Venice

[mskaufman]

Did anyone catch that NCL was cancelling Venice on Dawn and Pearl and replacing it with Rijeka (Croatia).

 

[Scubadoc]

Just saw the email. Trying to figure out how this will affect our trip. We are going to the Amalfi coast before the cruise and were going to fly straight  to Trieste and just see Venice on the ship excursion. I guess we’ll have to change that around and stay in Venice the night before the cruise. Hard to imagine, cruising from that region and not seeing Venice!

[mugtech]

No one should ever expect to have a cruise ship make a stop in Venice.  I would not want to fly to that region and not see Venice, no offense Croatia. 

[SummmerInKefalonia]

This happened also last year on their cruises.

I don't know why they didn't change it then and waited until now to change for this year as well....

[sbnuggie]

Bait and switch?!

[DiscoCV]

They have switched to Ravenna on our cruise in late October... not impressed 😞

 

[mugtech]

3 hours ago, SummmerInKefalonia said:

This happened also last year on their cruises.

I don't know why they didn't change it then and waited until now to change for this year as well....

$$$$$$$$$$

 

[victory2020]

They knew full well they would not be going to Venice. I booked the Dawn because they were going to Venice. I thought they figured out a way for the Dawn to go there since it's a smaller ship

[complawyer]

when we cruised in 2022, we flew into venice a few days early (imho) venice is a must see!. hired a shuttle service before we sailed, took us to trieste, stayed over night and went directly to the ship.

 

dont blame ncl, venice  doesnt want ANY cruise ships docking there, so consequently, it either sails from trieste, or ravena.  trieste, is also a very pretty city, certainly not venice, but attractive in its own right

[IAcruising]

I thought it was old news that cruise ships are no longer welcome and/or allowed in Venice.

[shof515]

1 minute ago, IAcruising said:

I thought it was old news that cruise ships are no longer welcome and/or allowed in Venice.

for about a year or so, Norwegian has been in the habit of withholding valuable information like this until after final payment so that you are limited with the changes you can make to your booking. basically your only option is either go ahead with the cruise or be prepared to spend extra money making changes to travel plans

 

This is why these types of topics is coming up now because final payment for these cruises is quickly approaching as Norwegian requires final payment 120 days from sail date

[IAcruising]

2 minutes ago, shof515 said:

for about a year or so, Norwegian has been in the habit of withholding valuable information

 

It seems longer than that, but regardless, I don't trust any cruise line's published itineraries. Research is easy, and I wouldn't do anything less before I spend many $1000's.

 

I have a UK cruise planned in August, and I can assure you I know as much as I can know about those ports, and the odds of actually porting there.

 

I have seen and read enough about Venice that I would fact-check any cruise line that claims it is literally porting in Venice.

 

But that's just me.

 

[kitkat343]

17 hours ago, complawyer said:

when we cruised in 2022, we flew into venice a few days early (imho) venice is a must see!. hired a shuttle service before we sailed, took us to trieste, stayed over night and went directly to the ship.

 

dont blame ncl, venice  doesnt want ANY cruise ships docking there, so consequently, it either sails from trieste, or ravena.  trieste, is also a very pretty city, certainly not venice, but attractive in its own right

Being unable to access Venice directly is absolutely not NCL's fault.  The Italian government banned all cruise ships from being able to dock in Venice starting on August 1, 2021.   And since the law was passed in July of 2021, it was challenging for the cruise lines to figure out how to handle this issue during the 2021 season (in addition to a 90 minute tender the government was requiring tenders to be dropped off at the cruise terminal, which requires more transportation to reach St. Marks and the tourist parts of Venice).

 

But the European cruise season for 2024 will mark 3 full years since NCL was made aware of this law.   An accurate itinerary would list the port  as Trieste (Venice) or Ravenna (Venice) the way that other distant ports are clearly listed on itineraries when cruises are marketed, such as Le Harve (Paris).  That's assuming NCL is keeping Venice by replacing it with nearby ports.  If they are replacing Venice with Croatia, then that's a significant itinerary change that can't be blamed on the Italian government since NCL has had 3 years to either figure out the logistics of docking at Trieste/Ravenna or take Venice off their schedule altogether.

