No Venice for our cruise!

[gailellen12]

My cruise on the Oosterdam from Barcelona to Venice June 1 to June 13  has had a significant  itinerary change. Our day in Venice- June 12 - is now a sea day!  We dock in Trieste the following day and then home for many of us. Quite disappointed to say the least. I am sure other sailings will see changes like this too☹️  Sad not to see Venice again

[Nang]

I feel your pain. Venice is such a bucket list port for many of us. If I had not been there previously it would make me consider ditching this cruise and rebooking one including Venice. Does anybody know whythe change was made?

[CruiserBruce]

This change has been in the works, officially,  for about a year. Not a surprise. 

[OlsSalt]

UNESCO was also involved in this decision - heart breaking to see how cumulative tourism and unfortunately the recent larger cruise ship  damage has threatened this fragile and ancient setting.

 

But to ensure it is not lost forever, this had to happen.  I remain amazed something built on wooden stilts, over water in such a boggy setting, centuries still thrives as well as it does today.  

 

As pointed out in other articles, many popular cruise sites are quite a distance from the actual port - so it is just the way it is geographically, and now for preservation sake - beloved Venice too.   Rome, Hanoi, Beijing, Yalta, Paris, Berlin ..... all take hours by other transit to reach. Now Venice too.

 

Taking the vaparettos to the Lido, or outer islands of Murano, Burano or Torcello can still offer those sweeping Venice lagoon views that were such a delight when "cruise bys" were still offered.

 

Regular trains should easily take one from Trieste to Venice in a short time. (Check Trenitalia schedules)

Edited April 9, 2022 by OlsSalt

[VMax1700]

4 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Regular trains should easily take one from Trieste to Venice in a short time.

Train or bus is about 2 hours travel time unless you catch one of the fast trains.

[ski ww]

How about if you have a HAL shore excursion booked will HAL bus us into Venice? 

[gailellen12]

1 hour ago, ski ww said:

How about if you have a HAL shore excursion booked will HAL bus us into Venice? 

There is no Venice at all for my cruise unless you are staying there after the cruise. As of now, June 12 is a sea day. Then dock in Trieste and home on June 13. Excursions for Venice have been taken down 😔

[terrydtx]

Wonderful, our August 21 Oosterdam departs and returns from Venice and we have no had any notifications about changing to Trieste. I talked with HAL a couple of weeks ago and was told they would sail from the Venice Industrial port Maghera with check in at the old  cruise terminal on Venice Island and then be transported to the ship by bus in Maghera.  

[OlsSalt]

7 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Train or bus is about 2 hours travel time unless you catch one of the fast trains.

 

Yes, it is a two hour train trip per Trenitalia- hope the time in port is long enough to make good connections coming and going in order to enjoy this relatively compact and walkable city.  

 

Maybe an overnight in Trieste would allow more exploration of Venice could be added to these itineraries, as a good way to get around this new development. HAL does offer overnights in other cities located far from the ports, or even in ones that beg for more time even when docked in town - Istanbul and Shanghai come to mind..

 

Or the acceptance of a pre- or post-cruise extension will now be required to really savor this wonderful city, that does now need to be saved.

[OlsSalt]

Trip advisor post claims the  Trieste Central Train station is about one kilometer away from where cruise ships dock - about a half mile walk in the downtown area.

 

"..........The docking point of Costa Cruises in Trieste is located right at the Molo Bersaglieri quay 29. It is right in the center of the city, almost opposite the main Piazza Unita' d'Italia. Many cruisepassengers travel on foot from the train station to the ship or vv as the distance ia about 1 km. You can easily locate the cruiseship. Any hotel in the center of Trieste will be ok.............."

[kirbymuxloe]

My boarding pass for 8 may oosterdam is molo bersagliera for embark and disembark. Too late for us to change flights now otherwise would stay in trieste.

[bennybear]

I would still fly into Venice and arrange private transport,,   Otherwise you have to backtrack and get a boat or bus to the train station and then the train.  
 

Edited April 9, 2022 by bennybear

[RD64]

Although inconvenient to those already booked for Venice - embrace Trieste for the undiscovered gem that it is.

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, RD64 said:

Although inconvenient to those already booked for Venice - embrace Trieste for the undiscovered gem that it is.

