Embarkation in Venice

[Baz-t]

I am awaiting a response from My travel agent so thought I would try these boards.

We will be embarking Riviera in September, but have not been advised of the exact place of embarkation. As the Venice authorities have now banned all cruise ships over 25,000 tonnes from using the old terminal in the centre of Venice, I am led to believe the ship could dock at Venice Marghera.

Does anyone have any information? If it is Marghera, what are the transfer options from the centre of Venice to the dock.

[curmudgeon98]

I think the most likely case is that check-in will be at the old terminal (Marittima) and then a shuttle bus will take you to the ship.  I've been looking for info myself but haven't found much.  I don't think there is space currently available dockside in Marghera to handle check-in, customs,  baggage claim, taxis, etc.  The first clue may come from the way Viking Sky cruises are handled in Marghera starting in March.  

[basor]

Oceania is currently using Trieste but that could change if the Marghera port does become an option.  Luckily you have many months to see where the cruise ships are docking this Spring and Summer.  The only thing for sure is that it will not be docking at the old terminal (Marittima).

[KS&JW]

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/venice-port-79?tab=schedule&month=2022-09#schedule Current schedule shows  Venice not  Trieste for Oceania cruises in September (and all other months as well). 

[travelbug2225]

How do we get to Venice from Marghera?  Is Oceania offer shuttle?  Our cruise is in November with over night in Venice before disembark. I try to decide if I should stay 1-2 extra night before fly home.  

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, travelbug2225 said:

How do we get to Venice from Marghera?  Is Oceania offer shuttle?  Our cruise is in November with over night in Venice before disembark. I try to decide if I should stay 1-2 extra night before fly home.  

if you have the time/$$ spend a few days in Venice proper 

it may be less crowded in Nov

JMO

[debbyma]

An email from Oceania in reply to this question says we probably won't know until 30 days out.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

it may be less crowded in Nov

JMO

sorry meant  to say Sept  🙂

 

[TFree]

On 2/15/2022 at 1:52 PM, basor said:

Oceania is currently using Trieste but that could change if the Marghera port does become an option.  Luckily you have many months to see where the cruise ships are docking this Spring and Summer.  The only thing for sure is that it will not be docking at the old terminal (Marittima).

Yes, in October the procedure was that Oceania was picking people up at the airport, putting them on buses to Trieste, where we would be Covid tested and then be allowed to board.  We were already in Venice before the cruise, so we had to go to the airport to find the Oceania people.  But as @basorsays, things may change between now and the fall.  As of last fall, there was some speculation that Marghera might be ready for cruise ships sometime this year, but I have not followed this issue recently.

 

Tom & Judy

[Heartlander1965]

Thanks for this topic. We are embarking next April, and trying to figure out where to stay the night before embarkation. I'm assuming by 2023, it will be from Marghera. 

[LHT28]

never assume anything 😉

 

[su-arizona]

We're cruising from Venice on Marina in May.  I (perhaps foolishly) assumed we would embark in Venice as we have in the past, and booked a hotel for 3 nights pre-cruise.  As we get more info regarding where we'll embark, I'll post it on the boards.  I will not be a happy camper if we are to sail out of Trieste, but I'm hopeful that won't be the situation.  Oceania ships are not very large cruise ships....

[Host Jazzbeau]

16 minutes ago, su-arizona said:

We're cruising from Venice on Marina in May.  I (perhaps foolishly) assumed we would embark in Venice as we have in the past, and booked a hotel for 3 nights pre-cruise.  As we get more info regarding where we'll embark, I'll post it on the boards.  I will not be a happy camper if we are to sail out of Trieste, but I'm hopeful that won't be the situation.  Oceania ships are not very large cruise ships....

Marina is definitely a large cruise ship under the Venice regulations.  Even the smaller Oceania ships are too large...  But Marghera seems to have been opened up in record time for Italy and Marina is not too large for there.  If that's the case, check in will be at the old Marittima cruise terminal, just as you assumed (with a bus ride over to Marghera to board the ship).

[welshfamily]

For all more knowledgeable cruisers, Please explain further.
We have cruised out of Venice 4 times with three different companies, large and small ships.

We have only ever cruised out of the large port with the people mover ( a monorail ).

Sorry don’t know name of port. Usually you have to walk a distance with your luggage and hand in before entering to check in. Last time 2019 around a car park, we were on the Serena. Does anyone know the name of this port ?
Do wish I hadn’t shredded previous documents in large clear out during lockdown.

