Cruise companies went all in on the mega ship idea to cram more people on, now they are finding out not everyplace wants 4,000 from one ship invading the town for a day.
As someone who lives in a tourist area, I think Airbnb is a bigger issue than day tourists. Many of the homes and apartments in my area are now just Airbnbs. That makes it much harder for locals to buy or rent a place to live, and ruins the character of our neighborhoods. Day tourists spend money and go home - a good thing for our local economy.
Do you live in an area where cruise ships call? In Southeast Alaska, year round housing is impacted by AirBnB, but even moreso by the thousands of non-resident seasonal employees required to staff the shore excursions, shops, and other cruise businesses, all of them wanting inexpensive seasonal housing.
I despise Airbnb, I don't live in a tourist area but a small lake neighborhood in Texas. We have little turnover of homes, the last three have been snapped up by greedy investors and turned into short term rentals. We have had to call the sheriff due to renters trespassing onto our property. Airbnb is no help at all when you complain.
A lot of the the time the money doesn't go to the local economy as the shops/tours are all tied to the cruise lines in one way, shape or form. That's actually one of the reasons for protests in Alaska.
The backlash is not surprising. I remember visiting Santorini with five ships in port, - somewhere in the region of 20,000+ visitors. It was total gridlock, Nobody moving quickly anywhere. The megaships have killed the cruising golden goose.
I did that too, this summer. I think we had 5 ships, but it might have been 6. Was a complete waste, and I 100% understand that people protest that sort of stuff.
I agree, too! Hopefully, this will convince the major cruise lines to begin building more smaller, clean fuel ships, as people have been asking for some time. This could propel that change. 😊
@@kellybowe354 Re Fuel the cruise ships carry two fuel types, the cheap and nasty for the high sea and cleaner more expensive for port. If regulations apply that is.
I agree with Venice banning ships. Having stayed in Venice many times over 40 years, seeing the enormous ships being towed down the Giudecca was frightening. And Venice is absolutely tiny, as a city.
@@notinterested6343 If you knew anything about the issue of Venice sinking, you'd know that cruise ships have actually been found to have a negative impact on the foundations of the buildings. The movement of massive amounts of water, combined with the added water pollution, have a detrimental effect. Plus the thousands of passengers every day adding to the use of motorboats which also damage the foundations.
@@quicksesh No, Venice was sinking well before cruise ships. The interesting one is that they tried to do some engineering about it and it didn't work or had to be rectified. So maybe mismanagement is a greater issue. Where is all the money going?
@@le13579 you are partially correct. Yes Venice has been sinking for centuries but the advent of large vessels in the canal cause the rate of sinking to increase exponentially. The reason is that large vessels displace a massive amount of water and as they progress forwards this volume of water moves, in a narrow channel this pushes a volume of water forwards and up and the sheer weight of it starts to undermine the pilings, stonework and protection around the buildings. Add this to the lateral wave pattern caused by a volumetric hull, which causes further surface erosion, you have a big problem. The defence you mentioned was more to do with the aqua alta, and was a flood protection (not a protection to the sinking) and yes, due to engineering mistakes, corrupt local officials it has been an unmitigated disaster, but the aqua alta is an occurrence that happens when specific criteria are met, whereas the sinking is on going and exacerbated by the large vessels displacing and pushing the water each time they transit.
As an example, Old Dubrovnik & Kotor are each a mile or so square. They can’t handle 6-8K people dropping in for 5 hrs. Dubrovnik has 3 rubber ducky stores but no hardware store & only a couple of small groceries. It is in danger of losing its World Heritage status because of the daily influx of tourists, primarily cruisers. AirBnB is a different issue. They don’t pay hotel taxes, and more importantly, have reduced available housing all around the world making it more expensive for locals not only to rent but to buy a home.
AirBnB is definitely the worst aspect of tourism for residents because it removes long term rentals for locals and it basically turns them into hotels without the taxes that hotels pay. There's a reason that there are zoning regulations in cities and that hotels are not allowed in residential areas. Cities have to make sure that their citizens have available housing and don't have to move hours away to find any affordable housing
@@nataliajimenez1870 I agree completely. I live in a tourist-friendly city with Air BnB restrictive laws but the apartment building I live in has several Air BnBs, including the apartment above me which creates all sorts of noise issues for me as well. In order to prosecute the owners of these apartments, the police need evidence, including ongoing advertising but the owners have developed some clever tricks to ensure their ads are not visible unless absolutely necessary for bookings. It's been 6 years now and I can't consistently find the ad to help with prosecution of the offenders.
@@notyourtypicalwatchreview2563 It depends on the local government. In my town all visitors, regardless of their accommodation, have to pay a nightly tourist tax.
How ironic that the cruise lines keep building bigger ships with more passengers when the ports have started limiting the size of ships and the number of passengers/tourists per day.
I do not blame them one bit. The cruise ships are getting too big. Two mega-ships in a port can really swamp the locals. The solution is to Bring back smaller ships.
Yep I think so too!...Like Gary highlighted - many of these destinations do not have the space and/or the infrastructure to accommodate both the locals and the thousands that can show up suddenly if a couple of mega ships pull into port. Also - swamping some of these destinations with thousands of visitors in a short space of time - will only damage what makes these destinations so prized by the people who live there and the tourists who want to visit (so everyone loses - i.e. the people who call these places home, and the people who would love to visit, and the companies that operate these ships). I think if some of these cruise ship companies spent more time thinking about the long term sustainability of their business model when it comes to some of these destinations (instead of maybe being to focused on short term returns?) - then maybe we would see less mega vessels and more modestly sized ships being launched (maybe the ship development could include time spent forging working partnerships between both different cruise lines as well as the areas the companies would like their ships to operate so that the number of ships/passengers visiting an area in a particular season would be capped to a reasonable amount; based on Gary's overview - it does seem like things are trending in that direction...what I find surprising though is that when cruise ship companies ordered some of these mega-ships in the first place, they couldn't foresee the issue...or maybe they did and just ignored the potential problems)....
I agree! Also for the Central and Local Governments to clearly consider what is economically and structurally viable for the local community and get that information out quickly. It’s not for us as tourists to decide which places are the ones we’ll be welcome at! Sooner or later, as a result of the protests, someone will get hurt! (Because people will be people)! 😮
@@DC-id2ihthe bottom line for the mega cruise ship companies is money! Cram on more people, generate more revenue! It’s potentially a dangerous model, really. People are so unpredictable and policing so many must be a nightmare! Once one cruise line does it (Royal Caribbean), then ALL of the other cruise lines HAVE TO follow! Even British Cruise Line P&O have Arvia now - 5,000 capacity I think (not sure, it’s probably more - spending most of the time based in the Caribbean (Barbados) and doing the short money making island hopping trips. No one can depend on their self governance, when their focus is money making!
yes, bring back smaller ones and also we need to go back to the era when the flag of your ship had to match where the owner is from.... I would never go on one of those FoC ships like Royal Carribbean etc. Only Linbad/Nat Geo (the four of theirs that are US Flag), Costa, Holland America, Viking, Aida, Ponant, the UK flagged ships on P&O and the US Flag ship on NCL (Pride of America). 🙂
@@caroleceres YES!!!!!....sigh...unfortunately an all too common phenomenon in so many industries (i.e. hyper focus on short term profits and/or investor returns at the expense of the long term health of the organization)...
Cruise-lines only have themselves to blame. In 2023 I went on a cruise in the Mediterranean. One port was Santorini. On the same morning 3 other ships also arrived there. So, 4 large cruise ship, dumping thousands of people on the small area of Santorini. We didn’t even bother getting off, just enjoying the view from the ship.
Same with us in September 2023. The line for the gondola was 2 hours. So we grabbed a Greek salad and Saganaki on the dock and headed back to our ship. We’ve been there before so it wasn’t that painful of a decision. Some people say take a shore excursion that will drop you off in town. But the gondola queue was 2 hours getting down.
@@wenchefauske6898 In fact they do regulate it. There is a limit on the number of cruiseships on any day. And next year they want number even going down.
As a Pilot working in a cruise port, I can tell you that the cruise companies have only themselves to blame for some of the local resistance. In my port, to get from the ship to the main city the cruise companies were charging passengers $30 pp on their buses. If the passengers walked to the local bus stop, they could get a local City bus for $2. Of course, word spread via social media. Within a week of the first ships arriving at the restart after Covid, the local buses were completely full of cruise passengers. Locals trying to get to work in the city watched the buses pass their stops full. This persisted for months. A sure way to breed distrust of this industry and once trust is lost, it's very very hard to get it back.
@@pilotg2426we love watching the Pilots embarking on the ships, we try and spot it happening. We admire the sheer nerve it takes to time it right for the rope ladder. We don't like the way ships are getting bigger at all.
The cruise industry needs this wake up call. Stop concentrating on increasing ship size, and start thinking about a quality experience for paying customers. Yes, this includes Ports of Call that aren't uncomfortably crowded and unreceptive to cruise travellers.
As someone that lives near one of the small cruise ports, I welcome the restrictions. The mega ships bring in way too many people, while most are polite, we are seeing more and more entitled jerks. We live here for a reason, and while we welcome tourists and visitors, we cannot handle 3-5 cruise ships at a time. We don't have the infrastructure or space.
I can understand 3-5 ships at the same time is a lot. As a passenger it is not so much fun either, i.m.h.o. Since it is not possible to enjoy the place & culture in this way as I think is the case for you as a resident as well. I as a tourist experience it a day you everyday. I live in a very touristy place and do appreciate and recognize what tourism can bring, but also what negative comes with that. I do think the way to accomplish change is through local government.
@@SoloonaCruisethat’s absolutely the correct approach! Local government should be advising Central Government, so that both the HEALTH as well as the Wealth of the resident community is considered. If X number of ships are given permission to dock at any one time, then they will! I hope that these protests aid in stimulating that discussion and decision making.
Something like Hurtigurten is a good solution. At least I can stay assured the locals are more comfortable with, and well rewarded for their hospitality, even if it means extra cost. Unfortunately these are not usually available. Say, for Alaska I doubt the Marine Highway ferry appeals to anyone other than backpackers, but even that is very limited - between Juneau / Glacier Bay to Whitter you actually have to take a cruise, as AMH services are suspended there.
I am not a fan of the “mega” ships. Too many people. We stopped in Grand Cayman and spoke with the locals. The port can’t support the larger ships mainly because they tender people into port and do not have a true dock.
@@yt_energy Celebrity Millennium at 2,200-passengers is the largest ship I have sailed, but that was two decades ago, and since then I have sailed only on ships of 1,000 or fewer in passengers.
