First time cruisers, please help.

Have you searched the "Venice for Visitors" website? That is a good resource for information about Venice, including cruising from there. http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/ Cruisecritic is still the best for information regarding cruises IMO. The registration and posting process doesn't seem to be any different than other online forums. Here's a link to the forum specific to ports of call in Italy: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=595

Maria, your ship will, for a price, transfer you to the airport and this will ascertain that you disembark in a timely manner so as to make your flight. I presume you will have to be at the airport by at least 9:30 am. Go to the Purser's Office early on in your cruise so that this can be arranged. The day before you arrive in Venice there will be a shipboard "seminar" on what to expect of the disembarkation process. Do try again to navigate the cruise critic site. Tons of information there on all aspects of cruising, the good, the bad and the not very pretty.

There is no customs or immigration in Venice. You will have to go through check in and security at the airport and I assume it will be crowded with cruise ship passengers. The ship will provide transportation to the airport, for a fee most likely, or you can use one of the dozens of taxi at the dock. On the ship you will complete a card indicating your departure plans a day or two before and be assigned a departure time for you based on your travel plans. At that time you depart the ship, pick up your luggage, and head to the airport. It is all pretty orderly and efficient. With a 11:30 departure I doubt if it is a direct flight to the US. Probably a connecting flight to somewhere else and then home. What was your problem with cruise critic? It is generally an easy site to use but you do have to sign up before you can use it.

Thank you all. My problem in Cruise Critic is I can't find were to post my questions. I did register and I did sing in, but I can't find were to post. Again thank you all so much.

I suggest you go to the Rollcall section of Cruisecritic and find your cruise line, click there to find your ship. Go to your exact cruise under the ship heading and ask there. People reading that roll call will often have the same questions as you and almost always disembarking questions are discussed there. That said, I also suggest you arrive at the airport early. I have never been to Marco Polo airport in the morning that it was not very crowded and congested in the airline check-in area.

What time is your ship scheduled to dock in Venice? Usually they start getting people off the ship about an hour after they dock (or even sooner). They want you all off so they can get ready for the next sailing! They also prioritize so that passengers with early flights get off first. If you request to be in the first group, there's no reason why you wouldn't be. They usually open the breakfast room at least an hour before the first disembarking time, so you will be able to have your morning meal before leaving. A day or two before docking, you will fill out a disembarkation form detailing your onward travel plans - this is when you ask for early departure. Then you get a "group" number for disembarkation - note the number and color of your luggage tags - this is how you will find your bags after you leave the ship. You will leave the ship, go directly into the terminal to pick up your luggage, possibly go through customs (if so, just a formality, probably not even stop to talk to an officer) and you will be on your way.

Another point, since we do carry on only, we do not put our luggage out the night before so we can just walk off the ship at the appointed time. That saves a lot of stress and time.

Thank you. We also, have only carry ons. Our flight departure is at 11.30. I was hoping to be off the ship by nine. We thought about purchasing the cruise transfers but they are a bit expensive. So we are hoping to follow RS suggestions and use public transportation. If there are taxis available at a reasonable price we wouldn't mind using one to take us to the airport. Again, thank you.

If you have only carry on then you can leave the ship at anytime. Just walk off and wave good by,