Instead, the companies are planning departures from the ports of Trieste, around two hours north-east of the lagoon city, and Genoa.
The ports are said to be more practical for access and for managing passenger flow safely within coronavirus regulations.
The Italian government this week approved the resumption of cruise ships from August 15, following a six-month shutdown, though operators must stick to European routes in line with a ban on tourism from outside the EU.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Venice was a popular cruise stop, with around 32,000 passengers walking its narrow streets every day between April and October.
But as massive liners resume operations, it doesn’t look set be the starting point, destination or even a stopover for Italy’s two biggest cruise companies.
The MSC Grandiosa will be the first liner to sail after ports reopen, leaving from Genoa for Malta with stops in Rome, Naples and Palermo.
It’s one of two Mediterranean routes the company has confirmed, the other departing from Trieste towards Greece and returning to Bari – without stopping in Venice.
Meanwhile, Costa Crociere said its cruises will resume in September, sailing from Trieste to Greece, and from Genoa to Malta, without stopping in Venice.
While it’s not yet clear if and when the ships will eventually return to Venice, the new itineraries will be in place until the end of the year.
The news has been hailed as a victory by anti-cruise ship activists, who are planning a party in Venice to celebrate a summer free of the giant vessels.
The activists had threatened to prevent liners returning to Venice by any means possible, including blocking the port with boats or even acts of sabotage.
They argue that the ships have seriously damaged Venice’s fragile lagoon and pollute the environment, as well as causing overcrowding.
They have long called for the vessels to be banned from the city, and the protests grew more fervent in June last year after four people were injured when the 13-deck MSC Opera crashed into a wharf and tourist boat along the busy Giudecca canal.
But port workers protested this week calling for liners to return.
They blamed the operators’ decision to skip Venice both on anti-cruise activists but also the local government, which they said had failed to provide companies with clear options to return.
In a statement, the workers said they supported calls to reroute cruises away from St Mark’s Square in the historic centre, but that banning cruises from Venice altogether would put 4000 jobs at risk.
“We receive calls every day from people who haven’t worked since March,” Antonio Velleca, a spokesperson for Portabagagli, a luggage handler cooperative in Venice, told the Italian press.
“Many have not received their furlough money and are anxious about the future.”
Other cruise companies that usually stop in Venice, including Royal Caribbean, are said to be on standby, with services more likely to resume in 2021.