With all due respect, you are part of the problem too. If 5,000 show up, it doesn’t matter much if the come on one ship or five. As they say, you aren’t in traffic, you are traffic.
the big problem with cruises is that everything is done so that cruisers spend only on board the ship and not in the port of call, so it's normal that no one is interested in tourists who leave only a few bucks a day in a city that's suffocating with tourists.
One big cause is all these " I'll build the biggest ship" and the race to 7000+ passenger ships, they swamp the town, and then another big ship coming in on top of it. These cruise companies have only themeslfs to blame
But the irony is .. they built these ships for a very specific market, with the intention that the ship was the destination and you remained on board to have even more dollars liberated from your pocket, then it all got a bit out of hand with all the mass market companies building their own fleet of mega ships, but the market they were intended for got saturated, so they peddled these vessels around other regions, and now it is a mess..
They probably ideally want the passengers to stay on the ship. Which works when cruising to beaches in the Caribbean... stay on ship, go out to the beach for the day, not feeling the beach one day, explore the ship... but might not work for people who care about the ports. I'll be going on the Sky Princess to see the eclipse in 2026, and I might not get off the ship at all ports depending on how crowded it's likely to be. Seeing Spain would be nice, but being squashed in tourist towns is not nice. Fortunately the ship seems like there will be enough to do there for me to not worry about it.
@oliverstemp9132 you would still be cruising moving around water. Cruisers disdain land resorts with lots of local sightseeing, and activities. So it just be that water motion they want.
A huge 6,000 ship emptied out into Portland Maine it was horrendous for this small town in New England. We were staying there for a week and witnessed the day before and the day after what a difference!
Absolutely right. And as they are all inclusive the passengers spend almost nothing in local places,but take lots of photos and often act in a very entitled was while contributing nothing.
@@domp51From 2022 The City of Portland charges cruise ships a flat fee of $13 per person on board. Using the capacity projections on the 2023 schedule, the city can expect to make between $18,616 and $58,500 in 2023 on each ship carrying more than 1,000 passengers. Should this referendum pass and these ships seek alternative ports, the City of Portland could expect to lose somewhere between $1.2 million and $3.9 million in tax revenue. Passengers’ spending while in port also makes a significant financial impact. It was estimated by Digital Research Inc. that, on average, a cruise ship passenger spends approximately $70 while on shore. In total, it was determined that those disembarking from cruise ships spent $13.3 million shopping, $7.7 million on dining, $2.2 million on entertainment, $1.5 million on transportation, and $4.3 million on other expenses.
@@coolbreeze253 it was swamped as cruise visitors didn’t travel more than 1/4 mile square from the Port apart from a limited number of small excursions.
Conversely not much of an experience/value for the Tourists. eg There are only so many Tour guides etc. The mega-ships are looking at 8-9000 pax PER ship.
When we visited Noumea the reception staff told us "stay in the hotel on Sunday if you can. It's the day that cruise ships come in and locals hate them so everyone is grumpy"
Part of the problem that I haven't really heard expressed is that many of the Cities where Mega Ships arrive and drop 8000 tourists who come and use facilities, maybe buy lunch, a few baubles and get back on the Ship for Dinner and sail away. Many of these cities already have a very lucrative Land Tourist Business. Those Tourists spend on all their meals at local Restaurants, Transportation and extremely high room rates in season. The crowds that pack these cities interfere with the experience of those Land Tourists paying thousands of dollars more. Not only are the Cruise Passengers overcrowding and spend very little while in Port but because of the overcrowding, they are chasing many of the Lucrative Land Tourists away. I know first hand that this is a problem for Key West and Bar Harbor, Maine. I suspect it is for many more Port Cities.
Since you brought that up. Last year I went to Bar Harbor, I drove. 1 day a NCL ship came in I just came in from a boat tour before lunch. You had to push your way through the crowds on the streets. I luckily found a spot to eat and went to the local buses to get back to the hotel. I went into town another time. That town is too small for ships no wonder they don’t want ships there. That was the only one that week. I could imagine that town with 2 at the same time and the national park.
We did a road trip around New England a few years back and naively didn't realise that Bar Harbor was a cruise ship hot-spot; we were there 3 nights and couldn't do any of the whale watching and some other trips as the cruise lines had booked them out weeks/months in advance. We tend to avoid major cruise destinations now when land travelling.
I don’t blame those cities. Cruise ships are getting way too big. I always sail on medium size ships preferably less than 2000 passengers but even that can be a lot of people visiting a city. I prefer to cruise in the off season when the ship I’m on may be the only one at the port. We are more welcome then and we also enjoy having fewer people around.
We stayed on Fuerteventura this spring, visited Puerto Del Rosario and it was a lovely little town. Went back the 2nd week of our stay, there were 3 cruise ships in the port. The town was swamped, the beach was packed, but hardly anyone in the local shops and restaurants spending money.
5 ships in one port 5,000 per ship is 25,000 people in one port. That's insane. Imagine stepping out your front door were you live and seeing 25,000 people who don't care about your privacy or property walking across your front lawn every day!
Sure but that can be managed. Either only one in the morning and one in the afternoon or one per day. Not cancelling. Or limiting the number of people allowed off the ship
@@smvsspould. A sports match is attended mostly by people from the area or within that region/country, and it’s only a few hours, what, once in a couple or three weeks? All at one venue (the sports stadium) So why are you comparing two very different things ?
@@sorbabaric1 Where I live (Orlando, FL) there is either a NBA game or concert at the KIA center at least 3-4 days per week and it holds 18,000. Plus a block away from that there's a soccer stadium that hosts 2-3 events a week that holds 12,000 and another block away is a football stadium that holds 50,000+ that has events 2-3 times per month. Not to mention Disney World that has upwards of 100,000 visitors per day, Universal with over 80,000 per day and seaworld with 25,000 per day. Sometimes they all operate at the same time. On those days, if I'm not going to one of those events I avoid the areas and take different routes but have never complained that I live in a city with a lot of crowds and a lot of people.
Last year, I went on a ship holding 6500 passengers. It was a truly dreadful experience .I’m going back to the smaller ships now. The craze toward bigger and bigger vessels will burn itself out, hopefully.
I fully understand why these ports are trying to control the number of tourist. We went to Santorini for the 2nd time in June 2024. You could barely walk through some of the alleys it was so insanely crowded. Was not an enjoyable experience. The 1st time we went in 2014 it was wonderful. We also went to Dubrovnik on the 2024 trip and while there were decent crowds it was not overcrowded. Difference was that Dubrovnik had instituted restrictions on the number of cruise ship passengers per day.
I was in the Merchant Marine in the 70's to 80's and each port was like an old familiar neighborhood. Not crowded. We had our favorite cafes, restaurants and hot spots that we made the rounds of. We might be the only two or three Americans in that port. Then, one day in Toulon, France while sitting at our favorite outdoor cafe enjoying a chef recommended meal, there was a new MacDonalds across the street. And that was the beginning of the end of my love of travel. We looked at each other, shook our heads in despair.
Mega ships are ruining it for all of us. Those huge ships should just ‘cruise’ around and let their passengers partake of all the amusements and activities onboard.
There's no need for mega cruise ships. They are like traveling shopping malls/theme parks, at some point you have to ask what the point is. Just stay home and go to Six Flags if that is what you want. Or, just let those ships putter around at sea without calling at ports. When I travel to Europe, I fly into one spot and then I use the trains to get around the continent. I get around just like the locals - I walk, I ride the public bus, I ride the train. I wouldn't do it any other way.
I shake my head when I see cruise ships the size of small cities. If you think about it from the perspective of the locals, 5 or 6 mega ships descending on one port in one day is like an invasion. In Europe, these places have been around for centuries, if not millenia, so losing out on tourism dollars is not an existential threat to them. I did not enjoy my stop in Santorini as part of my Med cruise...most of the few precious hours I had there were spent in long lines or battling crowds. There has to be a better way to manage this.
These cities welcome the smaller ships flooding in 10s of thousand illegals a day that bring in nothing. All negative cash flow. Glad I took the failing continent off my list of places I would like to go to.
What did they think was going to happen when they built the docks for such mega ships? They didn't magically appear ready for 5-6 megaships. They just didn't like what they signed up for (which is fine).
We canceled an October cruise because there were going to be 14,000 cruisers in Santorini and 16,000 in Barcelona; too many big ships have ruined the cruise experience…
It must be pretty awful to live somewhere where thousands of tourists get dropped off on your doorstep daily, and the shops and restaurants cater to tourists not locals
We have said for a long time the mega ships will be banned and multiple ships at one time is ridiculous. Where ever we have stopped, I always make sure that we buy something other than just a beer or coffee to aid in actual income to the areas. Too many people just rush back to the ship for food etc and never actually experience where they are. Cruise lines only have themselves to blame for this.
It's definitely the fault of the greedy cruise lines building massive ships holding thousands of passengers. I don't blame any country or region for banning or limiting them. This can't be sustained.
The problem is the amount of people on the ships getting off all at the same time for a few hours, not spending much money, just clogging the ports up. I get why the local are not happy. It's got out of hand and the cruise ships are going to start having problems with quotas being applied.
Soon these new Mega ships can only sail to their Private Islands. Suits me as for me cruising is about exploring the world, not a floating resort going to a private resort. I will stay away from these MegaShips. Bring back the smaller ships to new exotic destinations.
Same We went to Japan and sailed on Celebrity Millennium and even at 24 years old (with at least 2 upgrades) it was a perfect size not so big I was worried when my teens ran off in the evening to the teen room and still big enough so everyone had something to do most of the time.
@@LMFuquaHow was the cruise? We are on the September 12th sailing of Millennium out of Yokohama. We are flying in one week early to explore Tokyo area before cruise.
@MB-uy5kh It was fantastic. We want to go back as soon as possible. We loved the ship and we loved each port. Our favorite day was Osaka and Nara. (We stayed 2 days in Osaka and spent half of one of those days in Nara highly recommended.) Every port was lovely as was the staff.
While I fully support locals protesting cruise ships, they should get to say what their city does, what I do not support at all is the harassment and assault of those who do go and yes squirting someone with water is assault as minor as it sounds. The locals should protest their governments, they should protest the elected officials, not those who are just doing what the local government has said is OK to do.
The cruise industry wields enormous power, unified through CLIA, with offices in all key cruise regions. Unfortunately, ordinary citizens don't have equal seats at the table. If we're talking assault, the cruise industry assaults our air with massive levels of pollution that is forced upon every citizen who is breathing. The assault us with noise from ships and from all of the tours related to ships. They assault us with crowds that make it impossible to transit our city at a pace of someone living there, not visiting. If you cannot bear being squirted with water as part of legal protesting against overtourism and cruise tourism, then perhaps you should be much more aware of how you travel and where you choose to go. When you choose to book a cruise, you are supporting the massive industry that is cruise and that has been forcing itself, on its terms, onto communities.