 

Threads on itinerary changes after final payment pop up on the NCL boards (and I understand these changes might not all be within final payment, but people do tend purchase nonrefundable airfare which makes it harder to cancel a cruise at this point).  This was the last one: 

 

The only good news is that NCL is now (as far as I know) changing the itinerary on their website after they drop ports.  On my last NCL cruise they didn't change the itinerary on their website after dropping a port and the morning of another to help the environment.  People booked the cruise for the next month were completely unaware of the new itinerary, and even those who called NCL to book directly with them after the cancellations who weren't notified of the changes and they were not allowed to change or cancel their cruise.

 

Edited February 3 by kitkat343

[IAcruising]

12 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

An accurate itinerary would list the port as Trieste (Venice) or Ravenna (Venice) the way that other distant ports are clearly listed on itineraries when cruises are marketed, such as Le Harve (Paris).

 

Totally agree. Can you show me a recent NCL itinerary that shows something different?

 

[room with a view]

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners, We have important information regarding your upcoming sailing on board Norwegian Pearl on June 14, 2024. Travel Partners are asked to share this information with impacted guests. Due to the restrictions on large cruise ships to sail into the Venice Lagoon and dock at the usual piers, large cruise ships calling to Venice are required to anchor outside of the lagoon and utilize tender boats to access the Port of Venice. While we have made every effort possible to maintain these calls to Venice, the tender operation and overall experience this provides our guests has fallen short of the standard we aim to deliver. As a result, we have modified Norwegian Pearl's itinerary as shown below. We recognize that Venice is one of the world's greatest destinations, cherished by both our guests and crew, and as such acknowledge the inconvenience and frustration this disruption may cause. We appreciate the understanding of our loyal guests and travel agent partners.
Original Day Destination Arrive Depart   Fri VENICE (TRIESTE), ITALY   8:00 pm   Sat VENICE, ITALY 6:30 am 11:00 pm   Sun KOPER, SLOVENIA 8:00 am 4:00 pm   Mon ZADAR, CROATIA 7:00 am 3:30 pm   Tue KOTOR, MONTENEGRO 7:30 am 4:30 pm   Wed CORFU, GREECE 7:00 am 3:00 pm   Thu SANTORINI ISLAND, GREECE 1:30 pm 10:00 pm   Fri MYKONOS, GREECE 7:00 am 3:00 pm   Sat AT SEA       Sun SPLIT, CROATIA 6:30 am 5:30 pm   Mon VENICE (TRIESTE), ITALY 6:30 am	Revised Day Destination Arrive Depart   Fri VENICE (TRIESTE), ITALY   8:00 pm   Sat RIJEKA, CROATIA 8:00 am 5:00 pm   Sun KOPER, SLOVENIA 7:00 am 4:00 pm   Mon DUBROVNIK, CROATIA 11:00 am 8:00 pm   Tue KOTOR, MONTENEGRO 7:00 am 4:00 pm   Wed CORFU, GREECE 7:00 am 3:00 pm   Thu SANTORINI ISLAND, GREECE 1:30 pm 10:00 pm   Fri MYKONOS, GREECE 7:00 am 3:00 pm   Sat AT SEA       Sun SPLIT, CROATIA 7:00 am 5:00 pm   Mon VENICE (TRIESTE), ITALY 6:00 am
Rijeka is no substitute for Venice ...sorry Croatia !!

[AstoriaPreppy]

On 2/2/2024 at 5:52 AM, DiscoCV said:

They have switched to Ravenna on our cruise in late October... not impressed 😞

 

 

Ravenna at least has some spectacular things to see... some of the best preserved byzantine mosaics in the world. Rijeka, not so much.

 

We ended up getting diverted to Rijeka after all Venice stops were canceled by the line on our Gem cruise last year, and TBH it is absolutely a "stay on the ship" sort of port. Croatia is amazing (Split, Dubrovnik, etc) but Rijeka is just a dud. 

[Fogfog]

I recall Venice needing to deal with the impact on the buildings, waterways 

 

https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruising-changes.htm