Venice replaced with Trieste

[laurieb]

Hoping it would not be the case, but our embarkation port has been changed to Trieste; Boarding the Quest on October 19th; the cruise prior to us has also been changed 😞

[Vineyard View]

Well, that is disappointing. It’s quite a trek from Venice. Might be a bit better than Ravenna but certainly not ideal. Thank you for sharing. 

[laurieb]

34 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Well, that is disappointing. It’s quite a trek from Venice. Might be a bit better than Ravenna but certainly not ideal. Thank you for sharing. 

Just a couple hours by train; already booked train and hotel for night before.

[Vineyard View]

I was just looking at the travel options. Looks like the train is the best way to go. We will do that after a couple days in Venice pre cruise. Not sure yet what we will do on turn around  B2B time. Will look forward to your advice on all this moving forward. Thanks again. 
did you book hotel in Venice or Trieste?

[Mrs Miggins]

For those who have experienced Venice many times Trieste is an interesting new port.  We visited several years ago.  The Miramare was lovely. Wonderful main square overlooking the sea,  Great coffee. Lots of information online.

[latserrof]

Yes, please let us know how Trieste works out for you.  Thanks.

[laurieb]

11 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

I was just looking at the travel options. Looks like the train is the best way to go. We will do that after a couple days in Venice pre cruise. Not sure yet what we will do on turn around  B2B time. Will look forward to your advice on all this moving forward. Thanks again. 
did you book hotel in Venice or Trieste?

We’re staying in Venice a few nights, then taking the train to Trieste the day before the cruise begins and staying in Trieste at Savoia Excelsior Palace; it’s very near the pier

[Mrs Miggins]

Of course I may re-acquaint myself with Trieste since our April cruise is due to end with an overnight in Venice.  Will be a little sad as Venice at night is wonderful.

Hopefully we can sit in the lovely square in Trieste and listen to music being played as we did many years ago.

[Dr H]

I've checked Trenitalia.com regarding schedules and prices. At best, Trieste is a 2hr ride into Santa Lucia, and frequently it's up to 3 hours, and runs about 20Euro round trip 2nd class. We are on the Oct 9 sailing, which docks in Trieste prior to our no longer day and a half stay in Venice, which isn't... I'm considering an overnight in Venice, Sandie had to renew a passport there many moons ago, says she never wanted to go back. Not that I could blame her! It is a major inconvenience to those who were hoping to spend time in Venice, but it isn't the end of the world. Train fare round trip is very reasonable, but there is no question, it's a major schlepp. Ravenna would have been a much, much better choice, but ben venuto in Italia. When we lived there, we made lists of thing that had to get done daily, ie, the bank, supermarket, dry cleaner, gas tank for the stove. It took years until we learned that if you could do 2 out of 5, you were having a great day, and the rest could wait. God bless that country, once it gets under your skin and grabs on, it does not let go. The two of us are counting the days to get back to our second home. (NB, Trieste is NOT our second home!)

[Vineyard View]

I am curious - I read that there is an ‘express’ train into Trieste that can be under two hours, so why would it take up to three house unless you took the local train that stops frequently?  And why pay Second class when first is such a minor increase in cost on most trains?  Maybe this has changed? 

I am also curious as to why Ravenna would have been a better option - I sincerely do not know. 
Maybe moving forward there will be a different docking for Venice,  but for now I will look forward to the feedback on Trieste. 
Thank you for all this information. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I have never lived in Venice, but the research I have done shows that you can fly to Trieste from the NY area (1 stop) but not to Ravenna; and that there are many trains from Trieste to Venice (and vice versa) from a little over 2 hours to not more than 3 hours, while trains from Ravenna to Venice are much longer and require transfers.  As much as I would like to visit Ravenna, Trieste seems like a much better cruise stop to replace Venice.  If Trieste is open to this level of tourism, it could easily become the main replacement for Venice [and perhaps the cruise industry to schedule more fast trains on coordinate with the larger cruise calls].