@@karlahart_AK Air pollution by cheap bunker fuel is a problem and banned in some Australian ports,These Ships carry two types, Also provision of electrical power at the terminals is becoming available.
@@karlahart_AK it is not the cruise passengers fault that they are being allowed to visit such places as yours. I get that ordinary local citizens don't sit on the board with CLIA but that doesn't mean you don't have power. Your government has power, you protest your government with regard to the assault your all facing as a result of these cruise ships, you don't assault innocent people, are you folks not civilized?! Perhaps the port you live in is part of an itinerary that does welcome cruisers and so as a result if a person wants to see those other ports your port is part of it. Believe you me, I will be happy to stay on board the ship and indulge in the luxuries there as opposed to handing folks like you MY hard earned cash. When tourism has stopped and that has typically been a good part of the economy will yous now be bribing folks to return?! I live in a resort town. Our economy is tourism, without it we will become a ghost town. Every year can be a struggle indeed, and it's always a relief when the season is over, but those winter months can be long and devastating if tourism was down as reserves to get through the winter will also be down. All that said, I do enjoy the smaller ships, and would definitely support and advocate a more environmentally friendly fuel system.
The elected officials of the local government want the bans as well. Have you not been paying attention? And causing inconvenience for others is a standard way of bringing protests to attention. The only people who are against that are often people who do not want to say they are against that cause, so they say they are against the inconvenience.
When it was 1500-2000 passengers per ship, and 1-2 ships per day, no one complained. But 5 ships with 4000-6000 passengers each? Totally overwhelmning to the local infrastructure and frankly the quality of life for locals. My small town gets inundated with visitors from the Alaska sailings, and it has completely changed the type of shops on our main street.
I was in Barcelona on a cruise and even being off season there were numerous ships there. The crowds in town were just madding it hard on everyone. The cruise industry should get together and police itself because it's becoming intolerable for these ports.
My transatlantic ended in Barcelona in mid April. This time we stayed for 5 days before heading to other destinations. This stay was dreadful as the city was over run by tourists…yes I appreciate the irony.
I went on a large ship cruise about 15 years ago throughout the Mediterranean. Even when we went in late September all the cities we went to were super crowded. We switched to river boat cruises. I 100% support locals wanting to limit these huge ships unloading thousands of tourists a day.
The answer to excess demand is usually higher prices. Seems like dramatically higher port fees would be the answer, rather than trying to guess at the appropriate number of visitors. Charge what you need to charge to support the infrastructure, and the megaships likely go away.
Though not in a port, I do live in a huge tourist area, and I honestly get it. Tourism needs to be well managed for a good balance between visitors and locals.
The largest ships will eventually just be floating resorts which are unable to visits any ports apart from the uome port. They will just sail out for say 7 days and back again.
They eat on board, drink on board then swarm the little streets like an ant infestation and buy a coffee, maybe. Then they run back to the boat, eat dinner and play bingo! They never patronise a restaurant and order some wine. No way.
@@travelingthediaspora7996 You did. I’m talking about the majority, the vast majority. That’s the biggest complaint with these cities. Local businesses get no patronage and all cruise ship passengers do is clog up their streets with badly dressed Americans in chino and white shorts. Locals aren’t stupid. If passengers or any tourists put down serious coin then nobody would complain.
As ports become more exclusive, booking fewer ships, the cost of cruises will rise even more. Supply vs demand. The French Polynesian islands have also banned ships in the lagoons too.
@@kellyalvarado6533 exact , still i don't like those megaships but it is clear that "tourism" will be banned in future... only the very rich will be allowed to travel, and for me this will soon be the case for airplanes to
@@kellyalvarado6533 No. The wealthy, and also the true back-packer visitors, can stay awhile to actually experience a genuine destination, while the entitled day-trippers who just want their tick-box selfie pics can enjoy their bogus mega-ship faux-glam atmosphere and leave local cultures be.
Selfishly I say after twenty years of cruising, I’m glad to have gotten to visit so many ports. I agree some ports are now impossible to enjoy cause we are the problem. On that note, my kids and grandkids won’t have the same experience of cruising, but fortunately four generations of us manage to find a few places to be together with the locals.
Mega ships lost their shirt by building massive piles of junk and now no where to go. Many cruise lines will go bankrupt what a waste of investment. Passengers don't spend much time and money in port, just walk around and back to the buffet.
Thanks Gary, great info. If the ports don't want cruise ships with thousands of people, there's a reason or reasons for this. Good for the towns affected. If a person want to visit these places, take a car or a flight and stay a few days.
I do agree that the mega ships have contributed to the problem, however, so has the increased number of cruise ships in general and the post Covid travel surge. However, one of the biggest problems is Air B&B. This has caused a tremendous shortage of affordable housing for locals in many tourist destinations. Many landlords have realized they can make a lot more money with short term rentals and corporations are scooping up condos and turning them into Air B & Bs. Local governments can stop this trend by passing ordinances that probibit short term rentals.
You have a point in terms of apartment buildings, however, it's worth taking a moment to understand that some short-term-let property owners have perhaps one modest studio in their own home to let for much needed income. Such a person may not be able to undertake the risk of a lease which would afford broad rights to a tenant. In my jurisdiction the tenant holds every privilege, and my elder relation, who is dependent on an income, is not able to (once again) suffer multiple Ks losses from canny chancers who know how to game the system to their advantage. The state doesn't want to know, so a vulnerable landlord learns a costly lesson, and their available rental is withdrawn in favour of lower risk lets.
My Florida resort community HOA called for a vote after many complaints and as a result, we ended short term rentals and problems we were having with noisy misbehaving short term renters disappeared. 5 income homes were sold to new homeowners and 2 others were turned into long term [6 month minimum] rentals. Life is peaceful again.
I'm all for restricting all mega ships. Spain, Greece, Italy, they're all correct; between Airbnb and the megaships, these beautiful places have become nightmares.
I think it is the mega ships that have caused this push back. When ships were around 2k passengers, having several in port was not too bad. Increase the capacity to 4500 passenger or more and several on port becomes untenable for them. Bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to cruise ships.
Over tourism is a real problem and I can understand why ports are targeting cruise ships before other forms of tourism as cruise ship passengers bring far less revenue and benefit to the local economy vs overnight guests. Airbnb/vrbo etc are also to blame as not only to the balloon the number of tourists, but they restrict the housing market and inflate rents/housing costs exponentially. I'm not sure where the ebst balance is but all parties need to come together before tourism craters and leads local economies into recession
I agree with the locals. About 30 years ago I was in Aruba when 3 ships docked and its was a circus of drunken fools clogging up the streets, restaurants, bars and shops. No one needs to put up with that foolsihness.
Local communities have every right to restrict the size and number of groups visiting whether that is via ship, bus, train or private transport. Cruise ships have brought on the problems by increasing the size, yes, but also lowering expectations on what is expected from some cruise ship passengers as well as lowered pricing. Not all lines but certainly some. People have forgotten it is a privilege to travel and be welcomed into another city or country. They don’t owe it to you or me. If enough people continue to be entitled, crass or downright tacky, we will find it isn’t just mega ships they don’t welcome…it’s all of us.
Thank you for your information. Frankly, I’m happy about it. I was in Juneau last summer and there were more than 10 ships in Port. It took about 45 minutes to get into town and there were way too many people on the streets walking around to be enjoyable. I got on the next shuttle back and went back to the ship. The restrictions will just force me to plan ahead further in the future, and that’s just fine.
we have only just started cruising, but avoid the megaships purely for this reason, I imagine 5 arriving in one day is total hell, we usually sail on ships with a maximum of 3k passengers (which is still a lot in our eyes), but in some places this is still too many. Perhaps these resorts will realise that they need some tourism and rather than banning completely will all go the route of setting a reduced number of passengers at any one time, giving kudos to the smaller ships and lines that promote this. It will make cruising more expensive, but hopefully more pleasurable for both passenger and more importantly the places we visit.
The cruise lines have invested heavily in the past couple of years in these mega ship monstrosities. Its all about raking in the $$$ for them, but its interesting to see the ports dont want them coming in.
Very interesting. So what I am getting a picture of from your videos is that cruise companies have gone so big countries don't want them in too big a numbers. Combine that with the ones deemed too dangerous to go to. The ones that you didn't actually visit in the first place, just a toy island off the coast. And you are left with floating palaces travelling around and handing you a set of binoculars so you can get a glimpse of a country sailing past at a safe distance. Or you could save lots of money and fly to an actual country for a holiday.
Eventually, cruise lines will start offering trips to nowhere. Basically, embark, head out into international waters, and then anchor for a week. Saves a ton of fuel, lots to do on the boats and anything goes. Pricnig for those cruises could be much less than anything offered AND the cruise lines have captive wallets. Can't see it going any other way...
One issue - in the United States (a large cruise market) foreign flagged ships (which are nearly every cruise ship in the world) must make a stop at a foreign port before returning to the United States. On my Alaska cruise last year this was Victoria in British Columbia, Canada and a lot of cruises out of Florida stop in Nassau in the Bahamas for this reason.
@@mikebarnes2294 Interesting, I did not know that. So then "Cruises to nowhere" will either have to include a stop in Bahamas (or closest foreign port) OR start flying an American flag to skip the charade. I doubt the flag change will happen due to tax and liability issues but I stand by the idea of going nowhere fast...
This is concerning! We are taking our first Mediterranean cruise in early September- leaving from Athens and returning to Barcelona! We have booked two nights in each of those cities at the beginning and end of our cruise. Now I’m wondering if we will be welcome or mistreated there!
I guess that you'll be welcomed by those that earn from your staying, but I don't think you'll be harassed by the locals. Just bear in mind that we hate what overtourism - cruise ships, but mostly Airbnbs - is doing to the cities, with rents for houses skyrocketing and the local economy aggressively targeting tourists. 5000 people overcrowding the city for a few hours is not our main concern, the unbearable cost of living and the fear of seeing our cities turned into theme parks is.
As someone that enjoys cruising and enjoys the really large ships due to the amount of onboard amenity space, I think all these towns are actually being perfectly reasonable. Cruise companies need to order ships that are smaller but still provide a high quality experience
The cruise lines keep almost all the tourism dollars and the communities get very little. I can see the restrictions becoming more and more and more. I see ports charging 4100 to $200 per passenger for cruise ships to dock in the near future
I understand locals wanting to limit tourism of all kinds. I used to live near Tombstone, Arizona and it could get crazy crowded. Fun story: I was meeting a friend in a bar and got there before him. I ordered a draft beer and paid the bartender the $7. It was higher than I would’ve paid outside of Tombstone, but everything is more expensive in a tourist town. Later I ordered another beer and he says $7, my buddy says, “No she’s local.” The bartender apologized and said “$2.50”. 😂😂
A very thought provoking video, Gary. We have sailed exclusively with Cunard and had the pleasure of meeting you and Mark. We have thoroughly enjoyed the cruising experience both at sea and in port. This year we are taking our first not-Cunard cruise, sailing on P&O's Arvia. While I am looking forward to the cruise, I am dreading the thought of 5,000+ people herding off the ship and swamping the ports. I will let you know how it goes.
