Impact of Venice Banning Cruise Ships

[donaldsc]

Does anyone have any idea how many cruise ships depart from, arrive at or visit Venice over the course of a year.  It has to be a real large number.  I found one site that gave these numbers  - "In total, 56 different cruise ships are scheduled to arrive in Venice for a total of 514 times. On average, 1.4 cruise ships will bring an average of 3360 passengers each single day.".  Do these numbers sound reasonable?

 

DON

Edited July 14, 2021 by donaldsc

[ldubs]

No idea, but I've never been there when there weren't at least two cruise ships.

 

I read the cruises bring 55 million euro annually to Venice.  Not chicken feed.  Seems the solution is still  up in the air.   

[chengkp75]

I've seen figures of 1.6-1.8 million passenger movements per year (4300/day).  Ship visits are around 650 per year.  I've seen that the industry accounts for $450 million a year in revenue to Venice, but that is only 3% of Venice's GDP.  All this, of course, was pre-pandemic.

[John Bull]

25 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

  I've seen that the (cruise) industry accounts for $450 million a year in revenue to Venice, but that is only 3% of Venice's GDP. 

 

Yes, Venice has more than enough visitors without the cruise ships.

 

Best place for a view of St Marks Square is from a cruise ship - mainly because the view isn't spoiled by a hulking-great cruise ship in the background 😉

 

JB 🙂

[puppycanducruise]

7 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Yes, Venice has more than enough visitors without the cruise ships.

 

Best place for a view of St Marks Square is from a cruise ship - mainly because the view isn't spoiled by a hulking-great cruise ship in the background 😉

 

JB 🙂

hee hee hee.😁

[Hlitner]

We have talked about this topic in other threads.  The reality is that cruise ships are not overly important to the economy of Venice which does quite well in filling its limited number of hotel rooms with or without cruisers.  Those that stay in hotels and the big spenders in terms or dollars per day spent locally.  Day trippers (and there are many day trip bus tours into Venice) and cruisers certainly help fill the streets and contribute some money, but they also overwhelm the infrastructure of the fragile city.  As much as we have enjoyed cruising in and out of Venice (we also enjoyed just driving there for a few days) we do not think most of Venice will miss all those cruise ships.   I suspect that many folks who would have previously visited Venice on a cruise will now modify their travel plans to include a multi-night stay in the area.  When we stay in Venice we are eating 3 meals a day in local restaurants and also spending money at the local bars/cafes.   When we have overnighted in Venice on some cruise ships we thought it somewhat shocking how many cruisers simply went back to their ship for dinner (because it is free) and then never left the ship for an evening in Venice.

 

Hank

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, ldubs said:

No idea, but I've never been there when there weren't at least two cruise ships.

 

I read the cruises bring 55 million euro annually to Venice.  Not chicken feed.  Seems the solution is still  up in the air.   

Has anyone calculated the cost of repairing the damage the passage of large ships cause?  

[navybankerteacher]

27 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

... When we have overnighted in Venice on some cruise ships we thought it somewhat shocking how many cruisers simply went back to their ship for dinner (because it is free) and then never left the ship for an evening in Venice.

 

Hank

And, there always seems to be a few who regularly return to the ship for lunch when in a cruise port -- because they have already paid for it, or perhaps are not comfortable eating "local" food.

[ldubs]

37 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Has anyone calculated the cost of repairing the damage the passage of large ships cause?  

 

Experts say the harm to the lagoon goes beyond the need to repair wake damage to mortar on the bank.   

 

An obvious cost would be what it would take to build a new terminal outside of the lagoon.  Alternatively, it could be what it would take to modify an existing off-island commercial terminal for cruise ships.   Or perhaps it will be the cost to dredge an alternate, less damaging, route to the existing terminal on Venice.  Those seem to be the choices discussed.   

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

We have talked about this topic in other threads.  The reality is that cruise ships are not overly important to the economy of Venice which does quite well in filling its limited number of hotel rooms with or without cruisers.  Those that stay in hotels and the big spenders in terms or dollars per day spent locally.  Day trippers (and there are many day trip bus tours into Venice) and cruisers certainly help fill the streets and contribute some money, but they also overwhelm the infrastructure of the fragile city.  As much as we have enjoyed cruising in and out of Venice (we also enjoyed just driving there for a few days) we do not think most of Venice will miss all those cruise ships.   I suspect that many folks who would have previously visited Venice on a cruise will now modify their travel plans to include a multi-night stay in the area.  When we stay in Venice we are eating 3 meals a day in local restaurants and also spending money at the local bars/cafes.   When we have overnighted in Venice on some cruise ships we thought it somewhat shocking how many cruisers simply went back to their ship for dinner (because it is free) and then never left the ship for an evening in Venice.

 

Hank

 

A lot of those hotels are already occupied by people pre and post cruise.  I agree that cruise folk will continue to do that even if the terminal is relocated out of the lagoon.   I do think there is a lot of concern about loss of revenue from the cruise ships, which is probably one of the reasons this issue is still unresolved.  

 

 

 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

Has anyone calculated the cost of repairing the damage the passage of large ships cause?  

I think the cost is almost beyond the ability of the Italians.  We are talking about continuing degradation to the underwater infrastructure/foundations of the part of the city along the canal.  The case has been made that large ships, even when moving slowly, cause an increase in underwater overpressure which hastens the already damaged foundations.  And then there is always the threat of a major accident (one has already happened between a cruise ship and river boat).  If one is standing on the shore and sees the amazing sight of a large ship moving along the canal it is easy to imagine the risk.

 

I do think this is just one more situation where nobody ever expected cruise ships to reach their current size.  When most ports (including Venice) were constructed and channels improved cruise ships were nowhere near the size we routinely see today.  I still remember cruising on the the then new Sovereign of the Seas in 1988 which was, at the time, the largest cruise ship at about 77,000 tons.  Today that size ship is considered a mid size vessel and we will soon see ships 3 times that size!   These monster ships are causing problems all over the world because ports, infrastructure, and the capacity to handle the numbers are just not up to the task.

 

Hank