Key West Residents Unhappy with Return of Cruise Ships

Cruise ships began returning to Key West two weeks ago, ending a 20-month shutdown due to the pandemic.

On a small island with a tourism-dependent economy known for a laid back, party on attitude, the big return is creating enough discontent to draw a protest downtown on a Thursday morning.

It’s been a little more than a year since voters put limits to drastically reduce the industry’s role in Key West — only to have state lawmakers later cancel out their decisions, which included capping the number of people who come to the island at 1,500 per day and barring ships with a capacity of 1,300 or more from disembarking at all.

Activists said cruise ships are responsible for spreading COVID-19 and damage to a fragile environment.

Several business owners, though, were relieved state lawmakers took action, saying they rely on the passengers to make a living in expensive Key West.

About 200 people on Thursday morning showed up to send a message to cruise lines that large ships holding a few thousand passengers aren’t welcomed by all in Key West.

They were protesting the arrival of the Norwegian Dawn, gathering at the city-owned Mallory Pier, holding signs and flags denoting support for Safer Cleaner Ships, a group that says it stands for responsible tourism that requires smaller ships coming to town.

On the water nearby, more protesters were aboard a flotilla of about 20 boats sporting Safer Cleaner Ships flags.

They all watched the ship, which Norwegian says is a 965-foot ship that can hold about 3,300 people, including crew members, dock nearby at the privately owned Pier B located at the Opal Key Resort and Marina.

Passengers there were greeted at Pier B by banners that read, “Welcome to Key West Cruise Ship Passengers.”

Source: The Miami Herald