I swapped my Arvia cruise for an Arcadia one. I truly didn’t fancy flying to and from the Caribbean (8 hours), before and especially after the cruise. Hopefully my final P&O cruise… I hope that you won’t be dismayed by it and are able to enjoy all that it has to offer. Just the thought of walking for “miles” to get to the restaurants is daunting. Now that we’ve experienced Saga ships, we won’t be going elsewhere. 🤗
I think one of the reasons is cruise passengers don’t always use too much money on the place they visit. Compared to tourists staying in local hotels, eating at restaurants and shopping in local stores and therefore contributing more to the local economy. However, the good thing is that cruise passengers don’t contribute to the AirBnB problem.
All these cruise lines that keep building bigger and bigger ships are not thinking it through! I can’t blame these ports for not welcoming so many cruise passengers. Will be sailing in Europe next summer- Viking Cruises - less than 1,000 passengers.
Here in Japan, while overtourism is becoming a thing, cruising is actually reletively welcomed, because unlike land based tourists, cruise passengers are spread out to more remote areas, and don't cramp with the local on the streets or trains, But I guess the fact that cruise industry is still pristine helps. Many in Japan or Asia in general may not even have an idea of what cruising is. Smaller ships are deployed by the big lines, that MSC Bellissima and Quantum class of RCL are considered "megaship". A Disney Wish-class can easily take the crown of largest domestic ship because, well, the current record holder is a sister ship of Crystal. Can't imagine how much backlash if we receive even half of what Barcelona have today.
Took a Princess Cruise to the Med last summer (2023). In Gibraltar as we navigated the clogged streets and floods of tourists in a pedestrian traffic jam in 100 degree heat, we felt like salmon swimming upstream.... not that fun. Shops were jammed with loookiloos not spending money. I remember asking my husband what on earth the locals did to avoid this miserable mess. One cool thing we did on our own though was the museum in Gibraltar. It has AC and was basically empty. We spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around. I lived in a tourist town and we would time our errands so as not to get caught in ferry traffic. Lots of cursing if we got stuck behind the lines of tourists. I think then year I worked on the ferries we had 5 million people come through our teeny islands and towns. I totally understand the frustration. Somehow there needs to be a balance.
Can’t blame them one bit. Cruise ships and their passengers have worn out their welcome in many places. You would think that the cruise industry might have seen this coming, but I’m sure that their vision was clouded by greed.
I just don't understand who thought it was a good idea to drop THOUSANDS of people in a port at one time for a few hours! I cannot imagine what a nightmare the new mega ships are for local infrastructure and logistics.
I love all the commenters saying, “I sail on smaller ships and can’t possibly be part of the problem. It’s all those giant cruise ship people that are the issue.”
Yes, it's a little funny, all the commenters who are fully behind banning cruise ships and tourists, apparently without thinking about the fact that it means them too.
well, the whole reason they have to have these restrictions is the large ships. If no cruise ship had more than 500 people you wouldn't have the issue. 🙂 Like a Ponant ship (French flag) or National Geographic (US Flag), they have fewer than 200 passengers. 🙂 I support limiting the total number of passengers, which would mean a limit on number of ships as well. 🙂 Although I have yet to go on a cruise. I normally just fly to places. I was in the Navy, though. (but I was on a Trident (ohio class submarine), they don't go into foreign ports, and the fast attack submarine I was on was in drydock the whole time lol (only on that boat for 9 months)). Submarines only have 100 enlisted and 20 officers. 🙂
To be fair Japan regulates the size of ships and those ports rarely seem as crowded. While yes, there's a ton of Japanese land tourism, it's not so heavy at the ports and port cities to make seeing the sites you want hard.
We’re booked next month for Alaska. However, honestly I agree with local citizens. Mega ships and bad behavior have earned cruise passengers our well deserved reputation.
Private island disease has struck. The country collects a hefty port fee for folks never setting foot n their land! Paying a $25 port fee for CocoCay is extortion created by RCL and the island’s government. We need well behaved cruisers and valid cruise ports.
I have been on Korfu with 6 other cruise ships in the harbor. It was terrible, overcrowded. Never again. I can understand that regulations. One ship a day, that's enough.
At least Barcelona being a home base for alot of ships benifits from jobs in provisioning the ships, guests staying in hotels before/ after trips, and airport taxes from coming in and out of town. If your town is just a cruise port where tourists are dumped off to take some pictures and hang out on the beach, it doesn't generate much economic impact.
A couple of issues ive seen first hand in Funchal, Madeira are:Packed lunches - i get it, youve paid for your holiday and the meals are part of that. But when you flood into a relatively small place but the only money you spend is for a coffee or a drink because youve brought your own food the people hardest hit are the small businesses. I've even seen people arguing with restaurant staff because they order a drink but want to eat their own packed lunch at the table! The other one, very obvious in Funchal in the Mercado dos Lavradores, are the rush of people wanting to take photos but not buying anything. Yes the displays of food are incredibly picturesque but those people who are wearing local costume are actually trying to sell a product which deteriorates if handled heavily or doesnt sell. At least buy a piece of fruit to eat! Don't just crowd out actual customers to try all the samples and take photos and then leave.
I wonder if US tourism is the problem? You have all of the mega ships, very few small ships and the highest number of people to accommodate in a small window of time. The numbers to be accommodated are phenomenal! Comparatively speaking, the USA has the largest customer base. So I’m guessing that you will feel the impact more than others. 😏
@@caroleceresThe majority of US cruising is from Florida to the Caribbean, which is better designed to handle the mega ships with private islands. Florida is already designed around a tourist based economy.
I understand the local population. This spring I was in Valencia Duvrovnik and Barcelona and those cities were a nightmare. Several cruises docked the same day. Horrible. Also I understand the people who live in the cities were there is an embarcation day due to the AirBnB
@@briangasser973 Alaska is has been on the same limited schedule for a long while. The Med in winter would still be decent weather. For Europe though, the actual issue is that those countries continue to have a very rigid summer holiday schedule.
I'm good with the restrictions, but not elimination, because I don't like crowds or destinations that have become too commercialized and cater solely to tourists. However, I prefer cruises on smaller ships for the convenience of sampling many places and only having to unpack once.
Curious how much of their economies are supported by tourism?? I live in a high tourist area and many complain BUT that supports most of the jobs in the area and we have lower taxes because of it.
Weird how when I lived in New York, so much tourism for city, but they still taxed the hell out of a paycheck. Move to Florida, lots of tourism and no state income tax. If these ports say, we can pay for everything without the tourist revenue, then fine. But Caribbean locations get most of their government and peoples income from tourism, not production products.
Cruise companies went all in on the mega ship idea to cram more people on, now they are finding out not everyplace wants 4,000 from one ship invading the town for a day.
It must be a nightmare. I don't see how it could be otherwise.
Agreed- but how could the cruise lines be so shortsighted??? It’s not like this problem couldn’t have been foreseen!
Exactly my thought.
As someone who lives in a tourist area, I think Airbnb is a bigger issue than day tourists. Many of the homes and apartments in my area are now just Airbnbs. That makes it much harder for locals to buy or rent a place to live, and ruins the character of our neighborhoods. Day tourists spend money and go home - a good thing for our local economy.
Do you live in an area where cruise ships call?
In Southeast Alaska, year round housing is impacted by AirBnB, but even moreso by the thousands of non-resident seasonal employees required to staff the shore excursions, shops, and other cruise businesses, all of them wanting inexpensive seasonal housing.
I despise Airbnb, I don't live in a tourist area but a small lake neighborhood in Texas. We have little turnover of homes, the last three have been snapped up by greedy investors and turned into short term rentals. We have had to call the sheriff due to renters trespassing onto our property. Airbnb is no help at all when you complain.
A lot of the the time the money doesn't go to the local economy as the shops/tours are all tied to the cruise lines in one way, shape or form. That's actually one of the reasons for protests in Alaska.
@@gilded_lady Why can't a local start their own shop? Do the cruise ships not allow it?
Air b and b definitely negatively impacting rents
The backlash is not surprising. I remember visiting Santorini with five ships in port, - somewhere in the region of 20,000+ visitors. It was total gridlock, Nobody moving quickly anywhere.
The megaships have killed the cruising golden goose.
I did that too, this summer. I think we had 5 ships, but it might have been 6. Was a complete waste, and I 100% understand that people protest that sort of stuff.
Agree
Compared with the island's population of 16000. Yes - way too many.
Its good to limit it honestly. It has been ridiculous trying to visit somewhere overrun by cruise ships, and the people are no longer friendly.
Agreed, all of them rushing around because they only have 8 hours on land
@@antifugazi Yes and a lot of those 8 hours standing in queues to see a highlight only because of the volume of fellow tourists,,
I agree, too! Hopefully, this will convince the major cruise lines to begin building more smaller, clean fuel ships, as people have been asking for some time. This could propel that change. 😊
@@kellybowe354 Re Fuel the cruise ships carry two fuel types, the cheap and nasty for the high sea and cleaner more expensive for port. If regulations apply that is.
@@baobo67 I should have specified Liquid Natural Gas (LNG.). Apologies!
I agree with Venice banning ships. Having stayed in Venice many times over 40 years, seeing the enormous ships being towed down the Giudecca was frightening. And Venice is absolutely tiny, as a city.
Venice is sinking into the ocean. They have much bigger issues they need to worry about.
@@notinterested6343 If you knew anything about the issue of Venice sinking, you'd know that cruise ships have actually been found to have a negative impact on the foundations of the buildings. The movement of massive amounts of water, combined with the added water pollution, have a detrimental effect. Plus the thousands of passengers every day adding to the use of motorboats which also damage the foundations.
@@notinterested6343 also part of the issue is the erosion of the piling/foundations of the buildings which was caused by the wash of large vessels.
@@quicksesh No, Venice was sinking well before cruise ships.
The interesting one is that they tried to do some engineering about it and it didn't work or had to be rectified. So maybe mismanagement is a greater issue. Where is all the money going?
