Thomson ship in Venice demonstration

[kruzseeka]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3807799/We-generation-live-Venice-Venetians-BLOCK-cruise-ships-docking-city-destroyed-tourists.html

 

I can't blame them - these cruise ships are huge monstrosities sailing down the canals and all the congestion which the tourists bring must feel quite overwhelming at times. Seems like Celebration got caught up in the demonstrations. Whilst I have sympathy for the locals, it really is one of the best ever things to do - sail in and out of Venice! How sad if that became a thing of the past. So hard to balance everyone's wishes though and at the end of the day they are reliant on tourist income so how this will unravel remains to be seen! (I think the very biggest ships have already been stopped from going down the Guidecca Canal.)

[davecttr]

This dispute is likely to go on for many years although I was surprised to see that the emphasis was on too many tourists. how the heck are they going to limit those numbers. Banning cruise ships will just mean the cruise lines will either drop Venice altogether or just bus the passengers from other ports many miles away.

 

I wonder how many of those demonstrators jobs are dependant on tourism?

[skioncruises]

I hope it's not a regular Sunday demo. We're there on 23 October.

[dronnygirl]

Even though we've sailed into Venice and spent a lovely day there, I can understand as most people eat on the ship and don't spend much in port. I guess it's people staying in the hotels and eating in the restaurants that the locals want.

[Devon Doll]

At one time it was the wash that the large cruise ships created which locals objected to, saying it was destroying the fabric of the place, but, you only have to visit once to see that the cruise ships enter really really slowly (wonderful for photos) and it's the hundreds of water tsxis, water buses zooming around which potentially do the damage

[cherrybear]

That must have been scary for those on the ships. Guess Venice is off the list for us. I don't want to go somewhere I'm hated.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[davecttr]

At one time it was the wash that the large cruise ships created which locals objected to, saying it was destroying the fabric of the place, but, you only have to visit once to see that the cruise ships enter really really slowly (wonderful for photos) and it's the hundreds of water tsxis, water buses zooming around which potentially do the damage

I read somewhere that the large cruise ships cause damage due to the sheer volume of water they displace as they move slowly up the guidaicca canal. All that water has to go somewhere so imagine the ship moving along surrounded by a bulge of water. As the ship passes a point the water flows outward and after it passes the water flows back.

 

The best solution would be to dredge a new approach channel across the lagoon, we would lose the beautiful sail ins etc but at least get close to the city.

[kate52]

My latest visit to Venice this year really saddened me.

Apart from the first couple of hours when we visited a little known museum on the bank of the Grand canal, the rest was just an endurance test. The closer we walked to St Mark's square the more crowded it became, to the extent where you couldn't even pause to look in shop windows because of the crush of people in the narrow streets, and could find nowhere to sit down and relax with a drink.

The square itself was completely packed with people. We were thankful that we didn't want to join one of the endless queues, and quite relieved to get on the vaporetto back to the ship.

It's not just Venice that is suffering. Malta, Dubrovnik and Messina were also seriously overcrowded.