Best travel approach to Venice from Marco Polo?

I never used a water taxi. They cost about 100 euro, so they're out of my price range. I hop the No 5 bus to Piazzale Roma and proceed on foot or by vaporetto. 6 euro for the bus or 12 euro for a single bus/vaporetto connection. Alilaguno boat from the airport is 15 euro.

Water taxi is a specific type of transportation, generally the most expensive (just as land taxis are more expensive than buses). If you plan to use the vaporetto (water bus), you might check the Vaporetto Pass rates.

We were wondering the same...We are taking a cruise which ends in Venice.. which we will be spending 3 days there.....wondering what would be the best way to get from where we disembark from the cruise ship...to the hotel.....then again to the airport...remember we will have luggage -

Know your boats. The water taxi is a private boat that takes you from any point A to point B. It holds up to about 8 people with luggage. It costs 90Euro-110Euro to ride and is the most expensive way to travel in Venice. The water taxi will take you from the airport to your hotel. Many travelers use the water taxi for very early plane departures. They will show up on a canal near your hotel and take you to the airport at any early hour of the morning.

Alternatively, there is the Alilaguana boat www.alilaguna.it It costs 14Euro and does have regular routes from the airport to only certain areas of Venice. They do not go to all of the stops in Venice. Be sure to determine if there is an Alilaguna stop near your hotel before using this service.

Next, there is the vaporetto (water bus). These are the large boats that are the main means of transportation up and down the main canals of Venice. They do not go to or from the airport.

Finally, there are two bus lines that will take you from the front of the airport to the Piazzale Roma in about 25 minutes for 7Euro. From the Piazzale Roma, you can take a vaporetto to your hotel.

Agree with Sam. We've been to Venice two times and used the bus and vaporetto to get to our hotel and also to get to the airport from our hotel. We recently returned from Venice where our plane left Marco Polo at 7:30am. At around 4:30am we walked from our hotel to the vaporetto stop and took the vaporetto to Piazzale Roma and took the No.5 bus from there to the airport. Our 72 hour vaporetto pass covered the cost of the vapporetto and the bus. We had no problem getting up a little earlier and no problem with the connections, and the cost savings were significant.

Larry, Thanks for the information - I went on Alilaguna's web site....Will try and find a hotel near one of their stops.... Noticed they have a hotel "Hotel Palazzo Vitturi" Looked very expensive....but will check it out.
We do not mind taking bus/train however this time we will have "Luggage" as we will be getting off 12 day cruise.

Laura, this blog will describe the transport options from the cruise ship terminal to your hotel:

http://livingveniceblog.com/venice-instructions/coming-going/venice-by-cruise-ship/

The Alilaguna blue line stops at the top of the port and once on that you won't have to transfer to another service, so this could work if you choose a hotel close to one of their docks. However, these boats can be small and they do fill up. If you have more than one piece of luggage per person it can be awkward. Also, if there are lots of people waiting for one not everyone will get on board. I have seen them leave people waiting on the dock as there is no more room. Going TO the airport this could be a problem! So book a hotel near one of the earlier stops in the route, like around San Marco or Rialto.