Finally - Cruise Ships Banned from Venice's Grand Canal

[PeterRS]

One of the worst sights one could see on vacation is walking in front of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice and seeing an almighty monster sail slowly past on your right. They skirted around the Grand Canal to the cruise ship dock nearer the train station.

Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

Now these ghastly ships will be banned from entering the city at the sea end of the Grand Canal. They will be made to dock at the nearby industrial port instead. Most of the passengers on those mega ships only spent a day in the city buying cheap souvenirs causing people jams all over the place whilst dining on board the vessels rater than the city's eateries. Their value to the city was always questionable.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/25/cruise-ships-kept-away-st-marks-square-venice

[BiBottomBoy]

yeah. same in barcelona. I never understood why they were allowed.

[KeepItReal]

Never made much sense to me either. To enjoy Venice you need to spend more than just a day around the city. 

[BiBottomBoy]

and eating matters in venice

[RockHardNYC]

9 hours ago, PeterRS said:

They will be made to dock at the nearby industrial port instead.

Yes, the port is known as Marghera, and many of us have been fighting this fight for a very long time. The political corruption in Italy is mind boggling. When looking for property in Italy, I very much wanted to settle in Venice. I have a very long history with this precious city. It's where an escort and I fell in love long ago, and we have remained dear friends to this very day.

I'm thrilled with this official news. The day-tripper cruise issue was actually destroying Venice. Many Venetians believe the cruise ships are property of America, and they think the cruise ship passengers are the cheapest of the cheap. They believe these tourists come to their city by the thousands, don't respect it, leave trash everywhere, don't spend any money, and then leave. The cons of this type of tourist activity far outweigh the pros.

Day-tripping into Venice is not going to end with this news. I am very much a part of the campaign that wishes to charge a substantial fee for tourists who wish to enter the city center for less than twenty-four hours. But it's very challenging to find agreement on ways to keep that money out of the hands of politicians. The fight lives on.

[BiBottomBoy]

italy really doesn't have a government. it's all run my local mafia guys.  I assume they get some soft of kickback from the cruise ship companies