Cruise ships face protests, bans and taxes

Despite a difficult couple of years during the pandemic, cruise holidays remain extremely popular. But the ships can be controversial and the industry has faced protests, bans and soaring taxes in recent years.Dr Clare Weedon, principal lecturer in tourism and marketing at the University of Brighton, told Express.co.uk: ‘Dubrovnik, Venice, Barcelona and all the big destinations were fed up with over tourism and of course they target the cruise ships because they’re the most visible. People seem to either love or hate the ships.’Barcelona has announced it will increase taxes for cruise passengers while large ships are now banned from the Venice lagoon.Aside from the crowds, many locals feel resentful about the industry as tourists do now spend much money in the destinations they visit.Express.co.uk previously spoke to Bengt Waldow, an anti-cruise campaigner based in Norway, who has called for a total ban on ships.READ MORE: Cruise passengers issued cabin warning – ‘don’t chance it’ Cruise ships have been met with protests in popular ports (Image: Getty)Firmly a cruise ship hater, he said: ‘Cruise tourists only leave trash and pennies and move around on those horrible Hop on and off buses.’Although some cruise tourists may spend the night in a destination at the start or the end of the cruise, the majority spend most of their money onboard.’Economically they’re not particularly good for a destination. If it’s just a port of call, the amount of money people spend is really tiny,’ said Dr Weedon.The bans will mainly impact larger cruise ships with some ports planning to introduce limits on the size of vessels.DON’T MISSCruise guest issued warning over common buffet mistake [WARNING]Royal Caribbean shares which cruise cabins sell very ‘quickly’ [INSIDER]Major cruise line introduces strict alcohol rule [NEWS] Cruise passengers could face higher tourist taxes in destinations such as Barcelona and Scotland (Image: Getty) The world’s largest cruise ports (Image: Express)But mega ships remain popular and Royal Caribbean just shared the plans for its next ship. Icon of the Seas will become the largest ship in the world and will carry over 7,500 people.For many customers, the ship is a destination in itself with ziplines, promenades, a living park, laser tag and more onboard.However, Ben Bouldin, director of EMEA for Royal Caribbean told Express.co.uk that destinations and itineraries remain important to customers.He said that the line ‘wants to be respectful of communities and add genuine economic value to the locations we go to.’Many larger vessels have navigated the bans by docking in ports outside the main destinations. Ravenna is a popular option as it’s only a couple of hours away from Venice.Dr Weedon added: ‘The cruise industry doesn’t like to be dictated to in terms of access. The larger ships will go into cheaper, more freight style ports and then bus people in. I think it kills two birds with one stone as they don’t have to talk to the ports.’