If this wasn't our first time in Venice, I could agree with you, we want to see Venice. However, I bet hotel rooms are much cheaper in Trieste

[RD64]

Terrydtx - everything is cheaper in Trieste. PerhAps I am biased as my family is from there, but Trieste ( and Cortina) are my favourite places in Italy. And for those Americans that miss home - there is even McDonalds.

[OlsSalt]

Good Venice webcam - you can see the crowds in Piazza San Marco grow in size over just the past month. It was virtually empty for months (years?) during the various covid/tourism lockdowns.  Things are coming back to life in this world's grand drawing room:  

 

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/veneto/venezia/piazza-san-marco.html

[DENIE]

Thankful that we were able to sail out of Venice on Celebrity in November 2019, just before Covid.  I understand the rules about large cruise ships changed during Covid.  Such an amazing experience, but I do understand the reasons behind the determination. 

Edited April 10, 2022 by DENIE

[VMax1700]

16 hours ago, kirbymuxloe said:

My boarding pass for 8 may oosterdam is molo bersagliera for embark and disembark. Too late for us to change flights now otherwise would stay in trieste.

Are there flights to Trieste from UK?

[Heartgrove]

2 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Are there flights to Trieste from UK?

 

Their website list airlines serving the airport in real time, as well as trains and buses. Airlines include Ryanair and Lufthansa.

 

https://triesteairport.it/en/

[terrydtx]

Looks like all the cruises are back up, but the second half of the itinerary on or 14 day Aug 21 cruise has changed. No Santorini, also on our bucket list, and now it shows Mykonos as a stop twice, one is replacing Santorini. Now we are in Istanbul on different days, this really screws us up as we had private tours there and in Santorini.  I see no reason why HAL would take Santorini out of the schedule. Still nothing from HAL about all these changes, and we are not happy at all.

[PACD_JG]

The Venice/Trieste bait and switch is like going to the prom with the homecoming queen but coming home with Rosie Palm.  I haven't been to Trieste, but I've driven through Slovenia and spent a half day in Rovinj and Pula and two nights in Banjole.  If anybody thinks that side of the Adriatic compares to Venice (3 nights), then you're only trying to convince yourself.

Edited April 10, 2022 by PACD_JG

[terrydtx]

Looks like we also lost our stop in Crete as well as Santorini both the main reasons we booked this cruise 2 years ago. For Crete HAL is giving us another boring sea day in the Adriatic, totally unacceptable.  This is going to be our last cruise with HAL and we are 3 Star, no notifications from HAL or reasoning for canceling two of the best ports in Greece. They have totally screwed our dream cruise of Greece!!!!!😡

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I see no reason why HAL would take Santorini out of the schedule.

 

Could it be this?   https://thepointsguy.com/news/santorini-is-capping-cruise-ship-tourism/#:~:text=Officials in Santorini%2C the island,cruise ship arrivals at 8%2C000.

 

Something we are probably all going to have to look out for going forward as more and more ports (at least in the Med) are going to try various ways to cap tourist numbers and limit tourist overload. Venice, Santorini, and Dubrovnik are already making these changes.

[tjcox9]

6 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Could it be this?   https://thepointsguy.com/news/santorini-is-capping-cruise-ship-tourism/#:~:text=Officials in Santorini%2C the island,cruise ship arrivals at 8%2C000.

 

Something we are probably all going to have to look out for going forward as more and more ports (at least in the Med) are going to try various ways to cap tourist numbers and limit tourist overload. Venice, Santorini, and Dubrovnik are already making these changes.

Thanks, I was going to bring this up, but figured I'd get blasted for mentioning it! They are not the only European port either limiting or considering further limits on ships. 

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Could it be this?   https://thepointsguy.com/news/santorini-is-capping-cruise-ship-tourism/#:~:text=Officials in Santorini%2C the island,cruise ship arrivals at 8%2C000.

 

Something we are probably all going to have to look out for going forward as more and more ports (at least in the Med) are going to try various ways to cap tourist numbers and limit tourist overload. Venice, Santorini, and Dubrovnik are already making these changes.

I had heard about this but funny Celebrity and RCL have not canceled Santorini this summer. Doesn't explain why we are also losing Crete. We booked this cruise in early 2021 instead of one with Celebrity because it was 14 days and had stops in both Santorini and Crete. Too late to cancel and go elsewhere.