When is a port not where it is advertised (eg Ravenna 3 hours by road from venice)

[FOB]

Most of the time RC is pretty good at pointing out when the port and the city that you are interested in are not in the same place - seems to be a European issue 

examples are Ravenna is not near Venice - it’s 2.5 hours by road

Civitavecchia is an hour from Rome

livorno is 30 minutes from Pisa and 1.5 hours from Florence

piraeus is 1 hour from Athens

zeebrugge is 2 hours from Brussels

greenock is 40 minutes from Glasgow

 

but what they don’t tell you is that you are not docking in Inverness - you are docking in Invergordon which is 35 minutes away

but if you do ever decide to do a British isles cruise and stop to go see our local monster then you need to pop into the local “Clootie dumpling” shop in Invergordon. It is absolutely fantastic and I recommend it 100%

[Ryan79]

Unlike the US, in Europe their great cities are not located on the coast. Also, these cruises are marketed heavily to US cruisers who would be unfamiliar with the names and locations of the port cities. I’ve got an upcoming British Isle cruise where 7 of the 9 ports are not in the actual “advertised” city. How many ordinary Americans would know where Dun Laoghaire or La Harve are at?

We are also going to Ivergordon and will have to hit up that shop!!

[FionaMG]

I love clootie dumpling. My mum used to make one every time someone in the family had a birthday.

[FOB]

5 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

Unlike the US, in Europe their great cities are not located on the coast. Also, these cruises are marketed heavily to US cruisers who would be unfamiliar with the names and locations of the port cities. I’ve got an upcoming British Isle cruise where 7 of the 9 ports are not in the actual “advertised” city. How many ordinary Americans would know where Dun Laoghaire or La Harve are at?

We are also going to Ivergordon and will have to hit up that shop!!

My mum is from Dun Laoghaire - it’s really easy to get into Dublin City from the port. Just jump on the DART (local train into Dublin) and you will be there in no time. Station is just outside the port. 
I would see Dun Laoghaire as a suburb of Dublin rather than a separate place. The ones I have mentioned are definitely separate

[FOB]

5 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

We are also going to Ivergordon and will have to hit up that shop

Shop is called Clootie McToot I believe. It was originally in a village near Perth (central Scotland a good 150 miles away) but they have merged with a larger company from up north and unfortunately have relocated

[Kelseylovestocruise]

I would argue about Piraeus being an hour from Athens. It was maybe 25 minutes. Very easy just did it in August. 
 

there are some USA ports though: Galveston (Houston), port canaveral (Orlando), cape liberty (New York) 

[Ryan79]

3 hours ago, FOB said:

But that’s not my point. I would bet less than 1% of Americans, South Americans and Asians know where Dun Laoghire is offhand. I agree it’s super close and easy transit to Dublin, but it’s not Dublin. Same way West Coast US cuises are marketed to depart from Los Angeles and not San Pedro or Long Beach. There are no cruise ports in Los Angeles city limits. How many Europeans know where San Pedro is offhand? I’m saying they they are using the city names for familiarity, not for proximity. 

[Pattycruise]

4 hours ago, Kelseylovestocruise said:

I would argue about Piraeus being an hour from Athens. It was maybe 25 minutes. Very easy just did it in August. 
 

there are some USA ports though: Galveston (Houston), port canaveral (Orlando), cape liberty (New York) 

I’m sailing out of Athens next month. Any recommendations to get to the pier? Thank you

[cedricmr]

If it's your first Time, bus hop off.

3 differents companys directly on the pier. Easy to discover athens and go to the center.

Taxi is available but i recommandations taken taxi to go at pireus station and continue with metro 

[FionaMG]

5 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

But that’s not my point. I would bet less than 1% of Americans, South Americans and Asians know where Dun Laoghire is offhand. I agree it’s super close and easy transit to Dublin, but it’s not Dublin. Same way West Coast US cuises are marketed to depart from Los Angeles and not San Pedro or Long Beach. There are no cruise ports in Los Angeles city limits. How many Europeans know where San Pedro is offhand? I’m saying they they are using the city names for familiarity, not for proximity. 

To a certain extent, I agree with you but I don't feel that they are being sufficiently transparent and I am inclined to believe this is probably a deliberate ploy to make the itineraries more attractive. How many more people are likely to book a cruise that goes to Venice and Athens than to Ravenna and Pireus?

All it would take would be to add the word "for" in the port line, e.g. Ravenna, *for* Venice, to alert people to the fact that they aren't actually porting in those well-known places. This would allow customers to make a more informed decision before they book rather than discover afterwards.

