Cruise Ships in Venice - restrictions overturned

[Pauline]

Last November it looked like things were going to change, with a ban on the largest cruise ships going into Venice and the other numbers being cut back, but today an Italian court has rolled back this new legislation.

There are two good articles about this in The Guardian.

The Guardian - Venice: perilous times, March 20, 2014
The situation for Venice is becoming critical because of the danger posed by cruise ships

From the article: "There are few sights more likely to quicken an art historian's outrage than that of a cruise liner moored in Venice's Giudecca Canal, silhouetted against the fragile fabric of the buildings surrounding St Mark's Square. Around 650 of these floating giants, some displacing a localised tide of over 100,000 tonnes of water, enter the city each year. Their engines shake its foundations, spew pollution and deposit ever-increasing numbers of passengers. In 1990, there were 200,000 cruise passengers in Venice; in 2011, there were 1.8 million."

The Guardian - Tourism overwhelms the world's historic places, but pays no dues, March 20, 2014
As Venice overturns a ban on giant cruise liners, it is clear that the places people flock to are incapable of preserving themselves

From the article: "I once thought that as civilisation progressed, so did our concern for beautiful things and places. We saved more, studied more, taught more, conserved and appreciated more. I was wrong."

 

[dale]

Tragic!

 

[Dana]

It really does beggar belief that the court stepped in and over ruled the ban. You only have to be in Venice (as we were last May) and watch one of these Juggernauts sail in, completely dwarfing the city, and know it's just sooooo wrong. Probably the only solution now is to somehow raise awareness among cruise ship passengers, although how one does that is beyond me.

 

[Rebecca]

This is so disappointing. I remember watching one of the ships and feeling disoriented and dizzy as it passed.

 

[Roz]

This is so, so sad. Does anyone know whether this is a final decision, or if any appeal is possible to change it?

 

[Jerr]

This really is terrible. The ships weren't banned from setting port there just from going up and down the main canals - it wasn't a terrible situation for the cruise industry. Many of the problems related to the cruise ships still existed for Venice though.

 

[Pauline]

From the articles I read about this, it looked like they were going to have the larger cruise ships stop at the Venice docks, outside of the central Venice area. I am sure some of the protest groups are still working to keep the big ships out of the central area. If anyone has links to websites with more information on this, please post them.

From the Guardian article: "An Italian court on Monday overturned a ban on 100,000-ton cruise liners sailing up Venice's Giudecca canal to get a close-up view of St Mark's Square."

I don't know Venice well, like some of you, but I can't imagine it is a good idea to have these large ships going by St Marks! But, you are right Jerry, even having the ships dock outside the central area, they would still have a big effect on Venice.

 

[Heidi]

This is terribly disturbing news! Apparently, the ban has been overturned because "alternative routes for cruise ships have not been determined". Of course, those who brought suit against the ban, are the really big players ~ "Venezia Terminal Passeggeri, the organization that runs the Venice port, as well as several companies active in the port and a committee representing cruise operators."

Roz said:

Does anyone know whether this is a final decision, or if any appeal is possible to change it?

According to la Gazzetta dei Mezzogiorno, this reversal of the ban will be revisited in a new hearing on June12th!

Dana said:

Probably the only solution now is to somehow raise awareness among cruise ship passengers, although how one does that is beyond me.

I agree but unfortunately, I believe they may not care... even when armed with the staggering facts of the the fragility of the Venetian lagoon

 

[Pauline]

I think it is the responsibility of the local government in Venice and the Italian government to stop cruise ships from going into Venice. You could never convince enough people to cancel cruises that include Venice to make a difference to the cruise ship companies IMO.

People talk about the damage that water taxis do to the canals. Think of the damage done by these vast ships.

 

[Heidi]

I think it is the responsibility of the local government in Venice and the Italian government to stop cruise ships from going into Venice. You could never convince enough people to cancel cruises that include Venice to make a difference to the cruise ship companies IMO.

I think you're right, but ~ not to get too political here ~ it may be the responsibility of the local government, yet I feel they are not terribly responsible; not always objective enough. They may have a difficult time seeing beyond the short term financial gains of the ship's docking fees, even though the debarking passengers spend little real money (tacky trinkets, mainly) in Venezia.

This quote from from your Guardian article, Venice: perilous times, seems to bear this out.

Cruising is big business, and the port authority has income to protect from the docking ships, although the city itself gets comparatively little money from the cruising hordes as they tend not to stay much in Venice's hotels or eat in its restaurants. So the restrictions have been put on hold.

Hope this largest cruise ship in the world stays away from Venezia!

 

[Pauline]

You are probably right Heidi. I wonder how many of the people on the cruises would visit Venice on their own if they could not go there by cruise ship? Maybe not many.

