The Port of Venice and Italian authorities approved a test of anchoring a large cruise ship outside the lagoon and tending passengers ashore for a day’s long visit.
Namely, Norwegian Cruise Line received permission from port officials to anchor the 93,500 gross ton Norwegian Gem near Venice on July 23. The cruise ship, which was reportedly traveling with around1,500 passengers, arranged for three excursion boats from Venice to shuttle passengers to the city center.
Under the pilot tested, embarkation and disembarkation for the cruise continues to happen on Sundays in Trieste, while on Saturday they made a port call on the last full day of the cruise so that passengers could tour Venice. This approach only works for cruise ships making port calls and not for homeporting cruises.
During 2021, Italy all large cruise ships from entering the canal and traveling to the passenger terminal after years of protests by environmentalists and conservationists.
More specifically, cruise lines were told that their ships could divert to the nearby industrial port of Marghera, which however does not have the necessary facilities for cruise passengers.
