Venice for the Sirena

[johnnyd]

I recently read about the ban on cruise ships sailing through the Venice canals to the traditional docking location. Ships now are required to dock far from the city. I

am on the Sirena visiting Venice next April. Since the Sirena is a smaller ship, does anyone know if she will be allowed to dock inside Venice?

[njhorseman]

11 minutes ago, johnnyd said:

I recently read about the ban on cruise ships sailing through the Venice canals to the traditional docking location. Ships now are required to dock far from the city. I

am on the Sirena visiting Venice next April. Since the Sirena is a smaller ship, does anyone know if she will be allowed to dock inside Venice?

No. She exceeds both the maximum length and gross tonnage limits. 

Edited August 27, 2021 by njhorseman

[basor]

We are embarking on Marina 09NOV, supposed to be Venice, now is Trieste.  I know some cruise lines are anchoring and using tenders for Venice port stops.

[Kate-AHF]

6 hours ago, basor said:

We are embarking on Marina 09NOV, supposed to be Venice, now is Trieste.  I know some cruise lines are anchoring and using tenders for Venice port stops.

Can you elaborate on that?  I'm not questioning you, just interested in how and who.  Those are some busy shipping lanes outside the lagoon, and I'm having a hard time envisioning an anchored & tendering cruise ship in the middle of all that.

[basor]

8 minutes ago, Kate-AHF said:

Can you elaborate on that?  I'm not questioning you, just interested in how and who.  Those are some busy shipping lanes outside the lagoon, and I'm having a hard time envisioning an anchored & tendering cruise ship in the middle of all that.

I have seen people commenting on it on other cruise lines but do not have specifics.....since we are embarking , I did not worry about it.....sorry

[nannycheryl]

Following this ….. I too will be on Sirena in April 2022 and wonder the situation in Venice.

[KS&JW]

Does anyone know offhand which cruise ships would be small enough?  I looked at Seabourn which I think of as small and they are too large.  Are there any that fit the criteria?  

[basor]

45 minutes ago, KS&JW said:

Does anyone know offhand which cruise ships would be small enough?  I looked at Seabourn which I think of as small and they are too large.  Are there any that fit the criteria?  

From what I hear, ferries are about the only ones that can dock

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, KS&JW said:

Does anyone know offhand which cruise ships would be small enough?  I looked at Seabourn which I think of as small and they are too large.  Are there any that fit the criteria?  

Yachts like Atlas Ocean Voyages, Ponant, Scenic Eclipse, Sea Dream, Windstar (ex-Seabourn) and Expedition Ships [which aren't likely to be in the area].

[pinotlover]

River boat lines such as Uniworld has ships that can still dock in Venice.

[Flharleygirl]

I am on the October 28th sailing on the Riviera, which was originally leaving from Venice. We are now departing from Trieste, 2 hours away.

[minniemart]

we are going on the Sirena for overnight in Venice also(looking for roll call april 19th can';t find it. already have excursions booked for Venice keep us posted on this Venice docking 

[LGW59]

36 minutes ago, minniemart said:

we are going on the Sirena for overnight in Venice also(looking for roll call april 19th can';t find it. already have excursions booked for Venice keep us posted on this Venice docking 

Not certain what is to keep posted on?  They have already said it is now Trieste.

[gbits]

On 8/27/2021 at 2:04 PM, njhorseman said:

No. She exceeds both the maximum length and gross tonnage limits. 

What is perplexing to me is the new Bista, which does not sail until Spring, 2023, has itineraries starting & ending in Venice (one on which I am booked). There must be something in the works that will allow O to go into or near Venice? Otherwise why not list Trieste to begin with? What am I missing here?

[PhD-iva]

34 minutes ago, gbits said:

What is perplexing to me is the new Bista, which does not sail until Spring, 2023, has itineraries starting & ending in Venice (one on which I am booked). There must be something in the works that will allow O to go into or near Venice? Otherwise why not list Trieste to begin with? What am I missing here?

If I recall correctly, plans are in the works to accomodate cruise ships at the Marghera docks, which currently services commercial ships. Therefore,  in some near future it is possible that cruise ships will be back in Venice. Cruise lines are waiting to see how/whether/when this transition will proceed. 

[pinotlover]

The details to be worked out with Marghera is getting back and forth to City Center. It’s about 15 km out of town. It will require some combination of shuttle bus and water ferries/taxis to get to St. Mark’s. 
 

