Italian Authorities confirm ban on Cruise Ships from Venice

[indiana123]

I have seen both sides, as many have.  I think the ban, although very sad, is the right course of  action for the City.

 

We loved sailing in and out of Venice, it was magical, but we also stayed on Lido (Island) and one afternoon we heard a noise and a  giant cruise ship went passed our window.  It seemed vast, and scared the daylights out of us at first as it seemed so big and so close.

 

[Jennizor]

Our very first holiday together was a Cities of Italy tour, 24 years ago. We flew to Venice, landing at the hotel around 11pm. The city was still buzzing so we went out with another couple for a drink. It was was wonderful and everyone was really friendly. The next day we went on a Vaparetto (sorry about the  spelling and in the evening we all went on gondolas to a lovely restaurant. We had 2 days there, 2 in Florence, 3 in Rome and then a week in Lido de Jesalo. It was a brilliant holiday, only spoilt towards the end when the Manchester bombings happened, both my children were working in Manchester so it was very worrying for us . It took quite a while to get to know they were both OK. They had to walk well out of Manchester and their dad picked them up. Surprising how one post brought back all these memories good and bad.

[GlobalMethod]

18 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

I agree with most of your comments - though I doubt the cruise passengers will be greatly missed.  They're notorious for spending very little money, getting most of their sustenance from the ships.

 

The tourists they're really looking for are those staying in hotels and spending money eating out and enjoying the city to the full for a few days.  I suspect the loss of cruise ships will create a few more who'll visit the city properly, and the loss of the hoards of cruise day-trippers can only enhance the beauty of the city.

You are probably right in your assessment of many of the cruisers that come to Venice. When in a port we have a 'personal' mandatory pub stop as we like to try some local wines or beers and a local specialty food while off the ship. We always try and tip well so that might help a bit too for an employee's overall monetary take for the day.

[Snow Hill]

1 hour ago, GlobalMethod said:

You are probably right in your assessment of many of the cruisers that come to Venice. When in a port we have a 'personal' mandatory pub stop as we like to try some local wines or beers and a local specialty food while off the ship. We always try and tip well so that might help a bit too for an employee's overall monetary take for the day.

We did the same we ate out for lunch, caught the last but one P&O badged vaparetto back to the ship in time for late afternoon departure. We were 1 of only 4 couples in the restaurant the meal was excellent as was the wine. We try to this as much as we can in each place we visit to put something albeit small into the local economy and try the local food, talk to locals if possible usually in English although I can speak French & some Spanish, they often guess and switched to English, so they can practice. 

[Presto2]

We've been fortunate enough to sail in / out of Venice 4 times with Celebrity and P&O. The last time we went with Celebrity we stayed in Venice for 3 nights before the cruise and it is certainly the best way to see this beautiful city. It has a whole different feel early in the morning and very late in the evening. It is sad that people won't have the joy of sailing in or out again, but we would recommend  a stay as part of a land holiday over the sail in / out any day. The last time we went we got a private water taxi from the airport to the hotel and stepped straight from the boat into the hotel lounge via a little door in the side. It was just amazing.

[grapau27]

2 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

We've been fortunate enough to sail in / out of Venice 4 times with Celebrity and P&O. The last time we went with Celebrity we stayed in Venice for 3 nights before the cruise and it is certainly the best way to see this beautiful city. It has a whole different feel early in the morning and very late in the evening. It is sad that people won't have the joy of sailing in or out again, but we would recommend  a stay as part of a land holiday over the sail in / out any day. The last time we went we got a private water taxi from the airport to the hotel and stepped straight from the boat into the hotel lounge via a little door in the side. It was just amazing.

I can definitely recommend the water taxi.

It is about 400 yards from the airport where there are several water taxis.

We got one the last time we cruised out of Venice.

It was nice speeding across the bay then a tour around Venice until we got to our hotel 

Hilton Molina Stucky.

[Presto2]

4 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

I can definitely recommend the water taxi.

It is about 400 yards from the airport where there are several water taxis.

We got one the last time we cruised out of Venice.

It was nice speeding across the bay then a tour around Venice until we got to our hotel 

Hilton Molina Stucky.

We got one back to the airport as well and though it wasn't quite the same it was still exciting and gave us something to look forward to when we were leaving --- if that makes sense

[Bloodaxe]

6 hours ago, GlobalMethod said:

We like you hope Azamara will be allowed for overnights ... "An Amazing Evening" there would be wonderful! We have been to the city many times and live close enough that we can make short visits when the going is good. A very unique and special atmosphere!

Last October a special event was planned at Koper near to Venice, all 3 Azamara ships would have been in attendance.

Unfortunately it never happened for obvious reasons, I don't know if it will ever happen now that they have 4 ships.

[MX-Drew]

8 hours ago, brian1 said:

We did Venice on D2 a few years ago.1st time on a ship, very impressive.

We did Venice on Discovery 2 in 2018 on our Honeymoon. We were in a suite on the aft, and what a view as we sailed into Venice.

 

It was that trip and that ship that got us hooked on cruising.

 

I do admit to thinking then and since it was a privilege to see Venice like that but somehow it was also wrong. I do agree with the ban but also think they will miss the cruise passengers. Out of the something like 10 ports on that 14 night cruise we spent the most money in Venice and it has given us the desire to go back there for a long weekend. 

