They explained cruise advertising can often mislead travellers into thinking they’ll dock within walking distance of city-centre attractions, but some ports are actually miles away. Cruise lines may use the nearest major city to advertise their itineraries, even though in cities such as Berlin, the regional port of Warnemünde is nearly a five-hour round-trip.
Paris is also far from its regional port, Le Havre, with a rough journey time of just over 2 hours. It means travellers could potentially miss key landmarks, or opt to pay for expensive taxis to maximise their time in the city.
“We’ve seen travellers on mainstream cruises step off at ports like Trieste or Le Havre thinking they’re in Venice or Paris. But often, the real city experience is often hours away by coach,” said Maryanne Sparkes, a European Waterways itinerary specialist.
The distance is also partly thanks to new cruise restrictions. In many European cities, such as Amsterdam and Venice, supersize cruise ships have been banned or restricted from entering the port due to concerns about overtourism and pollution.
This means larger ships will have to avoid the location or park further afield, such as in Nice, France, which has banned ships with over 900 passengers
Sparkes added: “Not all boats are banned however. Cruise companies operating smaller boats, are still able to dock right in the heart of the city.”
If the city is far inland, travellers could also look for nearby overnight stays or longer dock times to avoid the longer transfer.
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Berlin (Warnemünde) – 236 km or 2h 25m
Paris (Le Havre) – 196 km or 2h 05m
Venice (Trieste) – 157 km or 1h 38m
Venice (Monfalcone) – 129 km or 2h 06m
Granada (Málaga) – 124.6 km or 1h 18m
Seville (Cádiz) – 119 km or 1h 17m
Florence (Livorno) – 89 km or 1h 10m
Rome (Civitavecchia) – 71 km or 55m
Cinque Terre (La Spezia) – 27.1 km or 39m
Amsterdam (IJmuiden) – 26 km or 28m
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