Celebrity no longer using Venice Port?

[Roxydog15]

Hi.  we are on the 8/27/22 Connie, Rome to Venice cruise.  We just got our email that states the change of ending port from Venice to Ravena.  No change to duration of trip, Kotor still on itinerary.  Not unexpected, but could wind up being a deal killer.  We'll see.

[LGW59]

8 minutes ago, Roxydog15 said:

Hi.  we are on the 8/27/22 Connie, Rome to Venice cruise.  We just got our email that states the change of ending port from Venice to Ravena.  No change to duration of trip, Kotor still on itinerary.  Not unexpected, but could wind up being a deal killer.  We'll see.

I’m glad that Italy government has finally listened to their citizens in Venice, way past due!  Find a cruise that ends in Trieste, it’s only 2 hours to Venice then book a hotel in Venice, win win for all.

[sunlover33]

5 hours ago, LGW59 said:

I’m glad that Italy government has finally listened to their citizens in Venice, way past due!  Find a cruise that ends in Trieste, it’s only 2 hours to Venice then book a hotel in Venice, win win for all.

It may be a case if be careful what you wish for. The plan to charge for day visitors and banning cruise ships will have a massive impact on the restaurants and shops and street traders. 

[billyu]

Now showing the change on the Celebrity web page for the August 8th cruise. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by billyu

[sasset]

I understand the environmental issue with large ships docking in Venice. I think it's disingenuous, though, for Celebrity to still call Venice a point of embarkation, port call or point of debarkation. Venice is a minimum of 2.5 hours, by car, from the true port of call Ravenna. Much longer by bus or train. 

[grandgeezer]

22 minutes ago, sasset said:

I understand the environmental issue with large ships docking in Venice. I think it's disingenuous, though, for Celebrity to still call Venice a point of embarkation, port call or point of debarkation. Venice is a minimum of 2.5 hours, by car, from the true port of call Ravenna. Much longer by bus or train. 

What about Paris or Rome? Same thing.

[offthehook]

Notified today by Celebrity:  Infinity August 28, 2022 changed from a Rome to Venice to an August 27, 2022 Venice to Venice Adriatic Coast cruise. 

 

This is not just change of Venice to Ravenna...even though that is how they are presenting it...they have removed Rome, Sicily, Malta and an overnight in Venice and added Kotor, Dubrovnik and Zadar.  Plus, you have only 8 days to figure out if you want to cancel or stay on.

 

We view this as a cancellation of the original cruise and the pressure is on to flip us into a materially different sailing (value proposition) .  

 

While we are not new to cruising, we are new to Celebrity (only one prior Celebrity cruise).  Dropping or moving a port is one thing but ostensibly substituting a whole new cruise and representing it as a "change" seems strange and somewhat shady.  Is this something that Celebrity does on a regular basis?

[sasset]

39 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

What about Paris or Rome? Same thing.

Yeah, Rome's an hour by train, Paris much longer as I recall from Le Havre. We're looking at the October 13, 2022 Venice to Rome. It starts with a listed overnight in Venice. Doesn't really set up well for seeing Venice. If you board at 1pm on the 13th you can't get to Venice at best until 4. Granted you could return as late as you want. Next day, if sailing stays as listed as 2pm to be back you'd have to be leaving Venice no later than 11am. Not much of a day there. When we called at Paris, we were able to get an 8am train into the city and caught the last train back around 7:30 pm. Big difference when it's a stop as opposed to embarking.

[excitedofharpenden]

16 hours ago, LGW59 said:

I’m glad that Italy government has finally listened to their citizens in Venice, way past due!  Find a cruise that ends in Trieste, it’s only 2 hours to Venice then book a hotel in Venice, win win for all.

More like their hand was forced by UNESCO. Nothing to do with listening to their citizens who have been protesting for years about this issue. Caught on the hop. Look at the lack of preparation. 

 

Phil

[Proplayer]

I'm on the May 15th Barcelona to Venice (now Ravenna). I understand why Celebrity is ending the cruise in Ravenna but can someone tell me why they are cancelling the stop in Kotor and shortening the cruise by one day?  One shouldn't have anything else to do with the other.  It's not like we go on a Mediterranean cruise every other week. 🤷‍♂️

[susiesan]

Oceania has shifted their Venice embark/disembark port to Trieste, Italy.

