We went back 2 years later , via cruise ship, and went up the grand canal past St Marks sq and docked in ghe inland basin about 2kms from the sea. It was an experience but I do see the down side. The city has no real business anymore except tourism. Victims of their own success.
I don't think anyone in Venice is naive enough to think that they're not going to be almost entirely dependent on tourism for the foreseeable. The issue is more around making that tourism sustainable and workable for the residents and small businesses in the city. Cruise passengers spend significantly less per capita than tourists who actually stay in the city, and the volumes of passengers dumped into the same short area (between Rialto Bridge and St. Marks) create all sorts of issues for those inside and outside that strip.
There's also a bit of Italian snobbery about it all, as cruise passengers are more likely to stick near those main sights and spend money at the cheap souvenir shops and terrible picture menu restaurants that have come to dominate those areas. This upsets locals, who want to see locally produced, handcrafted goods (masks, glass, lace, etc.) sell rather than cheap Chinese made replicas.
Add the massive pollution, the dredging, the wake, etc., and the Grandi Navi are highly problematic. Almost nobody in Venice that I know or have spoken to wants to see tourism stop. On the contrary, they're acutely aware of how critical it is in order to pay for the very expensive upkeep on the city as a whole. But they want to see it controlled so that it doesn't destroy everything that makes the city such a popular destination in the first place, and the mega cruise ships are a huge source of that problem.
Cruises are not for me, but they are obviously very appealing to huge numbers of people who prefer the minimum stress type of travel that they offer. Nobody needs to apologise for that. But I would hope that people taking these trips would do some research about the impact the big boats have on their stops, and ask questions of the cruise lines about how they mitigate some of the negatives.
Short-stay apartment rentals can have negative social impacts as well, and we've been guilty of that on previous visits. Having done some research, we've decided to stay in hotels going forward. It may not make much difference in the big picture, but better to spend a bit more to sleep with a clean(er) conscience...
