Venice 11/9/2021

[SEASwim]

2 hours ago, curmudgeon98 said:

Marghera certainly can handle the ships; after all they build large cruise ships there. 

...

The main challenge is for the large block of cruises that currently start/end in Venice.  You need check-in and customs facilities with power, network, shelter, restrooms, baggage collection/return to handle large numbers of people, as well as the means to get those people to/from their travel connections.  The most obvious answer is to use the current Venice port buildings, and then shuttle the passengers by bus or tender and carry the luggage around by truck.  For the limited number of ships this fall,  that would probably work.  

Right, I'm not saying the port can't handle the ships, just that the logistics aren't in place to load and unload everything required for a cruise. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by SEASwim

[nikless]

10 hours ago, lj77346 said:

For those who are interested, MSC has two weekly cruises from Venice on the Orchestra and Magnifica - here is their approach for handling the cruises.

 

Passengers will check in for their cruise in the Venice cruise terminal. Then, they will be transported by bus to Monfalcone, Italy (looks like about a 90 minute ride) where they board the ship. There are no facilities to check in passengers in Monfalcone. At the end of the cruise, passengers have a choice of being taken to the Venice airport, the train station in Venice or back to the cruise port.

 

Oceania has a bit of time to figure out an approach, but regardless of what is chosen, the logistics are complicated. However, passengers on Oceania cruises from Venice probably would be interested in knowing the plans for their cruises as promptly as possible. I guess that’s part of the reason for changing the final payment date for those cruises, so passengers don’t make a final payment for a cruise that could be much different than they expected.

Hoping O will follow that model...if nothing else, it solves any issues with people who have flights in/out of VCE. (Like us).

[Eloise4Ever]

12 hours ago, lj77346 said:

Oceania has a bit of time to figure out an approach, but regardless of what is chosen, the logistics are complicated. However, passengers on Oceania cruises from Venice probably would be interested in knowing the plans for their cruises as promptly as possible. I guess that’s part of the reason for changing the final payment date for those cruises, so passengers don’t make a final payment for a cruise that could be much different than they expected.

 

Has anyone on this roll call received notification that final payment dates are being pushed out?

[basor]

7 hours ago, Eloise4Ever said:

 

Has anyone on this roll call received notification that final payment dates are being pushed out?

Nope - we are on to Miami and our final payment was not changed.  It was already due and has been paid.

[Robjame]

Our TA spoke to the Oceania Rep who informed her today that the Oceania ships are not affected by the Venice ban because of their size and that they will be berthing in the usual spot. 
 

Of course that could change at any time.

[jgd3rdbcfd]

Spoke to OC this AM.  Final payment for me is now 9/11 - 60 days out for Marina on 11/9/21.   No info about where cruise will start from.

[Jayne E]

47 minutes ago, Robjame said:

Our TA spoke to the Oceania Rep who informed her today that the Oceania ships are not affected by the Venice ban because of their size and that they will be berthing in the usual spot. 
 

Of course that could change at any time.

 Was given same information from TA. However reply posts #27 & #50 seem to know more about the situation. 

[SEASwim]

2 hours ago, Jayne E said:

 Was given same information from TA. However reply posts #27 & #50 seem to know more about the situation. 

It's a bit shocking that actual representatives of the company would be so misinformed. Per the New York Times: "The ban applies to ships that are either heavier than 25,000 tons, longer than 180 meters (about 590 feet), taller than 35 meters (about 115 feet), or that employ more than a set amount of fuel in maneuvering."

 

All Oceania vessels exceed 25,000 tons.

Edited July 21, 2021 by SEASwim

[Eloise4Ever]

7 hours ago, jgd3rdbcfd said:

Spoke to OC this AM.  Final payment for me is now 9/11 - 60 days out for Marina on 11/9/21.   No info about where cruise will start from.

 

Thanks for this information 👍

[Jayne E]

6 hours ago, SEASwim said:

It's a bit shocking that actual representatives of the company would be so misinformed. Per the New York Times: "The ban applies to ships that are either heavier than 25,000 tons, longer than 180 meters (about 590 feet), taller than 35 meters (about 115 feet), or that employ more than a set amount of fuel in maneuvering."