@@le13579 you are partially correct. Yes Venice has been sinking for centuries but the advent of large vessels in the canal cause the rate of sinking to increase exponentially. The reason is that large vessels displace a massive amount of water and as they progress forwards this volume of water moves, in a narrow channel this pushes a volume of water forwards and up and the sheer weight of it starts to undermine the pilings, stonework and protection around the buildings. Add this to the lateral wave pattern caused by a volumetric hull, which causes further surface erosion, you have a big problem.
The defence you mentioned was more to do with the aqua alta, and was a flood protection (not a protection to the sinking) and yes, due to engineering mistakes, corrupt local officials it has been an unmitigated disaster, but the aqua alta is an occurrence that happens when specific criteria are met, whereas the sinking is on going and exacerbated by the large vessels displacing and pushing the water each time they transit.
As an example, Old Dubrovnik & Kotor are each a mile or so square. They can’t handle 6-8K people dropping in for 5 hrs. Dubrovnik has 3 rubber ducky stores but no hardware store & only a couple of small groceries. It is in danger of losing its World Heritage status because of the daily influx of tourists, primarily cruisers. AirBnB is a different issue. They don’t pay hotel taxes, and more importantly, have reduced available housing all around the world making it more expensive for locals not only to rent but to buy a home.
AirBnB is definitely the worst aspect of tourism for residents because it removes long term rentals for locals and it basically turns them into hotels without the taxes that hotels pay. There's a reason that there are zoning regulations in cities and that hotels are not allowed in residential areas. Cities have to make sure that their citizens have available housing and don't have to move hours away to find any affordable housing
I did not know about Airbnb not paying hotel taxes. I hadn’t really thought about it, but it seems they should.
@@nataliajimenez1870 I agree completely. I live in a tourist-friendly city with Air BnB restrictive laws but the apartment building I live in has several Air BnBs, including the apartment above me which creates all sorts of noise issues for me as well. In order to prosecute the owners of these apartments, the police need evidence, including ongoing advertising but the owners have developed some clever tricks to ensure their ads are not visible unless absolutely necessary for bookings. It's been 6 years now and I can't consistently find the ad to help with prosecution of the offenders.
@@notyourtypicalwatchreview2563 It depends on the local government. In my town all visitors, regardless of their accommodation, have to pay a nightly tourist tax.
I have been to Debrovnic when cruise passengers flood the place. One can hardly walk.
How ironic that the cruise lines keep building bigger ships with more passengers when the ports have started limiting the size of ships and the number of passengers/tourists per day.
Wonder how long it will be before Mega Ships go the way of the Airbus A380 (too much fixed cost and too few places to use them strategically).
I do not blame them one bit. The cruise ships are getting too big. Two mega-ships in a port can really swamp the locals. The solution is to Bring back smaller ships.
Yep I think so too!...Like Gary highlighted - many of these destinations do not have the space and/or the infrastructure to accommodate both the locals and the thousands that can show up suddenly if a couple of mega ships pull into port. Also - swamping some of these destinations with thousands of visitors in a short space of time - will only damage what makes these destinations so prized by the people who live there and the tourists who want to visit (so everyone loses - i.e. the people who call these places home, and the people who would love to visit, and the companies that operate these ships). I think if some of these cruise ship companies spent more time thinking about the long term sustainability of their business model when it comes to some of these destinations (instead of maybe being to focused on short term returns?) - then maybe we would see less mega vessels and more modestly sized ships being launched (maybe the ship development could include time spent forging working partnerships between both different cruise lines as well as the areas the companies would like their ships to operate so that the number of ships/passengers visiting an area in a particular season would be capped to a reasonable amount; based on Gary's overview - it does seem like things are trending in that direction...what I find surprising though is that when cruise ship companies ordered some of these mega-ships in the first place, they couldn't foresee the issue...or maybe they did and just ignored the potential problems)....
I agree! Also for the Central and Local Governments to clearly consider what is economically and structurally viable for the local community and get that information out quickly.
It’s not for us as tourists to decide which places are the ones we’ll be welcome at! Sooner or later, as a result of the protests, someone will get hurt!
(Because people will be people)! 😮
@@DC-id2ihthe bottom line for the mega cruise ship companies is money!
Cram on more people, generate more revenue!
It’s potentially a dangerous model, really. People are so unpredictable and policing so many must be a nightmare!
Once one cruise line does it (Royal Caribbean), then ALL of the other cruise lines HAVE TO follow!
Even British Cruise Line P&O have Arvia now - 5,000 capacity I think (not sure, it’s probably more - spending most of the time based in the Caribbean (Barbados) and doing the short money making island hopping trips.
No one can depend on their self governance, when their focus is money making!
yes, bring back smaller ones and also we need to go back to the era when the flag of your ship had to match where the owner is from.... I would never go on one of those FoC ships like Royal Carribbean etc. Only Linbad/Nat Geo (the four of theirs that are US Flag), Costa, Holland America, Viking, Aida, Ponant, the UK flagged ships on P&O and the US Flag ship on NCL (Pride of America). 🙂
@@caroleceres YES!!!!!....sigh...unfortunately an all too common phenomenon in so many industries (i.e. hyper focus on short term profits and/or investor returns at the expense of the long term health of the organization)...
Cruise-lines only have themselves to blame. In 2023 I went on a cruise in the Mediterranean. One port was Santorini. On the same morning 3 other ships also arrived there. So, 4 large cruise ship, dumping thousands of people on the small area of Santorini. We didn’t even bother getting off, just enjoying the view from the ship.
The government in Greece and Santorini can regulate how many ships arriving during a day. They dont. We have the same problem in norway.
Same with us in September 2023. The line for the gondola was 2 hours. So we grabbed a Greek salad and Saganaki on the dock and headed back to our ship. We’ve been there before so it wasn’t that painful of a decision. Some people say take a shore excursion that will drop you off in town. But the gondola queue was 2 hours getting down.
And there lies the problem.
"Let's go to Santorini without going to Santorini"
@@wenchefauske6898 In fact they do regulate it. There is a limit on the number of cruiseships on any day. And next year they want number even going down.
As a Pilot working in a cruise port, I can tell you that the cruise companies have only themselves to blame for some of the local resistance. In my port, to get from the ship to the main city the cruise companies were charging passengers $30 pp on their buses. If the passengers walked to the local bus stop, they could get a local City bus for $2. Of course, word spread via social media. Within a week of the first ships arriving at the restart after Covid, the local buses were completely full of cruise passengers. Locals trying to get to work in the city watched the buses pass their stops full. This persisted for months. A sure way to breed distrust of this industry and once trust is lost, it's very very hard to get it back.
Do you get helicoptered to ships in your role?
No, we use a Pilot Launch and then a rope ladder.
@@pilotg2426 Thanks for replying.
@@pilotg2426we love watching the Pilots embarking on the ships, we try and spot it happening. We admire the sheer nerve it takes to time it right for the rope ladder. We don't like the way ships are getting bigger at all.
The cruise industry needs this wake up call. Stop concentrating on increasing ship size, and start thinking about a quality experience for paying customers. Yes, this includes Ports of Call that aren't uncomfortably crowded and unreceptive to cruise travellers.
As someone that lives near one of the small cruise ports, I welcome the restrictions. The mega ships bring in way too many people, while most are polite, we are seeing more and more entitled jerks. We live here for a reason, and while we welcome tourists and visitors, we cannot handle 3-5 cruise ships at a time. We don't have the infrastructure or space.
Let me know where, so I can avoid it. I don't want to go where I'm not wanted.
I can understand 3-5 ships at the same time is a lot. As a passenger it is not so much fun either, i.m.h.o. Since it is not possible to enjoy the place & culture in this way as I think is the case for you as a resident as well. I as a tourist experience it a day you everyday. I live in a very touristy place and do appreciate and recognize what tourism can bring, but also what negative comes with that. I do think the way to accomplish change is through local government.
@@SoloonaCruise I also live in a major tourist destination, and I'm smart enough to be grateful to them dumping money into our economy.
@@SoloonaCruisethat’s absolutely the correct approach!
Local government should be advising Central Government, so that both the HEALTH as well as the Wealth of the resident community is considered.
If X number of ships are given permission to dock at any one time, then they will!
I hope that these protests aid in stimulating that discussion and decision making.
Something like Hurtigurten is a good solution. At least I can stay assured the locals are more comfortable with, and well rewarded for their hospitality, even if it means extra cost. Unfortunately these are not usually available. Say, for Alaska I doubt the Marine Highway ferry appeals to anyone other than backpackers, but even that is very limited - between Juneau / Glacier Bay to Whitter you actually have to take a cruise, as AMH services are suspended there.
It’s those mega ships, which have gotten enormous, ruining these ports for everyone else. I sail only on the small ships.
I am not a fan of the “mega” ships. Too many people. We stopped in Grand Cayman and spoke with the locals. The port can’t support the larger ships mainly because they tender people into port and do not have a true dock.
what is the largest ship that you have ever sailed?
@@yt_energy Celebrity Millennium at 2,200-passengers is the largest ship I have sailed, but that was two decades ago, and since then I have sailed only on ships of 1,000 or fewer in passengers.
@@apfelstrudel714 which ships have less than 1,000?
With all due respect, you are part of the problem too. If 5,000 show up, it doesn’t matter much if the come on one ship or five. As they say, you aren’t in traffic, you are traffic.
the big problem with cruises is that everything is done so that cruisers spend only on board the ship and not in the port of call, so it's normal that no one is interested in tourists who leave only a few bucks a day in a city that's suffocating with tourists.
One big cause is all these " I'll build the biggest ship" and the race to 7000+ passenger ships, they swamp the town, and then another big ship coming in on top of it. These cruise companies have only themeslfs to blame
Royal Carribean to blame.
But the irony is .. they built these ships for a very specific market, with the intention that the ship was the destination and you remained on board to have even more dollars liberated from your pocket, then it all got a bit out of hand with all the mass market companies building their own fleet of mega ships, but the market they were intended for got saturated, so they peddled these vessels around other regions, and now it is a mess..
Ships are becoming too big - where the hell did the designers think they could go??
They probably ideally want the passengers to stay on the ship. Which works when cruising to beaches in the Caribbean... stay on ship, go out to the beach for the day, not feeling the beach one day, explore the ship... but might not work for people who care about the ports.
I'll be going on the Sky Princess to see the eclipse in 2026, and I might not get off the ship at all ports depending on how crowded it's likely to be. Seeing Spain would be nice, but being squashed in tourist towns is not nice. Fortunately the ship seems like there will be enough to do there for me to not worry about it.
They are creating resorts at sea, vs vessels that can visit new places. Not an issue if that is made known, AND that's what people want to pay for.
@@joywebster2678but the thing is, if you’re designing ships that are so big you don’t need to get off, what’s the point of being on a ship.
