Key West Cruise Port
November 29, 2021
(11 a.m. EST) – Cruise ships returned to the Florida Essential West over the weekend for the very first time since March 2020, providing vessels one more well-known put to cease on Caribbean itineraries.
Azamara Quest and Crystal Serenity equally stopped in Key West on Saturday, with a combination of 911 travellers between them. The number of travellers is significant, as Key West has been in a battle to lower the effect of cruise ships on the island city.
In November 2020, voters in the town approved a sequence of referendums aimed at limited the sizing and quantity of ships that contact on the well-liked Florida cruise port. The actions would have limited the amount of folks disembarking from the ships to 1,500 persons for each day, as effectively as prohibiting ships carrying extra than 1,300 people today.
But in spring 2021, lawmakers in the Florida Senate and Dwelling voted to override the regional energy with a point out legislation that suggests that suggests regional authorities can’t pass ballot initiatives or referendums that restrict maritime commerce. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the invoice into law in June 2021.
Critical West performs an significant part on numerous Caribbean itineraries. The town — the southnermost in the contiguous United States — is a popular port on each Caribbean and Bahamian itineraries, thanks to its proximity to important turnaround ports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Of the two ships that docked Saturday, Azamara Quest would have fulfilled the new Crucial West restrictions, as the ship has a overall capability of 1,094 people today (686 passengers and 408 crew). Crystal Serenity is somewhat larger, with a total capability of 1,695 (1,040 travellers and 655 crew), but the ship was sailing with only 476 passengers, according to the port.
According to the Keys Weekly, the issue of restricting cruise ships contacting on Important West is not dead. Advocates for cruise ship controls are urging the town to flip the referendums into ordinances, which are not covered by the point out law.
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