 

 

 

[Kate-AHF]

2 hours ago, welshfamily said:

For all more knowledgeable cruisers, Please explain further.
We have cruised out of Venice 4 times with three different companies, large and small ships.

We have only ever cruised out of the large port with the people mover ( a monorail ).

Sorry don’t know name of port. Usually you have to walk a distance with your luggage and hand in before entering to check in. Last time 2019 around a car park, we were on the Serena. Does anyone know the name of this port ?
Do wish I hadn’t shredded previous documents in large clear out during lockdown.

 

 

 

 

You were leaving from the Venice port Marittima.  It can no longer used for cruise ships, which have been banned from the lagoon.  The Italians are working on improving Porto Marghera (which is close by, on the mainland) to be able to accept some cruise ships.  Whether these improvements will be completed in time for this year remains to be seen.  this is why a lot of cruises are still listing "Venice" as the departure/arrival port.  I think the timeline they are hoping for is optimistic.

[LHT28]

12 hours ago, su-arizona said:

We're cruising from Venice on Marina in May.  I (perhaps foolishly) assumed we would embark in Venice as we have in the past, and booked a hotel for 3 nights pre-cruise.  As we get more info regarding where we'll embark, I'll post it on the boards.  I will not be a happy camper if we are to sail out of Trieste, but I'm hopeful that won't be the situation.  Oceania ships are not very large cruise ships....

If the port authority has  regulations on prohibiting ships over 25,000 GRT you will not be sailing from  Venice

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

The terminology can be tricky.  The port most people think of as 'Venice' is Marittima, but there is also a smaller docking area called right on the Giudecca Canal called San Basilio (previously used for smaller cruise ships – still used for river ships).  Both of these require sailing through the Giudecca Canal, which is what the new rules prohibit for all ships "over 25,000 gross registered tons, longer than 590 feet, taller than 115 feet, or that use a specific amount of fuel in maneuvering the ship in the waterways" [this covers all the Oceania ships].

 

Marghera, an industrial port on the mainland, is a municipalità of the comune of Venice.  It is called Porto Marghera or Venezia Porto Marghera [which can be confusing].  Marghera is inside the lagoon so the same forces that banned use of Marittima want to ban cruise ships from Marghera – but it is being used as a temporary replacement for Marittima.  [It is approached via a different lagoon entrance that doesn't traverse the Giudecca Canal, so less damaging but also no views of St. Marks.]

 

Ultimately the goal is to create a new port outside the lagoon, but AFAIK they haven't even agreed on a possible site for this and the environmental studies will IMHO take decades.  So I expect that Marghera will become the new cruise port for Venice for the foreseeable future.  Bus service can take passengers to the Tronchetto parking lot near Marittima, with the People Mover bringing them to Piazzale Roma.  And there is a ferry terminal in Marghera that could be developed with regular service to Marittima.  Even with just the existing infrastructure, Marghera seems to be much more convenient than the alternatives that some cruise ships have explored (Trieste or Ravenna).

[Delray2002]

Re: previous posts about what’s up for Oceania in Venice. (We’re scheduled to stop there in June on the Nautica.)

“Current schedule shows  Venice not Trieste for Oceania cruises in September (and all other months as well).”     I note that the “fine print” at the top of the CruiseMapper page says, “Port Venice cruise ship schedule  … lists all ships … with cruises going to or leaving from Venice, Marghera, Italy.”  So, additional confirmation that we won’t be docking on the island itself.

Several of you wanted to know how to get between Marghera and Venice. This might help: https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Marghera/Venice  (There are 4 ways to get from Marghera to Venice by bus, train, taxi or car    9 to 11 minutes on average) 

Re: Trieste as an alternate docking location. It’s a 1 hour and 40 minute drive by the fastest route. And Ravenna is a bit over 2 hours away. Sure hope it really is Marghera.

Are Oceania ships above the weight limit for docking at Maritima on the island? Yes, even the small ones. Here’s an article about this situation: https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruising-changes.htm  The regulations apply to ships heavier than 25,000 Gross Weight Tons. Nautica weighs in at 30,277.  Also, ships over 180 meters in length fall under the ban. Nautica is 181+ meters.

And here’s something I didn’t know about until recently. This article is about charging tourists to reserve a ticket for admission to Venice https://www.afar.com/magazine/venice-to-start-charging-tourists-to-enter-the-city-in-2022  If this is actually an in-place policy, it would help to know what Oceania will do for its passengers, especially those who may be doing things independently. Here’s what I wrote to guest services for clarification. if, as articles seem to indicate, Venice is now requiring visitors to pay for entry to the city and to have a reservation to enter, what, if anything, is Oceania doing on behalf of its guests that does not require participation in one of the cruise's shore excursions? We plan to do independent activities and need to know if we have to get admission tickets and make reservations ourselves.

