seems like a worthy investment, particularly if you arrive late or depart early. If you share the cost between four people it is about the same as the Alilaguna Golden Line.

Bus
Not sure why you would want to do this since you can catch a vaporetto at the airport, but here you are. The cheap shuttle bus takes you to the edge of Venice. Blue ATVO shuttle busses connect the airport and the Piazzale Roma vaporetto stop at the head of the Grand Canal. Cost is 3 euros and you can purchase your ticket from the driver. Two departures per hour. Takes about 20 minutes. Busses leave the airport 8:20-24:00 from platform 1 directly outside the arrivals terminal. www.atvo.it

Land based taxi
Traditional land based taxis are also available. Takes about 20-30 minutes and should cost about 40 euros. There are several but here is one number to call. Radiotaxi (tel: (04) 1595 2080).

Venice Card

We found the Venice Card on the Internet. Offers unlimited access to public transportation, in addition to access to public toilets and discounts on many of the sights and museums around Venice, for 12 hours, 48 hours or 7 days.
http://www.venicecard.com/prezzi_eng.jsp
Seems like it would be simple and convenient if you are planning to stay in Venice for any length of time.