Portland Cruise Control

Folly of the Seas
via Cruise Law News

Folly of the Seas via , political cartoonist for Dutch newspaper Trouw.

Our Cruise Tourism Questions are today being answered by Councilor At Large Candidate Atiim Boykin.

Learn more about his platform here:
https://atiim.org

Follow him on FB here:
https://www.facebook.com/atiim.boykin/

1. What role should cruise tourism play in Portland?

Cruise tourism has a place in Portland's economy, but the costs of that tourism should be borne by the ships that create them, not by the people who live here. The trajectory is what concerns me:
roughly 100 calls in 2025, about 144 scheduled for 2026, a 44% jump, with some vessels carrying up to 4,000 passengers. That pace has outrun the city's planning for the real costs: the load on Casco Bay, the concentrated strain on the peninsula, and the fact that residents absorb the impact while the revenue and the decisions sit elsewhere. I'm not looking to end cruise tourism. I want Portland to set the terms rather than absorb whatever arrives, same coast, two honest questions: What does it give us? And what does it cost us?

2. Do you support prohibiting the discharge of exhaust-gas scrubber washwater in Casco Bay?

Yes. Scrubber washwater is toxic to marine life, and Casco Bay has been a federally designated No Discharge Area since 2006. Here's the precise legal picture: a general city ordinance banning discharge outright would run into VIDA preemption. But Seattle didn't do it that way. They banned at berth scrubber discharge through their own Terminal Tariff, a condition of using the port itself, not a citywide environmental ordinance. The Port of Seattle's own government relations team has confirmed that mechanism is "unimpacted and independent of VIDA." Portland has the same tool available right now. I'd bring a Rule 8 revision to Portland's own Terminal Tariff prohibiting scrubber wash discharge at berth, the same route Seattle and Vancouver have already used successfully, alongside the tariff pricing already in motion, and partner with Casco Baykeeper on monitoring.

3. Is Portland adequately addressing neighborhood and transportation impacts from cruise visits?

Not yet adequately. Charter-bus idling, congestion, pedestrian safety, noise, crowding: these land on specific streets, and the people who live with them haven't had enough say. The fixes are concrete: enforceable anti-idling standards with staging away from residential blocks; pedestrian-safety attention at the most-affected crossings on call days; and call-schedule coordination so multiple large vessels don't overwhelm the peninsula the same day.
There's also a real business opportunity here I don't think we've explored. Emeryville, California, where I actually keep a studio, so I know this system firsthand, runs a free shuttle called the Emery
Go-Round, funded entirely by a business improvement district that commercial property owners’ tax themselves into. It moves over a million riders a year on a loop people can count on. Portland could build something similar around cruise days: a shuttle connecting the port to downtown, Washington Avenue, and out across the bridge to South Portland, and further out to shopping and attractions in Westbrook and Scarborough. This isn't competing with Metro's regional routes, it's the same relationship AC Transit's regional buses have with Emeryville's local shuttle: one covers the region, the other covers the crevices a regional line can't reach on a tight, reliable loop. That opens the city to cruise passengers and to Portland elders who don't drive, and it gives neighboring towns real upside from port traffic that right now mostly stays on the peninsula. I'd bring the Chambers of Commerce,
Visit Portland, and neighboring town councils to the table to structure the funding the way Emeryville did.
And the bigger investment: we should be building toward a green port, the electrical infrastructure that lets ships plug in at berth. That's not just a climate win; it's a neighborhood win. And it's not just
Portland's cost to carry. South Portland, Westbrook, and Scarborough all stand to benefit from a cleaner harbor and the regional draw the port creates, so they should have real skin in the game in funding it, alongside pressing CMP and Augusta to help carry the cost.

4. Do you support public-health protocols for cruise ships arriving with infectious-disease outbreaks?

Yes, and this is one I speak to directly, because public health is my professional field. As a clinician, the protocol is straightforward: advance notification when a vessel reports an outbreak, transparent
plain-language communication with the public, and coordination with the Maine CDC before passengers disembark. Information should be timely and accessible, not buried, and the city should be prepared to adjust disembarkation and public operations on public-health guidance. It's simply the right thing to do. Protecting public health isn't optional, it's the job.

5. Your highest priorities for cruise-ship policy, and how you would pursue them?

1. Ban scrubber discharge — revise Rule 8 of our Terminal Tariff, the same mechanism Seattle already
used, and build toward a green port with shore power.
2. Give impacted neighborhoods real standing — anti-idling, staging, pedestrian safety, call-day coordination, built with the residents who live with the impact.
3. Honest accounting — the public should see what cruise tourism costs Portland and what it contributes, in plain numbers.
How I'd pursue them: through the tariff and berth-access levers the council actually controls; coordinating with Augusta, South Portland, Westbrook, and Scarborough on shared funding for the green port and a regional shuttle; in partnership with Casco Baykeeper and the Maine CDC; sitting
down with affected neighborhoods to build the response together.