[GlobalMethod]

3 hours ago, Presto2 said:

We got one back to the airport as well and though it wasn't quite the same it was still exciting and gave us something to look forward to when we were leaving --- if that makes sense

We loved Venice so much we 'strongly' considered moving to Venice instead of Athens ... we just couldn't get our heads around having to get to the airport or cruise port on a bad weather day assisted by a water taxi to make a scheduled cruise or flight! Too many additonal variables that could be weather related!

[brian1]

I heard that basement apartments go for a song in Venice.

[GlobalMethod]

39 minutes ago, brian1 said:

I heard that basement apartments go for a song in Venice.

Yes ... and not underwater ... 🙂 ... we checked ... but it is like most bigger cities ... if you want to be near the 'popular' parts of town it can be very pricey ... the working class neighborhoods, where the best food and drinks are, can be had very reasonably ... we just couldn't get over trying to use a water taxi on a bad weather day to make it to an embarcation ... Dorsoduro is a decent area of Venice and not to far from the cruise port

 

[AnnieC]

26 minutes ago, GlobalMethod said:

Yes ... and not underwater ... 🙂 ... we checked ... but it is like most bigger cities ... if you want to be near the 'popular' parts of town it can be very pricey ... the working class neighborhoods, where the best food and drinks are, can be had very reasonably ... we just couldn't get over trying to use a water taxi on a bad weather day to make it to an embarcation ... Dorsoduro is a decent area of Venice and not to far from the cruise port

 

Dorsoduro is my favourite part of Venice as well and we've stayed there for a total of about six weeks - good vap links, half decent supermarket, plenty of space, nice bars and restaurants, and the Giudecca Canal for boat watching. Staying in the centre of Venice for more than a few days can become very claustrophobic.

[GlobalMethod]

1 hour ago, AnnieC said:

Dorsoduro is my favourite part of Venice as well and we've stayed there for a total of about six weeks

Yes! Did you ever see very small wine vendors selling from tiny 'stand up' bars on the street?This was for working class people, not tourists, so as to get a very small glass of pretty good red on their way home from work that went for 1E! ... 🙂 ....

Edited April 3, 2021 by GlobalMethod
edit

[AnnieC]

1 hour ago, GlobalMethod said:

Yes! Did you ever see very small wine vendors selling from tiny 'stand up' bars on the street?This was for working class people, not tourists, so as to get a very small glass of pretty good red on their way home from work that went for 1E! ... 🙂 ....

No, I missed those - will have to go back and find them. Our favourite spot was an outside bar near the Billa supermarket - wonderful spot for boat/ship watching. 

[GlobalMethod]

19 hours ago, AnnieC said:

No, I missed those - will have to go back and find them. Our favourite spot was an outside bar near the Billa supermarket - wonderful spot for boat/ship watching. 

OK! ... 🙂 ... yes, we remember the Billa ... now ... it could be my ageing mind ... but ... you've got our thinking going regarding the Giudecca Canal ... do you remember a couple of 'joints' that sold very 'top' tier prosecco for E2.50 a glass ... they were across the canal from a large gondola refurbishing business? ... 🙂 ... we are just testing our retirement brains!

[fragilek]

3 hours ago, GlobalMethod said:

OK! ... 🙂 ... yes, we remember the Billa ... now ... it could be my ageing mind ... but ... you've got our thinking going regarding the Giudecca Canal ... do you remember a couple of 'joints' that sold very 'top' tier prosecco for E2.50 a glass ... they were across the canal from a large gondola refurbishing business? ... 🙂 ... we are just testing our retirement brains!

for those that know the area, do you remember a hand made tile place we bought some on our 10th wedding anniversary but one got damaged in a house move.  When were back last year 19 yrs later bust couldn't find were it was.  Would love to trace the artist and get the broken tile redone. considering it was in about 30 tiny pieces my husband made quite a good job.

 

 

 

[SeaJane]

On 4/3/2021 at 10:07 AM, AnnieC said:

Dorsoduro is my favourite part of Venice as well and we've stayed there for a total of about six weeks - good vap links, half decent supermarket, plenty of space, nice bars and restaurants, and the Giudecca Canal for boat watching. Staying in the centre of Venice for more than a few days can become very claustrophobic.

Dorsoduro is also our favourite part of Venice. We have stayed there 3 times in the last few years. We spent our 40th wedding anniversary there with 3 of my “bridesmaids “ and their husbands and had a fabulous time. 

[AnnieC]

On 4/4/2021 at 9:05 AM, GlobalMethod said:

OK! ... 🙂 ... yes, we remember the Billa ... now ... it could be my ageing mind ... but ... you've got our thinking going regarding the Giudecca Canal ... do you remember a couple of 'joints' that sold very 'top' tier prosecco for E2.50 a glass ... they were across the canal from a large gondola refurbishing business? ... 🙂 ... we are just testing our retirement brains!

Don't know the prosecco places (not a fan of fizz), but one of our favourite restaurants is just past the gondola refurbishing place, Taverna San Trovaso. Sorry I can't help your retirement brains - I've got one of those too. Still, now I've had my vaccination I may grow an extra one.