The Tinker wrote:Not long until I return to the good ship Arcadia - have any of you been to Venice on a cruise ship and is it walkable in or do I need a water taxi/shuttle?
I would not pay for the ships shuttle water bus which goes back to St Marks via the Guidecca canal, the way the ships go in.
Take the people mover from just outside the port entrance to either Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto then take the Vaporetto down the grand canal to St Marks square, much more scenic. Tronchetto is less crowded just make sure you get on the Vaporetto going via the Grand canal.
After touristing round St Marks you can either go back to the ship the same way or stroll back to Piazzale Roma and the people mover back to the ship. There are lots of pages on the web giving interesting sightseeing routes.