No more cruises to Venice

[Belfast Taxman]

Royal Carribean have announced that they are removing Venice as a cruise port for all relevant sailings until at least August 2021.

They are replacing Venice with Ravenna, about 90 miles to the south, and actually a place very much worth visiting.

This decision is not Covid-19 related and it is expected that other cruise lines will follow suit in the near future

Cruising into Venice is a truly amazing experience but one that is guilt ridden. The damage being done is horrendous. If there has been a small silver lining to the pandemic, it has been the recovery of the eco system in the Lagoon. The return of cruise ships would destroy that recovery.

[liptastic]

Think this was inevitable at some point. As you say it’s a real delight sailing form and to Venice and it never disappoints. 
We are booked on Mariner next September due to sail from Venice , I am sure we will also be leaving from an alternative port.   Jean.

 

[Guerncruising]

Arriving in Venice is truly spectacular and I’m sure that it will be sorely missed by many. I don’t know, however, that the tourist industry there will be terribly impressed. 

I believe that other ports in Europe may follow suit e.g. Palma de Mallorca. 

 

[Kate-AHF]

I had an interesting conversation with the owner of the Venice hotel I was staying at in 2019.  We discussed daytrippers vs. cruise pax.  It was his strongly held opinion that cruise ships should continue to use Venice as a turnaround port because, as he said "cruise ship passengers spend a lot of money in Venice, daytrippers just leave trash and make us miserable".  It was hard to argue the point with him, as we were spending four nights at his hotel prior to a cruise.  

[GrJ Berkshire]

3 hours ago, Kate-AHF said:

I had an interesting conversation with the owner of the Venice hotel I was staying at in 2019.  We discussed daytrippers vs. cruise pax.  It was his strongly held opinion that cruise ships should continue to use Venice as a turnaround port because, as he said "cruise ship passengers spend a lot of money in Venice, daytrippers just leave trash and make us miserable".  It was hard to argue the point with him, as we were spending four nights at his hotel prior to a cruise.  

Yes but the writing has been on the wall after accidents in the Guidecca Canal in the past 18months . The mega ships going in and out must cause major damage. We stayed at the Hilton Stucky and the ships going by even at 1/2 knots were creating a wash. The only thought is Regent's much smaller ships may still be allowed.

[Travelcat2]

I wonder if it is only mega ships that need to cancel the port of Venice?  To be honest, some ports just can't handle ships with 4,000-6,000 passengers (Santorini is another port that was limiting cruise ships but that was before Covid-19).  As a captain of Regent ship once noted, ships keep getting larger but the ports stay the same size.  

[Belfast Taxman]

Hope you are right Jackie, possibly only the larger ships will be banned because there are many Venetians who benefit from the ships being there. I suspect there will be further limits as to the actual number of ships allowed in many ports in the Med. Santorini is a good example, Dubrovnik is another. This is, of course, happening “naturally” with Covid-19 at the moment, and I think the natives of these ports will not want to go back to the old days.

[bissel]

The good old days of Venice were the days and nights of 1966, living in the in-laws hotel, getting to the fish market at 4:00 am to get the day’s catch, hanging with friends, drinking coffee and Sambuca, walking, walking, walking. Languid days. Yes, those are the only Venetian times I want to remember now.

[liptastic]

1 hour ago, bissel said:

The good old days of Venice were the days and nights of 1966, living in the in-laws hotel, getting to the fish market at 4:00 am to get the day’s catch, hanging with friends, drinking coffee and Sambuca, walking, walking, walking. Languid days. Yes, those are the only Venetian times I want to remember now.

That sounds as though it was just perfect.  It’s such a magical destination and in so many different ways. Definitely special memories for everyone who has been fortunate to visit and even more so sail out or into Venice.    Jean.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Venice was magic when I was there in 1971.  I've never wanted to go back, although if the cruise ships disappear completely, I might be tempted.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

My best time in Venice was on a DIY trip in 1984. We stayed at the Danieli, had dinner with a Saudi Prince, and wandered in every nook, by water bus or by foot. We were in the Venetian ghetto and invited to lunch with an ultra orthodox Jewish group. Spent five days there, arriving by train from Rome. 
Wish I was younger and able to do those things again....

sheila

[bissel]

The best memories of Venice seem to pre-date cruise ships. Venice was magical. We all were young and there were not so many people there at all. I think if you knew it then it is nearly unbearable to go now. I do not feel that strongly about any other place.  At least that is true for me. Just a very personal feeling for me.

[mrlevin]

3 minutes ago, bissel said:

The best memories of Venice seem to pre-date cruise ships. Venice was magical. We all were young and there were not so many people there at all. I think if you knew it then it is nearly unbearable to go now. I do not feel that strongly about any other place.  At least that is true for me. Just a very personal feeling for me.

 

Did you meet Marco Polo on your first trip? 😊

[Travelcat2]

4 hours ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

My best time in Venice was on a DIY trip in 1984. We stayed at the Danieli, had dinner with a Saudi Prince, and wandered in every nook, by water bus or by foot. We were in the Venetian ghetto and invited to lunch with an ultra orthodox Jewish group. Spent five days there, arriving by train from Rome. 
Wish I was younger and able to do those things again....

sheila

 

Sheila,

 

I bet that Venice was gorgeous back in the day.  When we were there a few years ago, it was wall to wall people (in May) and was difficult to get around.  While I could see the beauty, we basically just wanted to get out of the crowds.  

 

These posts remind me of when we went to Bora Bora in the late 80's or early '90's.  It was the most beautiful place that we had ever seen.  It was quiet, peaceful, not a ton of resorts over the water, etc.  Now it is not a place that we would want to return to (nor is Venice).  

[GrJ Berkshire]

Our best memory of Venice is staying there for 4 days at the end of a Tauck tour. We stayed at the Hilton Stucky on Guidecca island and had to get the complimentary boat back from St Marks square, we got the last one back at midnight, St Marks with just a few people at 11-30ish watching the clock, hearing the bells, was magical. The city early morning , late on after the tourist hoarders is very different and after dark the back streets have a haunted quality like in "Don't look now"

The last time we were there on a B2B with Navigator and Venice the middle change over we went out into the city it was like fighting your way with a crowd after a major sporting event, we cut short our walk and returned to the ship-it was very warm and uncomfortable, people everywhere. If it was our first or only trip to Venice we would have hated it. Had similar experience with Dubrovnik the last time there on Regent, just too crowded.

 

[bissel]

Mr Levin, you asked if I met Marco Polo in 1966. I guess you think that being 21 years of age at the time makes me an extremely ancient person. If you hang on TikTok, the age of 75 is quite old, but on this Regent site??