5 Popular Travel Destinations BANNED Cruise Ships

The cruise industry is having a MASSIVE moment right now, as numbers are up across the board in the post-pandemic travel era. Carriers, including Disney, are adding ships to their fleets at record levels to meet this new demand. However, not everyone is happy about this increase in cruising.

In recent years, several major destinations around the world – – from well known ports — to even a whole country — have begun placing major restrictions on cruise ships visiting, if not banning them entirely. Reasons vary from economic to environmental, but the bottom line is that the loss of these ports of call have left the industry scrambling to make up for them.

According to Forbes, these bans are the result of several factors. “Overtourism is a primary concern, as large ships can flood cities with thousands of passengers at once, straining resources. Multiple large ships visiting a port can overwhelm attractions, shops and city streets. Environmental issues are another significant factor, with large vessels causing erosion of foundations, displacement of water and significant pollution.”

Barcelona, Spain

While the legendary Spanish city didn’t fully ban cruises outright, they took massive action against the industry in 2023 as an effort to combat tourists from overwhelming the city. That fall, the city banned cruise ships from docking at the World Trade Center pier, which is located near the city center, within walking distance of the city’s famous La Rambla district. Instead, all ships must dock at the Moll d’Adossat pier, which is about a half hour away from the city center. Barcelona’s port authorities realized a statement at the time that said the agreement was an effort to “move cruise activity away from urban areas… making them more sustainable.”

Venice, Italy

Venice, known worldwide for its gorgeous bridges and canals, has been trying to balance how to keep its tourism-based economy alive while at the same time protecting the city’s vulnerable architecture and cultural heritage from being overwhelmed by tourists for many years. After several incidents – – including a June 2019 incident that saw a cruise ship crash into one of the city’s wharfs, injuring 5 people – – the Italian government banned ships weighing over 25,000 tons from entering the city’s lagoon down the Giudecca Canal. At the time, Italy’s culture minister, Dario Franceschini said “The intervention could no longer be delayed.”

Nice, France

Nice, which has long been known as the gateway to the Riviera, and a popular destination for cruise ships and super yachts alike, announced partial cruise ship ban in early 2025. On January 24th, it was announced that Nice mayor Christian Estrosi had signed a decree stating that as of July 1st, “floating hotels” that carry more than 900 guests would no longer be allowed to disembark their passengers via tender for excursions. In other words, the ships can still dock there, but passengers can’t get off. According to Estrosi, the goal of the move is to promote “selective tourism”

Iceland

As of January 2025, Iceland imposed a new fee on all international cruises visiting the country in a effort to combat over tourism and environmental degradation. The fee requires cruises that wish to dock in the country to pay 2500 ISK (approximately $18) per passenger, per day for each day they make port.

Belfast, Maine

Moving across the Atlantic to the U.S., Belfast has barred any cruise ship carrying 50 passengers or more — essentially eliminating every category of cruise ship — from entering the port. According to Harbor Master Katherine Given, the presence of cruise ships in the port made it difficult and unsafe for smaller ships to maneuver through the port” she explained in a memo at the time of the ban.

As one would expect, the overall cruise industry is not happy with many of these partial or full bans. Once again, according to Forbes, “Cruise lines are scrambling to find suitable alternatives to unavailable ports.” Furthermore, many of the lines that serviced these destinations have also begun more heavily promoting the onboard amenities available on their ships, as opposed to port of call excursions.

These are just some of the major and minor ports in the world who are partially or fully banning cruise ships for environmental and economic reasons. Stay tuned to AllEars as we further explore how the industry continues to evolve.

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How do you feel about these ports banning cruise ships? Let us know in the comments below.

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