Norwegian cruise line quits Venice: Where will ships stop instead?

14.02.2024 - 23:47 / euronews.com / Saskia ODonoghue

A top cruise line has cut the iconic city of Venice from its itineraries in 2024 and 2025 as the Italian destination continues to clamp down on visitors.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced the decision after Venice declared its waterways a “national monument” and banned large cruise ships from anchoring in its historic centre.

Norwegian, along with other cruise companies, has been ferrying visitors to the city by much smaller tender boats - but, now, they say even that compromise is no longer viable.

Speaking to Euronews Travel, a spokesperson explained the decision: “While we have made every effort possible to maintain these calls to Venice, the tender operation and overall experience this provides our guests has fallen short of the standard we aim to deliver.”

Venice was forced to ban cruises from its centre in 2021, after damage to the lagoon saw UNESCO threaten to put the city on its endangered list unless they prohibited the ships.

Experts say that these large boats cause pollution and erode the foundations of the city, which already suffers from regular flooding.

At the time of the ban, many cruise companies were in favour of the decision. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said it had “been supportive of a new approach for many years” calling it a “major step forward”.

Some cruise lines have found ways around the ban to get their guests to Venice, like MSC Cruises, which stops in Marghera, just across the water from the city. Others stop in Trieste or Ravenna - both at least two hours from the ‘floating city’.

Venetian authorities, meanwhile, are continuing their years-long efforts to limit over-tourism.

This year, Venice will implement a tourist fee for day visitors from the spring and will attempt to limit the size of tour groups this summer.

From 2025, Norwegian will replace stops in Venice with a day at sea or at another port - yet to be decided.

This year, though, cruise passengers will see the city replaced on their itineraries with either Ravenna in Italy, Rijeka and Zadar in Croatia, or Koper in Slovenia.

Here’s what to know about those destinations.

Some two and a half hours south of Venice, Ravenna is the capital city of the province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.

While not as famous as other Italian cities, it certainly has a rich history.

From the beginning of the 5th century, it was a capital city three times: in the last moments of the Western Roman Empire , during the reign of the Goths under Theodoric , and then again under the Byzantine dominion.

Its historical significance survives today, with the city boasting eight monuments which have been declared as UNESCO heritage sites.

Ravenna is also the final resting place of the ‘Father of the Italian