@oliverstemp9132 you would still be cruising moving around water. Cruisers disdain land resorts with lots of local sightseeing, and activities. So it just be that water motion they want.
@@joywebster2678 should probably just go to a land resort by the sea then.
A huge 6,000 ship emptied out into Portland Maine it was horrendous for this small town in New England. We were staying there for a week and witnessed the day before and the day after what a difference!
Absolutely right. And as they are all inclusive the passengers spend almost nothing in local places,but take lots of photos and often act in a very entitled was while contributing nothing.
@@domp51From 2022
The City of Portland charges cruise ships a flat fee of $13 per person on board. Using the capacity projections on the 2023 schedule, the city can expect to make between $18,616 and $58,500 in 2023 on each ship carrying more than 1,000 passengers. Should this referendum pass and these ships seek alternative ports, the City of Portland could expect to lose somewhere between $1.2 million and $3.9 million in tax revenue.
Passengers’ spending while in port also makes a significant financial impact. It was estimated by Digital Research Inc. that, on average, a cruise ship passenger spends approximately $70 while on shore. In total, it was determined that those disembarking from cruise ships spent $13.3 million shopping, $7.7 million on dining, $2.2 million on entertainment, $1.5 million on transportation, and $4.3 million on other expenses.
Portland might be a small city but it certainly isn't a small town'
@@coolbreeze253 it was swamped as cruise visitors didn’t travel more than 1/4 mile square from the Port apart from a limited number of small excursions.
Conversely not much of an experience/value for the Tourists. eg There are only so many Tour guides etc. The mega-ships are looking at 8-9000 pax PER ship.
When we visited Noumea the reception staff told us "stay in the hotel on Sunday if you can. It's the day that cruise ships come in and locals hate them so everyone is grumpy"
Part of the problem that I haven't really heard expressed is that many of the Cities where Mega Ships arrive and drop 8000 tourists who come and use facilities, maybe buy lunch, a few baubles and get back on the Ship for Dinner and sail away. Many of these cities already have a very lucrative Land Tourist Business. Those Tourists spend on all their meals at local Restaurants, Transportation and extremely high room rates in season. The crowds that pack these cities interfere with the experience of those Land Tourists paying thousands of dollars more. Not only are the Cruise Passengers overcrowding and spend very little while in Port but because of the overcrowding, they are chasing many of the Lucrative Land Tourists away. I know first hand that this is a problem for Key West and Bar Harbor, Maine. I suspect it is for many more Port Cities.
Since you brought that up. Last year I went to Bar Harbor, I drove.
1 day a NCL ship came in I just came in from a boat tour before lunch. You had to push your way through the crowds on the streets. I luckily found a spot to eat and went to the local buses to get back to the hotel. I went into town another time.
That town is too small for ships no wonder they don’t want ships there.
That was the only one that week. I could imagine that town with 2 at the same time and the national park.
We did a road trip around New England a few years back and naively didn't realise that Bar Harbor was a cruise ship hot-spot; we were there 3 nights and couldn't do any of the whale watching and some other trips as the cruise lines had booked them out weeks/months in advance. We tend to avoid major cruise destinations now when land travelling.
I'm amazed that the giant cruise ship lines never anticipated any backlash from the ports they constantly overburden. Greed has it's limits.
Yes. One wonders just how intelligent these GEOs actually are. Like Boeing the just chase the almighty dollar.
This was an essential summary of the current and near-term restrictions in various ports. Thanks for posting this.
The cruise lines caused this problem by building thesemega ships.
And by cruisers being idiots and poor guests.
@@amberanthony883 and the loony locals for assaulting and screaming at tourists.
@@amberanthony883 agree!
Cruise ship ports are becoming more restrictive at the same time cruise lines are building ever larger ships. I sense a problem here...
Send them to Antartica.
I don’t blame those cities. Cruise ships are getting way too big. I always sail on medium size ships preferably less than 2000 passengers but even that can be a lot of people visiting a city. I prefer to cruise in the off season when the ship I’m on may be the only one at the port. We are more welcome then and we also enjoy having fewer people around.
you are a hero
We stayed on Fuerteventura this spring, visited Puerto Del Rosario and it was a lovely little town. Went back the 2nd week of our stay, there were 3 cruise ships in the port. The town was swamped, the beach was packed, but hardly anyone in the local shops and restaurants spending money.
5 ships in one port 5,000 per ship is 25,000 people in one port. That's insane. Imagine stepping out your front door were you live and seeing 25,000 people who don't care about your privacy or property walking across your front lawn every day!
Thats still far less than a sports match and I dont see anybody banning those.
Sure but that can be managed. Either only one in the morning and one in the afternoon or one per day. Not cancelling.
Or limiting the number of people allowed off the ship
@@jupo9928 that would cause fights on board.
@@smvsspould. A sports match is attended mostly by people from the area or within that region/country, and it’s only a few hours, what, once in a couple or three weeks?
All at one venue (the sports stadium)
So why are you comparing two very different things ?
@@sorbabaric1 Where I live (Orlando, FL) there is either a NBA game or concert at the KIA center at least 3-4 days per week and it holds 18,000. Plus a block away from that there's a soccer stadium that hosts 2-3 events a week that holds 12,000 and another block away is a football stadium that holds 50,000+ that has events 2-3 times per month. Not to mention Disney World that has upwards of 100,000 visitors per day, Universal with over 80,000 per day and seaworld with 25,000 per day. Sometimes they all operate at the same time. On those days, if I'm not going to one of those events I avoid the areas and take different routes but have never complained that I live in a city with a lot of crowds and a lot of people.
Last year, I went on a ship holding 6500 passengers. It was a truly dreadful experience .I’m going back to the smaller ships now. The craze toward bigger and bigger vessels will burn itself out, hopefully.
The megaships are just too big. You can't just dump >5000 people per ship in a port and not create a nightmare.
More like 20K since more than one ship pulls in per day.
Yes you can. You just need a large port. At this size the cruise ships should just stick to the ports big enough for military ships to visit.
@@griffenspellblade3563 Like Townsville?
I fully understand why these ports are trying to control the number of tourist.
We went to Santorini for the 2nd time in June 2024. You could barely walk through some of the alleys it was so insanely crowded. Was not an enjoyable experience. The 1st time we went in 2014 it was wonderful.
We also went to Dubrovnik on the 2024 trip and while there were decent crowds it was not overcrowded. Difference was that Dubrovnik had instituted restrictions on the number of cruise ship passengers per day.
I was in the Merchant Marine in the 70's to 80's and each port was like an old familiar neighborhood. Not crowded. We had our favorite cafes, restaurants and hot spots that we made the rounds of. We might be the only two or three Americans in that port. Then, one day in Toulon, France while sitting at our favorite outdoor cafe enjoying a chef recommended meal, there was a new MacDonalds across the street. And that was the beginning of the end of my love of travel. We looked at each other, shook our heads in despair.
Mega ships are ruining it for all of us. Those huge ships should just ‘cruise’ around and let their passengers partake of all the amusements and activities onboard.
@@karenenea4172 yes, that would be fine and long as they aren't dumping untreated sewage and garbage I to the water while they are doing it!
There's no need for mega cruise ships. They are like traveling shopping malls/theme parks, at some point you have to ask what the point is. Just stay home and go to Six Flags if that is what you want. Or, just let those ships putter around at sea without calling at ports. When I travel to Europe, I fly into one spot and then I use the trains to get around the continent. I get around just like the locals - I walk, I ride the public bus, I ride the train. I wouldn't do it any other way.
You actually get to see Europe, rather than a brief excursion from a harbour. A far better plan.
You can travel like that in Europe but most of the world doesn't offer that kind of infrastructure.
I shake my head when I see cruise ships the size of small cities. If you think about it from the perspective of the locals, 5 or 6 mega ships descending on one port in one day is like an invasion. In Europe, these places have been around for centuries, if not millenia, so losing out on tourism dollars is not an existential threat to them. I did not enjoy my stop in Santorini as part of my Med cruise...most of the few precious hours I had there were spent in long lines or battling crowds. There has to be a better way to manage this.
These cities welcome the smaller ships flooding in 10s of thousand illegals a day that bring in nothing. All negative cash flow. Glad I took the failing continent off my list of places I would like to go to.
All countries in Europe are going down and have nothing left than tourism ... still i understand that 4 or 5 megaships a day is to much
What did they think was going to happen when they built the docks for such mega ships? They didn't magically appear ready for 5-6 megaships. They just didn't like what they signed up for (which is fine).
We canceled an October cruise because there were going to be 14,000 cruisers in Santorini and 16,000 in Barcelona; too many big ships have ruined the cruise experience…
It must be pretty awful to live somewhere where thousands of tourists get dropped off on your doorstep daily, and the shops and restaurants cater to tourists not locals
As a cruise passenger it’s nice to see restrictions as well
We have said for a long time the mega ships will be banned and multiple ships at one time is ridiculous.
Where ever we have stopped, I always make sure that we buy something other than just a beer or coffee to aid in actual income to the areas.
Too many people just rush back to the ship for food etc and never actually experience where they are.
Cruise lines only have themselves to blame for this.
It's definitely the fault of the greedy cruise lines building massive ships holding thousands of passengers. I don't blame any country or region for banning or limiting them. This can't be sustained.
The "greedy cruise lines" are building bigger shots because their customer bosses wanted them!
The problem is the amount of people on the ships getting off all at the same time for a few hours, not spending much money, just clogging the ports up. I get why the local are not happy. It's got out of hand and the cruise ships are going to start having problems with quotas being applied.
And still the major cruise lines invest in more megaships. I refuse to sail them, so I don't blame ports for wanting to ban them.
In any case, in 10 years' time, there will hardly be a port in the rich part of the world that will accept mega ships.
Me too! Way too big!
I do not blame the destinations not wanting to be over run by large numbers. Good for them. I only cruise on smaller ships.
Soon these new Mega ships can only sail to their Private Islands. Suits me as for me cruising is about exploring the world, not a floating resort going to a private resort. I will stay away from these MegaShips. Bring back the smaller ships to new exotic destinations.
Same We went to Japan and sailed on Celebrity Millennium and even at 24 years old (with at least 2 upgrades) it was a perfect size not so big I was worried when my teens ran off in the evening to the teen room and still big enough so everyone had something to do most of the time.
same here.
@@LMFuquaHow was the cruise? We are on the September 12th sailing of Millennium out of Yokohama. We are flying in one week early to explore Tokyo area before cruise.
@MB-uy5kh It was fantastic. We want to go back as soon as possible. We loved the ship and we loved each port. Our favorite day was Osaka and Nara. (We stayed 2 days in Osaka and spent half of one of those days in Nara highly recommended.)
