Venice Marghera

[Mrs Miggins]

Just checking CruiseMapper before our April Quest ending in Venice.  Quest is shown in Marghera Industrial Port  (ie not the Cruise Port) on May 1st.  Journey is also shown there on April 9th.  Last year Azamara were berthed in Trieste.  Whilst not nearly as good as the wonderful San Basillio where Azamara used to dock hopefully we will be closer to Venice.  Currently independent exploring not allowed in Italy I believe, but am crossing my fingers that Azamara might be in a position to offer a shuttle service by April.

[tert333]

I saw that as well.  Not sure it is accurate as it still shows NCL cruises that have already been moved to Trieste.  

 

I hope you are right though.

[Huntingdon1701]

Just checked this onboard while booking a Venice cruise for next year. It's a live conversation apparently, even for close cruises, but if they were departing from Trieste they would tend to explicitly say so now.

[radarcruiser]

I posted this on my roll call page.  I called Azamara last week about where we should plan to leave from for our Onward cruise in June.  They said no decision yet, but he was sure they would provide transport to Trieste from Venice airport if it turns out to be Trieste. 

[Mrs Miggins]

Our other cruise line of choice Viking have been using Fusina ferry port.  According to the Fusina website you can get a ferry into Venice itself except of course Viking and Italy are currently not allowing independent exploration.

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

Would prefer Trieste rather than the industrial Marghera provided shuttles to Venice and Airport provided.

[Vineyard View]

I read on another board that it had taken 45 minutes from Marghera to arrive into Venice. That sounds longer than was speculated in the beginning. Even so, I can see why that would be more attractive than Trieste from a transfer time standpoint. On the other hand, from what I have read, there are places to go and things to do just walking off the ship when in Trieste for those who do not wish to shuttle into Venice. 

[Dr H]

Okay gang, we were on the Oct 9, 2021 Italy Extensive. Venice was shut down tighter than a drum. We diverted to Trieste. Hear me out, there are no rapid trains from Trieste to Venice, or visa versa. It is a 3 hour trip in each direction, making even an allowable ship's tour doable, but very impractical and very expensive. Azamara DID provide shuttle service from Trieste to Marco Polo airport outside of Venice, both for people leaving the cruise to return home, and to pick up new arrivals for the subsequent cruise. They did scramble to arrange ships tours into the Istrian Peninsula. However the restrictive tourist Bubble: a MAJOR pain in the ass! We were side by side with Costa cruises, and the Costa crew totally ignored the restrictions. Their passengers were under the same bubble restrictions, but they were ignored. Azamara was scrupulous in observing the quarantine. My wife and I consider Italy as a second home, we were thrill to be able to get back, restrictions and all, but now, four months after the fact, I would advise cancelling/postponing any cruising in Italy. If you want to go to Italy, arrive by plane, train, car, walk across the border, you will have almost no restrictions. The moment you go onto a cruise ship, you put yourselves into a mini prison - no shopping, no restaurant dining of your choice, no going into a bar for a coffee, no wandering off the ship to stroll around on your own. We were on a B2B, and even though technically we got of the ship and reboarded, once we were handed our room keys the afternoon before, we were passengers. No excursions on our own between trips. I will say, Azamara did triple flips to try to keep us happy. They didn't make the rules, it came by a Presidential decree, not even a Parliamentary law. The excursions we made with the ship were truly spectacular. The crew provided us with little chachkas we could have picked up shopping, bottles of olive oil, ceramic tiles, textiles. They were wonderful Once out of Italy, into Croatia/Slovakia/France/Spain, no insanity, it was like the good old days. So think twice about going, especially if you can reschedule. And if you still want to go, try to have a wonderful time.  

