In booking the one hour cruise I thought it would traverse the grand canal and come back, however the cruise goes around lagoon (which was pleasant) and then cruises from western end of grand canal to San Marco. The boat has main seating under cover, which can be uncomfortable on hot & humid day and only has room for three adults to be in open at either end. When in the open the breeze really cools you down, but be careful with hats as my daughters hat blew off into the canal. The tour guide did point out various locations, but there was no background information. As such I wonder whether simply taking the water bus would give same experience. Basically if you have six or less on the cruise then it is worth it, any more and it is better taking the water bus. I would not pre book this cruise as there are some many options available when we visited (last Saturday in July). The cruise is not alternative to gondola's, which can go downs the side and back canals.

One way or another you should try and see Venice from the water! We went on a tour and enjoyed the view and the commentary. Our group was split -with some very interested in what the guide had to say and the rest talking loudly amongst themselves at the back of the boat. The first 10minutes in the cabin (there wasn’t enough space outside to stand safely) weren’t so comfortable but once on the grand canal you could get out, take pictures and ask questions. I would recommend! We booked online but still needed to go to the booth and have tickets printed by the company to board the boat which is less than 50m from the booth.

This was a great tour. Leaves from St. Mark's port and goes through the grand canal. Nice tour guide and was a perfect intro to Venice. If you can, try and grab the back seats so you can see up out of the boat and take pics. They also let a few people in front of the boat to take pics. You check in at the Alilinguna ticket office in to exchange your voucher for a ticket and they direct you to the dock.