TRIESTE – In 2026, Trieste is forecast to handle 128 cruise calls with around 380,000 passengers. Venice is expected to reach about 450,000, down from roughly 520,000 this year.
In the lagoon, the drop is mainly due to MSC’s decision to withdraw one vessel, cutting around 60,000 passengers, while in Trieste the exit of Norwegian Cruise Line will be felt just as heavily.
The beneficiary should be the Port of Ravenna, which is expected to grow thanks to new calls.
Alberto Grimaldi, Chief Operating Officer of Trieste Terminal Passeggeri (TTP) — contacted by Adriaports — offers an overview of the year now drawing to a close.
«By year-end we will close the season with 131 calls, the last scheduled for 15 December with the Athemis of Grand Circle Cruise Line, which brings about 60 transit passengers, while the season for large vessels ended on 21 November with the arrival of Costa Deliziosa. We will settle at around 455,000 passengers over the past 12 months, although — Grimaldi notes — the passenger terminal in Trieste never truly stops operating».
«An important aspect — Grimaldi adds — is that in 2026 calls from as many as 22 different cruise lines are expected, demonstrating the strong appeal that Trieste holds for a variety of companies, both those calling once and those covering the full cruise season».
The number of ships will therefore remain nearly unchanged, but they will generally be smaller.
Calls by Costa Deliziosa will resume on 11 April 2026, marking the real start of the 2026 season, which will gain momentum in May and conclude — for large vessels — tomorrow, 26 November, even though next year too operations will extend into December thanks to the winter calls confirmed by Grand Circle Cruise Line.
In Venice, as is well known, the situation is more complex. Following the Government decree banning large “white ships” from entering the Marittima cruise terminal, calls at Porto Marghera prevented a collapse for “the most beautiful city in the world”, but numbers are still far from their former peaks.
Two options are on the table: dredging the Vittorio Emanuele Canal to bring (some) large ships back to Marittima, or building an offshore terminal. In the latter case, timelines extend significantly — possibly around ten years.
What remains to be seen, for both Trieste and Venice, is what the two presidents of the respective Port System Authorities intend to do regarding cruise policy. In Venice, Matteo Gasparato is already in office; in Trieste, Marco Consalvo’s appointment is still pending.
