Pearl itinerary Change

[Scubadoc]

Anyone have opinions on whether the elimination of Venice as a port on the pearl and the resulting other port changes is a net gain or loss? Obviously, it would be a loss to miss Venice, but if we stay there overnight, we have more time than we would have had in a short excursion. I’m not familiar with the Croatian cities so I’m wondering about the replacement which is Rijeka, Croatia. And also Dubrovnik has been substituted for Split. Thoughts?

[Sailing12Away]

Since we have no idea what your original itinerary was or what the new one is going to be, it's hard to say. 

 

Are you saying you now have an overnight stay in Triste instead of a day time port of call stop in Venice? With an overnight stay you can take the train to literally almost anywhere and see whatever you want.

[Scubadoc]

No. We were going to stay in Trieste because Venice was going to be a port, and now it is not. So, unless we stay in Venice, we will not see it at all! So we will be in Venice for one evening and then we need to get to the port by around three.

 

The other changes are adding Rijeka and replacing split with Dubrovnik 

[IAcruising]

10 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Since we have no idea what your original itinerary was or what the new one is going to be, it's hard to say. 

 

We still don't, and we still can't help.

 

[scoochy12]

We have similar changes …. Pearl on 5/27 out of Trieste. Venice port day 2 was replaced to Ravenna. Montenegro and Mykonos shortened by a few hours on each. Disappointed 😔 on the earlier times. Has anyone done Ravenna in the past? Is there a shuttle to city center? I see that Bologna is only a one hr train ride. We are in port 12 hours. Thoughts on doing this? 

Edited February 3 by scoochy12
Typo

[Maanio]

2 hours ago, scoochy12 said:

We have similar changes …. Pearl on 5/27 out of Trieste. Venice port day 2 was replaced to Ravenna. Montenegro and Mykonos shortened by a few hours on each. Disappointed 😔 on the earlier times. Has anyone done Ravenna in the past? Is there a shuttle to city center? I see that Bologna is only a one hr train ride. We are in port 12 hours. Thoughts on doing this? 

Shuttle to Ravenna center was crowded so much that you had to wait for hours in burning sun. Take a1 min ferry and then local bus.

 

Ravenna itself is nice. Doing a day trip from Ravenna port to Venice is ridiculous, will cost you hours and hours of traveling.

 

My ITIN ended in Ravenna.

Used bologna as departure airport. Bologna is doable, trains often get a delay so don't make your time plan tight.

Edited February 3 by Maanio

[mking8288]

Hmmm, I'm sure most of you read articles like this, heard or perhaps were told / learn about it ... if not, here it is -  

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-ditches-major-port-due-to-tender-concerns/122525

 

It's classic NIMB until and unless the local / tourism economy & wellness are endangered ... FWIW, their actions and seriously, what can NCL do about it ... together with the other major cruiselines.  I'm sure their lobbyists have been busy at pitching against it.  Tendering for ships over 25,000 tons - not fun and easy, regardless with 2,000 to 2,500+ souls onboard, more & higher numbers for the mega vessels.  

 

Nobody likes itinerary change after final payment, it stinks - no questions about it, that include us and been there & ship happened ... where we, sometimes, only if and asked, get a partial and/or pro-rated refund adjustment of port taxes/fees/charges.  All the more reasons we don't like to book far out ahead in advance, and often do not commit to make payment or even do a deposit to hold it for 12 to 24 hours until much closer in ... not always possible, but.  (and, of course, the price drop once "free" NCL Air is no longer offered) 

Edited February 4 by mking8288

[mskaufman]

We have had a similar change on the Pearl.  If we had not been to Venice before, we would be scrambling to have a pre-cruise in Venice.  However, we have always had reservations about the tendering process to get us there, so we were not shocked at the change.  Whether it is a net loss or gain is an individual decision.  We are losing Venice and Koper and get Rijeka and Dubrovnik in exchange.  What we are losing is Ljubljana, which we planned to do from Koper.  We are thinking about going there from Trieste pre cruise.

[Panhandle Couple]

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Hmmm, I'm sure most of you read articles like this, heard or perhaps were told / learn about it ... if not, here it is -  

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-ditches-major-port-due-to-tender-concerns/122525

 

It's classic NIMB until and unless the local / tourism economy & wellness are endangered ... FWIW, their actions and seriously, what can NCL do about it ... together with the other major cruiselines.  I'm sure their lobbyists have been busy at pitching against it.  Tendering for ships over 25,000 tons - not fun and easy, regardless with 2,000 to 2,500+ souls onboard, more & higher numbers for the mega vessels.  

 

Nobody likes itinerary change after final payment, it stinks - no questions about it, that include us and been there & ship happened ... where we, sometimes, only if and asked, get a partial and/or pro-rated refund adjustment of port taxes/fees/charges.  All the more reasons we don't like to book far out ahead in advance, and often do not commit to make payment or even do a deposit to hold it for 12 to 24 hours until much closer in ... not always possible, but.  (and, of course, the price drop once "free" NCL Air is no longer offered) 

From the linked article:

"Adding to the efforts to curb over-tourism, Venice has also announced a cap on tour group sizes. Beginning this summer, groups will be limited to 25 individuals within the historic center and on the Murano, Burano, and Torcello islands. Subject to city council approval, this regulation is set to be enforced starting June 1, 2024."

 

It is not just the ferrying, it is also the tour companies that will have to adjust.  25 per group means more busses (most carry about 50) that have to cycle through the dock facility, or the group needs to use double busses, large one from the dock, then into smaller ones closer to the city center. This simply places more time on excursions for standing around, or getting separated from the group.

 

When we booked our western med cruise for this summer, the TA started warning us about sailing from Trieste and how inconvenient it was.  She was looking at the wrong sailing, when she realized we wanted 2 weeks later from Barcelona, she said that was much, much better.

 

[IAcruising]

Seems like the end of the story is -- if you want to go to Venice, book a trip to Venice. A cruise might not be your thing.

 

[Matlily]

We decided to go into Venice two days early to do Venice and then on to Trieste to catch the ship and three days in Athens at the end.