Cruise ships finally banned from Venice

[Clodia]

I see in today's news that this has finally happened and that ships will dock further away, though no definite decision as to where. Will miss the wonderful sail in and out and glad I've done it a few times. Will it be another Amsterdam with long boat journeys in instead of coaches?

[Harry Peterson]

It should be perfectly possible by coach transfer, though that won't solve the huge overcrowding issues.

 

I suppose the city authorities will take a view on the transfers,  but the removal of cruise ships has to be a good thing for Venice. 

[Presto2]

Sad news in one way but we are thankful to have done the sail in / out a few times. It is for the best for Venice.

I suppose we will have to wait and see what happens next. They have said that it will be a gradual change so am guessing they may send the larger ships further out. I imagine it will be difficult to change it all - I think I am right in saying that the terminal for the cruise ships is close to the people 'transporter' thing and links to other modes of transport. The whole thing will need a re think.

I also think that it may change which ship P&O send on the fly med cruises. They used to use Ventura but when the weight limitation was implemented re the ships it changed to Oceana. I hope they don't decide to change things back with this change :-(

[FlorenceItaly]

Was an effective date mentioned?  I am disappointed, but, understand.  Our cruise is Nov 2020(Celebrity Constellation), so probably not soon enough.

[daiB]

6 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Was an effective date mentioned?  I am disappointed, but, understand.  Our cruise is Nov 2020(Celebrity Constellation), so probably not soon enough.

The Italians are not the quickest at implementing things. As I understand it there is work to do on infrastructure and dredging. Could be 2/3 years.

[anniegb]

47 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Was an effective date mentioned?  I am disappointed, but, understand.  Our cruise is Nov 2020(Celebrity Constellation), so probably not soon enough.

The rerouting of cruise ships starts at the end of September 2019.

 

Annie

[brian1]

If the shuttle boats drop off at the entrance to the Grand canal.It may be more central for St Marks etc.

[Harry Peterson]

4 minutes ago, brian1 said:

If the shuttle boats drop off at the entrance to the Grand canal.It may be more central for St Marks etc.

Far more likely to use coaches, surely? Much quicker and cheaper.

[anniegb]

8 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Far more likely to use coaches, surely? Much quicker and cheaper.

The plan is to use Fusina and Lombardia ports within the lagoon.  There is a ferry service from Fusina to St Marks.

 

Annie

[brian1]

17 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Far more likely to use coaches, surely? Much quicker and cheaper.

Venice is in the middle of the lagoon with a roadbridge.I suppose it's all down to where they dock and how far.The railway station may be the best drop off area by coach.After the Amsterdam saga,you're probably right.

Edited August 8, 2019 by brian1

[Harry Peterson]

18 minutes ago, brian1 said:

Venice is in the middle of the lagoon with a roadbridge.I suppose it's all down to where they dock and how far.The railway station may be the best drop off area by coach.After the Amsterdam saga,you're probably right.

I’d guess the drop-off the city authorities would probably stipulate would be the Piazzale Roma bus & coach station, as used by the airport buses.

 

Bit of a walk from San Marco, where most will want to be, but easy access by vaporetto.

[brian1]

21 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I’d guess the drop-off the city authorities would probably stipulate would be the Piazzale Roma bus & coach station, as used by the airport buses.

 

Bit of a walk from San Marco, where most will want to be, but easy access by vaporetto.

Sorry,that's where I meant,it's sort of next door,lol.Everyone has to get there from the cruise terminal to start there journey,so perhaps a bit closer.

[sogne]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/08/venice-cruise-ships-could-be-rerouted-from-city-centre-next-month

 

slightly different from Daily Fail account

 

note the politics

[mickey89]

3 hours ago, daiB said:

The Italians are not the quickest at implementing things. As I understand it there is work to do on infrastructure and dredging. Could be 2/3 years.

September 2019 is not 2/3 years away. 

https://www.cruisetradenews.com/large-cruise-ships-banned-venice-grand-canal/ 

[daiB]

6 minutes ago, mickey89 said:

September 2019 is not 2/3 years away. 

https://www.cruisetradenews.com/large-cruise-ships-banned-venice-grand-canal/ 

True but that information was not available to me when I first read about the change. The information I read was vague as they have been before. No dates were mentioned

 

[TangoYork]

I have followed this thread with interest as we will be in Venice in October on Arcadia and again next year on Oceana.

Having done some research, I have discovered that there will be 6 ships in including Arcadia berthed. What is even more interesting is that Venice is the port of embarkation for the other 5 ships. Cruise passengers are accused of not spending whilst ashore unless they have booked an extended stay. It looks like Arcadia passengers, sorry guests, will be the only ones spending money. Yes, Venice has its problems but are they of their own making? Is Venice wanting to have its cake and eat it?

[Harry Peterson]

7 minutes ago, TangoYork said:

Yes, Venice has its problems but are they of their own making? Is Venice wanting to have its cake and eat it?

In a word, no.

 

Venice is grossly overtouristed, cruise passengers spend very little there, and Venice would be far better served by people who actually stay there.