 

All Oceania vessels exceed 25,000 tons.

Yes, Oceania reps extremely misinformed. Prior cruise cancelled and we booked 26 days Marina 9/2/21 having been told we had “Travelers Assurance” with 15 day window to cancel. Upon arranging final payment, told we didn’t. Canceled cruise yesterday. 

[Robjame]

7 hours ago, SEASwim said:

It's a bit shocking that actual representatives of the company would be so misinformed. Per the New York Times: 

 

I believe the exact message is that they arrange for docking, embarking and disembarking well in advance and they have not been told that there is any change to their usual arrangements by the dock authority. Until that time, they will proceed with the “official” information they have, not the New York Times.

This could change.

[clairol]

We are in the same boat (ha ha) it would be so nice to have answers, wouldn't it? But I agree the info some are getting directly from Oceania is, as someone previously stated, because they simply don't have anything else official to offer at this point. Frustrating for the mad planners amongst us - ME!!!! - but also not surprising as they wade into a logistical nightmare that many hoped against hope would never actually come to fruition. 

 

One thing for sure, it will sadly not be business as usual. Here is a good article someone else posted https://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/italian-decree-bans-cruise-ships-from-venice-august-1-but-alternatives-planned. And it specifically calls out Oceania ships. "Ships are banned in passing through the San Marco Basin if they’re greater than 25,000 gross tons. So, for example, that would even prohibit ships the size of Azamara's or Oceania's ships, Hapag-Lloyd's Europa 2, or Silversea's Silver Whisper." 

 

Luckily, so many of us are heavily invested in Oceania's "solution" and I am sure will share with one another as soon as we hear anything definitive. Hopefully... soon! 🤞

Edited July 21, 2021 by clairol

[Eloise4Ever]

On 7/20/2021 at 3:19 PM, Eloise4Ever said:

 

Has anyone on this roll call received notification that final payment dates are being pushed out?

 

12 hours ago, jgd3rdbcfd said:

Spoke to OC this AM.  Final payment for me is now 9/11 - 60 days out for Marina on 11/9/21.   No info about where cruise will start from.

 

I would really appreciate it if anybody else on the Venice to Barcelona leg of this cruise could post  whether they have had their final payment date pushed out 🙏. Oceania have told my TA that some sailings have had the final payment date adjusted but not this one 🤨

[patty1955]

14 minutes ago, Eloise4Ever said:

 

 

I would really appreciate it if anybody else on the Venice to Barcelona leg of this cruise could post  whether they have had their final payment date pushed out 🙏. Oceania have told my TA that some sailings have had the final payment date adjusted but not this one 🤨

We're on the Oct. 16 Venice to Barcelona cruise and our final payment date was July 18. It was pushed out a few months ago but nothing recently. 

[Hlitner]

I understand that some "O" fans think that "O" walks on water (nice pun) and would never give out incorrect information.  So I thought it might be helpful to post the link to a short news article which does a pretty good job explaining the Venice situation:

Venice to ban cruise ships after years of protests from locals, environmentalists (cnbc.com)

 

There are many other stories about the ban on both public media and travel industry sites.   I think it is interesting to see how MSC (who currently has scheduled cruises in and out of Venice) has dealt with the problem.  As of July 24, 2021, they are still using the Venice cruise terminal for embarkation and disembarkation.  They then are running buses to the Port of Monfalcone  which is about a 1 1/2 hour drive where passengers get on/off their ship.   Another option would be for ships to use the Port of Trieste which is about a 2 hour drive (or train ride) from Venice.  I should add that MSC is often considered an Italian cruise line (it is owned by a single Italian family) so they obviously have many close contacts in Italy.  But even they seem to have been caught flat footed by implementation of the new policy.

