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Welcome to the cruise section of this trip report. It follows directly on from the trip report in the Globetrotting trip report forum, which includes live reports from our Italian road trip and then the trip report of our first day and a half in Venice, Italy.
You pick this part of the trip report up as we make our way from Venice on one of the waterbus services, a vaparetto, back to our hotels, before we head to the cruise terminal....
Saturday 5 July – part five: this is a complete fiasco
When we got to the Ferrovia stop, we headed back to our hotel to pick up the luggage, and then headed over the Ferrovia bridge to Mari and Raleigh’s hotel. Mark took the hand luggage, while Mari and I between us got one case over, with Raleigh dealing with the other one.
Once at their hotel, we picked up their stuff, and off we went again. We had two small bridges to cross, and boy this wasn’t fun for any of us, with us all now lugging cases behind us. We stopped for a short break after clearing both bridges, then took the ramp up from Piazzale Roma, and headed over to the People Mover. We were all pretty much done by this point, so when I went to get tickets for all of us (€1 or €2 each, I can’t remember in all honesty), I was not impressed to find a note saying the elevator wasn’t working. We thought we were facing more steps, but thankfully there was an escalator.
We headed up, and the train in the station was already absolutely packed, so we waited for the next one. By this point, we were all absolutely drained and really hot. It wasn’t a good combination. As soon as the next train arrived, we piled in, and grabbed seats. Air conditioning – lovely!
As we made it over, we could see cruise ships…
… and for a moment, I was like “where’s the Magic?” and then finally we saw her!
We got off at the next stop, and my goodness what a fiasco that was. You had to head downstairs on an escalator or an elevator. Easy, you’d think? Wrong. There was seriously a woman who went down the escalator backwards, facing her luggage behind her. The whole thing was just bizarre. Then there was another woman who just stopped at the top of the escalator, and literally froze. In the end, Mari and I just heaved our cases down the stairs. Not what we wanted to do, but it was just insane. I know Mark got told to chill, after letting rip at them, but please, you are grown adults and you can’t negotiate an escalator. What is wrong with you?
When we got to the station for the cruise terminal, a number of people were convinced it was the wrong station, and I have to be honest, I was pretty horrified at how far away it was from the cruise terminal. Seriously? There were shuttle buses, but it soon became apparent that the Disney shuttle had last been seen 15 minutes earlier, and was supposed to run every 15 minutes. There were also a lot (and I mean a lot) of people waiting. I soon began to work out with this many people, it was going to get unpleasant when one bus showed up…
I went to ask the Cast Member when the next shuttle would be, and I felt really sorry for him, because he told me he’d already called and asked that question, and the impression I got was that he hadn’t got an answer. I asked him how long the walk was, and he told me 15 minutes.
We waited, and saw another shuttle bus show up not for Disney, so that was it for us. Time to walk…
The entrance to the port itself was only a couple of minutes’ walk away, but the Disney Cast Member there warned me that it was still quite a walk, and I should go back for the shuttle. I don’t think so. I told her but as there wasn’t one turning up, I’d take my chances.
It wasn’t until after we entered the port I think that I saw a Disney Cruise Line bus pass me by. Mark told me he’d seen two more after that, but we didn’t see one pass us as we slogged our way down towards the embarkation point. We were following a woman who had a Disney bag, so we knew where she was going, and she guided us very well. She told me she’d already done the first nine-night itinerary, then was doing this one, and the next one. She said that she really wanted to do the first and last one, and it was hardly worth flying home to the States for nine nights. She apparently priced up spending that time in Venice, but she said it was nearly exactly the same price.
We caught a glimpse of the Magic on the way…
We made it to the luggage drop off area without seeing a shuttle, and boy they were enforcing this rigidly. They made Mari hand over her luggage, although it had been hand luggage on the flight over here, and I saw other people stopped at the entrance to the terminal and told to get rid of their luggage.
We headed inside, and it was like a zoo. At least the silver and gold Castaway Club line was shorter than the first timers line…
…. which was something, but we must’ve stood in line for maybe 10 minutes, which just about finished me off after the hike over here. Walking I can do fine, make me stand in line for too long, and then my chronic fatigue hits home…
Finally we were seen, and assigned our gold Castaway Club lanyards, although in truth they weren’t particularly gold, and were more yellow.
I think the silver ones were a more realistic colour, although I don’t want to go back. This will just be an incentive to get to Platinum level – and talking of which, here’s the line for them… jealous? Heck of course!
We were assigned embarkation group 23, and went to find a seat for a few minutes, and literally almost as soon as we did, we were called, so we got in line, first for our photo…
… and then for security. This was relatively straight forward, apart from a few idiot passengers shall we say… I have to say it wasn’t particularly tough either. Mari found things in her pockets after she passed through, and they didn’t pick up the power strip in the hand luggage. We’ll keep that just for the nights when we’re in the cabin, so we don’t lose it.
Finally we were outside, and getting some proper views of the Magic…
Uh oh - that was a fiasco. That could sure set the whole cruise off to a bad start. Were there no other options to get to the ship (I'm guessing not, since you would have researched them.)
