Hoping to persuade cruise lines decide to anchor elsewhere, the city council in Monterey, California has voted to take away city services for handling passengers arriving at the city’s dock.
In a report to the council, city manager Hans Uslar wrote “It is my hope that this step will signal to the cruise ship industry that they are no longer welcomed by our city.” The concern, he said, is avoiding an “accidental discharge into our pristine Monterey Bay.”
In a letter to the council, advocacy group Cruise Lines International Association pointed out that no discharges of fuel or waste are permitted during a cruise stop and cruise operations are “tightly regulated with rigorous enforcement by authorities, including the U.S. Coast Guard.
“Our cruise line members set a high bar for themselves, and they attest to follow policies for practices related shipboard safety, security, environmental stewardship, and more, which often exceed requirements of international law,” said the letter signed by the group’s president Kelly Craighead.
The city south of San Francisco doesn’t actually have the power to ban cruise ships from arriving in Monterey Bay. According to Travel Weekly, cruise ships will still be allowed to drop anchor in the bay and tender passengers to shore, but cruise lines will have to hire their own staff at the port to process passengers at the city’s public dock.
Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Oceania, Holland America Line, Silversea and Norwegian Cruise Line have scheduled calls in Monterey this year, as part of cruises to Alaska or Mexico. The largest, Discovery Princess, carries 4,400 passengers.
The Monterey council vote was 3-2 and the members said they do appreciate spending by cruise passengers. According to CLIA research, cruise passengers spend an average of $125 each on excursions and shopping on visits to U.S. ports.
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