What time would one need to be in the ferry in St. Mark’s to ensure they’re back on the ship by 5:00? Same logistics getting to the Center to begin with. Could easily be a 2 hour transit each way. 
 

If one wants to actually visit Venice, a cruise ship is quickly becoming an inconvenient way of doing so. But, isn’t that the plan anyway?

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I know that Viking Sky, a ship about the physical size of Marina and the other larger O ships, very recently docked at the Fusina Terminal, which is on the mainland a bit south of Venice island.  They were not allowed to tour on their own (per Italian authorities) so everyone took shore excursions arranged by the ship.  According to what two people posted on a Facebook site, they were bussed from Fusina to the old Venice port, met a tour guide there, and took a boat to where their tour started.  The type of boat wasn't stated - Alilaguna? vaporetto? water taxi?  One person reported the bus ride was about a half hour; the other person implied more.  There were no details as to how long the boat trip was, or where they were dropped off in Venice. 

 

I don't know if docking at Fusina is going to be continued next year or if something else is planned.  I also don't know if Viking had any choice in the matter.  It did, of course, make things difficult for Viking, and apparently some of their tours ran late because of the newness of the requirement to dock outside of the city. 

 

I did find it interesting that according to a web site about the Fusina terminal, there's a boat that can be taken from the terminal to the island, although I couldn't figure out where on Venice it went.   There was, however, a mention that a person could park there at the terminal, take their boat over, and walk 15 minutes to get to St. Mark's Square.  

Edited October 4, 2021 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

5 hours ago, pinotlover said:

 

If one wants to actually visit Venice, a cruise ship is quickly becoming an inconvenient way of doing so. But, isn’t that the plan anyway?

In my opinion, yes. Probably.

Edited October 4, 2021 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[gbits]

10 hours ago, pinotlover said:

If one wants to actually visit Venice, a cruise ship is quickly becoming an inconvenient way of doing so. But, isn’t that the plan anyway?

Agreed. However, if the ship starts or ends there, you can do a few days on land.  But if I fly to Venice to spend a few days prior and then have to get to someplace else to embark, that is a bummer and just another thing for me to manage whenever that decision is made.  Hopefully this is resolved in some manner before May, 2023 🙂

Edited October 5, 2021 by gbits

[mexicobob]

On 10/4/2021 at 7:38 PM, gbits said:

Agreed. However, if the ship starts or ends there, you can do a few days on land.  But if I fly to Venice to spend a few days prior and then have to get to someplace else to embark, that is a bummer and just another thing for me to manage whenever that decision is made.  Hopefully this is resolved in some manner before May, 2023 🙂

I am in the same situation but April, 2023. Maybe things will work out for the best. Vienna with less people would probably be good.

[susiesan]

I'd like to see an Oceania ship sail down the Danube from Vienna.

[pinotlover]

5 hours ago, susiesan said:

I'd like to see an Oceania ship sail down the Danube from Vienna.

😂😂

 

In 2018, river boats didn’t make it down the river. Cruises were cancelled due to low water. We “ barely “ made Bucharest to BudaPest. To do so, there were areas we passengers had to be bussed and the water tanks pumped empty so the boat would continue floating! Barge traffic was entirely halted!

 

Oh, not even an R ship would make it through any of the locks! Plus , when the Danube hits the delta below Bucharest, most all ships and barges are in trouble.

Edited December 14, 2021 by pinotlover

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

😂😂

 

In 2018, river boats didn’t make it down the river. Cruises were cancelled due to low water. We “ barely “ made Bucharest to BudaPest. To do so, there were areas we passengers had to be bussed and the water tanks pumped empty so the boat would continue floating! Barge traffic was entirely halted!

 

Oh, not even an R ship would make it through any of the locks! Plus , when the Danube hits the delta below Bucharest, most all ships and barges are in trouble.

A R ship, or any ship, could easily 'sail' down the Loire – if it was on a dry-dock rolling sledge.  Because there's never any water at all in the Loire [at least there wasn't when we were in Tours in August 2018!]

[nannycheryl]

Just received notice from Oceania that Sirena will not be going to Venice at all during our trip in April. Instead we will visit Trieste, Italy and Zagard, Croatia. They have just posted some excursions, but no prices yet. 
Does anyone know anything about either destination?

[Host Jazzbeau]

Trieste seems like an interesting city, and also allows excursions to the Postojna Caves or (long drive) to Ljubljana.

 

Zadar, Croatia offers excursions to Krka National Park among other things.