[nocl]

1 hour ago, Proplayer said:

I'm on the May 15th Barcelona to Venice (now Ravenna). I understand why Celebrity is ending the cruise in Ravenna but can someone tell me why they are cancelling the stop in Kotor and shortening the cruise by one day?  One shouldn't have anything else to do with the other.  It's not like we go on a Mediterranean cruise every other week. 🤷‍♂️

I would expect that they could not get a dock in Ravenna for the original ending date, but could for one day earlier.  

[Jeremiah1212]

3 hours ago, offthehook said:

Notified today by Celebrity:  Infinity August 28, 2022 changed from a Rome to Venice to an August 27, 2022 Venice to Venice Adriatic Coast cruise. 

 

This is not just change of Venice to Ravenna...even though that is how they are presenting it...they have removed Rome, Sicily, Malta and an overnight in Venice and added Kotor, Dubrovnik and Zadar.  Plus, you have only 8 days to figure out if you want to cancel or stay on.

 

We view this as a cancellation of the original cruise and the pressure is on to flip us into a materially different sailing (value proposition) .  

 

While we are not new to cruising, we are new to Celebrity (only one prior Celebrity cruise).  Dropping or moving a port is one thing but ostensibly substituting a whole new cruise and representing it as a "change" seems strange and somewhat shady.  Is this something that Celebrity does on a regular basis?

 

They had to rework ~34 cruises because of the Venice issue along with every other cruise line using the Venice port. There aren't that many available ports in the area to keep the duration and stops for each cruise the same. It's really a logistical PITA that they would much rather have not had to do. Considering people have plenty of advance notice, a year+ in many cases, it is what it is. The most generous solution they can offer is for you to get refunded, which is available. 

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

Oceania has shifted their Venice embark/disembark port to Trieste, Italy.

Yes, I got notice of that on a new booking, still get 2 days in Trieste, which I am told is lovely.  SO now 2 days there, then we take the 2.5 hour train and spend a few days in a hotel in Venice.  cest la vie...

[cangelmd]

Glad I went to Venice and stayed in Venice, years ago, almost 20. Ev en back then it was a whole different place when evening came and the day trippers cleared out,  can only imagine what it was like the last several years.

I do feel for people who have to rework plans.

[mitz18]

We're on the Connie x-Barcelona was 9/24/22 but now 9/25/22.  They are deleting Palma and reducing the cruise from 9 days to 8 days.   However, their message to us is saying no action is required by us for this LONGER itinerary and the cruise is extended at no extra cost.  Since when is a reduction from 9 days to 8 days an extended cruise? Who is in control of these notices?

 

Specific to your September 24, 2022 sailing we will be reducing the itinerary by one day thereby changing our embarkation date to Sunday, September 25, 2022 which will also require us to cancel our visit to Palma De Mallorca, Spain. All other scheduled calls to France, Italy, Montenegro, and Croatia will be maintained as originally scheduled. Your disembarkation on Monday, October 3, will now occur in Ravenna, Italy. 
 
 No action will be required on your part to sail on this longer itinerary. Your cruise will automatically be extended at no additional cost and you will receive an onboard credit of $50 per person. Additionally, any onboard amenities booked with your current promotion or pre-purchased via our Cruise Planner system will also be extended at no charge for your additional day of vacation

[sydbarrett]

I still haven't received communication for my July 18, 2022 6-day cruise out of Venice. Anyone else on this one? Looks like the replacement cruise is now 7 days but itinerary looks about the same. I guess it doesn't make sense to keep the airbnb in Venice at that distance. I was hoping they would move the port to the mainland. I am nervous to go to a totally different city. Venice seemed like it would be easy for me to fly into and then get around. Travelling on my own overseas for the first time and I'm not a good navigator.

[cruisemom42]

On 9/8/2021 at 2:41 PM, oskidunker said:

Everyone knew they were banning large cruise ships over a month ago. Why they took this long to change the cruise and notify you can only be speculated. Incompetence or not wanting people to cancel. 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/venice-cruise-ship-ban-government/index.html

 

 

On 9/8/2021 at 2:58 PM, Fouremco said:

Rather than formulating a contingency plan when the possibility of a ban first arose, and being fully prepared to implement necessary changes as soon as the ban became official, they appear to have waited until the ban was in place to start thinking about developing a possible solution.

