Jed,
I was only in Venice once, and took a water taxi from the hotel to the aiport. The boat we took would have held about eight people, maybe more. Luggage would have been no problem, either, based on what you describe. We paid 85.00 euro in September 2004 for the taxi ride. We did not tip, but I do not know if that was correct or not.

Thanks. I should add that I understand that for extra service I would tip, but am asking about the usual service of simply getting us to the stop with our bags. ((*))

I guess it does depend on where your hotel is. We stayed partway between the Rialto and San Marco. We took the Alilaguna Gold (Oro) line straight to San Marco. It takes less than half the time of the regular line. Also, the regular line boarded right before our boat. We couldn't figure out how they were getting that many people onto the boat! They just kept packing them in. The Gold line has a different set up. It isn't like a bus with row after row of seats. It has a cabin with one long padded bench all along the hull with open area in the middle. We only had one other couple sharing the boat with us. It was fabulous and cheap in comparison to the taxi. The walk to the hotel was easy and uneventful. Since you can buy the tickets on the boarding plank, you might want to check out the departure schedule and see if you want to wait or hop on a taxi which is parked right next to it.

We love entering Venice from the airport using a water taxi--not just that it's a bit faster, but it's fun as well.

However, I wouldn't bother with a water taxi from P. Roma--walk or use the vaporetto (water bus) since you are already "in" historic Venice.

Is the water taxi faster than the Alilaguna Oro? Does it take a different route, more scenic?

I just returned from Venice and I took the Alilaguna (red line) from the airport to St. Mark's. Alilaguna pokes along at a fairly slow rate and we were passed by many water taxis. I would therefore presume that the water taxis would be faster than the Alilaguna Oro, though I am not sure how big the difference would be. Other than speed, the advantage of a water taxi is that it delivers you directly, or closer, to your hotel than the other transportation alternatives, saving you wandering lost and dragging heavy luggage through the streets of Venice.

Hi jed - where are you staying near Ferrovia? [or are you just transferring to the staion to get a train?]
i stayed at a hotel near Ferrovia about a month ago, and ended up walking from piazzale Roma to the hotel. It took about 10 minutes and was quite straightforward, if you don't count the three bridges i would have had to negotiate if my best friend's son hadn't been carrying my case for me! Wheels just don't work on those bridges.
You could get a vaporetto from P/roma to Ferrovia [line 1, one stop] but i think for the 4 of you with all that luggage, a water taxi is just the job!
buon viaggio!

There will be two of us. If there were more of us the water taxi would be an economical option. We travel light, one small roll-aboard each. They're easy enough to lift when wheeling isn't possible. If the weather is bad I won't think twice about taking the water taxi (to San Zaccaria stop). But if the time and view are about the same I'd save a few Euros and take the Aligaluna Gold.

Hi Judy,

I am pretty sure that the water taxis and Alilaguna Oro would take identical routes so time will be the deciding factor for you. While the Alilaguna boats go slower than the water taxis, the real time loss comes from waiting for the boat to leave. The Alilaguna Oro only runs once an hour so you could have a considerable wait before the boat even leaves the dock. If time is really of the essence, I'd opt for the water taxi, unless your arrival is in harmony with the Alilaguna Oro timetable.

Thanks, SlowWanderer. That's what I'll do then. I've got the Alilaguna Gold schedule and if we're not in sync, or if it's raining, we'll hop on a water taxi.

Sounds good, Judy, though I don't understand why the weather would make a difference?

If it's raining we might not want to traipse even the short (I hope!) distance from the San Zaccaria stop to our hotel. It would be nice to be "driven" to our door.

Probably the weather matters if you're standing out in the rain, waiting for the next boat.

Judy - Ah, right! I had been confused since you said you were going to take the water taxi to the San Zaccaria stop. I inferred that your hotel must not have water access and that San Zaccaria was the closest the taxi could get. I'm glad to hear that that is not the case. It seemed a shame to take a taxi if it couldn't drop you closer to your hotel than the Alilaguna and vaporetto stop!

Travelnut - Alilaguna has sheltered areas at the dock where you can wait out of the rain.

annhig- Yes, we stayed at Amadeus Hotel, in Cannaregio, near ferrovia.

When we arrived at the airport, we walked to the taxi dock, and the 4 of us had a private boat to a dock just a 2 minute walk to the hotel. To us, it was well worth the €90.

Ciao

Water taxis and the Alilaguna ferries do not take the same route--unless you happen to be going to spots that coincidently happen to match the Alilaguna route exactly.

The comparison would be similar to a city bus and a taxi cab on land. The land taxi will take the most direct (fastest) route to wherever you are headed (assuming the driver isn't trying to run up the meter--not a problem with the water taxi as you get the price ahead of time). A city bus has a set route that it follows with set stops--some bus routes have more stops than others, but all have set stops. Same with a water "taxi" and a water "bus."

For those who are interested, I just want to add that the bus service is quite good. Modern vehicles, 25 minutes to Pze Roma, and it costs something like 3 euros. If you travel light it's very doable (you take your bags on board). From Pze Roma we took the vaporetto to within a block of our hotel. It was sleeting when we did it and we were fine.

Staying dry is a good motive. But, with rain obscuring that first "wow" glimpse of Venice, I'd consider the bus.

i agree about the bus. it goes from right outside the airport - turn left from the baggage reclaim, buy your ticket at the information office [on the right as you approach the exit] and the bus stop [no 1] is straight ahead, just across the first road. You can't miss the big blue bus, and you put your luggage straight into the luggage space under the bus.
On your return, you have to buy a ticket from the ATVO office which is on the right of Piazalle Rome, as you arrive from the canal side. [the ticket office just by the canal sells tickets for the orange ACTV buses which are E2 and you have to put your luggage on board].
The blue ATVO bus leaves from the same stop where you will have alighted if that's how you travelled from the airport; don't forget to validate your ticket as you get on.
Good luck!

annhig: Earlier this year we took our luggage on the bus with us. I don't recall being given the option to store it below.

I agree that generally the water taxi and the water shuttle could not be compared and the routes would be quite different, but the poster had originally said she would either take a water taxi to the Zattere stop or take the Alilaguna Gold Line to the same stop. The red and blue lines of the Alilaguna do make multiple stops, but the Gold line is a direct shuttle to St. Mark's Square. Also, the traffic from the airport to St. Mark's has to follow the same "shipping routes" (marked by large wooden posts jutting out of the water) for much of the way. So in this specific case, the shuttle and the taxi would take virtually identical routes and the scenery would be the same. Of course, this is not generally the case, but this does seem to be one of the rare exceptions. However, when she posted that she would take the taxi directly to the hotel, that changed the scenario.