Italian Sojourn 9/27/23 not going to Venice

[surus]

Italian Sojourn 9/27 on Jupiter no longer going to Venice. We just got the email from Viking that the ship will be docking in San Marino (Ravenna) 90 miles south of Venice. Not 90 minutes. 90 miles! Unbelievable. I realize this is not their decision but seriously, this is going to be a two hour trip each way. And if you need to fly out of Venice you can buy a transfer from Viking that will probably eat up the credit they are offering you. They should be offering free transfers. They need to stop marketing cruises to “ Venice”. 

[LibertyBella]

Well, Rome cruises leave out of Civitavecchia, so the "marketing" is not going to change any time soon.

 

Yes, the citizens of Venice finally and firmly declined the large cruise ships continued access to their delicate and historical canal waterways.

 

It is impossible to see this lovely city in a day, anyway.  I would fly in at least three days early to spend some real time sightseeing in Venice, and then head to Ravenna to board the ship.

 

The only time I receive free transfers is if I use cruise ship hotels for advance stays, or cruise air and fly in on the day of boarding.  Otherwise, everything is out of my pocket.

 

Oh well, at least you have a month's advance notice.  When Royal Caribbean made this change, they did not notify everyone, and some people had already arrived in Italy at the Venice port and did not know where to go!  They actually had to take a taxi last minute to get to the other city (hundreds of dollars.) Very sad stories.  

 

Have a great cruise!

[Peregrina651]

10 hours ago, surus said:

I realize this is not their decision

 

Viking is none to happy about it either.

 

 

[jasardeax]

I had thought that Viking was

using Chioggia for their Venice

area departures. 

Had there been a change?

[AuntieWerewolf10]

We are scheduled for Fusina (Venice) in October 

[OneSixtyToOne]

1 hour ago, jasardeax said:

I had thought that Viking was

using Chioggia for their Venice

area departures. 

Had there been a change?

When we were there, we were told Chioggia can only dock one ship. If that is occupied, Fusina (“the ugly place”) is used. I’m assuming Fusina is also at capacity.

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[kcpvwill]

We are on Oct 14th Barcelona to Venice (now renamed to San Marino in MVJ) and got the email as mentioned by OP too.  We have booked the included excursion to Ravenna, as 90 miles to Venice means a long time on a coach.  We realise that Viking has no control over the port authorities and appreciate the offer of OBC and FCV.  We also understand the disappointment of the American and Australian travellers who will have come much further than us (from UK) expecting to see Venice.  We were lucky enough to go to Venice a few years ago (with Viking) before the authorities closed it to cruise ships.  Hopefully Viking will put on more Venice on Your Own opportunities, as these appear to be SOLD OUT at present,  so that those who really want to get there can do so.  However, the London office has told us that Ravenna is a very nice place.  

[Murt22]

We are on the 3 week Athens to Barcelona next September where we supposedly have 2 nights in "Venice", probably when a group gets off and other group gets on. I guess it will a guessing game to figure out what shore excursions will be available. I would hate to plan a private tour of some sort and not know where we were docking.

[Peregrina651]

18 minutes ago, kcpvwill said:

Hopefully Viking will put on more Venice on Your Own opportunities, as these appear to be SOLD OUT at present,  so that those who really want to get there can do so.

 

It is a 2:30 hour charter bus ride from Ravenna to Venice -- that's five hours there and back. My gut says that the reason it says SOLD OUT is because it is not being offered at all. With that long a drive, I would not be surprised were there a complete change of tour offerings, taking advantage of what is closer to where the ship is docked (so that more time can be spent seeing the sights than riding on a bus).

 

See https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Ravenna/Venice

 

BTW, San Marino is as far from Ravenna as Chiaggio  is from Venice, as Civitavecchia is from Rome, as Lugarno is from Florence.

 

 

2 hours ago, jasardeax said:

I had thought that Viking was

using Chioggia for their Venice

area departures. 

Had there been a change?

 

If your cruise has been effected, you will be notified by e-mail. So far this seems to be a one-off change. If it is a change to more than just a couple of sailings, it will take a while for the websites to catch up.

 

[lackcreativity]

6 hours ago, kcpvwill said:

  However, the London office has told us that Ravenna is a very nice place.  

We were redirected to Ravenna at the very last moment during the Barcelona to Venice cruise when Fusina closed unexpectedly for an environmental study. Lucky to have visited Venice by land several times before, so we weren't too distressed. Ravenna really was nice to visit, and we were glad we had the opportunity. Not terribly happy with the 4:00 AM departure for the airport that resulted from the change in plans, but Viking did offer compensation for the trouble.

Edited August 11, 2023 by lackcreativity

[kcpvwill]

We are departing Viking Venus tomorrow,  having completed a two week cruise ‘Mediterranean & Italian Sojourn’ ending in Ravenna/for Venice.  It was treated as two B2B  cruises even though we booked it as one.  The change from Venice to Ravenna has meant lots of people departed yesterday to be taken to a hotel.  Looking at Vessel Finder, it seems there are three Viking ships in port today, Venus in Ravenna, Saturn in Fusina, and Neptune in Chioggia.  Ravenna is 90 miles from Venice and it has caused problems.  I wonder why they timetabled three Viking ships to the same area, when it has been known for a long time that Venice itself no longer allows cruise ships.  

[kcpvwill]

Forgot to mention that we now have to leave the ship in Ravenna at 4.30am for our flights home.  Ouch! 

[Breckski]

On 8/10/2023 at 9:22 PM, LibertyBella said:

Well, Rome cruises leave out of Civitavecchia, so the "marketing" is not going to change any time soon.

 

I thought Viking and others normally market Rome as "Rome (Civitavecchia)".  I've seen Venice marketed as Venice (Chioggia), but that is nothing like Venice (Ravenna).

Edited October 27, 2023 by mwike

[zalusky]

We have a 2025 sailing from Athens to Rome with a 3 day stop in Venice.  Obviously too early to know but with one ship at a time how do they decide?  First booking in Choggia or can it change on the fly.

 

I guess I better not make any major private tours or expectations.

[Murt22]

We are on an Athens to Barcelona in September 2024 - supposedly arrive in "Venice" at 1200, stay one day and leave the next at 1700. Trying to figure out what the best plan is. Interested in watching all the threads with Venice stops for options.
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[CHammond]

We just got back from the Sky spending 2 and 1/2 days in Venice at Fusina, it actually turned out well, Viking was running a once daily Venice on your own shuttle boat directly from our ship to San Marco square, it only took 40 minutes. For those who wanted to stay longer (about 4 hours at St Marks) they would need to go to the old cruise terminal and catch the shuttle bus there, which we did one day and it took alot longer (about 2 hours from St Marks to the ship). For those who had paid excursions, they were also running a boat from Fusina to where the excursion started, so it actually was quite convenient to be at Fusina. 

[CHammond]

Just to clarify what we did to get back to the ship on our own in Venice, first we took the vaporetto from St Marks to the stop where the terminal was, then jump on the people mover train one stop to the old cruise port, then go to the terminal where the viking bus comes, board the bus, ride over the causeway to Fusina and our ship, the whole process took about 2 hours.