Every port was lovely as was the staff.
Mega cruise ships cant go into the mediterranian anyway
While I fully support locals protesting cruise ships, they should get to say what their city does, what I do not support at all is the harassment and assault of those who do go and yes squirting someone with water is assault as minor as it sounds. The locals should protest their governments, they should protest the elected officials, not those who are just doing what the local government has said is OK to do.
The cruise industry wields enormous power, unified through CLIA, with offices in all key cruise regions. Unfortunately, ordinary citizens don't have equal seats at the table. If we're talking assault, the cruise industry assaults our air with massive levels of pollution that is forced upon every citizen who is breathing. The assault us with noise from ships and from all of the tours related to ships. They assault us with crowds that make it impossible to transit our city at a pace of someone living there, not visiting. If you cannot bear being squirted with water as part of legal protesting against overtourism and cruise tourism, then perhaps you should be much more aware of how you travel and where you choose to go. When you choose to book a cruise, you are supporting the massive industry that is cruise and that has been forcing itself, on its terms, onto communities.
@@karlahart_AK Air pollution by cheap bunker fuel is a problem and banned in some Australian ports,These Ships carry two types, Also provision of electrical power at the terminals is becoming available.
@@karlahart_AK it is not the cruise passengers fault that they are being allowed to visit such places as yours. I get that ordinary local citizens don't sit on the board with CLIA but that doesn't mean you don't have power. Your government has power, you protest your government with regard to the assault your all facing as a result of these cruise ships, you don't assault innocent people, are you folks not civilized?! Perhaps the port you live in is part of an itinerary that does welcome cruisers and so as a result if a person wants to see those other ports your port is part of it. Believe you me, I will be happy to stay on board the ship and indulge in the luxuries there as opposed to handing folks like you MY hard earned cash. When tourism has stopped and that has typically been a good part of the economy will yous now be bribing folks to return?!
I live in a resort town. Our economy is tourism, without it we will become a ghost town. Every year can be a struggle indeed, and it's always a relief when the season is over, but those winter months can be long and devastating if tourism was down as reserves to get through the winter will also be down.
All that said, I do enjoy the smaller ships, and would definitely support and advocate a more environmentally friendly fuel system.
The elected officials of the local government want the bans as well. Have you not been paying attention? And causing inconvenience for others is a standard way of bringing protests to attention. The only people who are against that are often people who do not want to say they are against that cause, so they say they are against the inconvenience.
@@houghi3826 What twaddle.
When it was 1500-2000 passengers per ship, and 1-2 ships per day, no one complained. But 5 ships with 4000-6000 passengers each? Totally overwhelmning to the local infrastructure and frankly the quality of life for locals. My small town gets inundated with visitors from the Alaska sailings, and it has completely changed the type of shops on our main street.
I was in Barcelona on a cruise and even being off season there were numerous ships there. The crowds in town were just madding it hard on everyone. The cruise industry should get together and police itself because it's becoming intolerable for these ports.
I experienced the crowds sholder to sholder in April, my god it was a zoo! I was on vacation for a week. Never again will I go to Barcelona.
@@helenorgarycrevonis2022 Interesting! I was in Barcelona in October and it just felt like a normal busy city.
My transatlantic ended in Barcelona in mid April. This time we stayed for 5 days before heading to other destinations. This stay was dreadful as the city was over run by tourists…yes I appreciate the irony.
I went on a large ship cruise about 15 years ago throughout the Mediterranean. Even when we went in late September all the cities we went to were super crowded. We switched to river boat cruises. I 100% support locals wanting to limit these huge ships unloading thousands of tourists a day.
So pleased to hear this, cruise ships bring very little value to a community.
The answer to excess demand is usually higher prices. Seems like dramatically higher port fees would be the answer, rather than trying to guess at the appropriate number of visitors. Charge what you need to charge to support the infrastructure, and the megaships likely go away.
My first cruise was on a ship from Norwegian with 35000 ton, about 500 passengers. Would love to see that again.
Had to be boring as hell on there and everybody asleep at 9pm
@@choco.es.unlimitedI always sail small ships. Plenty to do, no lines, and NOBODY goes to bed at 9:00!
Though not in a port, I do live in a huge tourist area, and I honestly get it. Tourism needs to be well managed for a good balance between visitors and locals.
The largest ships will eventually just be floating resorts which are unable to visits any ports apart from the uome port. They will just sail out for say 7 days and back again.
They eat on board, drink on board then swarm the little streets like an ant infestation and buy a coffee, maybe. Then they run back to the boat, eat dinner and play bingo!
They never patronise a restaurant and order some wine. No way.
This is not true. I ate in port because the cruise food was not good. I went shopping. Had cocktails.
@@travelingthediaspora7996 You did. I’m talking about the majority, the vast majority. That’s the biggest complaint with these cities. Local businesses get no patronage and all cruise ship passengers do is clog up their streets with badly dressed Americans in chino and white shorts. Locals aren’t stupid. If passengers or any tourists put down serious coin then nobody would complain.
We were on a small cruise ship in Juneau, but with three mega ships in port it was crazy busy.
As ports become more exclusive, booking fewer ships, the cost of cruises will rise even more. Supply vs demand. The French Polynesian islands have also banned ships in the lagoons too.
Yep, just another way to make sure only the wealthiest can experience those ports.
@@kellyalvarado6533 exact , still i don't like those megaships but it is clear that "tourism" will be banned in future... only the very rich will be allowed to travel, and for me this will soon be the case for airplanes to
Quite right in my opinion; some awareness that their lagoons aren't common property might not go amiss.
@@kellyalvarado6533 No. The wealthy, and also the true back-packer visitors, can stay awhile to actually experience a genuine destination, while the entitled day-trippers who just want their tick-box selfie pics can enjoy their bogus mega-ship faux-glam atmosphere and leave local cultures be.
About the biggest ships, I do sympathise. A few giant ships in a smaller place all at once would be a challenge for locals. Thank you for the video!
Selfishly I say after twenty years of cruising, I’m glad to have gotten to visit so many ports. I agree some ports are now impossible to enjoy cause we are the problem. On that note, my kids and grandkids won’t have the same experience of cruising, but fortunately four generations of us manage to find a few places to be together with the locals.
Mega ships lost their shirt by building massive piles of junk and now no where to go.
Many cruise lines will go bankrupt what a waste of investment.
Passengers don't spend much time and money in port, just walk around and back to the buffet.
Every locality should have the right to limit this.
I think it makes sense.
Thanks Gary, great info. If the ports don't want cruise ships with thousands of people, there's a reason or reasons for this. Good for the towns affected. If a person want to visit these places, take a car or a flight and stay a few days.
I do agree that the mega ships have contributed to the problem, however, so has the increased number of cruise ships in general and the post Covid travel surge. However, one of the biggest problems is Air B&B. This has caused a tremendous shortage of affordable housing for locals in many tourist destinations. Many landlords have realized they can make a lot more money with short term rentals and corporations are scooping up condos and turning them into Air B & Bs. Local governments can stop this trend by passing ordinances that probibit short term rentals.
You have a point in terms of apartment buildings, however, it's worth taking a moment to understand that some short-term-let property owners have perhaps one modest studio in their own home to let for much needed income. Such a person may not be able to undertake the risk of a lease which would afford broad rights to a tenant. In my jurisdiction the tenant holds every privilege, and my elder relation, who is dependent on an income, is not able to (once again) suffer multiple Ks losses from canny chancers who know how to game the system to their advantage. The state doesn't want to know, so a vulnerable landlord learns a costly lesson, and their available rental is withdrawn in favour of lower risk lets.
My Florida resort community HOA called for a vote after many complaints and as a result, we ended short term rentals and problems we were having with noisy misbehaving short term renters disappeared. 5 income homes were sold to new homeowners and 2 others were turned into long term [6 month minimum] rentals. Life is peaceful again.
I'm all for restricting all mega ships. Spain, Greece, Italy, they're all correct; between Airbnb and the megaships, these beautiful places have become nightmares.
I think it is the mega ships that have caused this push back. When ships were around 2k passengers, having several in port was not too bad. Increase the capacity to 4500 passenger or more and several on port becomes untenable for them. Bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to cruise ships.
Great video!! Thanks for putting all this together for us.
Over tourism is a real problem and I can understand why ports are targeting cruise ships before other forms of tourism as cruise ship passengers bring far less revenue and benefit to the local economy vs overnight guests. Airbnb/vrbo etc are also to blame as not only to the balloon the number of tourists, but they restrict the housing market and inflate rents/housing costs exponentially. I'm not sure where the ebst balance is but all parties need to come together before tourism craters and leads local economies into recession
Some years ago I was in Flam, Norway, locals were unhappy about the air pollution from these ships.
I agree with the locals. About 30 years ago I was in Aruba when 3 ships docked and its was a circus of drunken fools clogging up the streets, restaurants, bars and shops. No one needs to put up with that foolsihness.
Shops hold 8000 passengers, several in a small port. STOP. Can they fill all the ships all the time?
Local communities have every right to restrict the size and number of groups visiting whether that is via ship, bus, train or private transport. Cruise ships have brought on the problems by increasing the size, yes, but also lowering expectations on what is expected from some cruise ship passengers as well as lowered pricing. Not all lines but certainly some. People have forgotten it is a privilege to travel and be welcomed into another city or country. They don’t owe it to you or me. If enough people continue to be entitled, crass or downright tacky, we will find it isn’t just mega ships they don’t welcome…it’s all of us.
Thank you for your information. Frankly, I’m happy about it. I was in Juneau last summer and there were more than 10 ships in Port. It took about 45 minutes to get into town and there were way too many people on the streets walking around to be enjoyable. I got on the next shuttle back and went back to the ship. The restrictions will just force me to plan ahead further in the future, and that’s just fine.
we have only just started cruising, but avoid the megaships purely for this reason, I imagine 5 arriving in one day is total hell, we usually sail on ships with a maximum of 3k passengers (which is still a lot in our eyes), but in some places this is still too many. Perhaps these resorts will realise that they need some tourism and rather than banning completely will all go the route of setting a reduced number of passengers at any one time, giving kudos to the smaller ships and lines that promote this. It will make cruising more expensive, but hopefully more pleasurable for both passenger and more importantly the places we visit.
The cruise lines have invested heavily in the past couple of years in these mega ship monstrosities.
Its all about raking in the $$$ for them, but its interesting to see the ports dont want them coming in.
Very interesting. So what I am getting a picture of from your videos is that cruise companies have gone so big countries don't want them in too big a numbers. Combine that with the ones deemed too dangerous to go to. The ones that you didn't actually visit in the first place, just a toy island off the coast. And you are left with floating palaces travelling around and handing you a set of binoculars so you can get a glimpse of a country sailing past at a safe distance. Or you could save lots of money and fly to an actual country for a holiday.
