Protesters Greet Return of Cruise Ships to Key West

The cruise ships are back in Key West, Fla.

And some Key West residents aren’t happy about it.

About 200 protesters showed up on Thursday, December 9, to greet the Norwegian Dawn as it arrived in port, according to the Miami Herald, signaling that the fight to limit cruise ships to the popular tourist destination isn’t over – no matter what the state of Florida says.

In November of 2020, Key West voters passed three referendums that limited cruise ship visitors to a total of 1,500 per day; prohibited ships with a capacity of 1,300 or more from disembarking passengers; and giving priority to cruise lines with the best environmental and health records. There was also an underlying concern about transmission of the COVID-19 virus, which had been prevalent on cruise ships.

Less than eight months later, with financial backing from the cruise line industry and at the urging of Key West business owners whose tourist-heavy economy relies on visitors, those referendums were overturned by state lawmakers.

The protesters who came out on Thursday morning represented the group ‘Safer Cleaner Ships,’ which said it wants more responsible tourism and less mega-ships coming to Key West.

Cruise ships had already been absent from Key West for 20 months due to the pandemic.

“We are not done fighting this,” Arlo Haskell, one of the group’s organizers, said according to the Herald. “We are far from done.”

The Norwegian Dawn can hold up to 3,300 people – or 2,000 more than the size of ship that voters want. A total of 2,134 passengers and crew were on this particular voyage.

When the Dawn docked at a private pier, however, a banner was in place that read “Welcome to Key West Cruise Ship Passengers.”

“There are a lot of people that feel the other way,” Tom McMurrain, manager at the pier, told the Herald. “Everybody should be welcomed to come to Key West. It’s always been that way. People come by bus and by plane. There should not be a limitation.”