Cruise ships in Venice

There is a harbor master web site somewhere that lists ships arrivals and departures. But I would judge that there is probably a cruise ship in port nearly every day. Venice is a popular place for cruises to start and end. With the normal crowds in June I doubt if you would notice much difference if a cruise ship was in port or not.

To amplify Frank's excellent answer: the question is not "What days will there be cruise ships in Venice in the summer?" but "how many cruise ships will be there on any given day?" However, as he said, the cruise ship tour groups stick to the most beaten path of all beaten paths - St. Marks Square to Rialto, gondola rides, glassware stores, etc. And even without them, central Venice will be very crowded in summer. Go almost anywhere else in town, and it's not. When I was there in September 2009, I kept thinking of Rick's sage statement: "Eighty percent of Venice, is, in fact, not touristy, but eighty percent of tourist to Venice never notice." It's quite easy to lose the crowds, unless you need to go where they are going (Doge's Palace, train station, vaporetto line 1, etc). When was wondering around Dorsoduro and found the store selling socks (not shoes - just socks) or the one refilling printer ink cartridges, I knew that the allegations that "there's nothing left of the real Venice" were just that - allegations, not facts. Of course, I didn't come to Venice to get ink cartridges - I spent a lot of time at the "tourist attractions" too. But even places like the Scuola San Rocco or the Jewish Ghetto were not mob scenes.

Thanks for the posts. I guess we will need to get to the tourist attractions early or late in the day and spend the middle of the days off the beaten path. I will be traveling with my two nieces 16 & 18 yrs old. Would you recommend that I take them to Lido for one of the days to hang out at the beach?

If you get really warm sunny weather, you might enjoy taking the kids to the beach. But it's really true that you won't have any trouble finding the uncrowded parts of Venice. I assembled a set of photos from our trips there in May of 2008 and 2011. You can see them here, if you're interested: Uncrowded Venice Happy travels.

Thanks so much for the photos. They are great. We will definitely take some time to walk around the back streets.

I was in Venice last summer for a week and had the same concern. I did my home work online and identified each cruise ship that was scheduled to be in port during that week. For me, the day with the least number of cruise ships was Wednesday. (This may be different for you.) Although I arrived in Venice on a Sunday and wanted to see all the sites in San Marcos first -- church, Doges Palace, Clock Tower and Campanile -- I waited until Wednesday and was so glad. I spent far less time in lines. You'll have to do the research for your dates, but I guarantee you'll have a better experience!!!! I also highly recommend getting advance tickets for doges palace, special itineraries tour.

Michael's photos were excellent. What time do the cruise ships usually arrive in Venice?