Tagged: Key West

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is proposing permanently allowing larger cruise ships to dock in Key West, putting forward a significant port lease modification after the Legislature blocked Key West voters from imposing restrictions on ships in 2021. (more…)

Since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, when cruise ships filled with sickened passengers were blocked from U.S. ports, residents in Key West, Florida, have been trying to limit the size and number of vacation vessels on the tiny island, using the momentum created during the pandemic to argue for continuing restrictions on cruise vessels. (more…)

Key West’s new city manager Al Childress got his first taste of the island’s great cruise ship debate during a special meeting on May 9 that packed city hall with pro-cruise ship business owners and anti-cruise ship activists. (more…)

The Key West City Commission will hold a special meeting Tuesday, May 9, at 5 p.m. to discuss a proposed plan by Pier B to expand its footprint and cruise ship operations in Key West Harbor. (more…)

The Key West Committee for Safer Cleaner Ships has questions for the City of Key West. (more…)

The island-city of Key West off the southern tip of Florida invites visitors to stroll slowly, enjoy turquoise waters and take in the sunset. (more…)

The Key West Committee for Safer, Cleaner Ships is planning a large community-wide rally at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, at Mallory Square to protest the scheduled weekend arrivals of three cruise ships from the Celebrity Cruise line. (keysnews.com)

Arlo Haskell, of Safer Cleaner Ships, speaks to a crowd gathered at Mallory Pier in Key West on Dec. 9, 2021, as a large cruise ship arrives at the privately owned Pier B. The group says large ships cause environmental harm. (miamiherald.com)

The attorney nominated by Safer Cleaner Ships to defend Key West’s right to curtail cruise ships against anticipated lawsuits has “conflicts related to cruise lines.” Joe Jacquot, who also represented the Safer Cleaner Ships committee, revealed the conflicts in a Sept. 28 email to Key West City Attorney Shawn Smith. (keysweekly.com)

The attorney nominated by Safer Cleaner Ships to defend Key West’s right to curtail cruise ships against anticipated lawsuits has “conflicts related to cruise lines.” Joe Jacquot, who also represented the Safer Cleaner Ships committee, revealed the conflicts in a Sept. 28 email to Key West City Attorney Shawn Smith. (keysweekly.com)

Hopes for a veto by those who oppose large cruise ships in Key West ended this morning, when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1194, which voids any existing and prohibits future referendums and initiatives that restrict maritime commerce. (keysweekly.com)

It was another balmy day in paradise when Key West, Fla., voters decided they’d had enough of the thousands of here-today, gone-tonight tourists who regularly pour from giant cruise ships onto the streets of their iconic city. (washingtonpost.com)

In the Florida Keys, elected leaders continue to speak out against two bills that would cancel out a decision by Key West voters to restrict cruise ship traffic to the island. (miamiherald.com)

In November, Key West voters changed how the island will deal with the cruise ship industry. They capped the number of passengers that can disembark each day to 1,500, limited mooring to ships with a capacity of 1,300, and gave docking priorities to cruise lines with the best health and environmental records. (flkeysnews.com)

A bill introduced this week in the Florida Legislature would overturn three laws recently passed by Key West voters to limit cruise tourism to the city. The so-called preemption bill filed by state Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, would retroactively prohibit local governments from regulating seaport business, including restricting a vessel’s type or size. (bradenton.com)

Key West voters approved measures that would cap the number of people who could disembark from cruise ships each day, the capacity of ships and to prioritize ships by health and environmental safety records. (wlrn.org)

Three charter amendments in the Nov. 3 ballot are allowing Key West voters to decide if they want to ban big cruise ships, be more selective on cruise lines, and limit the number of cruise passengers who will be allowed to disembark. (local10.com)

The harbor pilots who guide big ships into the Port of Key West are challenging three proposed city charter amendments that are scheduled to be on the November ballot in Key West. (wlrn.org)

The recent U.S. ban on cruise ships traveling to Cuba has had a ripple effect on South Florida’s cruise industry. Yet not all of it is bad news. In fact, it’s bringing more attention to the southernmost port of call for these big ships in the continental U.S. About 300 cruise ships a year stop in Key West. More than 860,000 people reached the island that way last year, spending 6 to 8 hours taking tours and shopping. (wlrn.org)

Cruise ship passengers descending on the Port of Key West, which includes berths at the city-owned Mallory Square, U.S. Navy-owned Outer Mole Pier and privately owned Pier B, are down almost 7 percent in the last fiscal year. (keysnet.com)