Cruise ship passengers in Venice

I think you are overthinking this. The big cruise ships now have to dock well outside of Venice proper. The difference between 7500 cruise passengers and 0 will hardly be noticed.

We had this to consider in 2019 when we were in Venice for 5 nights. We looked at the schedule and thought about a train trip to Padua or Verona if it was extremely crowded in Venice. We ended up just taking an afternoon boat trip to Burano. When we got back most of the cruise ships had left and no more were there during the rest of our days. It was still very busy in the most congested places in Venice, the Rialto Bridge to St. Mark Square areas but there are a lot of other beautiful places to wander. I have read that cruise ships will be docking by Ravenna and passengers bussed up to Venice for excursions further compacting their time in the city, arriving later and leaving earlier. I don’t know when this new port city takes place.

I’ve been in Venice in October when three ships are in and It is indeed even more crowded. But funnily enough I finally, after 3 previous visits, managed to get into San Marco with no waiting! Based on that I would take the earlier option. If a big boat comes in I’d head to Murano or Burano or even the Lido for some beach time. If you keep away from the Grand Canal area and San Marco the crowds diminish.

Thank goodness cruise ships are now docking north or south of Venice. More coastal cities need to follow Venice’s example.

Thanks everyone for the info! Very useful!

I don't know how many ships are still docking at Venice vs. the mainland port that's coming into use, and the current port schedule for October might change, so I would not overthink this either. Keep in mind that many of the passengers docking on the mainland will still get on buses to Venice, with less time there but still in great numbers.

Most day trippers concentrate on a route between Piazzale Roma and San Marco, via Rialto Bridge. The trick is to avoid that route if you can during the middle of the day. See Rialto and San Marco in the morning and/or evening, spend your middays in other parts of the city, which is easy to do. A hotel away from Rialto/San Marco won't be inconvenient, you'll be walking a lot anyway.

Good point! We do plan to head over to Murano so a busy cruise ship day would be a good choice for that excursion.

Just in case anyone else finds this interesting, there is also a website to see where all types of ships are all over the world in real time. At this moment there is one cruise ship at the mainland port in Venice. So cool! www.marinetraffic.com

I have been to Venice three times and learned something very quickly. Venice is two places.

The first is between about 9 AM and 5 PM. This is when Venice is mobbed with visitors.. Many day trippers from cruise ships and mainland-staying tours. It's a madhouse. St. Marks Square is a sea of people. It is the time to get out of the center and head to one of the islands.

Butt after 5, Venice becomes a different place. The hordes of people leave and the locals come out. It won't be empty, but it will be better. You will be able to wander and explore without having to jostle to get by. It does get darker earlier but not to worry....Venice is safe and fun to explore at night.

We'll look forward to seeing Venice in the evening!