Topic starter
28/07/2011 9:39 am
I know, it's slightly off-topic. But I'd like to share a video with you that I made just a few days ago when I had the privilege of cruising into the wonderful port of Venice, Italy, by cruise ship (the French luxury small ship L'Austral - highly recommended, by the way).
I made a time lapse video of the whole passage, from the entrance to the laguna of Venice, through the Canal Grande, passing the famous Piazza San Marco, all the way to the cruise terminal. The whole passage in reality takes about 45 minutes, the time lapse is condensing this to about 6 minutes.
Venice, Italy - an early morning arrival by cruise ship - YouTube
It's the most stunning and fascinating view I ever had on a cruise, so I'd like to share this with you. If you like the video, please share it with your friends, on Facebook, Twitter, by E-Mail.
By sharing the video with others, you'll also help us becoming more popular on Youtube which will help us further funding our websites, including steamboats.org 😉
Topic starter
28/07/2011 9:50 am
Just recognized, that there is also something that makes my previous porting somewhat less off-topic 😉
There are river cruise ships home-porting in Venice, Italy! They're cruising from Venice through the laguna and then up the Po River.
The Po River is kind of a hidden gem within the river cruise destinations but is gaining more and more popularity now. Next year there will be an other cruise ship, the MS Bellissima (from the German cruise line "nicko tours", market leader in river cruises in Europe) doing the same route on the Po River from Venice.
The picture below shows the MS Michelangelo (cruise line: "Croisi Europe") at Venice.
28/07/2011 3:27 pm
Really nice. Also nice to know that cruising is alive and well in other parts of the world. FYI, Viking Cruises is really pushing their river cruise market with extensive advertising on American tv channels.
Topic starter
29/07/2011 5:34 am
River cruising indeed is fast growing, especially here in Europe. There are about ten new cruise ships this year, another ten next year and so on. Though they all have a capacity of only 120-160 passengers, it's still amazing how much choice you have even from US-market-only cruise companies but also from the many cruise ships that are available on US and European markets or on German/European markets only.
I really hope that the two new attemts in the US, American Queen and Queen of the Mississippi will be successful after all that trouble on the US inland rivers over the last decade.
29/07/2011 10:23 pm
We have sailed out of Venice after dark in a light rain and it is still an amazing experience to look over to St Marks Piazza for a fleeting moment.
30/07/2011 2:50 pm
That's been my question for the last 6 years....Why Not Here? How come Bamberg Germany can have over 200 passenger boat stops a year while Cincinnati has zero.
30/07/2011 3:13 pm
Why not here?
We tear down old buildings, they revere them. We seem more interested in the future than the past... is it just a coincidence that the NATCHEZ is in a market where history is so important, ie. the French Quarter, plantation homes, WWII Museum, birthplace of jazz, streetcars, etc. ? It would be interesting to poll the Americans who take the European river cruises to see if they've ever taken one in the US, and why or why not?
30/07/2011 3:41 pm
I can give you one answer to that poll. My sister-in-law has been on a European riverboat cruise and has never set foot on an American riverboat. Almost everyone I talk to about the subject complains that the American boats are toooooo expensive. I checked. The European fares are no bargain, starting at about $200 a day. You could root out some special deals, but that is the norm. I intend to talk to my sister-in-law about this next time we visit. Maybe it's just the old "grass is greener" thing.
30/07/2011 3:46 pm
Interesting topic. Many were the times my wife and I tried to get my mother and her husband to join us for a cruise aboard the DQ. Excuse after excuse as to why they couldn't. So, imagine my surprise when they flew to Europe last year for a long cruise on the Danube! Go figure.
30/07/2011 5:12 pm
Backyard vs. over the pond
Yes, European boat trips sound more exotic than one from St. Louis to St. Paul. Betty Blake really played up the discover America idea: Voyages to America. Obviously the US boats were/are expensive, but when you look at the total cost, it is a negligible difference I think. Here you add your transportation to/from the boat (if even necessary) and that's it beyond the boat fare. To take a European cruise, you need the airfare (which seems to be cheaper than a US flight at times), extra days lodging at both ends, and the loss of the dollar vs. the Euro...