More on Big Ships and Venice

Ansa, the Italian news agency, posted an article on their English language page yesterday saying that "within three or four years" large cruise ships (defined as those over 55,000 tons) will be prohibited from using the Guidecca canal (and therefore the current cruise port).

 

Of course, a lot will happen between now and then ...

 

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2017/11/08/cruise-ships-to-be-denied-access-to-venice-st-marks_ee6563f6-cfdc-4555-b324-14c16cfec452.html

I hope they really mean it this time, and can work out ways to get tourists in and out easily.

It's posted on the Ministry's web site, it sounds pretty official but we'll see.

 

According to the Ministry posting, they are building a new terminal at Marghera for cruise ships that will not interfere with commercial traffic.

 

If so that's good news for folks arriving by air for cruises as it will be a lot closer to the airport. It's also not far from Mestre for those arriving by train.

 

On the other hand, it will be inconvenient for those wanting to visit Venice from the ship. The cruise lines have several years to figure out workable strategies, which will likely include paid tenders/ferries between the new port and Venice proper.

 

The ministry announcement is here, google translate will give you a good sense of what it says but it's typical government-speak, which is the same in any language: http://www.mit.gov.it/comunicazione/news/grandi-navi-marghera-latto-di-indirizzo-del-comitatone

As a lover of Venice, I applaud the progress.

 

As a lover of small ships, I hope that a perhaps unintentional side effect of this might be that some cruise ships consider keeping a few smaller ships in their fleets (or even consider building new ones) for Med cruises.

From your lips, cruisemom ...

Thanks for posting. Like nearly all things "Italy" we shall just wait and see :). This has been an ongoing issue for many years with several solutions under consideration. At one point there was talk about dredging a new ship channel that avoided the Giudecca Canal by going to the southern side of Giudecca. I would guess that the Marghera solution is less expensive and better for the environment. As one who really enjoys Venice we think getting the large ships away from the city is a good thing! We think the Italian government should also close La Spezia to large ships....in order to save Cinque Terre...which is now being overrun by tourists. Ironically, the government allowed La Spezia to accept large ships and has now built gates along the access roads (to Cinque Terre) with the intent of limiting road traffic. Go figure.

 

Hank

Thank you so much for posting this.

 

Keith

As a lover of Venice, I applaud the progress.

 

As a lover of small ships, I hope that a perhaps unintentional side effect of this might be that some cruise ships consider keeping a few smaller ships in their fleets (or even consider building new ones) for Med cruises.

 

 

 

I wish!!!!!

 

 

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Ironically, the government allowed La Spezia to accept large ships and has now built gates along the access roads (to Cinque Terre) with the intent of limiting road traffic.

I suspect this is a case of which level of government gets to make which decisions, as in the region allows things at the port while the province or the commune gets to control the local road. Maybe this is a government dispute being played out on land.

Thanks for the info.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/08/giant-cruise-ships-diverted-away-venices-historic-centre-catch/

 

 

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I suspect this is a case of which level of government gets to make which decisions, as in the region allows things at the port while the province or the commune gets to control the local road. Maybe this is a government dispute being played out on land.

 

It is another of those "Italian things" which seems to be a problem (too many tourists) seeking a solution. Cinque Terre has simply been overun with tourists...especially on days when there are cruise ships in nearby La Spezia. Those 5 tiny villages cannot handle the crowds and its a sad situation if you are there on a very crowded day. The last time we drove down to Riomaggiore there were so many people in the streets (perhaps we should say street) that the charm was lost. DW and I finally crammed ourselves into one of the restaurants for lunch and then fled. Even the train, that spans the villages, was packed. There is no where for these villages to expand and they are being ruined by the hoards. In Riomaggiore, the once cute little local restaurants are being replaced by junky tourist shops and pizza (even by the slice) places. The government has created the problem and now thinks that closing the roads (on busy days) is the only way to limit tourism. We do not know if they have yet to use the gates to barricade the tiny country roads, but those gates were installed about 2 years ago.

 

Hank

Nice graphic in the Telegraph article showing which ships will be allowed to dock where (and what path they can take).