[curmudgeon98]

A quick glance showed only 2nd class offered on the regional train between Venice and Trieste.  Apparently first class is only offered on the long-distance, high-speed trains.  Having one more potential strike to watch out for could be a nuisance, though.  I remember getting off the train in Venice one morning and going over to the booth to buy our vaporetto passes.  The clerk in the booth warned us that there was a strike coming on, but we gave it a shot since we had our bags.  We made it about 2/3 of the way down the grand canal when the driver pulled up to a stop and ordered everyone off; we had to hump our bags the rest of the way to the hotel.  Strike was over by about 4pm.  It would be a pain if that happened with the train to Trieste.  Strikes are generally fairly short and scheduled well in advance, and you can look them up, but they also often get called off before they actually happen. 

 

There doesn't seem to be much in the way of direct fast train connections to Trieste from other points in Italy, but it looks like there is direct regional service every hour or two from Venice.

 

The main option for flights directly to Trieste would seem to be Lufthansa from Frankfurt.

 

It might be understandable why Trieste might have less of the traditional Italian joy of life attitude; the city and port were Austrian for many years, and taken as spoils of war following WWI (and somewhat forcibly "Italianized").

 

 

[laurieb]

10 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

I am curious - I read that there is an ‘express’ train into Trieste that can be under two hours, so why would it take up to three house unless you took the local train that stops frequently?  And why pay Second class when first is such a minor increase in cost on most trains?  Maybe this has changed? 

I am also curious as to why Ravenna would have been a better option - I sincerely do not know. 
Maybe moving forward there will be a different docking for Venice,  but for now I will look forward to the feedback on Trieste. 
Thank you for all this information. 

The train schedule for October 18 showed two trains from the Mestre station with first class seats, at 10am and an evening train; all others were second class only.  We chose business class seats for about 39.00 US a person; second class seats were about 17.00 each.  Still very reasonable in my book

[Dr H]

RE Vinyard View: Ravenna is much more "Italian". It was one of the final capitals of the Empire, and is famous for its Byzantine mosaics. Trieste alas is famous for the Bora, a great, cold winter wind that blows cars, bicycles, people into the canals. Anyone interested in the city should consider a re-watching of James Bond "From Russia With Love". They have to get to Trieste to be safe, but the final scene is on the Grand Canal in Venice. Trains between Venice and Trieste seem to leave every 30-40 minutes, but why there are very, very few rapid intercities is beyond me. Then again, it is Trieste... I didn't bother to check the 1st class fares between the two, but 2nd was very reasonably priced. If you can get a 2hr train rather than 3, well, that's a no brainer! Remember, Venice Venice is the Santa Lucia station, not Mestre. As for flying into Trieste, it has been decades, but I  you fly into Friuli-Venezia Giulia Airport, about 20 miles north of the city, then it's about an hour bus ride into town. I know there is train service into Venice, I'm not certain about trains into Trieste. That might have changed since the 70's, but Trieste being Trieste, I would be surprised. Regardless, DO NOT let me spoil your stay there! It is definitely more Austro-Hungarian than Italian, the food is different, the people are different, just accept it for what it is and enjoy it. I suspect we will be doing a ship's tour on the day of arrival from the Oct 9th departure, and head over to Venice for 1 or 2 nites, later that afternoon. Plans are literally up in the air.

[laurieb]

1 hour ago, Dr H said:

Remember, Venice Venice is the Santa Lucia station, not Mestre

yes for traveling to Venice; you can travel from Santa Lucia to Trieste also, but no fast trains; fast train just from Mestre

 

[excitedofharpenden]

3 hours ago, Dr H said:

RE Vinyard View: Ravenna is much more "Italian". It was one of the final capitals of the Empire, and is famous for its Byzantine mosaics. Trieste alas is famous for the Bora, a great, cold winter wind that blows cars, bicycles, people into the canals. Anyone interested in the city should consider a re-watching of James Bond "From Russia With Love". They have to get to Trieste to be safe, but the final scene is on the Grand Canal in Venice. Trains between Venice and Trieste seem to leave every 30-40 minutes, but why there are very, very few rapid intercities is beyond me. Then again, it is Trieste... I didn't bother to check the 1st class fares between the two, but 2nd was very reasonably priced. If you can get a 2hr train rather than 3, well, that's a no brainer! Remember, Venice Venice is the Santa Lucia station, not Mestre. As for flying into Trieste, it has been decades, but I  you fly into Friuli-Venezia Giulia Airport, about 20 miles north of the city, then it's about an hour bus ride into town. I know there is train service into Venice, I'm not certain about trains into Trieste. That might have changed since the 70's, but Trieste being Trieste, I would be surprised. Regardless, DO NOT let me spoil your stay there! It is definitely more Austro-Hungarian than Italian, the food is different, the people are different, just accept it for what it is and enjoy it. I suspect we will be doing a ship's tour on the day of arrival from the Oct 9th departure, and head over to Venice for 1 or 2 nites, later that afternoon. Plans are literally up in the air.

