DeSantis and Cruise Ships In Key West

Above, the Majesty of the Seas docked at Key West in 2019. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Four and a half years ago, I took a cruise to Havana, Cuba. Along the way, our cruise ship made a stopover in Key West, Florida where we were able to tour the town and do some shopping and eating.

However, the locals in Key West have been complaining about the sizes of cruise ships and the numbers of people flooding into town, despite the fact they also have been providing plenty of tourist dollars to the local economy.

Gov. Ron DeSantis faces a "critical decision" on the future of cruise ships stopping at Key West.

According to The Union Journal:

From the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak, inhabitants of Key West, Fla., campaigned to decrease the volume and capacity of holiday cruise ships docking at their small island. The push started when U.S. ports denied entry to cruises filled with infected passengers. They have leveraged the context of the pandemic to push for ongoing restrictions on such vessels.

Engaged citizens attended City Commission meetings in large numbers, held protests at the dock, collected signatures and were successful in pushing stricter regulations through three ballot measures in 2020. These laws aimed at safeguarding the marine ecosystem and limiting the number of tourists to 1,500 per day. However, the new laws were scrapped by the state Legislature the following year, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Currently, the affluent hotel magnate running the cruise ship dock in Key West aims to further develop the port, to legally allow larger ships with more passengers.

This issue will head to Gov. DeSantis soon. With nearly $1 million in funding for his campaign coming from the owner of the port, the Governor has a tough decision to make while being a presidential candidate for 2024. He’s also been supporting Florida’s tourism sector, despite his proclaimed focus on the environment.

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