Big cruise ships banned from Venice

[Austrian]

Big cruise ships banned from Venice starting next November

 

Enjoy it while it lasts

 

 

 

http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/67885/Big-cruise-ships-banned-from-Venice-starting-next-November.html

[Host Star]

I'll just make it.. booked for oct. 11 2014

[calmac]

From the article

 

The outright ban on cruise ships in November 2014 only applies to those over 96,000 tonnes

[Saligo]

Big cruise ships banned from Venice starting next November

 

Enjoy it while it lasts

 

 

The news is a lot better than it might have been. They define big ships as something like 96000 tons+, which leaves a high proportion of the ships used for Venice cruises unaffected. Previously it looked as though they might ban ALL cruise ships from using the terminal on Venice itself and move them to the commercial port on the mainland.

 

Banning cruise ships from the channel past St Marks also makes sense in terms of erosion, though it does take away one of cruising's great sail-pasts.

 

The new route for small and medium cruise ships is shown by the dotted yellow line on this map:

http://nuovavenezia.gelocal.it/infografica/2013/11/05/news/mappa-ecco-il-nuovo-canale-contorta-da-adattare-alle-grandi-navi-1.8058494

 

John

[prish]

But I believe that from Jan 2014 the number of cruise ships in Venice will be reduced by 20%, plus of course the ban of ships over 96000 tonnes from next Nov. We're on a cruise departing Venice next June, hopefully our ship won't be in the 20%!

[p_mori7]

The dotted yellow line on the map is a "proposed" long term solution route...which would need to be fully excavated / dredged before any large vessels use it.

 

Cruise ships DO NOT sail in the Grand Canal.

 

They sail the Giudecca canal which seperates the island of Giudecca from Venice on thier way to the pier at Marittima.

[texancruzer]

Seems we have a good sense of timing. Just returned from our 12 day Celebrity Silhouette cruise (122,400 tons) and we ended in Venice with an overnight......

 

On our 15 day tour of Egypt we went in November and the revolution took place 2 months later in January........

 

Guess we just have good luck in our timing :)

 

I can see why these ships are being banned..... the sea is swallowing it slowly. I was really surprised how choppy the water was in the lagoon and our hotel transfer rep told us it was only due to all the boats speeding around.... which was born out when we returned from the opera via water taxi after 10 pm and the water was MUCH calmer at that time..... so perhaps a speed limit is in order too? Of course, that would never fly with the locals

[Earthworm Jim]

I'm still not clear on this. Is the ban on large ships just a ban on using the Giudecca Canal, and in the future the ships will be able to dock in the same place they always have using the new Contorta Sant'Angelo Canal? Or does the ban mean the 96,000+ ton ships won't be allowed in the Venice Lagoon anywhere? And, while it says ships over 40,000 tons will be limited to 20% of their current numbers, again is that just a limit on using the Giudecca Canal or on visiting Venice?

 

Assuming it is a ban on visiting Venice at all, not just using the Guidecca Canal, is there another viable port nearby that could host cruise ships wanting to visit Venice? It would presumably require transport into the city, but it would be better than nothing.

 

I'm very confused and hope a clearer explanation will come out eventually.

 

But I believe that from Jan 2014 the number of cruise ships in Venice will be reduced by 20%

 

Read it again. It will be reduced to 20% of it's current volume for ships over 40,000 tons. That's a reduction of 80%.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Earthworm Jim

[Pet Nit Noy]

Banning cruise ships from the channel past St Marks also makes sense in terms of erosion, though it does take away one of cruising's great sail-pasts.

 

Somehow, there's no "Reply" icon for post #6 from P Mori so I've replied to this post.

 

Here's an excellent photograph that clearly shows a Disney ship cruising the Giudecca channel. The photograph accompanied the September news article about Venice regulating cruise ship traffic.

