Italy shore excursions are restricted to cruise guided excursions.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

31 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I do not think cruises are allowed into Venice any longer. Have you checked with Viking regarding where you'll actually be disembarking?

I don't know what cruise lines have arranged, but just in case it's helpful, Viking Cruises docked at the port just south of Venice this past fall.  I can't remember the name, but will know it if someone mentions it - maybe Maghera?  I don't know if Viking embarked or disembarked; just know they bussed people to Venice for a day, then back.

Edited January 16, 2022 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

32 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I don't know what cruise lines have arranged, but just in case it's helpful, Viking Cruises docked at the port just south of Venice this past fall.  I can't remember the name, but will know it if someone mentions it - maybe Maghera?  I don't know if Viking embarked or disembarked; just know they bussed people to Venice for a day, then back.

And I did leave our last Oceania cruise a day early.  Our return flights home changed by 3 or 4 hours and it would have been impossible to make the flight on disembarkation day.  So we asked about leaving a day early and spending the night in Auckland, NZ.  Oceania needed to get approval from New Zealand; approval came back in a few days.  Then when on board, we reminded someone we'd be leaving early.   We ended up being one of about 5 people that did the same thing.  We had to go to immigration clearance on the ship rather than with others the next day in the port terminal.  But that was in 2020 right before Covid, in New Zealand, and on Oceania.  So you would definitely have to ask Viking what you can/can't do. 

Edited January 16, 2022 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[Vineyard View]

It sounds as if Azamara is also looking at doing the same “I want to live over the sea”. It sounds as if this would be a great option over Trieste or other ports. Maybe more lines are looking at this as well!  One can hope!

Edited January 16, 2022 by Vineyard View

[marazul]

55 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Having read all that, I am just not convinced that bubbles are as safe as they could be. Maybe the bigger question is whether the lines are requiring the tour operators to protect you as well by being vaccinated?
 

Bubbles are definitely not perfect. They are an attempt to limit exposure.

 

And yes, both countries and cruise lines should require operators to be vaccinated in order to limit exposure. Do they? Maybe. Do they enforce it? Probably not too well.  So, not perfect.

Edited January 16, 2022 by marazul

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

2 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

It sounds as if Azamara is also looking at doing the same “I want to live over the sea”. It sounds as if this would be a great option over Trieste or other ports. Maybe more lines are looking at this as well!  One can hope!

Well, people reported it was about a 45 minute drive to Venice, so not fabulous, but it sounds better than Trieste!  I think there's a Maghera port website listing ship arrivals, but only a week in advance, so not useful in trying to figure out which cruise lines are planning to go there. 

[Vineyard View]

Hmmm. I didn’t realize it was that long of a trek. Thanks for that information. 

[steamboats]

@Vineyard View I don´t know the regulations of each country but I was told by the ship staff that in some countries the tour staff (bus driver and local guide) have to be vaxxed and tested prior to the tour. Plus the first two rows in the bus are usually blocked to keep the distance. As all on the bus are vaxxed and tested prior to the cruise it limits the danger of spreading Covid-19. Sure it happened and will happen in the future. But strolling around on your own with totally uncontrolled contacts - you might do some souvenir shopping, you might sit down for some coffee or lunch - might be a bigger risk than a bubble tour. Sure one can question this.

 

steamboats

[steamboats]

10 hours ago, Marykatesmom said:

We are planning on disembarking early when we arrive in Venice and skipping the last night on the ship. 

 

No way a Viking ship is going directly into Venice port to Stazione Marittima. They are too big. So check with Viking for the exact port location and disembarking early.

 

5 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Viking Cruises docked at the port just south of Venice this past fall.  I can't remember the name, but will know it if someone mentions it - maybe Maghera?  

 

Marghera is the industrial port of Venice and is one of the options. The other ports used are Trieste, Monfalcone, Ravenna. All three of them need a longer bus ride from Venice.

 

steamboats

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Regarding new port locations for Venice cruises, I obtained some information from two people who were on one of Viking's cruises (ocean) at the end of October.  I have no idea what Viking will do in 2022 or 23, but in October, Viking passengers embarking in Venice were given the address for Venice's old passenger terminal and they reported there for check in.  So people who came in early and were staying in the city at hotels took a vaporetto, water taxi, Alilaguna boat, or whatever to the port terminal for embarkation.  People checked in, were given an antigen test required by Italy, had their luggage x-rayed and taken, and were bussed to what sounds like the commercial port at Marghera.  The ride was reported to be "not far" but slow, presumably because of traffic.  Viking Venus overnighted there and the next day people were bussed back to Venice for excursions.  I'm pretty sure Italy was requiring bubble excursions then, but the person didn't say for sure. 

