If the mayor of Nice, France, gets his way, the southern French city will ban large cruise ships from docking or anchoring in its waters — as soon as July 1.
Christian Estrosi is proposing to forbid cruise ships with a capacity of more than 900 passengers and measuring over 190 meters (about 620 feet) in length, deeming them a form of “low-cost tourism.”
“Tourism, yes, overtourism, no,” Estrosi said in a speech to Nice residents earlier this week. “The cruises that pollute and dump their low-cost clientele who consume nothing, but leave their waste behind … these cruises have no place with us.”
The announcement doesn’t come as a surprise for those living in the city. For several years, Estrosi has fought against pollution caused by large vessels in the port of Nice, which, unlike many other Mediterranean cities, is surrounded by residential streets. This has included severely restricting the once-regular Nice to Corsica ferry schedule.
While geography and location mean Nice rarely welcomes vessels bigger than Estrosi’s proposed new limits, the neighboring town of Villefranche-sur-Mer is set to feel this decision the most. Villefranche’s picturesque bay is one of the deepest natural harbors in the Mediterranean. Cruise ships with up to 3,500 passengers (the current ceiling) are regular visitors. It is also part of the Nice metropolitan area.
Among the lines at risk of being impacted if the ban does come into effect are Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Holland America Line, Cunard, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Viking — its ships are a familiar sight in the bay into the winter months — is another line that will be affected; a maximum capacity of 930 across most of its fleet is just over Estrosi’s proposed maximum limit.
The city has said it is looking at what cruise visits can be canceled as of this summer and those that cannot be, according to the local newspaper Nice Matin.
Villefranche-sur-Mer locals, many who rely on tourism, aren’t all happy with the news. “Cruise passengers make up 20 percent of our business,” Jonathan Schneider, owner of the Gelateria di Corsica ice-cream shop opposite the cruise terminal, told Travel + Leisure. The extension of the traditional Mediterranean cruise season into winter has allowed him to stay open for two months than he normally would. Now, Schneider says, that’s at risk.
Smaller cruise lines that regularly dock in Nice or anchor in the bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer including Sea Cloud Cruises, Windstar, and Atlas Ocean Voyages remain unaffected. Estrosi has said that he will invest €7 ($7.29) million into the electrification of ports so that these smaller ships can plug into shore power. He also proposes building a dedicated “high-end” maritime terminal for smaller vessels.
The ports of the Alpes-Maritimes, the official name of the region best known as the Côte d’Azur, welcomed 670,000 cruise passengers in 2023. Last year, Villefranche-sur-Mer saw 70 cruise ship visits, a figure already well down on the 200 visits in 2010. Cannes, by comparison, welcomed 174.
The bylaw still has to be voted on by the regional authorities.
Source: Travel+Leisure