 

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1093&bih=487&q=cruise+ship+Grand+canal+venice&oq=cruise+ship+Grand+canal+venice&gs_l=img.3..0.6826.14547.0.17002.30.12.0.18.18.1.171.1250.9j3.12.0....0...1ac.1.31.img..1.29.1201.hTChSfckFrE#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=P3YvaoUzTjHaHM%3A%3BRqBLm91IXY2M_M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.disneybymark.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F09%252Fdmvnice.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.disneybymark.com%252F2013%252F09%252F02%252Fvenice-ban-cruise-ships-grand-canal%252F%3B640%3B396

 

However, ships as large as the Grand Princess were definitely sailing into the Grand Canal and not too long ago. I know because we saw her there on one of our land vacations in Italy. (The Grand was launched in 1998 so that's the earliest I could have seen it.) The Grand and some smaller ships were tied alongside the quay at Arsenale. I'm a cruiser, but I did not think this was a good thing for Venice.

[Earthworm Jim]

I found a better article here:

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/06/venice-ban-giant-cruise-ships

 

It says large cruise ships will be banned while the new connecting canal is being built, which is expected to take 2 years. (Though the large ship ban is still a year away, so it should only be in effect for one year before the new canal is ready) It also says the Venice port passenger terminal will "be preserved". Together, I take those statements to mean the large ships will be able to dock there again once the new canal is complete. But I could be wrong.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Earthworm Jim

[John Bull]

Here's a useful list of cruise ships, listed by weight.

 

http://www.cruise-ships.com/cruiseships/

 

Bear in mind there'll be a complete ban will be on ships over 96,000 tonnes, no more than 5 ships of over 40,000 tonnes per day, and the number of ships under 40,000 tonnes to be reduced by 20% from current numbers.

.....................................................

 

BTW, Pet Tit Noy,

Cruise ships don't sail the Grand Canal.

I guarantee it.;)

 

Grand Princess is about 200 ft tall above the waterline.

The Rialto Bridge, on the Grand Canal, has about 28 ft headroom.

So Grand Princess sailing under it might scratch the paintwork a bit :D

 

The problem is that some folk think that "Grand Canal" is the name of the channel used by cruise ships sailing past St Marks Square, which is actually the Giudecca Channel, into which the Grand Canal flows. And the berth at Arsenale is on that same Giudecca Channel.

Among the folk who make that mistake are some whose photos are on the google-images that you linked.;)

 

JB :)

Edited November 6, 2013 by John Bull

[Earthworm Jim]

Read it again. It will be reduced to 20% of it's current volume for ships over 40,000 tons. That's a reduction of 80%.

 

Correction: Initially some places, including Cruise Critic and The Guardian, were reporting that the number of stops in Venice for ships over 40,000 tons were be reduced to 20% of current volume, a reduction of 80%. But now I'm seeing every article quoting a reduction of 20%, not 80%, including a revision at The Guardian. At the time I posted this Cruise Critic still says reduced to 20%, but at this point I'm assuming that is incorrect and will soon be fixed.

 

Unless everyone else has it wrong and Cruise Critic is right, which is possible suppose if there was an error in the AP story which most publications used as the basis for their article.

[euro cruiser]

For what it's worth, Corriere della Sera is also reporting a reduction of 20%:

 

http://corrieredelveneto.corriere.it/veneto/notizie/cronaca/2013/5-novembre-2013/grandi-navi-via-graduale-riduzione-avanti-l-ipotesi-canale-contorta-2223594043675.shtml

[softail]

Somehow, there's no "Reply" icon for post #6 from P Mori so I've replied to this post.

 

Here's an excellent photograph that clearly shows a Disney ship cruising the Giudecca channel. The photograph accompanied the September news article about Venice regulating cruise ship traffic.

 

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1093&bih=487&q=cruise+ship+Grand+canal+venice&oq=cruise+ship+Grand+canal+venice&gs_l=img.3..0.6826.14547.0.17002.30.12.0.18.18.1.171.1250.9j3.12.0....0...1ac.1.31.img..1.29.1201.hTChSfckFrE#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=P3YvaoUzTjHaHM%3A%3BRqBLm91IXY2M_M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.disneybymark.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F09%252Fdmvnice.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.disneybymark.com%252F2013%252F09%252F02%252Fvenice-ban-cruise-ships-grand-canal%252F%3B640%3B396

 

However, ships as large as the Grand Princess were definitely sailing into the Grand Canal and not too long ago. I know because we saw her there on one of our land vacations in Italy. (The Grand was launched in 1998 so that's the earliest I could have seen it.) The Grand and some smaller ships were tied alongside the quay at Arsenale. I'm a cruiser, but I did not think this was a good thing for Venice.

