VENICE - ITALY - EUROPE
PORT INFORMATION
Built on a maze of more than 120 islands connected by canals and bridges, Venice is northern Italy’s most treasured tourist destination.
From gondolas steered by gondoliers in striped shirts and straw hats along winding canals, to fairy-tale palaces and the Rialto and Bridge of Sighs, history and romance conspire to lure tourists to the ultimate in tourist clichés. But The City of Water is a cliché everyone wants to love.
Cruise Terminals in Venice
One of the busiest cruise ports in the Mediterranean, the port of Venice process more than 500 cruise ships and more than 750,000 cruise passengers each year.
The Port of Venice's Venezia Terminal Passeggeri is made up of two main areas – the Marittima basin ((Terminal 1 Isonzo, Teermianl 107/108, Terminal 117, and Terminal 103), which processes the larger ships, and the San Basilio pier, which processes the smaller cruise ships.
Marittima Basin
The recently opened Terminal 1 Isonzo is on two levels. Stat-of-the-art facilities include a fully licensed bar and cafe, duty free shop, VIP Lounge, and a large, panoramic terrace.
Restored just before the turn of the century, Terminal 107/108 is also on two levels and offers, amongst its facilities an ATM machine, duty free shop, passenger informtion desk and food an beverage area.
Terminal 117 is adequately equipped with waiting rooms, check-in desks, duty free shops, a food and beverage area and restrooms.
Opened in 2003, Terminal 103 is a state of the art facility with a waiting room, check-in desks and rest rooms.
Terminal St. Basilio
Renovated in the late 1990s, and a very short walk from the waterfront Zattere, Terminal St. Basilio processes small cruise ships. Facilities include a waiting room, check-in desks, restrooms and 3 food and beverage vending machines.
For those arriving by car at the Venice cruise terminals, there are 3 paying car parks with attendants available at Park 1-2-3 .
Connecting to the Venice Cruise Terminal from the International Airport Marco Polo tkes about 20 minute by bus or taxi, and about an hour by water taxi.
Far from the most efficient way to get to the cruise terminal from the airport, but a scenic route nevertheless, there is an airport bus connecting with the central Piazzale Roma from where cruise passengers can take a taxi, bus or even water taxi to the cruise terminal. Alternatively, the walk to the cruise ship terminal from Piazzale Roma only takes 15- 30 minutes.
Cruise Lines using Venice Cruise Terminal as an Embarkation / Disembarking Port
Most of the major cruise lines use Venice as either their port of embarkation or disembarking. These include Azamara Club Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cruise West, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Line, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, MSC Cruises, NCL, Oceania Cruises, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, Silversea Cruises, Windstar CruisesMust See Attractions in Venice
Venice attractions include world famous historic buildings, art galleries, museums, winding streets, canals, piazzas, churches and monasteries. Of the many sights to take in, here are just some of the must-see attractions in Venice
Piazza San Marco: Venice has a number of public squares, the largest and most renowned of which is St Marks Square surrounded by the icons of the Doge's Palace (a palace that has also served time as a senate house, administrative center, hall of justice, and even prison), the14th-century St Mark's Clocktower, and St Mark's Campanile that was originally built as a lighthouse to assist navigation in the lagoon. Piazza San Marco, of course is also famous for the outdoor cafes where the tourists and locals congregate to watch the world go by.
The Grand Canal: The heart of the city, the Grand Canal is busy and bustling and lined with magnificent palaces.
The Rialto: Another must see attraction The Rialto has lbeen rebuilt many times, but the present bridge, on the iste of the first bridge ever built across the Grand Canal is the one most recognise from their favorite jigsaw puzzle.
A little further afield if there is time, two islands offer two very different and very popular attractions:
Murano: The island of Murano is the heart of glass making in Venice. At the Glass Museum (Museo Vetrario) visitors can watch glass-blowing in practice and buy everything from wine goblets to jewelry.
Burano: Since the 16th Century, the island of Burano has been home to Venice's lace-making trade. Toady, at the Museum of Burano visitors can witness lace in the making and purchase souveniers to take home.