 

Hank

 

[Woodrowst]

12 hours ago, SEASwim said:

It's a bit shocking that actual representatives of the company would be so misinformed. Per the New York Times: "The ban applies to ships that are either heavier than 25,000 tons, longer than 180 meters (about 590 feet), taller than 35 meters (about 115 feet), or that employ more than a set amount of fuel in maneuvering."

 

All Oceania vessels exceed 25,000 tons.

I know it gets confusing, but “tons” on a cruise ship (or any other ship for that matter) is a measure of space rather than weight.  So tonnage refers to the amount of square footage on a ship, not how heavy it is.

[SEASwim]

4 minutes ago, Woodrowst said:

I know it gets confusing, but “tons” on a cruise ship (or any other ship for that matter) is a measure of space rather than weight.  So tonnage refers to the amount of square footage on a ship, not how heavy it is.

Yes, the article should probably have said "displace more than" rather than "heavier than."

[nikless]

21 minutes ago, SEASwim said:

Yes, the article should probably have said "displace more than" rather than "heavier than."

There is length max of 180 meters (590 ft).  Marina comes in at 782 ft...unless we are comparing apples to oranges again....

[SEASwim]

5 minutes ago, nikless said:

There is length max of 180 meters (590 ft).  Marina comes in at 782 ft...unless we are comparing apples to oranges again....

 

Correct. The ships fail the test on multiple criteria, but I'm pretty sure it's an "or" thing, i.e. you don't need to fail all criteria, just one.

[1985rz1]

37 minutes ago, nikless said:

There is length max of 180 meters (590 ft).  Marina comes in at 782 ft...unless we are comparing apples to oranges again....

The Sirena is 180.9 meters in length and the gross tonnage is 30,277 tons. 

[jgd3rdbcfd]

6 hours ago, Eloise4Ever said:

 

 

I would really appreciate it if anybody else on the Venice to Barcelona leg of this cruise could post  whether they have had their final payment date pushed out 🙏. Oceania have told my TA that some sailings have had the final payment date adjusted but not this one 🤨

I am on your cruise.  Spoke to OC yesterday.  My final payment is now 9/11/2021.

[Eloise4Ever]

12 hours ago, jgd3rdbcfd said:

I am on your cruise.  Spoke to OC yesterday.  My final payment is now 9/11/2021.

 

Oceania are insisting to my TA that the 9th November 10 day Venice to Barcelona cruise is not on the list of cruises whose final payment dates have been pushed out. Below is an extract from my current booking statement showing a final payment date of 11th August. Have you received an updated statement with the new final payment date? And if so would you be prepared to share an extract like the one below with me? I would really appreciate it. My email address is in my signature if you would like to contact me that way.

 

 

 

[TFree]

On 7/21/2021 at 8:09 AM, patty1955 said:

We're on the Oct. 16 Venice to Barcelona cruise and our final payment date was July 18. It was pushed out a few months ago but nothing recently. 

Patty: we are also on the October 16 Venice to Barcelona cruise.  We just booked this cruise recently (June 25) and when we booked it, the original invoice showed a final payment date of August 17.  So, clearly, some time between when you booked and when we booked they changed the final payment date so that it is 60 days before the cruise.

 

Tom & Judy

[patty1955]

1 hour ago, TFree said:

Patty: we are also on the October 16 Venice to Barcelona cruise.  We just booked this cruise recently (June 25) and when we booked it, the original invoice showed a final payment date of August 17.  So, clearly, some time between when you booked and when we booked they changed the final payment date so that it is 60 days before the cruise.

 

Tom & Judy

The last email from Oceania with a final payment date was in March and that showed July 18. Oh well, it's paid now.

[TFree]

26 minutes ago, patty1955 said:

The last email from Oceania with a final payment date was in March and that showed July 18. Oh well, it's paid now.

It looks as if we will be on the second cruise on Oceania this year that includes Venice.  (The previous cruise, Lisbon to Venice, October 4 to 16, will be the first one.)  So they have a little bit of time yet to figure this out.  But I wish that they would get some information out to passengers soon, so that we can try to make arrangements accordingly.

 

Tom & Judy