Beware Venice fog in October-November

[kawagama]

Just returned from an alleged Greek Island cruise, leaving Venice on October 14th. Didn't leave until the 15th and consequently our itinerary dropped 2 of the 3 Greek islands we were to visit. Very disappointing, as that was our reason for booking. Argostoli, while on a Greek island, is not a great port to visit. There is very little to see in the port itself except for touristy souvenir shops. The town itself is modern, with none of the old Greek charm of historical old towns. My advice--think twice about an itinerary that includes this port, and be aware of potential fog affecting your cruise if you choose October-November as sailing dates out of Venice. Apparently the fog regularly disrupts the ports here. Wish we had known this before booking!

[KiwiGal117]

That is disappointing. There have been a few threads started lately on these boards, so hopefully future cruisers will do their research and find out that this is a possibility. Kind of like cruising during hurricane season in the Caribbean - there are weather risks. I have to say, we loved Argostoli. it was subbed in for Athens due to a general strike that day. However, we weren't on the cruise to see Athens anyway, so it was a lovely surprise. But I can see how not seeing the other Greek Islands would be disappointing.

[mek]

Sorry your trip was not as expected. I always try to read up as much as possible before booking an itinerary I'm not familiar with, but things happen even with the best plans.

 

Hopefully the cruise itself was good and you had a nice time in spite of the less than ideal conditions.

[Desert Cruizers]

I read that ports were dropped so it appears the Port of Argostoli was a substitute. Hence not a lot of rime to research a Port. There is no need for being rude.

[Desert Cruizers]

since my husband & I were on a TA this past August, and he suffered a heart attack, I guess my research was slightly put on hold. and not researching an itinerary we were not on. Perhaps I am a bit sensitive at the moment for that I apologize but wish some replies to post could be more helpful to others and less critical.

[stickyshocker]

I was on this cruise, embarkation/day1 was a total chaos because of the extreme fog we encountered that day. We arrived at the port at 7pm and did not get to board until 9:30ish pm.We considered ourselves lucky, because there were some cruisers that waited 8 hrs or more.

 

The original itinerary was Kotor and 4 Greek isles, Mykonos and Corfu were cancelled and was replaced with Split,Croatia and a sea day.I was equally disappointed when we lost Mykonos, but I think Split was a decent replacement.

 

We booked a private tour in Argostoli, we visited Melissani lake, St.Gerasimo monastery, Village of Agia Efimia and the fabled Myrtos beach. Its a different side of Greece.Totally laid back.

 

Overall it was a great holiday for us, and btw Royal gave us an onboard credit due to the delay even though its beyond their control.. The Rhapsody crew made this holiday pleasurable for us.(They are that good).

I think we would be cruisin' on smaller ships and itinerary based from now on.

[kawagama]

The chaos of embarkation was quite nightmarish indeed. Given that fog often disrupts in October, one would think that RC could come up with something more expedient. Water under the bridge. The half day credit was certainly appreciated, but in my opinion, not sufficient given that we totally lost one port. Our plan for Argostoli was to simply relax, knowing that it was to be the last of the Greek islands we visited. When we didn't get to see any of the others, we didn't have the time or resources to scramble together an excursion out of town. We scrambled to book something for Split (which was the addition at the last minute), booked it through RC, and were terribly underwhelmed. Can't say there was value for money spent on the Cetina River cruise tour. Live and learn.

[voyager70]

OP thank you for posting this. We are looking to do a B2B out of Venice next fall and were thinking October would be a good time as the rates are lower and ports less crowded. After reading this I think we'll spend a few more $ and go in September.

[Gordo]

Kawagama - sorry you had to miss some beautiful islands. I hope you have a chance to visit there in the future. We sailed from Venice a couple years back and it was incredible.

 

Also sorry that you received some negative feedback on this thread. The attack was unwarranted!

 

Over the last few years this type of behavior is the main reasons I am less inclined to visit and share on this site.

[kawagama]

OP thank you for posting this. We are looking to do a B2B out of Venice next fall and were thinking October would be a good time as the rates are lower and ports less crowded. After reading this I think we'll spend a few more $ and go in September.

 

You're welcome, and good idea. Venice is a beautiful city and not to be missed. It just does have its challenges as a port. We heard that the locals are not taken by big cruise ships in their city. I don't know whether this was a rumour or not, but one of the ground crew in the terminal told us that once the fog lifted, the ship was not allowed to proceed because of a gondola and sailboat regatta. This delayed its arrival even longer. Again, not sure if this is true or not. If it is, it just shows us that the Italian governing bodies are not concerned about the tourist dollars brought to their city by the thousands of cruisers every year. In North America, that regatta would have been delayed so that the ships could get through. At least its existence would have been communicated.

