Venice

[howmuch!]

Hi, Does anyone have the latest information regarding where the Discovery will dock in Venice this October, and whether we or Marella will be paying the recently introduced tourist tax of 10 Euros

[kruzseeka]

Don't know about your berth or indeed the tourist tax in Venice but Marella have passed on the €8 tourist tax to passengers on our upcoming cruise calling in Amsterdam.  We have been notified that it will be charged to our on-board account.   Presumably if it is payable for your Venice call they will adopt the same approach.

[davecttr]

I presume the docking will be at the normal cruise port as to my knowledge no new cruise port had been constructed yet

[howmuch!]

davecttr -- do you think we will still be allowed to sail up the Giudecca canal to get to the berths in October? Cruisemapper suggest probably not.

 

Kruzseeker - Thats what I thought would be the case

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, howmuch! said:

davecttr -- do you think we will still be allowed to sail up the Giudecca canal to get to the berths in October? Cruisemapper suggest probably not.

 

Kruzseeker - Thats what I thought would be the case

Don't know, I will find out in October on Explorer 2

[kruzseeka]

I could be wrong on this, but as yet I don't think they have dredged a channel so cruise ships can approach without going through the Guidecca allowing them to go round the 'outside' - i.e. opposite side of the Guidecca.  I think if they were able to approach without using the Guidecca given the publicity in recent years they would have already made the swap. So i think you may be lucky.

[davecttr]

nothing will change for some time. A few very large cruise ships now go to the mainland but the rest still use the guidecca canal. I think the alternative approach from the west needs a disused channel to be dredged. to top it all Venice is not in control of its channels and canals. apparently that is down to central government which is in its perpetual crisis!

[howmuch!]

After looking at google maps, I take your point about alternative routes available currently. Fingers crossed for October as Discovery 1 isn't one of those 4000 berth monsters.

[Vitalsign]

I heard on the news cruise ships over a 1000 tons are to be banned from the Guidecca from September 

[davecttr]

Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Danilo Toninelli, reportedly stated that more than a third of cruise ships calling on Venice would dock instead at alternative ports on the Italian mainland by 2020. Toninelli invited stakeholders to present their solutions during the week of August 26, stating that a ban could take effect from September onward.

But cruise ships have not been banned from Venice.

Rather, the Italian government has stated its intention to prohibit vessels over 1,000 tons from entering the Giudecca Canal, which passes close to St. Mark's Square in the heart of historic Venice. The proposed ban -- which has not yet been passed into law -- was reported to take effect this September and continue through the end of the year, with more permanent berthing and navigation solutions developed for 2020 and beyond.

[bishop84]

The terminal operators Venezia Terminal Passeggeri S.p.A. have the Celebration and Discovery listed as calling at their facilities on their website: VTP.it . By time they agree on proposals and pass a law for diverting the ships and put the infrastructure into place it will be a few years before they can ban the ships from the Giudecca Canal. This has been dragging on for years already.