© Comitato NograndinaviCampaigners protest against tourists in Venice
Flare-waving protestors used gondolas and small boats to prevent cruise ships, including a vessel belonging to Thomson, from passing through the lagoon on Sunday.
During peak season some 30,000 cruise ship passengers disembark in Venice every day, which locals claim is ruining their city, both environmentally and culturally.
It's not the first time Venetians have tried to block cruise ships from entering the port. In 2013, hundreds of locals donned wetsuits and went for a swim in the world-famous Giudecca Canal to disrupt the passage of vessels.
Cruise ship operators claim their boats create little damage to Venice's fragile palazzi and reckon some 5,000 families in Venice are supported by the tourism they bring.
However, locals fear the influx of visitors is damaging the local environment, spoiling the character of Venice and pricing locals out of the city.
© AlamyFeeling welcome? Cruise passengers look on as Venetians vent at a previous protest
Venetians have been particularly vocal about their disdain for tourists in 2016. Earlier this month more than 500 locals took to the streets with shopping trolleys and pushchairs in a protest that was aimed at highlighting the negative effect mass tourism is having on the city.
And in August an anonymous protest group plastered posters on walls in the Unesco-listed city, reading: "Tourists Go Away!!! You Are Destroying This Area."
Around 22 million tourists visit Venice each year, annoying the dwindling number of locals by crowding narrow alleyways, barging onto water buses with backpacks and wandering around during the summer in bikini tops and shorts.
The number of visitors each day, 60,000, now exceeds the number of Venetians.
A fact-finding mission to Venice by Unesco officials in 2015 found that "the capacity of the city, the number of its inhabitants and the number of tourists is out of balance and causing significant damage" to the city.
giving passing ships the 'finger' is pointless, as those tourists on board can't see the doing so, just a faint figure in the distance.. they need to take it to the streets themselves, but mostly to their govt centers, and if they have the votes, then get rid of those govt puppets working for the tourist industry in Venice and not the rest of the people.... as most tourist areas do indeed get overwhelmed to the point that many of the tourists themselves seek better locales.... it's just part of the process, and the industry and govt puppets won't stop until it crashes and forces things... same as always, everywhere.