[hgiles]

My wife and I have always planned to do a Greek Isles cruise so thanks for the heads up on fall fog issues.:)

[ellie1145]

You're welcome, and good idea. Venice is a beautiful city and not to be missed. It just does have its challenges as a port. We heard that the locals are not taken by big cruise ships in their city. I don't know whether this was a rumour or not, but one of the ground crew in the terminal told us that once the fog lifted, the ship was not allowed to proceed because of a gondola and sailboat regatta. This delayed its arrival even longer. Again, not sure if this is true or not. If it is, it just shows us that the Italian governing bodies are not concerned about the tourist dollars brought to their city by the thousands of cruisers every year. In North America, that regatta would have been delayed so that the ships could get through. At least its existence would have been communicated.

 

It certainly is not a rumour. We were on Star at the end of September and our departure was delayed until after 9.00 pm due to demonstrations by the people of Venice. They did have small boats to try and disrupt ship departures.

 

It was not a regatta as such, it was a demonstration where they used little boats to prove their point and disrupt the cruise ships. With small boats in the way no cruise captain is going to attempt a dangerous departure down the canal, and of course the demonstrators know this.

 

I have to say that I really don't understand the Venetians. They make bucket loads of money from tourists, including the cruise passengers. I understand concerns about ships damaging the foundations of buildings, but you only have to watch the vaparettos or private boats which speed up and down to see that they could also be damaging buildings. The cruise ships could not have arrived there uninvited. Somebody must have authorised the building of terminals, and docks deep enough for these ships.

 

Apparently Venetians are moving out of their homes and renting them out via airbnb for vast sums leaving the city a ghost town with fewer and fewer true residents. Many Venetians are also ambivalent towards tourists.

 

Maybe they need to reroute the cruise ships away from the centre of Venice?

 

But they need to decide whether they want tourists and all the jobs and revenue they bring or whether they want to discourage visitors.

 

But IMHO disrupting the cruise ships really achieves nothing.

 

I agree with those who feel the tone of some answers was rude and unnecessary as well as unbelievably condescending. I can understand the OPs disappointment at missing out on the Greek islands. They are very beautiful and so they must have been disappointed. Hope they are able to see them in the future.

[Lex450]

One of the highlights on a Venice Cruise, is the long sail out during the evening.

The best time is late October, early November when the sun sinks behind the buildings providing spectacular views.

 

To miss this is a major loss for this cruise.

[kawagama]

It certainly is not a rumour. We were on Star at the end of September and our departure was delayed until after 9.00 pm due to demonstrations by the people of Venice. They did have small boats to try and disrupt ship departures.

 

It was not a regatta as such, it was a demonstration where they used little boats to prove their point and disrupt the cruise ships. With small boats in the way no cruise captain is going to attempt a dangerous departure down the canal, and of course the demonstrators know this.

 

I have to say that I really don't understand the Venetians. They make bucket loads of money from tourists, including the cruise passengers. I understand concerns about ships damaging the foundations of buildings, but you only have to watch the vaparettos or private boats which speed up and down to see that they could also be damaging buildings. The cruise ships could not have arrived there uninvited. Somebody must have authorised the building of terminals, and docks deep enough for these ships.

 

Apparently Venetians are moving out of their homes and renting them out via airbnb for vast sums leaving the city a ghost town with fewer and fewer true residents. Many Venetians are also ambivalent towards tourists.

 

Maybe they need to reroute the cruise ships away from the centre of Venice?

 

But they need to decide whether they want tourists and all the jobs and revenue they bring or whether they want to discourage visitors.

 

But IMHO disrupting the cruise ships really achieves nothing.

 

I agree with those who feel the tone of some answers was rude and unnecessary as well as unbelievably condescending. I can understand the OPs disappointment at missing out on the Greek islands. They are very beautiful and so they must have been disappointed. Hope they are able to see them in the future.

 

Wow! That's quite astonishing about these purposeful disruptions.

I agree with you that it is ironic that the tourists and their money is not appreciated, especially since much of the economy is based solely on tourism.

[PCWalton1]

For those cruisers that get up early the trip back in port can have some amazing lighting too. I took this when we pulled back in port in 2012.

 

[jagsfan]

Sorry your trip was not as expected. I always try to read up as much as possible before booking an itinerary I'm not familiar with, but things happen even with the best plans.

 

 

 

Hopefully the cruise itself was good and you had a nice time in spite of the less than ideal conditions.

 

 

 

I don't know how deep you'd have to research to find out about fog in the fall. That's not one of the things I check on. Researching temperatures won't give you fog days.

When we missed Sydney Nova Scotia because of fog, I wasn't surprised because I've spent time on the Maine coast. I don't know that that possibility would necessarily come up when checking weather for an area.

 

 

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