Top Maine port votes to limit cruise ships after residents complain about crowds

It is official: The largest cruise vacation spot in Maine will restrict the variety of cruisers that may arrive in any given month.

The city council of Bar Harbor, Maine, on Tuesday formally permitted an settlement with the cruise trade that locations caps on cruiser arrivals through the vacationer season of between 30,000 and 65,000 a month beginning in 2023.

The settlement, which is efficient instantly, additionally bans cruise ship arrivals through the shoulder-season tourism months of April and November.

“We now have had a transparent message from the general public that they need cruise ships decreased,” Bar Harbor city council member Erin Cough stated Tuesday prematurely of a five-to-two vote to log off on the settlement. “At this level, we have been requested by our group to do one thing, and that is our greatest effort at doing one thing that’s cheap, and we must always go for it.”

For extra cruise information, guides and suggestions, join TPG’s cruise newsletter

The vote occurred throughout a televised town council meeting after a rigorous debate over whether or not the city council ought to first maintain a public listening to on the specifics of the settlement. The council determined to not maintain a public listening to earlier than approving the settlement however voted to carry a question-and-answer session with the general public in October to elucidate the settlement.

The settlement limits cruiser arrivals to 30,000 monthly in Could and June; 40,000 monthly in July and August; and 65,000 monthly in September and October. These are the six months when cruise ships have historically visited Bar Harbor.

In the course of the dialogue, Bar Harbor metropolis supervisor Kevin Sutherland famous the capability of cruise ships presently booked to go to Bar Harbor in each September and October of 2023 already exceeds the brand new limits.

Sutherland stated the surplus ship arrivals could be allowed in 2023 as a result of they have been booked earlier than the settlement was permitted. However he stated the town had already begun telling cruise traces that shifting ahead it would not t take any new docking reservations for ship arrivals throughout these months of 2023.

As of now, there are cruise ships with a mixed capability of round 70,000 and 80,000 passengers scheduled to go to Bar Harbor in September and October of 2023, respectively, Sutherland stated.

Associated: The ultimate guide to picking a cruise line

“Different boats which have requested [dockings in September and October] usually are not being honored, and there are a number of of them,” Sutherland stated. “I’ve already had a couple of conversations with a number of the traces [to tell them that additional calls they are requesting] will not be accepted for 2023.”

Along with month-to-month caps on cruise ship arrivals, Bar Harbor has additionally applied each day passenger caps that vary from 3,500 to three,800 individuals a day, relying on the month.

U.S.-flagged cruise vessels that carry fewer than 200 passengers, such because the coastal cruise vessels operated by American Cruise Lines, are exempt from the each day limits.

Bar Harbor’s city council pursued an settlement with cruise traces to restrict cruiser arrivals resulting from rising unease within the city about hovering numbers of cruise guests. Some residents have referred to as for a whole ban on cruise ships, whereas others have wished to see important cutbacks in ship arrivals, citing rising congestion within the city.

Cruise ship arrivals to Bar Harbor have grown quickly lately, except 2020 and 2021, when the COVID-19-related shutdown of the cruise trade brought on ship arrivals to fall again.

In 2019, Bar Harbor welcomed 157 cruise ships that carried 250,164 passengers. This yr, projections have referred to as for 174 cruise ships to reach carrying 292,212 passengers.

In a 2021 survey of Bar Harbor residents and enterprise house owners, 55% of respondents stated they seen cruise ships as having a unfavorable impact in town.

Bar Harbor is only one of a rising variety of locations together with Key West, Florida, and Venice, Italy, the place residents have been calling for brand new limits on cruise ship arrivals, citing congestion and different detrimental results.

Bar Harbor residents may have an opportunity to vote on an much more restrictive coverage towards cruise ships in November. A citizen’s initiative that will restrict cruiser arrivals to 1,000 passengers per day is scheduled to be on the poll.

Cruise traces that function voyages with stops in Bar Harbor embody Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Holland America, Oceania Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Windstar Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Planning a cruise? Begin with these tales: