Everything was swell. We used the Hilton hotel boat (just walk right on, no ticket ever required. They take all sorts of tourists from the Hilton to San Marco so they never even asked if we are Hilton guests). Never had to buy ACTV tickets. Upon arrival however, we followed the hosts advice to take the Alilaguna blue line from the airport. THIS IS A HUGE WASTE OF TIME. DO NOT TAKE ALILAGUNA BLUE LINE, THE HILTON STOP IS THE VERY VERY LAST STOP. We spent more time on the blue line boat than we did in the airplane to get to Venice. Very beautiful tour of the entire outside ring of the city but absolutely not worth the time. Instead, take a bus/taxi to Piazzale Roma and then find a water boat going in the opposite direction, making the Hilton stop the first or second on the route. It will save you like two hours, no joke. Apart from this first step in our journey, we really enjoyed Venice! The lady was there to meet us exactly on time and everything went swimmingly!