 

[steamboats]

Even MSC did the check-in at Stazione Marittima in Venice and bussed the passengers to Monfalcone (which is an industrial port too). But that´s a 2 hour bus ride. Marghera should be something like 30 to 40 min from Stazione Marittma.

 

steamboats

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

7 hours ago, steamboats said:

Even MSC did the check-in at Stazione Marittima in Venice and bussed the passengers to Monfalcone (which is an industrial port too). But that´s a 2 hour bus ride. Marghera should be something like 30 to 40 min from Stazione Marittma.

 

steamboats

Someone this fall reported that it took 45 minutes to Marghera, but the person I mentioned above reported 30 minutes.  Either way, that's much better than 2 hours.

[Marykatesmom]

My TA called to let them know I was disembarking early.  He was told it is the port of Venzia but no one has mentioned that so far.

 

Does anyone have a port schedule to check where the ship might actually be docking?

[ECCruise]

5 minutes ago, Marykatesmom said:

My TA called to let them know I was disembarking early.  He was told it is the port of Venzia but no one has mentioned that so far.

 

Does anyone have a port schedule to check where the ship might actually be docking?

If your TA meant Venezia instead of Venzia (which is not a place) Venezia is Italian for Venice in English.  You will need to ask the TA to contact Viking again and find out exactly what city it will be, but as you know it will not be Venezia.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

4 hours ago, ECCruise said:

If your TA meant Venezia instead of Venzia (which is not a place) Venezia is Italian for Venice in English.  You will need to ask the TA to contact Viking again and find out exactly what city it will be, but as you know it will not 

If you didn't before, it might help to tell your TA that in October a Viking ocean ship docked outside of Venice but told people to check in for embarkation at a different location (described as Stazzione Marittima Fabriccato, Venezia). If Viking lets you disembark a day early you'll eventually need to know if you need to meet with Italian immigration personel and if so, where and when.  I suppose you may need a negative Covid test too. For Viking, the test part is easy, since they have an onboard lab. But the disembarkation part could be a little more complicated.

[steamboats]

As it is an overnight call the ship will be cleared on the first day. Assuming the ship has been to other Schengen ports prior to Venice there will be no kind of immigration check in Venice.

 

Once again, some cruise lines do use the port of Venice facilities (Stazione Marittima) for check-in. Marghera has no cruise terminal so they don´t have the ability to do the check-in there (same for Monfalcone which MSC uses for boarding only).

 

Ravenna or Trieste do have a cruise port with the needed facilities for the check-in procedure.

 

steamboats

[shetravels]

On 9/23/2021 at 11:16 AM, Oceangoer2 said:

 

We have Italian ports booked for June '22 on Celebrity, which are offering SOME excursions....nothing is appealing to me among the offerings in Naples.    It seems from this post we won't be able to get off the ship unless we use one of their trips.  Wonder if its the same for the Greek Isles portion of our back to back.  Maybe it'll change by then....🤞...if not, would you recommend Herculaneum if you have had that experience?  Have been to Pompeii...similar excavation apparently.

We went to Herculaneum on our own. We booked through AP tours and they got booked a great guide for us. You can buy tickets at the site. We had difficulty purchasing them on line. It was an excellent experience if you are able to book excursions privately.

[finlayl]

I scheduled a cruise with Costa Cruises for March 29 to April 7 stopping in Rome, Palermo Slovenia. Does anyone know if the restriction on excursions still exists for Italy (i.e., you must take excursions scheduled through the cruise ship: no independent traveling or disembarkation allowed)?

[mapleleaves]

1 hour ago, finlayl said:

I scheduled a cruise with Costa Cruises for March 29 to April 7 stopping in Rome, Palermo Slovenia. Does anyone know if the restriction on excursions still exists for Italy (i.e., you must take excursions scheduled through the cruise ship: no independent traveling or disembarkation allowed)?

If you look at item #7 in SAFETY section on the Costa web site, it says ship excursions only.

(this is for ships departing thru March 31.).  

[koolforkatz]

Italy is not extending their state of emergency as of March 31st. I'm hoping that is a step in the right direction of being able to take private tours again. 

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/italy-will-exit-covid-state-emergency-end-march-draghi-says-2022-02-23/

 

[lackcreativity]

On 2/23/2022 at 3:01 PM, koolforkatz said:

Italy is not extending their state of emergency as of March 31st. I'm hoping that is a step in the right direction of being able to take private tours again. 

 

 

This is promising that the state of emergency is ending. We embark in Barcelona April 9. Really hope to hear definitive information about private tours in Italy very soon!