What is the solution to this?

 

[Dana]

Pauline, I doubt visitor numbers will ever ever be the problem, especially now that millions of Indians and Chinese have the money to travel, and Venice is one of the first places they want to visit.

Even 30 plus years ago, before the big cruise ship revolution, the historian John Julius Norwich thought Venice was becoming too crowded, and proposed making everyone who wanted to visit pass a test (I guess on Venetian history) to enter the city — so there's one solution! If I were doge or dictator, I might just insist on at least one night's hotel or reservation, and convert some of the old convents and buildings on the outer islands into cheap rooms so it didn't become a playground for rich people.

 

[Heidi]

Reading this blog posting this morning, I realized the idea of more cruise ships is seen as an opportunity for many folks. We're not talking Venizia here but Civitavecchia, the port of Roma ~ large, industrial port about 50 miles from Roma proper. While not having the same impacts on Roma as the fragile Venetian lagoon and Venezia itself, they non the less swell the streets and sites of Roma during the season

The port of Civitavecchia hosted 959 cruise ships in 2013 with 2,538,258 passengers arriving or departing from the docks. These numbers will soar even higher in 2014-15 when several new Royal Caribbean ships will be using Civitavecchia as their home port.

While this news was exciting to the poster, who hopes to capture some of the pre and post cruise stays in Etruria, region north of Roma, I on the other hand, felt a chill run down my spine! Too dramatic? Perhaps, but it would seem more and larger cruise ships, disgorging hordes of holiday makers, are with us to stay & are a welcome site to many...

 

[Dana]

I confess I feel the same way you do, Heidi. I remember about ten years ago on Patmos, and talking to one of the monks in the Monastery of St John just as three cruise ships pulled in- in short he hadn't taken monastic vows to spend his life supervising the hordes that suddenly appeared at the gate. The church was so packed you literally could hardly breathe. And it wasn't as if that many people seemed terribly interested in its history, or in Byzantine painting and art. They took pictures and left, ticked it off the list, been there, seen that, done it.

I do understand the attraction, though. So many people lead stressful lives, and the last thing they want to do is have to plan and think about anything when they're on vacation. Hence the huge growth not only of cruises, but of all inclusive package resorts...some from the UK cost less than £300 for return flights, a week in a hotel in Greece, Spain or Turkey with a pool, and all meals included. Pretty tempting if you're on a budget. Generally disastrous, however, for the local economy.

 

[Roz]

I don't know Venice well, like some of you, but I can't imagine it is a good idea to have these large ships going by St Marks!

Here is a link to an article from 2012 with some truly horrifying photos of a monster cruise ship looming over Venice. Menace of Venice.

 

[Heidi]

Roz, I remember that article & picture ~ "truly horrifying" indeed!

Dana, your Patmos story is very disturbing ~ sad, really. I feel there are more negative impacts from the influx of the hordes descending on the smaller, fragile ports-of-call than any possible short term financial gain.

In Dubrovnik, I've seen the locals harassed and frustrated by the wave of humanity that floods through this small walled city for a few hours. I would like to see the cruising public be more sensitive to the local population they are visiting. Understand the culture a bit! Know what money is accepted ~ dollars are not universal! Don't walk en masse down the placa, forcing the locals and other visitors against the buildings as you pass. I think a mini-course in sensitivity should be required before one debarks....

Cruise ships are here to stay because of the high demand for low cost, easy mass tourism driven mainly by, I'm sure, my generation ~ the Boomers... You've captured perfectly, Dana, the mentality which most annoys me:

They took pictures and left, ticked it off the list, been there, seen that, done it.

Where will traveling slowly fit into this picture?

 

[JChrisP]

Maybe it'd be best if Veneto really were to succeed from Italy...
Just saying'...

 

[Ann]

Heidi, is the photo you posted above from the Villa Adriatica in Dubrovnik? We stayed there for a week back in '05, and it looks just like the balcony there. Thank goodness, it was before the introduction of these huge monsters to Dubrovnik!

 

[Shannon]

I will be at the Villa Adriatica soon... can't wait to get back to beautiful Croatia!

Heidi, indeed the cruise ship situation in Dubrovnik is even worse than Venice. I agree with you completely on all points.

When I was in Croatia in 2012 I wrote a bit about the cruisers in my blog... check it out.

I have seen the looks the locals give some of these people and believe me they are not pretty. And I know I have mentioned this before at some point - my landlord, Stijepo said I would spend more money by myself in six days than the entire cruise ship would spend in one hour.

I did meet some Australian cruisers at my favorite wine bar, so some of them do spend money and are respectful. But that woman I put the picture of on my blog? Not respectful, and there are thousands like her every day.

 

[Chris]

I just re-read that blog entry. Fabulous!