[Cruizer Diana]

23 hours ago, Dr H said:

Okay gang, we were on the Oct 9, 2021 Italy Extensive. Venice was shut down tighter than a drum. We diverted to Trieste. Hear me out, there are no rapid trains from Trieste to Venice, or visa versa. It is a 3 hour trip in each direction, making even an allowable ship's tour doable, but very impractical and very expensive. Azamara DID provide shuttle service from Trieste to Marco Polo airport outside of Venice, both for people leaving the cruise to return home, and to pick up new arrivals for the subsequent cruise. They did scramble to arrange ships tours into the Istrian Peninsula. However the restrictive tourist Bubble: a MAJOR pain in the ass! We were side by side with Costa cruises, and the Costa crew totally ignored the restrictions. Their passengers were under the same bubble restrictions, but they were ignored. Azamara was scrupulous in observing the quarantine. My wife and I consider Italy as a second home, we were thrill to be able to get back, restrictions and all, but now, four months after the fact, I would advise cancelling/postponing any cruising in Italy. If you want to go to Italy, arrive by plane, train, car, walk across the border, you will have almost no restrictions. The moment you go onto a cruise ship, you put yourselves into a mini prison - no shopping, no restaurant dining of your choice, no going into a bar for a coffee, no wandering off the ship to stroll around on your own. We were on a B2B, and even though technically we got of the ship and reboarded, once we were handed our room keys the afternoon before, we were passengers. No excursions on our own between trips. I will say, Azamara did triple flips to try to keep us happy. They didn't make the rules, it came by a Presidential decree, not even a Parliamentary law. The excursions we made with the ship were truly spectacular. The crew provided us with little chachkas we could have picked up shopping, bottles of olive oil, ceramic tiles, textiles. They were wonderful Once out of Italy, into Croatia/Slovakia/France/Spain, no insanity, it was like the good old days. So think twice about going, especially if you can reschedule. And if you still want to go, try to have a wonderful time.  

I agree completely with David. We also cruised on this sailing. Not only could we not get off the ship independently in Trieste, all official Azamara shore excursions were cancelled the night before. We were tested the day before Trieste and no one tested positive. 

 

I agree that Azamara did a great job entertaining us, but we were very unhappy to find out only 10 days before embarkation that we would have to stay in the ship "bubble" or not get off the ship. I'm sure Azamara knew all along that that particular rule was in force. I assume they truly thought Italy would soften on that requirement, but many of us would have considered cancelling had we'd known earlier.

[SunnyNy]

46 minutes ago, Cruizer Diana said:

I agree completely with David. We also cruised on this sailing. Not only could we not get off the ship independently in Trieste, all official Azamara shore excursions were cancelled the night before. We were tested the day before Trieste and no one tested positive. 

 

I agree that Azamara did a great job entertaining us, but we were very unhappy to find out only 10 days before embarkation that we would have to stay in the ship "bubble" or not get off the ship. I'm sure Azamara knew all along that that particular rule was in force. I assume they truly thought Italy would soften on that requirement, but many of us would have considered cancelling had we'd known earlier.

Diana, I was also on this cruise and, while I share you frustration of not being able to explore the ports independently, it’s inaccurate to say that all “‘official” (by that, I assume you mean ship sponsored) shore excursions in Trieste were cancelled. I took what was actually one of the best Az tours I’ve ever had, and I know of others who were on two different tours there. Maybe other tours were cancelled - perhaps those that included free time? 
 

Ship tours are not my first choice, but I was anxious to take the cruise anyway, even though I had the option to cancel. 

[Dr H]

Diana, wonderful to see that you and Bill made it back from the Caribbean intact. I ran back to Rome with my daughter in law over Christmas weekend. She wanted to do a mileage run and needed a translator, what can I tell you? We had a ball! Most of the restaurants I was planning on showing you on the other side of the station have closed, HOWEVER, the Napoleon sent us around the corner to a new Mecca of Dining (Tempio di Mecenate)! Truly spectacular dining, one of the best mixed grills I've ever had there, and Sara had her negroni and carbonara for Christmas. And we did get a funny look from the staff when we checked in, they recognized me, but not the other, much younger Mrs. H. They were also a tad confused as to why we had booked two rooms, but Sara figured out the jist of the conversation pretty quickly. I always loved travelling with my kids, so this was a new one for me. Oh, no restrictions on anything we did. I was asked to present my vaccination card at one pizzeria, but otherwise, absolutely nothing like the cruise restrictions. So any plans for March 17th? Join us to Lisbon?   D