Not sure if you are aware, but your block postings without paragraphs are extremely difficult to read and take away from what you are trying to say. I often give up a third of the way through. 

 

Phil 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I just read that Silversea Silver Shadow will be using the Fusina Ferry Terminal for its Venice sailings (see below).  Fusina is at the southern edge of the Marghera area [don't kill me for being vague on this geography!] and I assume is approached through the Marghera channel across the lagoon.  Connections from Fusina to Venice include a ferry (25 min), taxi (20 min) and train (a little over 1 hour).  Taxi from airport to Fusina 22 min (or a long ferry ride – almost 3 hours – that includes a complete sightseeing loup around Murano, Lido and – wait for it – down the Giudecca Canal).

 

This seems like a much better alternative than Ravenna or Trieste (or the industrial part of Marghera).  Silver Shadow is 28,258 tons.  Azamara ships are only a little larger at 30,277 so I wonder if they would fit there also?

 

 

[Dylandude]

3 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Not sure if you are aware, but your block postings without paragraphs are extremely difficult to read and take away from what you are trying to say. I often give up a third of the way through. 

 

Phil 

That’s a good point, sometimes I just skip block postings. Paragraphs make posting so much easier to read.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Dylandude

[Dr H]

💀

 

My feelings have been hurt! I have to find my safe place! Hey, no one is forcing you to read my words of whit, but you will be a better person if you do.  Just sayin'. Let's get back to cruisin', maybe. I hope. ⛴️

[Host Jazzbeau]

I think they're saying your wit would be sharper with a little whittling 😉

[excitedofharpenden]

7 hours ago, Dr H said:

💀

 

My feelings have been hurt! I have to find my safe place! Hey, no one is forcing you to read my words of whit, but you will be a better person if you do.  Just sayin'. Let's get back to cruisin', maybe. I hope. ⛴️

I certainly didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Just some advice to make your words easier to read. You are posting a lot here and on roll calls I'm part of. And I'm just not sure I want to be a better person at the moment, but thanks for the offer! 🙂

 

Phil 

Edited August 19, 2021 by excitedofharpenden

[Dr H]

If you can't laugh at yourself on occasion, something is very wrong! Here in the States, it is politically incorrect to ever hurt anyone's feeling. When that does occur, we are expected to run to our safe place and sulk like 4 year olds. Frankly, I'm looking forward to escaping to my safe place around 3PM, October 9, about 60km northwest of Rome, Italy. However, I highly doubt that I will be sulking. I'll try to keep 'em shorter, but no promises...🚣‍♂️

[Keeria]

23 hours ago, laurieb said:

The train schedule for October 18 showed two trains from the Mestre station with first class seats, at 10am and an evening train; all others were second class only.  We chose business class seats for about 39.00 US a person; second class seats were about 17.00 each.  Still very reasonable in my book

I checked the time table I use for train connections in Europe and I noticed that there is a direct train from Venezia St. Lucia to Trieste Centrale every hour at ....39 and the ride takes 2 hours and 5 minutes. Unfortunately no 1st class compartment. 

[Mrs Miggins]

Flights will be the problem for us on our return to the UK.  Getting from Trieste to Venice Airport with bags will be something of a nightmare.  

We have not yet booked flights for our April 2022 cruises -  may have to go with Azamara flights although we usually do our own.   I guess they will be expensive !

[uktog]

They will be  - our agent was quoted £1000 EACH for flights we would usually buy for less than £1000 for two and with BA not lower cost provider or £300 for two if we went with Easyjet.  I think from London they are showing as £700 each albeit it includes transfers