[Carlos A.]

Ravenna is one of the worst offenders.
More than 2 hours away from Venice in car or more than 10 hours by train according to Google.

[FOB]

2 hours ago, Carlos A. said:

Ravenna is one of the worst offenders.
More than 2 hours away from Venice in car or more than 10 hours by train according to Google.

think the train time must have been checked at a time that would be overnight and would have had a long wait in the middle at a station.

During the day the train in is about 3 1/2 hours

[Carlos A.]

1 hour ago, FOB said:

think the train time must have been checked at a time that would be overnight and would have had a long wait in the middle at a station.

During the day the train in is about 3 1/2 hours

You're right, still way too far to be called "Venezia"

[Bestcee]

On 9/15/2024 at 10:17 PM, Ryan79 said:

cruise ports in Los Angeles city limits

Technically, San Pedro was annexed to Los Angeles, so it is considered in city limits. It's an interesting history, but the short version is here:

https://www.portoflosangeles.org/about/history

[Ban-One]

Like some others said, especially Western Europe is built a bit different and the most interesting cities not directly on the coast. At least not where cruise ships can dock. And I think many do know that Civitavecchia is quite a bit away from Rome, the same with Piraeus/Athens. And that cruise ships aren't welcome in Venice anymore was pretty much all over the news. That said, Ravenna (which is only a 3h train ride) is itself a very pretty typical Italian town with historic buildings and lots of good food. Yes, it's not Venice (which I love btw), but it's a good alternative as a port for the ships. I do believe many cruisers do their homework quite well and do know the itinerary quite well. But I admit that it might catch first-timers or less experienced cruisers a bit off guard.

[Gadget Hackwrench]

I know a lot of Vikings would have loved it if more European cities were closer to the shores. Vikings were notorious sightseers around Europe back in the day.

[Chmusar]

On 9/15/2024 at 8:16 PM, Pattycruise said:

I’m sailing out of Athens next month. Any recommendations to get to the pier? Thank you

sailed out of Athens a few times , lots of taxis everywhere make sure you have cash as all the ones we have taken don't take cards also  regards to timings if you go at rush hour around 4-5 it can take an hour or more,  Athens traffic is a nightmare . I love Athens it has a great vibe to it lots to see and do ,great parks obviously lots of culture . If going to the Acropolis GET THERE EARLY it gets super busy . Enjoy

 

[Linda R]

On 9/17/2024 at 9:58 AM, Carlos A. said:

Ravenna is one of the worst offenders.
More than 2 hours away from Venice in car or more than 10 hours by train according to Google.

I took the cruise shuttle between Venice and Ravenna and was only a little over an hour.  

[Linda R]

On 9/15/2024 at 10:07 AM, FOB said:

Most of the time RC is pretty good at pointing out when the port and the city that you are interested in are not in the same place - seems to be a European issue 

examples are Ravenna is not near Venice - it’s 2.5 hours by road

Civitavecchia is an hour from Rome

livorno is 30 minutes from Pisa and 1.5 hours from Florence

piraeus is 1 hour from Athens

zeebrugge is 2 hours from Brussels

greenock is 40 minutes from Glasgow

 

but what they don’t tell you is that you are not docking in Inverness - you are docking in Invergordon which is 35 minutes away

but if you do ever decide to do a British isles cruise and stop to go see our local monster then you need to pop into the local “Clootie dumpling” shop in Invergordon. It is absolutely fantastic and I recommend it 100%

I have taken shuttle between Venice and Ravenna, only a little over an hour.  

[FionaMG]

@Linda R, I wonder if you're getting mixed up. The distance between Venice and Ravenna is about 200 km (125 miles). There's no way that could be covered in an hour during normal daytime traffic.

Bologna, on the other hand, which many cruisers use as a gateway airport for Ravenna, is less than half that distance, so a drive time of an hour or so between them would certainly be feasible.

[TXcruiser33]

On 9/20/2024 at 12:23 AM, Linda R said:

I took the cruise shuttle between Venice and Ravenna and was only a little over an hour.  

We were supposed to do this last year (Venice to Ravenna) but the ship diverted to Trieste last minute due to weather (high winds). We were booked on the RC shuttle bus, estimated travel time to Ravenna was 3 hours. The shuttle changed to be Venice to Trieste, and the travel time was about 1 hour.

On our return, we did the shuttle to Bologna and flew out there. Travel time about 1 hour. 

I'd recommend Bologna to anyone sailing out of Ravenna! Not only was it closer, but we stayed two days in Bologna and I loved it there! Great city, great food!