 

While normally I'd be in agreement with the above, I will say in Celebrity's defense that this issue has been LONG discussed in Italy (we've been tracking it in the Italy forum for at least 4 years, if not more). Various decrees have been made during that time that never came to pass, and a few that did -- such as the limiting of the size of vessels allowed to transit the Giudecca canal to those under 100,000 tons a few years back. But other bans have been announced that never came to be, or were later delayed or walked back.

 

Also there has been much contentious discussion among the parties involved regarding whether ships are allowed into the lagoon at all (in which case Marghera is an option) versus whether they have to remain outside the lagoon. And finally, there are few good options that are really close to Venice, at least as of yet (the Italian government has announced plans to build new facilities for cruise ships near the entrance to the lagoon, but that will be years away as they are still seeking designs for consideration).

 

So I fully understand if there was some skepticism regarding this latest decree, but it appears to have the full backing of most of the government -- aside, perhaps from some Venice port workers. While I'm willing to bet that Celebrity and other lines had some ideas in mind, I'm not surprised that they waited to announce them until they were sure it was necessary.

[jgmorgan]

2 hours ago, sydbarrett said:

Travelling on my own overseas for the first time and I'm not a good navigator.

It's hard to know what might happen by next year, but if Ravenna is still the homeport for your cruise, you might consider flying in and out of Bologna.  Moving from the Bologna airport to the main train station looks to be very easy (dedicated rail line that takes 7-1/2 minutes) and there are direct trains to Ravenna several times a day (about a one hour and ten minute trip).  We haven't been to Ravenna yet but I'm sure getting a taxi from train station to port would be easy.

 

Bologna is a beautiful city, with incredible food, and would be a good place to spend a couple of days pre or post cruise.  It is less than an hour from Florence by fast train.  Even though you may not be a good navigator, travelling by train in Italy is very straightforward and, in our experience, the folks who work at the train stations are very helpful, even for us non-Italian speakers.

[cruisemom42]

2 minutes ago, jgmorgan said:

We haven't been to Ravenna yet but I'm sure getting a taxi from train station to port would be easy.

 

I traveled by train to Ravenna in the fall of 2019 -- solo, I might add. I was able to get a taxi at the train station easily to my hotel.

 

The port itself is a little farther away than the town. The town of Ravenna, at least the historic center, is very straightforward and walkable. The history (it was a capital of the Roman empire in the latter years of its western glory) and the mosaics in several of the churches are outstanding.  And the food is fabulous. It's well worth spending a night there and exploring it a bit as well. Although I guess some cruises will still have an overnight there that was originally planned for Venice proper.

 

 

[jgmorgan]

13 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

While I'm willing to bet that Celebrity and other lines had some ideas in mind, I'm not surprised that they waited to announce them until they were sure it was necessary.

And, given the number of cruises that were scheduled for Venice, I suspect the capacity of Trieste and Ravenna to handle multiple ships presents some serious logistical as well as scheduling challenges.

[RoamanRyan]

Has Celebrity identified the price for transfer to Venice Marco Polo airport on disembarkation day? Can anyone advise? 

[emmas gran]

3 hours ago, RoamanRyan said:

Has Celebrity identified the price for transfer to Venice Marco Polo airport on disembarkation day? Can anyone advise? 

 

I don't think there have been any Med cruises by Celebrity since pre Covid , so the answer is probably No

[terrydtx]

At least Celebrity has given plenty of notice about the changes to docking in Venice. We have a HAL cruise next August 21 leaving RT from Venice and so far, not a word from HAL about where the Oosterdam where be departing and returning. It is obvious that it will not be Venice. All of HAL's 2023 Venice cruises now show Trieste as the home port, but the 2022 ones are showing Venice.

[yogini06]

I will begin pricing Venice to ship transfer after the new year.  I'd prefer not to take two trains and a shuttle bus.  I am hopeful private tour companies will also offer a shared shuttle.