Eventually, cruise lines will start offering trips to nowhere. Basically, embark, head out into international waters, and then anchor for a week. Saves a ton of fuel, lots to do on the boats and anything goes. Pricnig for those cruises could be much less than anything offered AND the cruise lines have captive wallets. Can't see it going any other way...
One issue - in the United States (a large cruise market) foreign flagged ships (which are nearly every cruise ship in the world) must make a stop at a foreign port before returning to the United States. On my Alaska cruise last year this was Victoria in British Columbia, Canada and a lot of cruises out of Florida stop in Nassau in the Bahamas for this reason.
@@mikebarnes2294 Interesting, I did not know that. So then "Cruises to nowhere" will either have to include a stop in Bahamas (or closest foreign port) OR start flying an American flag to skip the charade. I doubt the flag change will happen due to tax and liability issues but I stand by the idea of going nowhere fast...
This is concerning! We are taking our first Mediterranean cruise in early September- leaving from Athens and returning to Barcelona! We have booked two nights in each of those cities at the beginning and end of our cruise. Now I’m wondering if we will be welcome or mistreated there!
you are not welcome. what do you mean by mistreated? It's their home - they can treat foreigners however they wish.
I guess that you'll be welcomed by those that earn from your staying, but I don't think you'll be harassed by the locals.
Just bear in mind that we hate what overtourism - cruise ships, but mostly Airbnbs - is doing to the cities, with rents for houses skyrocketing and the local economy aggressively targeting tourists. 5000 people overcrowding the city for a few hours is not our main concern, the unbearable cost of living and the fear of seeing our cities turned into theme parks is.
@@yt_energy As much as I agree with the bans you are wrong they absolutely cannot treat tourists how they want that's absolutely not true at all
Don't worry. You will be fine. Have a great time and enjoy yourself. Don't listen to these trolls.
@@notinterested6343 why would you send her somewhere where she is not wanted?
Absolutely right that destinations control their visitor type and numbers. Long overdue in many cases.
As someone that enjoys cruising and enjoys the really large ships due to the amount of onboard amenity space, I think all these towns are actually being perfectly reasonable. Cruise companies need to order ships that are smaller but still provide a high quality experience
The cruise lines keep almost all the tourism dollars and the communities get very little. I can see the restrictions becoming more and more and more. I see ports charging 4100 to $200 per passenger for cruise ships to dock in the near future
I understand locals wanting to limit tourism of all kinds. I used to live near Tombstone, Arizona and it could get crazy crowded.
Fun story: I was meeting a friend in a bar and got there before him. I ordered a draft beer and paid the bartender the $7. It was higher than I would’ve paid outside of Tombstone, but everything is more expensive in a tourist town. Later I ordered another beer and he says $7, my buddy says, “No she’s local.” The bartender apologized and said “$2.50”. 😂😂
A very thought provoking video, Gary. We have sailed exclusively with Cunard and had the pleasure of meeting you and Mark. We have thoroughly enjoyed the cruising experience both at sea and in port. This year we are taking our first not-Cunard cruise, sailing on P&O's Arvia. While I am looking forward to the cruise, I am dreading the thought of 5,000+ people herding off the ship and swamping the ports. I will let you know how it goes.
I swapped my Arvia cruise for an Arcadia one. I truly didn’t fancy flying to and from the Caribbean (8 hours), before and especially after the cruise. Hopefully my final P&O cruise…
I hope that you won’t be dismayed by it and are able to enjoy all that it has to offer. Just the thought of walking for “miles” to get to the restaurants is daunting.
Now that we’ve experienced Saga ships, we won’t be going elsewhere. 🤗
The P&O name is being retired by Carnival in March 2025. We love Cunard too, look forward to your review of Arvia.
@@Tolpuddle581A curious effort to appear down market.
Very well compiled. Thank you.
Not before time. The new mega ships are gross.
I think one of the reasons is cruise passengers don’t always use too much money on the place they visit. Compared to tourists staying in local hotels, eating at restaurants and shopping in local stores and therefore contributing more to the local economy.
However, the good thing is that cruise passengers don’t contribute to the AirBnB problem.
All these cruise lines that keep building bigger and bigger ships are not thinking it through! I can’t blame these ports for not welcoming so many cruise passengers. Will be sailing in Europe next summer- Viking Cruises - less than 1,000 passengers.
Here in Japan, while overtourism is becoming a thing, cruising is actually reletively welcomed, because unlike land based tourists, cruise passengers are spread out to more remote areas, and don't cramp with the local on the streets or trains,
But I guess the fact that cruise industry is still pristine helps. Many in Japan or Asia in general may not even have an idea of what cruising is. Smaller ships are deployed by the big lines, that MSC Bellissima and Quantum class of RCL are considered "megaship". A Disney Wish-class can easily take the crown of largest domestic ship because, well, the current record holder is a sister ship of Crystal.
Can't imagine how much backlash if we receive even half of what Barcelona have today.
Took a Princess Cruise to the Med last summer (2023). In Gibraltar as we navigated the clogged streets and floods of tourists in a pedestrian traffic jam in 100 degree heat, we felt like salmon swimming upstream.... not that fun. Shops were jammed with loookiloos not spending money. I remember asking my husband what on earth the locals did to avoid this miserable mess. One cool thing we did on our own though was the museum in Gibraltar. It has AC and was basically empty. We spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around. I lived in a tourist town and we would time our errands so as not to get caught in ferry traffic. Lots of cursing if we got stuck behind the lines of tourists. I think then year I worked on the ferries we had 5 million people come through our teeny islands and towns. I totally understand the frustration. Somehow there needs to be a balance.
Can’t blame them one bit. Cruise ships and their passengers have worn out their welcome in many places. You would think that the cruise industry might have seen this coming, but I’m sure that their vision was clouded by greed.
I just don't understand who thought it was a good idea to drop THOUSANDS of people in a port at one time for a few hours! I cannot imagine what a nightmare the new mega ships are for local infrastructure and logistics.
Inevitable. Good for places pushing back.
I love all the commenters saying, “I sail on smaller ships and can’t possibly be part of the problem. It’s all those giant cruise ship people that are the issue.”
Yes, it's a little funny, all the commenters who are fully behind banning cruise ships and tourists, apparently without thinking about the fact that it means them too.
well, the whole reason they have to have these restrictions is the large ships. If no cruise ship had more than 500 people you wouldn't have the issue. 🙂 Like a Ponant ship (French flag) or National Geographic (US Flag), they have fewer than 200 passengers. 🙂
I support limiting the total number of passengers, which would mean a limit on number of ships as well. 🙂 Although I have yet to go on a cruise. I normally just fly to places. I was in the Navy, though. (but I was on a Trident (ohio class submarine), they don't go into foreign ports, and the fast attack submarine I was on was in drydock the whole time lol (only on that boat for 9 months)). Submarines only have 100 enlisted and 20 officers. 🙂
To be fair Japan regulates the size of ships and those ports rarely seem as crowded. While yes, there's a ton of Japanese land tourism, it's not so heavy at the ports and port cities to make seeing the sites you want hard.
We’re booked next month for Alaska. However, honestly I agree with local citizens. Mega ships and bad behavior have earned cruise passengers our well deserved reputation.
So you shouldn't take the cruise and not be a hypocrite. Learn about Alaska and go privately.
In my opinion, you always have the very best informational videos. No beating around the bush, just good information. Thanks so much.
Thanks! Great to hear this, appreciate you watching
Private island disease has struck.
The country collects a hefty port fee for folks never setting foot n their land!
Paying a $25 port fee for CocoCay is extortion created by RCL and the island’s government.
We need well behaved cruisers and valid cruise ports.
I have been on Korfu with 6 other cruise ships in the harbor. It was terrible, overcrowded. Never again. I can understand that regulations. One ship a day, that's enough.
At least Barcelona being a home base for alot of ships benifits from jobs in provisioning the ships, guests staying in hotels before/ after trips, and airport taxes from coming in and out of town. If your town is just a cruise port where tourists are dumped off to take some pictures and hang out on the beach, it doesn't generate much economic impact.
A couple of issues ive seen first hand in Funchal, Madeira are:Packed lunches - i get it, youve paid for your holiday and the meals are part of that. But when you flood into a relatively small place but the only money you spend is for a coffee or a drink because youve brought your own food the people hardest hit are the small businesses. I've even seen people arguing with restaurant staff because they order a drink but want to eat their own packed lunch at the table!
The other one, very obvious in Funchal in the Mercado dos Lavradores, are the rush of people wanting to take photos but not buying anything. Yes the displays of food are incredibly picturesque but those people who are wearing local costume are actually trying to sell a product which deteriorates if handled heavily or doesnt sell. At least buy a piece of fruit to eat! Don't just crowd out actual customers to try all the samples and take photos and then leave.
Looks like US tourism is going to become more based on touring the US where for the most part we are welcomed.
not in arkansas, me and my african american friend visited there and we did not feel welcomed
I wonder if US tourism is the problem? You have all of the mega ships, very few small ships and the highest number of people to accommodate in a small window of time.
The numbers to be accommodated are phenomenal! Comparatively speaking, the USA has the largest customer base.
So I’m guessing that you will feel the impact more than others. 😏
@@caroleceresThe majority of US cruising is from Florida to the Caribbean, which is better designed to handle the mega ships with private islands. Florida is already designed around a tourist based economy.
I understand the local population. This spring I was in Valencia Duvrovnik and Barcelona and those cities were a nightmare. Several cruises docked the same day. Horrible.
Also I understand the people who live in the cities were there is an embarcation day due to the AirBnB
I can see both sides. Would be better to encourage off season port usage and reduce summer season.
Expect for the shoulder seasons, not many want to be on a cold cruise ship sailing the Med, Norway, or Alaska in the winter.
@@briangasser973 Alaska is has been on the same limited schedule for a long while. The Med in winter would still be decent weather.
For Europe though, the actual issue is that those countries continue to have a very rigid summer holiday schedule.
I'm good with the restrictions, but not elimination, because I don't like crowds or destinations that have become too commercialized and cater solely to tourists. However, I prefer cruises on smaller ships for the convenience of sampling many places and only having to unpack once.
Curious how much of their economies are supported by tourism?? I live in a high tourist area and many complain BUT that supports most of the jobs in the area and we have lower taxes because of it.
Weird how when I lived in New York, so much tourism for city, but they still taxed the hell out of a paycheck. Move to Florida, lots of tourism and no state income tax.
If these ports say, we can pay for everything without the tourist revenue, then fine.
But Caribbean locations get most of their government and peoples income from tourism, not production products.