Istanbul stop cancelled.

[RD64]

13 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

Colombo?  Sri Lanka ?  Maybe not...  But if you mean the Cristoforo Colombo of the Italian Line - it was !  And we got off in Venice.  (Previous TA on the Italian line was on the Raffaello to Cannes).

Yes - the Cristoforo Colombo. In our family we always refer to the Italian line ships as the Doria, Colombo, or da Vinci

[SATaxman]

6 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

I have sailed into or out of Venice 3 times now.  First time was in 1970 on the Italian Line.  We docked at the Riva degli Schiavoni - right in front of the Doge's Palace.  This was not a cruise ship, it was a trans-Atlantic vessel (at the time our preferred way to get from the US to Switzerland in fact).  Then once on Regent's Mariner maybe 10 years ago.  We ended our cruise with an overnight in Venice and were docked at San Basilio, (not at the Cruise Terminal), near the Piazzale Roma.  It was dense fog.  We could hear children playing soccer on the quai but could not see them!  We heard disembarkation announcements from a Silversea ship moored ahead of us, and could not see it!   Last time we sailed from Venice on Oceania's Riviera.  And that was from the Cruise Port.  Again the weather was awful - heavy rain!  but at least we could see a bit of what we were passing.

 

I think it a shame that the smaller ships cannot dock at least at the Cruise Port.  But on our next cruise - Oceania Vista - we end in Trieste instead of in Venice...  not the same and logistically difficult.

We sailed from Trieste last month on Marina. Several people we know went to Trieste the night before to explore. Some people checked in on the ship and then left to walk around for a few hours. It was a long shlep to Trieste from Venice; however, the whole cruise made up for the 2 hour inconvenience.

 

[Vineyard View]

7 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

I think it a shame that the smaller ships cannot dock at least at the Cruise Port.  But on our next cruise - Oceania Vista - we end in Trieste instead of in Venice...  not the same and logistically difficult.

I agree with this. We sailed from Fusina this year on SB. While it was much closer to Venice proper than other current options, it was not ideal. You had to go to the cruise port, transfer via bus to Fusina, and once on board, there you were. It’s industrial so no wandering off and on. We were RT from there. When we disembarked, we went via the causeway to the old cruise terminal, then bus back via the causeway, to the overnight hotel near the airport, then public bus back via the causway to Venice for the last day. Causeway back to hotel made it a 4 causeway day!
It was really strange being in that huge, empty cruise port. Since we had time before the trip to stay in Venice, it was okay. For people wanting to spend a port day in Venice, not so much. I guess it is even more difficult from other current options though. 

[Hambagahle]

8 hours ago, RD64 said:

Yes - the Cristoforo Colombo. In our family we always refer to the Italian line ships as the Doria, Colombo, or da Vinci

And we - or at least our then 4 year old daughter - called the Raffaello the "Raff my ello" !!