Goodbye Venice

[pstone1]

48 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Where the bigger ships causing damage?

 

M8

We’ve been to Venice twice, once on RH and once on VI.  Cruise ships run super slow so I didn’t see any cruise ship behavior that would cause damage.  What I did see is a LOT of smaller boat traffic generating wakes while catering to the thousands of tourists.  Everyone travels by boat in Venice.
 

We did a private evening tour of Doges Palace/St. Marks and our guide said few locals even live in Venice anymore.  She told us that the majority have moved out of the City and rent their houses in Venice to tourists as Air BNB’s to make lots of money but not pay taxes.  When we visited in September, there were so many tourists there, it was over-crowded and uncomfortable.  Our next visit was in December and it was cold but wonderfully devoid of tourists! 
 

I think the protesters are agitated by the huge crowds/boat traffic in season, and just blame the biggest targets, cruise ships.  I definitely understand!
 

[chipmaster]

On 6/25/2020 at 5:46 PM, spunks said:

RCCL has announced they will no longer sail to Venice. This has more to do with preserving Venice than any Covid reasons. Too damned bad if you ask me.

 

Doug

Sad, the sail away or in is really special, the first time for us we sailed our at 4am, missed most of it, this last year we specifically picked a cruise/date and schedule, it was one of  our cruise highlights.

 

Would it stop me for picking a cruise that starts or ends in Venice,  no, but given a choice might just pick another line for that sail in/ away all other things being close.

 

As much as a ride on a gondola or water taxi gives you a different prospective, sailing the canal and the view from up high is indeed a special sight!

 

opps missed sail away

 

most definitely not missed sunset sail away 
 

Edited June 29, 2020 by chipmaster

[Biker19]

Port workers in Venice demonstrated today against what they called the authorities’ failure and reluctance to help reinstate cruise calls. They said the lack of work was to the detriment of thousands of families and jeopardizing their future.

 

According to a press release from port workers, they claim that politicians have paid more attention to popular causes and celebrities and have no knowledge of the reality of the work and ignore the port’s economic and social worth.

 

More than ever, following the Covid emergency, the intention of politicians appears to be to restrict the city to being an open-air museum or, even worse, a ghost city, they said.

 

Although Italian authorities now allow the cruise segment to resume service, Venice has not yet been included in the ports considered by cruise companies. The workers claim it is because of the long-lasting local and regional political indecisiveness.

 

Workers said further that people employed for various port service have not been able to work since November, first due to the exceptional high tides and then because of the lockdown.

[Biker19]

[Chiliburn]

Ravenna is a pretty inconvenient port ,I can’t see it being much of a success 

[mek]

On 6/27/2020 at 5:33 AM, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Interesting that the sinking smelly city with sewage commonplace in the canals isn't part of the problem. Going there in July or August (hot days when the canals warm up) exposed just how bad things have gotten.

 

Yes, the ships have caused some havoc there in recent times, but the city itself is rapidly declining in condition, rendering it a problem destination for tourists anyway.

 

It's a shame...but reality is that going there 10 years ago and current times is a completely different experience (and not better).

We were there in 2008 with an overnight - the sail in/out was spectacular and I'm so glad we were there at that time.  I have a friend who took a land trip 2 years ago and she said it was packed - wall to wall people and it wasn't anything like the past.  She said she won't go back.

[compman9]

For me, it's great news that Venice has been swapped for Ravenna

 

Been to Venice several times now, and Ravenna is right near to San Marino and Rimini, which is great for a beach break pre or post-cruise 

 

 

[George C]

We loved Venice on our rccl cruise 4 years ago and would love to return, we also visited Ravenna on that same cruise which was very nice but not as interesting as Venice. 

[John&LaLa]

What's the downside to flying into Venice, staying a few nights in a hotel, then heading to Ravenna the morning of the cruise🤔

[jalves]

38 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

What's the downside to flying into Venice, staying a few nights in a hotel, then heading to Ravenna the morning of the cruise🤔

Nothing other than having to arrange for the transfers and the cost of a few nights in a Venice hotel.  Sounds like a good idea.  

[Goodtime Cruizin]

On 6/27/2020 at 4:33 AM, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Interesting that the sinking smelly city with sewage commonplace in the canals isn't part of the problem. Going there in July or August (hot days when the canals warm up) exposed just how bad things have gotten.

 

Yes, the ships have caused some havoc there in recent times, but the city itself is rapidly declining in condition, rendering it a problem destination for tourists anyway.

 

It's a shame...but reality is that going there 10 years ago and current times is a completely different experience (and not better).

 

Which means that it can be corrected as well. IF and only IF there is enough people to organize and push for it. I think they will. I hope they will. It may cost more money to travel to/from, stay over night, and eat in the once beautiful tourist city, but it can be cleaned up w/ proper management. 

 

[TRUEBLUE66]

43 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

What's the downside to flying into Venice, staying a few nights in a hotel, then heading to Ravenna the morning of the cruise🤔

Missing this.

 

 

[Bobal]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

What's the downside to flying into Venice, staying a few nights in a hotel, then heading to Ravenna the morning of the cruise🤔

Some people can't think outside the box

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, TRUEBLUE66 said:

Missing this.

 

 

Great point.  And great video!

[grapau27]

16 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

Ravenna is a pretty inconvenient port ,I can’t see it being much of a success 

I agree.

Venice is the best port in Italy imo.

[grapau27]

56 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Great point.  And great video!

+1

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, TRUEBLUE66 said:

Missing this.

 

 

Thank you for the video.

The actual sail in and out view from your balcony is awesome and much better than the video.

The sheer number of fast moving small boats in Venice is a bigger problem than a slow moving cruise ship imo.

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

What's the downside to flying into Venice, staying a few nights in a hotel, then heading to Ravenna the morning of the cruise🤔

A bit like staying in Miami and travelling to PC in the morning to catch a cruise.

[Norwich Cruiser]

7 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

A bit like staying in Miami and travelling to PC in the morning to catch a cruise.

Couldn’t agree more

[grapau27]

15 minutes ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

Couldn’t agree more

Thanks.

[ipeeinthepool]

21 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

A bit like staying in Miami and travelling to PC in the morning to catch a cruise.

 

I think this may be more of an overstatement.  Isn't Ravenna only about an hour drive from Venice?  Not a whole lot different than staying in Fort Lauderdale and leaving from Miami.

[lr657]

3 hours ago, jalves said:

Nothing other than having to arrange for the transfers and the cost of a few nights in a Venice hotel.  Sounds like a good idea.  

 

Royal does offer a complimentary transfer from Venice to the port in Ravenna. If anyone wants to avoid the cost of a Venice hotel, they could fly into Bologna and stay in Ravenna pre-cruise. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

51 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

I think this may be more of an overstatement.  Isn't Ravenna only about an hour drive from Venice?  Not a whole lot different than staying in Fort Lauderdale and leaving from Miami.

About 2 hours via the ss309

You simply cannot compare the ports or the sail away.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

4 hours ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

 

Which means that it can be corrected as well. IF and only IF there is enough people to organize and push for it. I think they will. I hope they will. It may cost more money to travel to/from, stay over night, and eat in the once beautiful tourist city, but it can be cleaned up w/ proper management. 

 

It's be that way and getting worse each year for decades.

[Chiliburn]

If royal offers a good transfer Service it may work.

From what I’ve read it’s about 2 hours by bus and the buses don’t have toilets. Train is a bit longer and you have to change At Bologna.

Not the experience you want.