 

No cruise ships sail in the Grand Canal period.

[lovespositano]

If you read the article, it is not a ban. Here's what it says:

The new provisions would tighten daily limits on cruise liners, with no more than five ships over 40,000 tonnes allowed passage, obliging many ships to find alternative docking outside the city itself.

[Earthworm Jim]

If you read the article, it is not a ban. Here's what it says:

The new provisions would tighten daily limits on cruise liners, with no more than five ships over 40,000 tonnes allowed passage, obliging many ships to find alternative docking outside the city itself.

 

But it also says this:

 

"The outright ban on cruise ships in November 2014 only applies to those over 96,000 tonnes"

 

So ships between 40,000 and 96,000 tons would have their daily limits tightened 20%, but larger ships over 96,000 tons would be banned. (Though I'm not clear on whether that ban is permanent or just until the new canal is dredged)

[Pet Nit Noy]

BTW, Pet Tit Noy,

Cruise ships don't sail the Grand Canal.

I guarantee it.;)

 

Grand Princess is about 200 ft tall above the waterline.

The Rialto Bridge, on the Grand Canal, has about 28 ft headroom.

So Grand Princess sailing under it might scratch the paintwork a bit :D

 

Sorry, I mis-characterized the section of the Giudecca Canal at Arsenale; however I guarantee that the Grand Princess was docked along the quay there. I was horrified to see a ship that large allowed that close.

[law@115]

While staying in the Hilton on Giudecca in a room that faced the Giudecca Canal, we watched a couple of the big ships come in and depart. While the sail past San Marco is probably a great sight for the pax, I'm not so sure a new route will be harmful to the cruise business. There were 6 cruise ships in port ranging from the Queen Elizabeth to the Minerva, and that's a lot of people jamming the area. If the ships dock at different spots maybe the impact of all those people will be spread a little more, to the benefit of all.

[p_mori7]

The proposal appears to be an outright ban of extra-large vessels (96K tons +) and a 20% reduction of all other ships.

 

Additionally, the proposed Arrival route remains unchanged to allow a sail past of San Marco via the Guidecca canal...and a Departure via the proposed new route which would need to be dredged from it's current depth of 1.5 metres to 9 meters.

 

The different departure route would effectively cut the number of transits through the Giudecca canal in half.

 

[3ssn]

Somehow, there's no "Reply" icon for post #6 from P Mori so I've replied to this post.

 

Here's an excellent photograph that clearly shows a Disney ship cruising the Giudecca channel. The photograph accompanied the September news article about Venice regulating cruise ship traffic.

 

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1093&bih=487&q=cruise+ship+Grand+canal+venice&oq=cruise+ship+Grand+canal+venice&gs_l=img.3..0.6826.14547.0.17002.30.12.0.18.18.1.171.1250.9j3.12.0....0...1ac.1.31.img..1.29.1201.hTChSfckFrE#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=P3YvaoUzTjHaHM%3A%3BRqBLm91IXY2M_M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.disneybymark.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F09%252Fdmvnice.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.disneybymark.com%252F2013%252F09%252F02%252Fvenice-ban-cruise-ships-grand-canal%252F%3B640%3B396

 

However, ships as large as the Grand Princess were definitely sailing into the Grand Canal and not too long ago. I know because we saw her there on one of our land vacations in Italy. (The Grand was launched in 1998 so that's the earliest I could have seen it.) The Grand and some smaller ships were tied alongside the quay at Arsenale. I'm a cruiser, but I did not think this was a good thing for Venice.

 

The Grand Canal is only suitable for smaller ships like the Vaporetta. Cruise Ships sail the Giudecca Canal.