Despite Italy’s announcment that cruise ships will be temporarily banned from Venice’s city center, vessels will continue to call at Venice until a reception facility at Marghera is ready.
As a result, cruise transits through the Giudecca Canal will start again this summer. In fact, MSC confirmed that the cruise ships MSC Orchestra and MSC Magnifica will be home-ported for cruises out of Venice.
Local government leaders welcomed the news, with the president of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, thanking the company ”because it is a good sign of recovery.”
However, cruise ship calls have sparked controversy in Venice, as many are those who blame the wash from cruise ships for contributing to Venice’s flooding problems.
For this reason, on March 25, Italy announced a temporary decree to send cruise ships to the industrial port of Marghera.
Nevertheless, the announcement did not clarify that the ban will not apply in June, surprising the Venetian citizens. Specifically, anti-cruise activists Comitato NoGrandiNavi, stated that:
Two weeks from the enactment of the ban we learn that in the next few weeks cruises will resume their landing in Venice, with the passage to the Giudecca Canal
