Lost in the threshing machine of more momentous news headlines this week was the outcome of a referendum in Bar Harbor, Maine, that portends deepening complications for cruise passengers.
The port of Bar Harbor is used by the major cruise lines as the landing point for excursions to glorious Acadia National Park. On Tuesday, Bar Harbor residents voted to reaffirm a cap on the number of daily cruise guests accepted there.
Two years ago, the city voted to limit the number of daily cruise passengers to just 1,000. Even when cruise ships carry more tourists than that—as the vessels of most major lines do—only 1,000 people are legally permitted to go ashore on any given day.
Cruise limits are not the same as outright bans. When a port bans large ships, cruise lines simply replace that stop with another destination.
Limits on the number of passengers are trickier, placing planning burdens on travelers. It's left to the cruise line to decide whether to dock at a port that has passenger limits and risk giving some guests no chance to disembark.
For example, Bar Harbor's rule means that cruise passengers who wish to go ashore must compete for limited resources to nab a disembarkation slot, either by booking one of the cruise line's overpriced excursions or by being one of the lucky souls at the front of the line to snag one of the few remaining slots available. The rest of the passengers must remain aboard in port.
Local opponents of these measures—usually the wealthiest business owners in town, and often the ones with financial interests in the port area—are battling their neighbors for the rights to keep the spigot of tourist cash freely flowing.
This week, voters in Bar Harbor were asked if the Bar Harbor Town Council could implement higher passenger maximums of up to 3,200. By a margin of just 63 votes out of 3,654 ballots, citizens decided to leave the 1,000-passenger limitation in place.
A recount may be ordered, but if the cap holds, Bar Harbor will undoubtedly vanish from the lineups at the big lines and become a stop that is accessible only to cruisers who pay luxury prices to sail aboard small ships.
Although Maine is famous for the staunch practicality of its folk, Bar Harbor is by no means the only city placing limits on cruise passengers.
In free-spirited Key West, Florida—once a ubiquitous port of call for Western Caribbean cruises—the issue of port limits is just as contentious. In 2021, residents voted for a limit on large ships for the sake of the region's delicate coral systems, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis keeps circumventing the vote. As Key West locals become more disdainful of cruise passengers, the furor has become ugly enough to persuade many major cruise lines to avoid calling on the island altogether.
The famous Greek island of Santorini, where ancient cliffside settlements teeter delicately on the edge of an extinct volcano, used to contend with an average of 3.6 ships daily. On one infamous day, the island was inundated with so many people there was one tourist for every resident.
So in 2016, Greece instituted a cap of 8,000 tourists a day—still a lot, but theoretically some passengers could be excluded from getting off some ships without prior planning and extra expense.
Last month, the Greek prime minister affirmed that 8,000-person maximum for Santorini. If your cruise ship is headed there on a busy day, there's a chance you won't be allowed ashore.
In Juneau, Alaska, where as many as seven giant cruise ships can call on a busy summer day, a new limit of 12,000–16,000 visitors, depending on the day of the week, will take effect in 2026 (some residents wanted the measure to go much further).
There are also cases in which ports that have been directly accessible to cruise ships for decades are being declared off-limits, forcing ships to dock miles away and transport day-tripping passengers long distances.
Amsterdam has responded to pollution and disruption by cruise ships by deciding to phase out its city-center port over the next decade. Passengers who think they'll be getting off in Amsterdam will increasingly have to reach the city on coaches or public transit from more distant ports.
In 2021, Venice, Italy, banned all but boutique-sized cruise ships from its city center, forcing mainstream ships to ferry customers to town from much farther away. That cumbersome compromise has led Norwegian Cruise Line to give up on Venice altogether.
In Spain, locals in Barcelona have grown to resent tourism so deeply that tourists have been squirted with water guns, the city center's port has already pushed passenger ships to more distant ports, and further limits on daily passengers are being discussed. The Spanish ports of Valencia and Ibiza are considering limits, too.
You might assume that when a port is listed as a destination on your cruise itinerary you'll be able to step off the ship and easily explore the place.
That's no longer a sure thing. It's imperative you understand the logistics of your cruise's port location and, in some cases, secure an available spot on the list of passengers who are permitted to get off the ship at all.