If I get a response, I’ll let you know.

[DanOnboard]

Just got email from O that our May 7 cruise from "Venice" on Riviera will embark in Ravenna.  From other posts, it looks like O will not be docking near Venice and is using multiple ports for different cruises.  Hopefully, O has finished scheduling and everyone will know about their cruise soon.

[debbyma]

Our email from Oceania lists Trieste as our embarkation port for this April 14.

[babysteps]

We left from Trieste (in place of Venice) on Marina on Nov 9, 2021. The bus from the Venice airport was a B- in organization, especially if you arrived at the airport boat stop/alilaguna station (there wasn't always a representative there, although the intent was to have one at all times).

 

Many of us taking the boat to the airport had a few extra hassles to get logged in - folks arriving on flights didn't have as much "fun". Don't just head for the bus area or glom on to an Oceania group, register first with an O rep in the airport that has a clipboard:) Even after a few hiccups of getting checked in (and extended wait time on our bus while the rest of the folks assigned to the bus gathered in the airport), we arrived at Trieste at exactly our check-in time, so no worries!

 

If you are going to spend a few days in Venice first and if O is doing the bus-from-VCE-to-Trieste, taking just a few hand-luggage items into Venice and using the left luggage service at VCE for larger items worked great for everyone we talked to who used it (we didn't, but would next time)

 

Happy travels!

[Host Jazzbeau]

If you've never been to Ravenna, this is an easy 'lemonade' situation.  The Roman mosaics there are supposed to be among the best in the world.  [My Azamara cruise in October starts in 'Venice,' but Ravenna is one of the ports and I am really looking forward to it.]

[welshfamily]

Baby steps,

sorry can you explain a bit further. 
We use a UK TA who organises transfers to the ship. In Venice we usually use a hotel in Mestre as it’s by a large train station allowing us plenty of choice for the few days before the cruise. Transfer to the port usually takes about 15 mins max. Obviously this isn’t the case anymore. We are looking at the 14th of April ( amongst others ).
Are people going back to the airport and Oceania are organising transportation or do you have to have paid for a transfer to the ship ?

We really don’t like to fly in on the day. Too many things can go wrong especially now.
Debbyma has posted above that the 14th will depart from Trieste. Have you more information please?

We are in Education and have 14 days only at Easter. Now Italy are stopping Pre COVID tests for UK visitors from 1/3/2022 we are considering this cruise avidly.

Also has anyone stayed in Trieste? Is it worth finding a hotel there and exploring the area.

[PhD-iva]

2 hours ago, welshfamily said:

Baby steps,

sorry can you explain a bit further. 
We use a UK TA who organises transfers to the ship. In Venice we usually use a hotel in Mestre as it’s by a large train station allowing us plenty of choice for the few days before the cruise. Transfer to the port usually takes about 15 mins max. Obviously this isn’t the case anymore. We are looking at the 14th of April ( amongst others ).
Are people going back to the airport and Oceania are organising transportation or do you have to have paid for a transfer to the ship ?

We really don’t like to fly in on the day. Too many things can go wrong especially now.
Debbyma has posted above that the 14th will depart from Trieste. Have you more information please?

We are in Education and have 14 days only at Easter. Now Italy are stopping Pre COVID tests for UK visitors from 1/3/2022 we are considering this cruise avidly.

Also has anyone stayed in Trieste? Is it worth finding a hotel there and exploring the area.

I hope that someone will provide you with a fuller response, but I have read comments on this forum by O cruisers praising their time in Trieste. They definitely gave me the impression its a city that I’d like to explore in future.

[debbyma]

I just spoke to an agent at Oceania.  Since we are flying in the day before (April 13) she did not know whether or not we will have transportation from the Venice airport to Trieste on April 14.    Apparently, their system only "allows" the transfers if you are flying in the day of.  She is sending an email to the team that handles this, but they are out of the office until Monday.

 

It seems a lot more cost efficient if they just put us on a bus and transfer us to Trieste rather than give $300 per passenger to change our airline schedule.  (We are not able to do this.)

 

I am disappointed in Oceania that they apparently did not think of the situation where people were flying in a day or two before the cruise.

 

If I hear back on Monday, I will post.