Norwegian Cruise uses small boats to get passengers into Venice

A major cruise company has found a way around Venice's large ship ban by ferrying passengers into the famous city on small boats.

After struggling for years with overtourism, Venice finally banned large vessels weighing more than 25,000 tonnes from docking in the Unesco world heritage site in 2021.

However, they said nothing about these giant ships parking up nearby and shuttling their passengers in on little motor boats.

This is the tactic being taken by Norwegian Gem, a Norwegian Cruise ship just under 300-metres long. After anchoring outside the Venice Lido last Saturday morning, it launched several smaller boats, which carried around 1,500 passengers to St Mark's Square for the day.

The move was reportedly authorised by Venice's port authority, who provided the smaller boats but Venice governors had no say in the matter.

Tourism councillor, Simone Venturini, told local press he hoped it wasn't the start of a new trend.

"It's not the type of tourism we want for the city," he said.

Large ships were banned from entering Venice's historic center via the Giudecca canal in July 2021. Now, only small foreign vessels and passenger ferries can use the canal.

The ban followed years of protests against cruise ships and a threat from Unesco that Venice would be put on the world heritage endangered list.

However, it had left the cruise industry "in limbo" according to the Cruise Lines International Association's Italy director, Francesco Galietti.

"Venice used to be a home port, which meant people would come one or two days in advance and spend time in Venice [before starting a cruise], book a hotel and eat in the local restaurants. That was the old world," he said.

"The Norwegian episode shows that there is an ongoing struggle for Venice to remain a home port. Everything is in a state of flux and we are trying to understand what the new normal looks like."

Most cruise companies have abandoned the Sinking City and instead anchor at ports in Trieste or Ravenna. From here, passengers can take a two-hour bus journey to Venice.

If Norwegian's tactic does become common practice, it is unclear whether cruise passengers spending the day will have to pay a new tourist charge starting January 16, 2023.

This new fee will target day-visitors (80 per cent of tourists in Venice), who must go online and book the day they plan to visit. The cost will vary from €3 - €10 per person depending on how busy the city is.

Fail to pay the fee, and you could be up for a €300 fine.