What you went through is enough to put me off booking a cruise out of Venice.
Ugh, ugh, ugh.... Not exactly like boarding at Port Canaveral! I guess people who aren't willing or able to be pack mules for the day have to stay at hotels outside of the city or at whatever hotel is partnering with DCL for luggage pick-up. That's not the greatest option, either.
Uh oh - that was a fiasco. That could sure set the whole cruise off to a bad start. Were there no other options to get to the ship (I'm guessing not, since you would have researched them.)
I assume not. There was never any information on the Disney Cruise Line website, that I was aware of, about transfers to the cruise terminal. I know that usually if you stay at a Disney hotel, they offer them, but even a few weeks before our cruise, there were no Disney hotels listed for Venice. All the research I did about getting to the cruise terminal came from Venice and cruise websites. The information was lacking, shall we say?
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What you went through is enough to put me off booking a cruise out of Venice.
I'm sure it gets better ...
We felt the same at that point, but trust me, there is an amazing side to cruising in and out of Venice (the first bit coming up fairly shortly...) that does make it worthwhile, but getting to and from the terminal really is a joke sadly.
Ugh, ugh, ugh.... Not exactly like boarding at Port Canaveral! I guess people who aren't willing or able to be pack mules for the day have to stay at hotels outside of the city or at whatever hotel is partnering with DCL for luggage pick-up. That's not the greatest option, either.
I guess that's an option, but I have to be honest, in all my research, I never came across it. I didn't look much after we booked our hotel and there was nothing available the previous summer when I made that hotel booking.
I think cruising out of Venice is still a bit of a mess quite frankly. Everything I read was that the People Mover was the solution to getting to the port, which is why I think so many people got off at the station and were like "where's the ship?"
I'm exhausted after reading that. Yikes! They've cruised out of Venice before, right? It's almost like they're new at this port.
Your photo still looks good, but I can just see how hot and tired you all were at that point!
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I guess that's an option, but I have to be honest, in all my research, I never came across it. I didn't look much after we booked our hotel and there was nothing available the previous summer when I made that hotel booking.
I think cruising out of Venice is still a bit of a mess quite frankly. Everything I read was that the People Mover was the solution to getting to the port, which is why I think so many people got off at the station and were like "where's the ship?"
I didn't research it, either. I just assumed DCL would have a hotel partner like they do in Barcelona. I can't imagine how families with small children and luggage for a long cruise managed this!
I'm exhausted after reading that. Yikes! They've cruised out of Venice before, right? It's almost like they're new at this port.
I did think they had sailed out of it in 2013, but I just checked and found the press release announcing the 2014 season and it clearly says Venice was new for 2014, meaning they'd only had one cruise out of there before ours. I think maybe they stopped in Venice in 2013, but didn't use it as a home port...
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Your photo still looks good, but I can just see how hot and tired you all were at that point!
You know, we were all amazed at how good we looked, given how awful we felt... I know I sounds a bit weird, but I'm glad you could see how hot we were, as I wasn't sure that would come across and we were absolutely spent by the time those photos were taken...
I didn't research it, either. I just assumed DCL would have a hotel partner like they do in Barcelona. I can't imagine how families with small children and luggage for a long cruise managed this!
To be honest, I guess they just had to suck it up and wait however long it took a shuttle bus to get out there, as they couldn't have done the walk.
I didn't actually mention it in this update, but although we thought we saw a Disney bus head out as we walked along, we only saw a big arrival of passengers after we'd checked in and were heading towards security, so we definitely made the right decision, as we assume they were the ones on the first shuttle bus and they arrived way after us.
Hiya! Signing back in again. I'd intended to read the first part of your TR on my own road trip but my service was spotty and my tiny phone can't do justice to the Venice photos. Glad to be on this section in real time.
There has GOT to be a better way to get to the terminal. How sad folks arrive for their cruise a hot mess! You fake it well for the camera. I remember the live report saying you had an issue getting to the ship but couldn't have imagined this fiasco. Goodgrief.
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Hiya! Signing back in again. I'd intended to read the first part of your TR on my own road trip but my service was spotty and my tiny phone can't do justice to the Venice photos. Glad to be on this section in real time.
There has GOT to be a better way to get to the terminal. How sad folks arrive for their cruise a hot mess! You fake it well for the camera. I remember the live report saying you had an issue getting to the ship but couldn't have imagined this fiasco. Goodgrief.
I kept thinking there had to be a better way, but I think the only way was by picking up a shuttle bus from the People Mover. Had we known, I'd have paid for a taxi from Piazzale Roma - I assume they would've let one drop us off right by the terminal, but who knows?
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I know Mark got told to chill, after letting rip at them, but please, you are grown adults and you can’t negotiate an escalator. What is wrong with you? 
I don’t think so. I told her 
I have to say it wasn’t particularly tough either. Mari found things in her pockets after she passed through, and they didn’t pick up the power strip in the hand luggage. 
All the research I did about getting to the cruise terminal came from Venice and cruise websites. The information was lacking, shall we say? 
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