RCL Rhapsody of Seas changing summer 2021 port from Venice

[terrydtx]

RCCL is changing the home port for the Rhapsody of the Seas for the summer 2021 cruise season from Venice to Ravenna over 2 hours south of Venice. I sure hope  X doesn't follow suit since we have a RT cruise next May from Venice. This change has nothing to do with the Covid virus.

 

Here is the CC thread link on this subject:

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by terrydtx

[chemmo]

Mixed feelings about this....Loved cruising into and out of  Venice and wonderful to fly directly into the city you can enjoy and cruise from. Always a hassle (and additional cost) when ports are some distance away.

 

However, very aware of the environmental challenges Venice is facing and the need to protect it for future generations...Hopefully if cruise ships start using Ravenna there will be suitable transport options from Venice.

 

Ravenna looks worth visiting for a few days in its own right, fantastic mosaics!

[Miaminice]

Wrong board! 
This is Celebrity!

 

That being said, the cruising days of Venice as we know them will be over soon. Best scenario is the plan to build a port on the land side closer to Mestre. Worst scenario is moving ships completely.

 

Like in many other places, cruise ships are blamed for everything. And while some points are true, overtourism in Venice has little to do with cruising. Venice has 25 to 30 milllion tourist a year - 1.4 to 1.6 are cruise passengers.

Edited June 19, 2020 by Miaminice

[terrydtx]

5 hours ago, Miaminice said:

Wrong board! 
This is Celebrity!

I know that!

 

I posted this on this board,  because of concerns that Celebrity may be following RCL's lead. We have a cruise  on the Infinity RT from Venice next May and one of the reasons for this cruise was wanting to spend a couple of days in Venice. Venice is one of the few places in Italy we have not visited. With a 2 hour plus bus trip to Ravenna from the Venice airport we will have to add an extra day of travel to get to the ship on time and still see what we want in Venice. It also complicates the return flights home after the cruise that could require an extra night in a Venice hotel.

Edited June 19, 2020 by terrydtx

[1025cruise]

Venice is very big into restricting cruise ships right now (even before the pandemic). It might not be an option unless you are on a smaller ship to dock in Venice.

[ECCruise]

Venice does not want to eliminate tourists, just put some limits on it.

Starting with cruise visitors, who spend little money, and day trippers, many of whom spend even less.

If they can put some control on those 2 sources of tourists, they feel they can begin to take control of their city.