April 19. Venice.

Venice is our turnover port, which means that the ship disembarks the guests here at the end of the cruise and embarks new guests. This time we did not disembark all of them as we had 134 guests onboard who were staying for the next cruise. Not a bad idea if you are in Europe anyway. You might as well get the most out of it without having to fly twice.

The ship arrived at the pilot station at 06.00 under a bit of a drizzly sky and with a strong wind blowing. However as soon as we were docked the sun came out and it became a beautiful day.

The entrance to the Venice Lagoon is very shallow and when the pilot boarded we had only about 4 feet of water under the keel. There is constant dredging going on to keep the fairway of sufficient depth but it is still marginal. As a result of deepening the channel there is now more water coming into Venice then before and also a stronger current especially during the winter storms. This negatively affects the pilings on which the Venice buildings are standing and that causes great concern for the future of Venice. (Everybody will remember the scene in the James Bond movie Casino Royale when the house supports went and the house sank)

There is now a water barrier being constructed to protect Venice from the sea. When we sailed into Venice we could see the works in progress and if all goes well it should be finished in 2012.
Sailing through Venice takes about 40 minutes as it is done on low speed to avoid wake damage to the shores. The entrance is called Porti di Lido, the first part is called Canale di San Nicole, followed by Canale di San Marco which is followed by Canale di Giudecca. The Canale Grandi or Grand Canal exits at the Canale di San Marco and you can see it when sailing by. The ship docked about a mile past St. Marks square at the passenger terminal which carries the beautiful name of Marittima: Banchina di Tagliamento.

It is about a mile from the ship to downtown. A lot of our guests, who stay for a few days in Venice, think they can get there with a quick cab ride. However most of Venice is pedestrian access only. So most likely a shuttle bus will take you to Piazzale Roma, which is as far as regular roads go and from there porters (with hand trolleys) are available who will help you to get you and your luggage to the hotel in one of the small streets nearby, walking only.

Another option is the water taxi. They go all over the city and most hotels have private landings where the water taxi stops in front of the door. (depending on where you have to go they can be quite expensive) If you plan to stay a few days, it is a good idea to pre book Shuttlebus or boat transfers in advance from home before leaving.

After the guests disembarked the ship was made ready for the next cruise and in a hurry we were as embarkation already started at 11.30am . The cabins are not ready then but the guests can go for lunch in the Lido. This is of course a much better option than to hang around in an bare cruise terminal.

One problem is always the timely arrival of flights and the subsequent transport to the ship. This was a problem this time as well and as a result we sailed 45 minutes late. If guests book their air fare through the company, then we know on which flights they are and when they are arriving. If they are late I will try to wait with the ship. If guests book the flights themselves, then we do not know which flights they are on and if delayed they might miss the ship. The latter can mean a costly transfer, on own expense, to the next port of call. This departure I could wait for them so an additional 36 guests could make it to the ship.