Peter_S_Aus
Now that sounds like the way to go. Thanks for posting the link to your TR. It is full of very useful information.

Venice does sound a bit complicated to get around, but with help from the Fodorites I'm sure we can navigate successfully.

Shared water taxi - that seems like the perfect compromise. Thank you Peter!

Water taxis are lovely wooden motor launches that will hold up to about 6 people and their luggage. The boatman will help you load the luggage and climb down into the launch.

Final cost will depend on exactly where you go (you need to determine the closest dock to your hotel) - but I believe it's about 100 euros. Ask your hotel and they can confirm.

If you can change your arrival date to May 7th, I'd be glad to share a water taxi with you !

carolsc

You can have "WOW" and you can have cheap, utilitarian. You can't have both.

There is absolutely nothing WOW about the Alilaguna or the vaporetto. There is WOW if you're willing to pay for water taxi -- great unobstructed view of the city. Shared water taxis does seem to be the answer.

Be sure to take a vaporetto ride around the Grand Canal at night... one of my best suprises was getting lost walking and hopping on the vaporetto to get back to the hotel. It was fantastically unplanned and magically wonderful!

Thanks again to everyone for their help! Though disappointing, it is actually really helpful to set my expectations straight regarding the Alilaguna...and to get the great suggestion of the shared water taxi.

The Alilaguna is considerably more WOW than the bus. For the cost of a taxi for two you can probably get two 7 day passes for the vaporetti, and have as many WOW moments as you like for the rest of the week (go out to the Lido just for the view back across Venice from the boat). I know it won't be a first impression, but it will be no less spectacular.

Our experience with the shared water taxi:
It worked really well.

Arrive at Marco Polo, collect bags etc.

Go to the Shared Water Taxi booth in the arrivals hall.

Exchange printed copy of voucher for a docket, with booth attendant who spoke good English. She was expecting us.

Wait for 10 minutes or so for another two couples to arrive.

Stroll as a group down to the water taxi terminal, ask for Mike, and the docket had his water taxi number on it. It is a seven minute walk to the taxi terminal, and we used an airport baggage trolley to haul our stuff, even though we had wheeled bags. To get an airport trolley, you need a one euro coin to unlock the trolley, like in a supermarket. Leave trolley at water taxi dock, and retrieve your euro.

Embark. The whole process was really simple, fun too.

The web site that we booked through:
http://www.venicelink.com/index.php?...1&lang=english

We did not use the shared water taxi on our departure, and I’ve read of people having problems with the service when doing Venice to Marco Polo.

I disagree. Having taken Alilaguna a half dozen times and enduring the very slow experience we opted for the bus a month ago. Its a twenty minute ordinary bus ride and you get dropped at Piazzale Roma (less than charming). But the short walk over Calitrava's new bridge gets you in front of the train station. IMO, a striking introduction to Venice. Of course vaporetti 1 and 2 are right there.

Okay, trying to make my final decision and leaning toward shared water taxi. But want to make sure I have all the info.

Peter - I assume that gratuity is customary for taxi drivers, even when shared? Any idea how much? We will only have carryon luggage, so won't need much help with that.

Thanks again!

Caze, no gratuity (tip) is required. Tipping is much less prevalent in Italy than say in the USA. It’s worth doing a search on Fodors for Tipping in Italy, and you’ll find lots of comments.

We’ve taken the Alilaguna into Venice a couple of times and the shared water taxi once. Next time, (in seven weeks and four days, not that we’re counting), we’ll take the Alilaguna ferry. Reason for this is that it will be a different Alilaguna line to the line that we’ve previously taken.

Bus to P. Roma + Vaporetto costs about 10 to 15 euro, the shared water taxi 21 euro, according to their web site, so there is nothing in it, in terms of cost. The Alilaguna is about 15 euro, I think.

Departing, we take the Alilaguna ferry, mainly because there are set timetables. Meeting up with a shared taxi is a bit less certain – there are occasional stories on Fodors where people have had problems meeting up with a taxi.

Alilaguna info is here: http://www.alilaguna.it/?lang=en .

Thanks Peter! From the airport, it looks like there is a 6E surcharge for the shared water taxi, for a total of 27E each. So not vastly more expensive than the other options, but for two people it starts to add up, when I seem to choose the splurge option on every line-item of my trip!!

That said, I still think it will be the way we go, just to start our trip off on a fun note!

Thanks again.