Where do get the schedules for the Grand Canal Cruises in Venice

Cruises can't go through the Grand Canal. They'll get stuck and then it will take years to get them out, like the Costa Concordia.

What you can do is get on a vaporetto. Vaporetti are the Venice equivalent of city buses. They are boats that travel back and forth exactly like a city bus would do in a normal city that doesn't have the streets constantly flooded like Venice. They stop at vaporetti stops where people get on and off.

Each ride on the Vaporetto costs €7, but you can buy daily passes for 18h, 24h, 36h, 72h etc, which are a good deal if you take more than a couple rides a day.

You don't really need the timetable, since there is one every few minutes in each direction. Just wait at the "stazio" (vaporetto dock) for the next one, just like you would do for a city bus.

I got on the "vapo" and rode the Grand Canal - took it all around and back to my original boarding point at St. Mark's Square. I was great. Got a little crowded at some points.... but we got seats at the very front of the boat and had and excellent view and took dozens of photos.
(I had purchased the 72 hour pass and more than paid the cost in my usage for 3 days !!!)

A current guidebook will have most of the vaporetto info you need. In Rick's Italy book for instance, see pages 64-69. Line #1 goes up the Grand Canal, making all the stops. The more expensive Vaporetto dell'Arte service is no longer running. I believe the main lines have fairly frequent service until midnight, but you'll see actual first and last departure times posted at the docks. I have never checked ACTV schedules before arrival.

If you are going to ride down the Grand canal on the vaporetto ( highly recommended), board at a stop before it becomes crowded so you can get a seat outside. Piazzale Roma might work, the Ferrovia stop definitely does not.

We took the vaporetto all the way along the canal while listening to Rick's free podcast tour. It worked perfectly. We did it on a Sunday night as the sun set. Crowds were thin and the lights started to twinkle on the water. It was pure magic.

By going to Piazzale Roma , is like getting on first at the bus depot, to better get a front seat , then sit back and enjoy.

Take the vaporetto early in the morning to watch Venice wake up. Take it at sunset to watch the evening magic begin. Take it late at night for the romance. Take it when you're hot or your feet hurt. Take it just for the fun of it. Take it this often and the passes have more than paid for themselves!

Hi, Id like to ask a question ? How much time does it take to ride all the way around ? This is something I had thought of doing while there nxt month. thanks Sue

Here is the actual vaporetto schedules:
http://www.actv.it/sites/default/files/ORARI%20NAVIGAZIONE%20VIGORE%20DAL%2031%20MAGGIO%202014.pdf

sneu,

Have a look at a map or satellite photo of Venice. The whole group of main islands looks like a large fish, and the Grand Canal is like the backbone serpentine down the middle.

To go all the way around, you can go down the Grand Canal, then turn right at San Marco and go all the way along the bottom of the fish back to the head along the Giudecca Canal.

Or when you get to San Marco you can continue along the bottom of the tail and out to Lido. At Lido you can come back, or you can go around the top of the tail and back to the head by the Cannaregio Canal.

Or halfway around the top of the fish you can turn right via the islands of San Michele and Murano to Burano and Torcello. Or out to Punta Sabbioni.....

So there is no simple "all the way around". Which did you have in mind?

BTW - the lagoon, on which Venice sits, is quite a large place.