 

Hardly the fault of Venice for wanting to protect itself in the best way it can.

[sogne]

Large cruise ships to be banned from Venice grand canal  Cruise News headline

 

don't think cruise ships have ever gone down grand canal

 

l  figure of 1,000 tons quoted in Cruise  News as the limit for cruise ships

 

accurate info would certainly help

Edited August 8, 2019 by sogne

[Presto2]

2 hours ago, TangoYork said:

I have followed this thread with interest as we will be in Venice in October on Arcadia and again next year on Oceana.

Having done some research, I have discovered that there will be 6 ships in including Arcadia berthed. What is even more interesting is that Venice is the port of embarkation for the other 5 ships. Cruise passengers are accused of not spending whilst ashore unless they have booked an extended stay. It looks like Arcadia passengers, sorry guests, will be the only ones spending money. Yes, Venice has its problems but are they of their own making? Is Venice wanting to have its cake and eat it?

 

I do think there is an element to this to be honest.

 

Having said that I think the lesson has been learned the hard way and I hope that some other popular ports wake up to what is happening to them when thousands and thousands of cruisers swarm their cities and towns. As the ships get larger it makes me wonder how the local people feel when they are suddenly in the minority ! I look at Iona visiting some smaller ports in Norway and wonder what on earth it will be like !

[brian1]

2 hours ago, Presto2 said:

 

I do think there is an element to this to be honest.

 

Having said that I think the lesson has been learned the hard way and I hope that some other popular ports wake up to what is happening to them when thousands and thousands of cruisers swarm their cities and towns. As the ships get larger it makes me wonder how the local people feel when they are suddenly in the minority ! I look at Iona visiting some smaller ports in Norway and wonder what on earth it will be like !

Residents of Venice are like residents of Mayfair,they are minted.Other ports in the world might be more grateful for the business.

[Presto2]

1 minute ago, brian1 said:

Residents of Venice are like residents of Mayfair,they are minted.Other ports in the world might be more grateful for the business.

 

That's why I said there is an element of truth to the other post. I suppose in the UK we say "You can't have your cake and eat it".

In a nutshell, they want the tourist trade but are then not happy with it. Ok, many do not spend money in Venice but many do purchase shore excursions and we have paid twice for pre cruise hotel stays. You can't tell me that the cruise ship trade does not bring in additional income for the Venetians.

 

To me the priority now is making sure that the city is saved if there is a problem with the cruise ships travelling close by.

[kruzseeka]

And of course there are hefty berthing fees - and many who don't take ship's excursions will pay €7.50 for a single vaporetto trip, buy an icecream, a coffee,  a Spritzer and perhaps a pizza.  We don' t spend much but it's not hard to spend, say £30 a head, which multiplied by the cruise pax load on any given day is not an insignificant amount.  Of course many will spend more - we've spent quite a lot of time in Venice but a visit to the Doge's Palace, a gondola ride etc would be on our radar if we hadn't done them before.  And a coffee in St Mark's would raise the spend considerably!  Whilst some may spend virtually nothing, I think cruise passengers spend quite a lot more than they realise.

Don't get me wrong, I actually value visiting Venice and would happily pay a cruise tourist tax (we stayed in Venice last year and paid a per person daily tax in the hotel) but whilst i agree there has to be moves to protect the city, and moving ships out may be the price we have to pay, there is a sense of them wanting it both ways.  The income from cruise passengers must be considerable and should they reduce cruise ship visits there will be a significant economic impact.

[daiB]

7 hours ago, mickey89 said:

September 2019 is not 2/3 years away. 

https://www.cruisetradenews.com/large-cruise-ships-banned-venice-grand-canal/ 

Just got round to reading the Guardian rwport not quite as clearcut as the one you are quoting.

 

Italian politcs now kickibg in. Which is what i was intimating in my first reply.

[terrierjohn]

6 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

In a word, no.

 

Venice is grossly overtouristed, cruise passengers spend very little there, and Venice would be far better served by people who actually stay there.

 

Hardly the fault of Venice for wanting to protect itself in the best way it can.

 Most cruise passengers spend very little per hour of their stay, compared with longer staying holidaymakers, but that hasn't stopped lots of ports improving their infrastructure to handle more and more ships. All of which will have had to have local planning permission Venice included, so they are all responsible for the problems they have helped to create.

[brian1]

11 hours ago, Presto2 said:

 

That's why I said there is an element of truth to the other post. I suppose in the UK we say "You can't have your cake and eat it".

In a nutshell, they want the tourist trade but are then not happy with it. Ok, many do not spend money in Venice but many do purchase shore excursions and we have paid twice for pre cruise hotel stays. You can't tell me that the cruise ship trade does not bring in additional income for the Venetians.

 

To me the priority now is making sure that the city is saved if there is a problem with the cruise ships travelling close by.

I agree with your last sentence.But what they're saying now is they don't want the ships diverted to the commercial port either.Perhaps they are happy with just land based tourists.It is still rammed with just 1 cruiseship of 2000 in town,as we experienced last year.

Edited August 9, 2019 by brian1