 

For fun, I'm taking a stab at identifying the ships under the 55,000 tonnage limit that would still be able to transit the Giudecca canal:

 

--The Viking Ocean ships (at ~47,000 tonnage)

-- HAL's Prinsendam (~39,000)

-- Pacific Princess (30,277)

-- Oceania's four Regatta-class ships (30,277)

-- Azamara Journey & Quest (30,277)

-- Seabourn's entire fleet of 5 ships

 

 

And of course my favorite, Aegean Odyssey (11,900) -- in which I will be sailing out of Venice next May. :D

 

Others?

Don’t forget Azamara’s new Pursuit! There’s quite a few more as well! Most are older ships, and the newer ones are pretty luxurious. There’s all of the Silversea fleet, all of the Ponant ships, all of the Seadream Yacht Club ships, Cruise and Maritime Voyages Magellan, Astor, and Marco Polo, Costa neoClassica, and most if not all of the Regent and Celestyal ships. I’m sure I’m missing loads more. Venice won’t be short of possible ships.

Nice graphic in the Telegraph article showing which ships will be allowed to dock where (and what path they can take. For fun, I'm taking a stab at identifying the ships under the 55,000 tonnage limit that would still be able to transit the Giudecca canal:

--The Viking Ocean ships (at ~47,000 tonnage)

-- HAL's Prinsendam (~39,000)

-- Pacific Princess (30,277)

-- Oceania's four Regatta-class ships (30,277)

-- Azamara Journey & Quest (30,277)

-- Seabourn's entire fleet of 5 ships

. . .

Too bad all the ships in the list above are quite expensive so the average cruiser won't be able to visit Venice until the new mainland port is built at Marghera.

 

We did a TA from Venice on the Ruby Princess in 2011 and spent several days pre-cruise in Venice--a very memorable experience. I just looked at what Princess is doing today vis a vis Venice and only the Pacific Princess calls there these days so that line has already adjusted. The larger Princess ships don't call anywhere on the east coast of Italy, as far as I can tell. Perhaps this will change once the new dock is build on the mainland.

Edited November 9, 2017 by BarbinMich

Too bad all the ships in the list above are quite expensive so the average cruiser won't be able to visit Venice until the new mainland port is built at Marghera.

 

 

The new measures will not, according to the article above, be put into effect for 3-4 years while the new facility is readied.

 

This issue has been discussed for years. There have been interim measures that already banned ships larger than a certain size -- somewhere north of 100,00 tons, I think but I'm not 100% sure. I remember quite a few lines had to pull their largest ships out of Venice at that time. I suspect that's why Princess, with most of her ships being quite large, isn't a frequent caller. I do see some port calls in Venice in 2018 for Sea Princess.

 

At a quick glance, I don't see any ships listed that are >100,000 tons. However, there is still a RCL ship, a Celebrity ship, a couple of HAL ships, and some Costa and MSC ships -- so not all luxury lines.

The new measures will not, according to the article above, be put into effect for 3-4 years while the new facility is readied.

 

This issue has been discussed for years. There have been interim measures that already banned ships larger than a certain size -- somewhere north of 100,00 tons, I think but I'm not 100% sure. I remember quite a few lines had to pull their largest ships out of Venice at that time. I suspect that's why Princess, with most of her ships being quite large, isn't a frequent caller. I do see some port calls in Venice in 2018 for Sea Princess.

 

At a quick glance, I don't see any ships listed that are >100,000 tons. However, there is still a RCL ship, a Celebrity ship, a couple of HAL ships, and some Costa and MSC ships -- so not all luxury lines.

 

The 18-yr-old Pacific Princess (30,000 GT and capacity of 690-825) is calling there a few times this fall (sold out) and next; nothing listed for 2019 but perhaps itineraries haven't been finalized that farout. For 2018 the ship will call in Venice twice (2 cruises end there, 2 begin there). An inside cabin is selling for an avg $2,000 for Nov 2018 and an avg of $2,750 for Oct 2018 (not including taxes, fees and port charges). These are 12 night cruises so the minimum pp cost for an inside cabin is $167/nt and ranges up to $237/nt. That's more than a lot of cruisers pay for inside cabins on larger Princess ships for a Mediterranean cruise (in 2018 Crown P insides are going for $1,399 ($140/nt) for a 10-nt cruise.