Tag Archives: United States

Court Upholds Bar Harbour’s Limit on Cruise Guests

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Court Upholds Bar Harbour’s Limit on Cruise Guests

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. District Court’s decision that confirmed that Bar Harbour, Maine, can limit the number of cruise guests arriving in the town daily.

According to local sources, the case has now been sent back to the lower court for further comments and additional review.

Three years ago, Bar Harbour residents voted to limit the number of cruise passengers who can disembark in the town to just 1,000 per day.

As reported by Cruise Industry News at the time, the measure was proposed at a referendum and was endorsed by 58 per cent of the voters.

Supporters said that the town felt “overrun” by cruise ship traffic during peak summer months, which caused congestion and excessive traffic.

According to the Portland Press Herald, Bar Harbour welcomed over 270,000 cruise guests before introducing the limit in 2022.

Citing court files, the local news source said that the town typically welcomed 150 cruise ship calls per year.

A group of local businesses subsequently filed a lawsuit alongside pier owners, touring companies and the local pilotage association.

The parties allege that the ordinance breaks federal laws, including those that regulate interstate commerce, while also interfering with requirements for entrance into the United States and denying seafarers access to shore.

In 2024, a federal judge in Bangor found in favour of the town, deciding that Bar Harbour has home rule authority granted by the state.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals now wants the District Court to determine whether the ordinance is “clearly excessive” when it comes to regulating interstate commerce, the Portland Press Herald added.

The newspaper said that the lower court was also asked to explore whether the ordinance meaningfully advances Bar Harbour’s interest in reducing congestion and whether these results could not be achieved through less burdensome means.

Port of Galveston Preparing for Cruise Growth with Infrastructure Upgrades

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The Port of Galveston serves over one million passengers per year, ranking it fourth in the United States, and plans to expand its infrastructure with strategic updates in the near future.

The port is investing approximately $33 million in cruise-related infrastructure upgrades, with the goal of reaping millions more in future revenues and economic growth for the community and region, according to a statement by the Port Director and CEO Rodger Rees.

Galveston’s capital improvements are part of the port’s strategic master plan, which was approved by the board in 2019 and will last for the next 20 years. Other projects planned by the port include upgrades to accommodate more and larger ships, as well as more passengers. All of these are funded by the port through cash reserves, operating income, loans, grants, and public/private partnerships.

According to Rees, the port’s most significant expansion will be the addition of a third cruise terminal at Pier 10 in November 2022, a project which was brought to life through a public/private partnership with Royal Caribbean International.  The latter is constructing a 161,000-square-foot terminal to homeport its Allure of the Seas and will contribute an estimated $110 million to the project to build the terminal. The port is investing nearly $22 million in pier repairs, site work, utilities, and cruise parking for 1,800 vehicles. This new terminal is expected to generate significant revenue and jobs for the port and regional economy.

As Rees further noted, Galveston also plans to spend about $11 million on improvements at cruise terminals 25 and 28 in preparation for the Carnival Jubilee, which is scheduled to homeport starting in November 2023.

To accommodate the new ship, the port will construct a second gangway, internal improvements to allow for more efficient passenger processing, and a federally mandated facility for US Customs and Border Protection. In addition, beginning this year, the Ruby Princess will sail from December 2022 to April 2023 from cruise terminals 25 and 28.

Royal Caribbean CEO Urges Travel Advisors to Rebuild

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Appealing to travel advisors to start to sell cruises again, Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain states his case in a newly released video.

The time has come, he said, to focus on how we come out of the pandemic, rather than how we should live during it. The time has come to look forward and do what we have done for decades, sell cruises.

Fain said a surge of interest has come mainly via the internet rather than from travel advisors, as people became used to buying things online during the pandemic, and continue to do so, while many travel advisors cut down on staff and marketing.

“Now, we need to rebuild so travel advisors need to do more,” he said. Appealing to travel advisors, Fain said: “We need you to reach our full potential. It was the personal contact with travel advisors that built up the knowledge and awareness (of cruising) in the first place.

“We need you and we need your personal touch, and the clients need you to help them understand the complexity of the product.”

Fain noted that while the pandemic is not over, its prevalence in the industrialized world is falling, and the main drivers behind the disease are understood and can be controlled.

He also noted that cruise ships have advantages over land-based comparables with the vast bulk of people onboard being vaccinated, and the sanitation being controlled, including air filtration, and strict health and safety protocols being enforced.

“As a result, we can make ships safer than shore-based alternatives,” Fain said.

Compared to a CDC colour-coded COVID-19 map of the United States, Fain said that cruise ships would be blue, representing the lowest category of risk, and better than most of the counties in the U.S.