Hello,

We will arrive at Venice Harbor on a cruise that docks at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday in July. This is our first cruise so I don't know how long it takes to get off a ship, find a taxi then get to the Marco Polo airport.

We would like to leave on an international flight departing at 12:30 p.m.. We should be at the airport 2-3 hours ahead of time. Is the traffic in Venice busy and slow enough on a Saturday in July that would cause us to be late for our flight?

Thank you,

Hello dgarvin,

Venice in July is a bit of a madhouse, but if you are arriving at 8:00am you might be lucky and miss most of the crowds. It would really depend on how long it takes to get off the ship. Once there, I think you could take the waterbus to the train station and catch a bus or watertaxi to the airport. That is a bit of a ride though. I think you'll be cutting it very close; is your flight booked yet? If not, you might want to try a later flight just to be safe.

Let's assume you don't get off the ship until 9:00. And then you want to be at the airport by about 10:30. Your best bet is to get a water taxi right from the harbor or nearby. Taking a vaporetto to the train station and then switching to a bus or water taxi at the train station will be a hassle, and time consuming. Likewise for the Alilaguna to the airport.

The water taxi will cost you about 100 euros, but it's fast and comfortable. You'll get dropped at a dock that's about a 5-minute walk to the airport door. You might consider hooking up with another couple who are also going to the airport and splitting the cost of the water taxi(there must be somebody on the cruise who's also flying out).

Cruise ships dock at several different places in the Venice area. You should check on exactly where your will dock - but it's perfectly possible it will be a place with access only by water - not land taxi.

With the limited time you have I would definitely go for whatever is fastest - very possibly water taxi - which can easily take 4 people with luggage if you can find someone on the ship to share the cost.

Thank you. This information was helpful

When I went on Holland America one year, the cruise director had an informative session on the best ways to navigate some of the islands we saw (Caribbean islands, not Europe) and found the 1/2 hour session worthwhile. I don't know if European cruises would have the same thing.