Venice is no more….

Well not really but large cruise ships will not be able to sail out of Venice down the grand canal from 2015.  If you haven’t done it yet then do it NOW!!

It is the most beautiful sail away I have ever done with great views of St Mark’s Square as you sail past.

The ban came about due to celebrities signing a petition to stop large ships causing further damage to the city which is already under water (well some of it at certain times of the year).

At present cruise lines sail from Saint Mark’s basin and the Giudecca Canal passing at approx 1,000 feet from St Mark’s square as they leave Venice. The government are looking for a new route for larger cruise liners of 96,000 or more to enter Venice.  

Contorta-Sant’Angelo canal maybe an alternative route where passengers will then be transferred on smaller boats to reach the city.

Venice is a great tourism sight and the profits made from cruise line passengers cannot be lost so something has to be done as this trade creates many jobs within the city so are they shooting themselves in the foot?

They want the trade but not the big ships passing so close.  If the alternative works then great but only time will tell and we won’t know the definite outcome till late 2015 when we have experienced the new route.

Below is the map of the alternative which the government are in talks about at the moment.

Yellow line – commercial shipping route
Blue line – current passenger shipping route
Dotted line – proposed new route Contorta-Sant’Angelo Canal

This year P&O are using ‘Ventura’ for sailings from Venice, she is 115,000 tonnes, carrying 3096 passengers but next year they have changed the ship to ‘Oceana’ which is 77,000 tonnes, carrying 2016 passengers so that is 1080 passengers less, think of the trade Venice will lose which is why they need an alternative

Celebrity cruises, Royal Caribbean, Costa & MSC  have big ships that currently sail from Venice so it will be interesting to see what these line make of the news but nothing has been released as of yet.  I will keep you up to date the outcome of this as soon as we know more.

Venice is a beautiful destination and to cruise from there is fabulous but the damage caused by large ocean liners will be made much worse if they continue so I personally agree with this.  My advise would be to stay a few nights in Venice before you cruise from the new port so you do get to see the wonders of this magical city.

Maybe this is your chance to try a more luxury alternative on a smaller ship.

When I was in Venice there were 5 cruise ships docked, all ready to sail that day.  It is great for tourism but not at the expense of the city so as long as Venice is still an option to sail from then I’m happy but what are your thoughts?  I’d love to hear them.

To book your Venice stay & cruise holiday before it’s too late call me on 0800 408 6108 or email [email protected].