Have you read Rick's Travel News for today? Venice is ending it's experiment (my word) with most cruise ships, and just before today's Acqua Alta someone stole the footbridges used to walk over the floodwaters. Yea, and Boo.
Just look for the peeps with the dry feet, and you'll find the footbridges ;-(
Eileen, I am so glad to see the ships are being banned! IT's horrible to see them sail through the Laguna! I only hope a year from now isn't too late.
What a wonderful decision about the cruise ships. They really don't contribute that much to the economy since the passengers don't lodge in the city, and a lot of the passengers don't have large meals in Venice (or so I've heard). They might grab a few slices of pizza, but then back to the ship for dinner (since the meals on board are already paid for).
In case anyone's interested in the visuals, here's a little video clip I took of the one of those monsters cruising past the place where gondolas are made by hand: Cruise ship in Venice
Good one for the Italian government. Who knew.
Nice video. It reminds me of a scene from one of those old giant monster movies. You're running through the streets of the city, and you think you've escaped from the leviathan and all of it's daytrippers... but look around the corner, there it is! And the beast is about to vomit it's cargo of moneybelt-wearing minions right at us!
I'm torn, personally. From a purely selfish standpoint I'm happy that there will be less tourists in Venice as it's gotten almost unbearable the past few years. The times and places when I could go and not be bothered by crowds are getting less and less with each trip.
However, I think some of you are underestimating the amount of money these cruise shippers bring to the Venetian economy. For many, it's the only port they will see in Italy and so they want to splurge on good Italian food (or at least what they think is good Italian food). The biggest bite will be with the local merchants though. I have some close friends who own a glass shop near San Marco and they've been hit very hard by the global economic woes the past few years, to the point where they have had to leave their home in Venice for a cheaper place to live in Mestre. This will hurt them even more. I hate to see that.
..... they don't contribute much to the economy ???? What a naive statement. With over 650 ships docking at Venice - that is two a day - discharging several thousand passengers -- Lets see -- Those passengers will pay entry fees to many sights, use dozens of local guides, hire local transportation, lots of meals, snacks, wine, etc. The ships have a huge impact on local economy. Tourists probably are the only thing that is keeping Venice a float. It really serves no other function.
Most cruise ships come in just for the day, arriving in the morning and departing before dinner. According to an article I read on Tripadvisor, the average cruise ship passenger spends around 15 euros in Venice ( probably for cheap trinkets that are made in China, you cannot get any real Venice handcrafts for that price). They follow a tour guide's umbrella around and don't have time for a " real Italian" lunch. They clog the streets around San Marco and put the visitors who are there to spend several days ( and lots of money) off. It has been a few years since we went to Venice but I have no desire to return as long as it is so crowded.
Yes Venice is dependent on tourism, but not on cruise ship passengers, who contribute very little and cause a lot of damage to the environment and the cultural value of a visit.
The cruise ships pay huge fees to dock there for the day, but I'll bet very little of that money makes it way to the Venetian themselves.
Cruise lines planning changes after Venice announces ban on largest ships:
The September protest mentioned in the article linked above was on the day my wife and I left Venice (by train, I hasten to add). The news report that day said, "On Saturday an estimated 35,000 cruise ship tourists arrived, equal to over half the city's population."
Before our trip we had found online a schedule of when the cruise ships would arrive and depart Venice, and we planned our activities around that.
Jeff, could you tell us where you found the information about the number of cruise ships in port on a particular day?
@Andrea, The huge arrival of cruise ships was reported as the most ever to arrive in a 24 hour period by the Italian media. I believe it was Saturday-Sunday arrivals the weekend of Sept 21-22.
This website shows how many cruise ships (and passengers) will be in port. Pick your port and month, and you will see what to expect. I use this a lot in my trip planning to anyplace that is a cruise ship stop.
Charlene,
Thank you for that link. I just saved it for my trip planning.
Venice would get along just fine with far fewer tourists. And it's ironic beyond belief to imply that cruise ships are "the only thing that is keeping Venice a float (sic)," when the damage from those ships is quite literally undermining the city's foundations. Yes, tourism has helped support the Venetian economy for centuries, but these monster cruise ships are a recent phenomenon.
Jeff, could you tell us where you found the information about the
number of cruise ships in port on a particular day?
This website shows the scheduled times of arrival and departure of each ship in Venice on the day selected (click on "Ship Schedule"):
http://www.vtp.it/calendario/
So...nobody's claiming to know what happened to the temporary bridge stands?
Somebody knows... ;-)
Both sides on the cruise controversy behave, on the public eyes, as angry children on a schoolyard yelling at each other. Both grossly overstate their case and abuse the best science concerned.
The re-routing of ships makes sense. The Venetian lagoon has 2 major entrances, one on Lido that takes ships via the Giudecca canal, thus passing in front of Piazza San Marco and other major sites. The other one takes ships via Mmalocco and a dragged canal that arrives on the port via West, on open waters, without any narrow passages within the main island itself. This change is a good one, though it takes away the breathtaking views cruise passengers enjoyed from the upper decks of cruise ships. So far, so good.
The problem is that this re-routing has not placated the local NIMBYs and misleading activists. They would rather have no cruise ships whatsoever docking there if they had their way. Claims of wake damage cause by ships using other approaches to the port are bogus. In any case, there is an active industrial port in Mestre that sees plenty of cargo ship traffic which isn't going anywhere else.
Cruise operators on their hand overstate their case and push preposterous claims that without the ships the city would become a ghost town with an economy in complete collapse. They also resisted the course change with exaggerated baseless complaints about risks to navigation - the operators just don't wanted the main sight of the port approach to be preceded by side views of the industries in Mestre...
The restriction on large tonnage ships is not necessary nor justified.
For full disclosure, I will admit I cannot imagine why anyone would want to go on one of those huge ships (referred to in the video as floating apartment blocks.) I am so happy to hear of this ban and wish it could happen sooner. Surely there is a way for the cruise ship passengers to be docked in a place safer for the islands and still get to visit Venice for a day. Cruise ships offer tours to both Rome and Pisa/Florence and neither of them have a dock right by some of their most famous sights. I love Venice and am glad it's fragility is being considered.
