Cruise Ship Travel Is Banned (Or Nearly) In These Cities

More people are hitting the high seas than ever. It's thought that 36 million people will embark upon a cruise ship in 2024, with that number nearing 40 million by 2027. Combining all-you-can-eat buffets with entertainment, adventure, and relaxation — not to mention an easy way to tick several countries off your bucket list at once — it's no surprise that this vacation method is soaring in popularity.

But not everybody is as pro-cruise as you may think. Over the years, tension has risen between several cities and the ships that dock on their shores multiple times a day, 365 days a year. Destinations throughout the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and other popular cruise routes have grown weary at the sheer amount of foot traffic generated by passengers. 

While tourism is typically beneficial to a city's economy, a common complaint is that those who hop from ship to shore for a few hours aren't exactly excessive with their spending. Pollution is another major concern, as is the physical damage inflicted by big boats and crowds alike. In fact, some cities have grown so frustrated that they've banned (or nearly banned) cruise ships altogether.

Famous for its narrow, cobbled streets, canals, and Christmas markets, Bruges is sometimes referred to as the "Venice of the North." Just like Venice, it has a complicated relationship with cruise ships and the hundreds of thousands of visitors it brings to the city each year. In 2019, Mayor Dirk De fauw implemented strict new measures to control Bruges' tourist population, which is said to triple the number of residents in the city center. 

"We have to control the influx more if we don't want it to become a complete Disneyland here," he told local newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. Bruges now no longer advertises itself as a day-trip destination and has enforced a rule that only two cruise ships can moor in the city at a time. The goal is to bring in more "quality" tourists, and Bruges has decided that cruise ship passengers, who only spend a few hours in the city, don't provide a quality visit.

Flanked by dramatic steep cliffs, the famous fjords of Norway are some of the deepest in the world and have long been a regular route for cruisers. However, many cruisers will soon need to find another way to view the fjords, which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. By 2026, only zero-emission ships will be permitted to pass through the west fjords (which basically makes them off-limits to all medium and large cruiseliners).

Officials campaigned for the Norwegian Parliament to enforce some kind of legislation for years before the decision was made in 2018. In a release by UNESCO, Katrin Blomvik, director of the Geirangerfjord World Heritage Foundation, praised the move as a "brave resolution which will have a great positive impact on conserving our UNESCO World Heritage marine site" and "make the fjords the world's first zero emission zone at sea." As it stands, the Western Norway Research Institute estimates that cruise ships in Norway currently use about 170 million liters of fuel per year.

While ships will still be able to traverse some of the lesser-known fjords, this new legislation does impact popular sites like Geirangerfjord, Nærøyfjord, and Aurlandsfjord. For now, cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and P&O Cruises still make port in the area, but hopeful voyagers will need to move quickly if they want to squeeze in a trip before the ban. In the meantime, the Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten is working on developing its first net-zero vessels. Set to run entirely on electricity, not fuel, the company hopes to get its green technology into oceans by 2030.

Before the pandemic, nearly 2.5 million cruise ship passengers visited the sunny Balearic island to check out its cliffs, coves, and pristine beaches. However, that number has started to fall. In 2022 — two years after signing the Cruise 2030 Call for Action, which pushed for a more sustainable cruise industry alongside other popular destinations like Barcelona, Bergen, Cannes, and Malaga — the former local government implemented a new rule that only three ships can dock in the city at a time until 2026.

This ban hasn't gone down too well with those in the travel industry. In October 2023, eight organizations teamed up to call for the Balearic government to scrap the rule, with The Majorca Daily Bulletin quoting them as arguing, "Don't demonize cruise ship passengers, it is family tourism with a high spending power." Their biggest concern is that the 18% fall in foot traffic harms local businesses such as restaurants, bars, and souvenir shops. At least until the end of 2024, however, the restrictions will stay in place, meaning the Mediterranean island will continue to look a little emptier than usual.

The Pearl of the Adriatic was already a hot spot for tourists in Europe –- but then "Game of Thrones" happened. With much of the fantasy series shot in Dubrovnik's Old Town, popular sites like the Minčeta Tower, Fort Bokar, and Pile Gate became must-visit destinations for passengers cruising down the Dalmatian coast. The problem is that all this footfall is damaging some of Croatia's most historical landmarks, including multiple UNESCO World Heritage sites. 

Dubrovnik has responded by slowly introducing multiple restrictions, starting with a limit of two cruise ships per morning (and an additional ship in the afternoon) and a maximum of 5,000 passengers a day. It also began enforcing a daily tax in 2021, which helped to raise HRK 1,463,000 ($210,972) in its first year to improve Dubrovnik's transportation infrastructure, such as its roads. The City of Dubrovnik has also taken a close look at the schedule of when ships arrive and leave to gain better control of the flow of tourists entering Old City.

The thing that attracts most visitors to Monterey is also the reason why it's so anti-cruise ship. Beyond its sandy beaches lies Monterey Bay, which is home to everything from sea otters and killer whales to squids and sea turtles. Of course, cruise ships aren't exactly conducive to maintaining a marine-protected area. 

That's why, in February 2023, Monterey terminated its passenger landing services for cruise ships. After a city council vote, it was announced that cruise ships that did plan to come ashore still could, but the ship wouldn't be assisted by city services to help facilitate its docking. None have opted to try thus far. Prior to the vote, up to 12 ships typically docked in Monterey each year while en route to Alaska or Mexico.

While it's not an outright ban, it sends a pretty strong message. In a report to the council, Monterey's city manager Hans Uslar wrote that he hopes it will "signal to the cruise ship industry that they are no longer welcomed by our city." The city previously took other steps to combat the damage done by cruise liners, pressing pause on new arrivals for five years until 2002, when ships agreed not to dump any waste into the bay.

Residents of Key West are constantly waging war on the cruise industry. Located in the Straits of Florida, the island takes up just 4.2 square miles and boasts some of America's best beaches and reefs. While it's long been a stop for multiple cruise lines, its 27,000 residents got a taste of how peaceful life could be without a steady stream of ships during the COVID-19 pandemic and soon started petitioning for a permanent ban.

Although residents may not have gotten exactly what they asked for, they did record a major victory in 2022, when the city voted to strip back Key West's cruise ship schedule to one per day. Key West also moved to ban larger ships and prioritize cruise lines with strong environmental records. Key West's city government is currently in a legal battle with the state of Florida to put all of these restrictions into practice, but the sentiment is pretty clear: cruise ships are not welcome.