Yikes! Better get your Med Cruise to Venice in soon

[TAD2005]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We sail out of Venice in late September 2020 on Viking Ocean, a much smaller (930 max passengers) cruise ship, so we be just fine. Its also the off season for the Greek Islands  will avoid the huge summer cruise crowds, which is why we chose VO in late September.

We were on the Westerdam in late October,  visiting Santorini.   There were 2 other ships anchored at the base of the cliff that day, and the lines to get back onto the cable car to go back down to the tender dock was over 2 hours long.  So much for beating the huge summer crowds by cruising in September.   

[slidergirl]

7 hours ago, Lovely other said:

Even though I have cruised from Venice myself, personally I’m wholly supportive of banning cruise ships from the canal. 

 

However, I’m baffled by the above poster that wishes all ships over 2000 pass ngers be banned from the med? I’m not a fan of those floating skyscrapers of RCCL etc but there are HAL ships and many others over 2000 passengers too. 

 

Maybe it is time to limit the amount of large ships docking on the same day though ... a port that is over loaded with people is no fun for anyone 

I'm not sure why it is baffling.  Many ports of call are just not made for having 12,000+ passengers descend on them for a few hours.  Cinque Terre is getting destroyed - the government is going to put limits on how many people per day may visit.  Capri is overrun with all the trash left behind by the thousands of people daily - they have to barge their garbage and are now banning single-use plastics, including shopping bags.  St. Thomas is totally overrun - surprised if anyone can find a patch of sand.  When the ships were smaller, it was less of an issue, but now it's terrible.   It's economics, of course.  But, you can choose wisely if you must cruise and help lessen the footprints and damage.

[silvercruiser]

Even The Netherlands are concerned about so many tourists. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/06/we-must-act-now-netherlands-tries-to-control-tourism-boom

[sppunk]

NPR had a great story on overtourism this past week.

 

Essentially as the Chinese and Indian middle class explodes and they get the opportunity to explore the world like the West has for the past century or whatever, it’ll get more and more crowded. 

 

And I’m glad because it means more humans are able to see remarkable things. 

[asebastian]

wow, we're planning our Med cruise with HAL for mid-2021 when the schedules come out. Hopefully Venice will not be embargoed by then.

[terrydtx]

The Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro  has been trying several measures since 2017 to limit the huge summer tourist crowds that can outnumber local residents at a ratio of 140 to 1.  Most have done little to stem the crowds. One of the things he is looking at now is a huge daily fee for tourists entering the city which would go into effect in 2020. Limiting cruise ships could be next, this latest incident might give the Mayor all the ammunition he needs to institute more restrictions.

Edited June 3, 2019 by terrydtx

[Homosassa]

LOL - I just saw one headline that read "Massive Luxury Ship...."  At 69, 501 tons, the MSC Opera is in the small - midsize  range for cruise ships.

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, Homosassa said:

LOL - I just saw one headline that read "Massive Luxury Ship...."  At 69, 501 tons, the MSC Opera is in the small - midsize  range for cruise ships.

 

Unless I am mistaken, there is already a ban on the very large cruise ships coming into Venice.

[Copper10-8]

In 2013, a ban for ships weighing more than 96,000 tons from the Giudecca canal was drafted and instituted however, the legislation was later overturned. 

 

My two cents; ban all cruise ships from the Giudecca canal and reroute them in via the alternative Vittorio Emanuele channel. So you miss sailing past St. Mark's but you potentially save this landmark city from slowly eroding as a result of the waves created by the draft of the big ships. Take a vaporetto from the cruise terminal and go see St. Mark's that way

Edited June 3, 2019 by Copper10-8

[sail7seas]

23 hours ago, sail7seas said:

 

Thanks for the photos,Copper.. hard as they are to look at.  It truly is painful to see the river boat and MSC in such a terrible circumstance.

 

I just heard this  story on our 6:00 pm   Boston news but they did not name the cruise line... too busy stressing it happened in Venice.  🙂

 

A relief  to hear anything on network news other than politics. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sailing into and out of Venice is so incredibly beautiful especially on a  sunny, bright, clear day.  🙂     Sure beats arriving on a  tour bus which was our 'tansportation' for our very first visit to Venice.  MUCH better arriving on a HAL ship......though not complaing.  How lucky to have been able to visit  Venice multiple times.

 

 

sail.noordam@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

23 hours ago, sail7seas said:

 

 

[kazu]

On 6/2/2019 at 5:13 PM, terrydtx said:

We sail out of Venice in late September 2020 on Viking Ocean, a much smaller (930 max passengers) cruise ship, so we be just fine. Its also the off season for the Greek Islands  will avoid the huge summer cruise crowds, which is why we chose VO in late September.

 

Just a bit of a warning - September is not necessarily a quiet time in cruising depending on the ports and, being on a 930 passenger vessel does not guarantee anything if there are a bunch of cruise ships in port.

 

Having sailed the P’dam a lot which has less passengers than your ship,  I check to see what other ships are in port which can impact things.  Thankfully, with the P’dam, most times we were the only ship.  I hope it is the same for you.

[Funatabi]

I like cruising, as we all do. I love Venice, a city that I have been lucky enough to visit three times, but I still yearn to visit again. I have not entered Venice via a cruise ship, only by bus and train. And every time I have stepped out of the Santa Lucia Station and set foot in front of the Grand Canal, my eyes swell with tears at seeing the most jaw-dropping and amazing site to behold on the face of the earth. BUT, while visiting the city and I saw cruise ship after cruise ship sail by, I also got tears in my eyes, seeing that beautiful but fragile city being destroyed by the wakes of those gigantic ships that were eye-sores so out of place. That site kind of made me feel sick.

 

Even as a cruiser, I am for a ban because ships of any size don't belong in the main canal.

[sail7seas]

21 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Just a bit of a warning - September is not necessarily a quiet time in cruising depending on the ports and, being on a 930 passenger vessel does not guarantee anything if there are a bunch of cruise ships in port.

 

Having sailed the P’dam a lot which has less passengers than your ship,  I check to see what other ships are in port which can impact things.  Thankfully, with the P’dam, most times we were the only ship.  I hope it is the same for you.

 

 

We   visited Venice several times late September and it was  glorious time   to be   there but there were lots of other tourists then, too.  That is also not so late for Greek islands.

 

Don't just count how many cruise ships in port.    planes, trains, buses, autos.......      carry millions of persons to  Venice.  It is almost always very busy.

 

 

sail.noordam@gmail.com

 

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by sail7seas