An endangered dead fin whale was pulled from the bulbous bow of the cruise ship Norwegian Joy this morning as the ship made its way toward the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal for its port call in Sitka.

https://www.juneauindependent.com/post/fin-whale-struck-by-cruise-ship-in-sitka-sound

Fin whale struck by cruise ship in Sitka Sound A dead fin whale was pulled from the bulbous bow of the cruise ship Norwegian Joy this morning as the ship made its way toward the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal for its port call in Sitka.

Today we have District 5 Clean Elections candidate Jakobi Delgado sharing his thoughts about cruise tourism in Portland.

Learn more about his platform here:
https://www.jakobiforportland.com/

Follow him on FB here:
https://www.facebook.com/jakobi.delgado

1. What role do you believe cruise tourism should play in Portland? Please describe any concerns you associate with the current level of cruise activity.

- I believe that cruise ships purpose should be to benefit the city, it's environment, and the people that live there. Any business relationship should be mutually beneficial, and what we are getting right now is not beneficial to the average person. Cruises should have to work with the city to utilize and expand public transit options to reduce traffic, limit noise emissions into our city, and be a partner not an extractor. I want to make it clear I am not in favor of a cruise ship ban, but we need to regulate how these multi million-dollar companies operate in our city.

2. Do you support prohibiting the discharge of exhaust-gas scrubber washwater in Casco Bay?

- Yes.

3. Do you believe Portland is adequately addressing the neighborhood and transportation impacts associated with cruise visits, including charter-bus idling, traffic congestion, pedestrian safety, noise, air pollution, and crowding? What additional actions, if any, should the city take?

- No, I think public transportation in Portland is great, but charter busses downtown are a mess and cause traffic and pedestrian safety issues. My plan if elected to deal with traffic is to limit the amount of charter buses allowed to idle or be present within a given time frame. I would also work with GP Metro to establish new routes that will eventually connect the Old Port to the GP metro system better, with more routine service!

4. Do you support establishing public-health protocols for cruise ships arriving with infectious-disease outbreaks? Please describe what information should be provided to the public, and what actions the city should be prepared to take.

- I think any cruise ship seeking to dock in Portland should need to report known outbreaks regardless of the size to the local authorities, at which point it should be at the discretion of public health officials and professionals with more experience in public health then I ever will make the call on what information is released at what time.

5. Please identify your highest priorities for cruise-ship policies and how you would pursue them.

- Ensuring that cruise ships will need to report any known outbreaks to local officials prior to docking, banning any potentially pollutant discharge, fining ships that go above noise limits that I want to impose, and ensuring that the cruise ships need to act as a partner in transit rather than as an obstacle for the average resident.

To do these things, the first few are relatively straight forward I would want to pass an ordinance to do it; for the last part I would want to institute idle limits and charter bus caps per organization from the dock and work with GP Metro as I stated previously to introduce a routine bus service during summertime.

Next up in our Candidate Cruise Question Survey is Todd Chretien.

Todd is running a Clean Elections campaign in District 5.
You can learn more about his platform here:
https://toddfordistrict5.org

Follow him on FB here:
https://www.facebook.com/todd.chretien.for.Portland

1. What role do you believe cruise tourism should play in Portland? Please describe any concerns you associate with the current level of cruise activity.

Tourism is a critical part of Portland's economy. If cruise ships are to continue to play a role in that sector, they must take responsibility for radically reducing emissions, sharing additional associated costs (trash disposal, traffic, etc.) with the city, and paying higher tariffs. The cruise industry makes billions. Royal Caribbean's revenue for 2025 was nearly $18 billion. These private companies must pay their fair share and Portland should play hardball with them.

2. Do you support prohibiting the discharge of exhaust-gas scrubber washwater in Casco Bay?

Yes. And I will work with other municipalities on their itinerary to ensure the waste is not passed on to our coastal neighbors.

3. Do you believe Portland is adequately addressing the neighborhood and transportation impacts associated with cruise visits, including charter-bus idling, traffic congestion, pedestrian safety, noise, air pollution, and crowding? What additional actions, if any, should the city take?

Portland has taken important steps, such as the increase in per passenger tariffs, but more must be done. The cruise companies want to treat Portland like summertime fling. We need a long term commitment to year-round union jobs to mitigate the industry's impact, translate tourist foot traffic into sustainable economic development, and a direct link between reducing cruise industry emissions to building up Portland's clean energy infrastructure. Towards that end, I support directing a portion of fees and tariffs towards achieving our One Climate Future goals.

4. Do you support establishing public-health protocols for cruise ships arriving with infectious-disease outbreaks? Please describe what information should be provided to the public, and what actions the city should be prepared to take.

The latest Ebola outbreak, alarmingly high growth of measles cases, and other public health threats pose serious concerns for Portland. Luckily, Portland has world-class hospitals, educational healthcare institutions, and research facilities. Portland should coordinate with these entities to improve our response to infectious disease and the cruise industry, as one of the most vulnerable vectors for spread, must pay its fair share to support and expand this response. One simple tool could be a weekly or monthly public report from all arriving ships reporting on any public health risks associated with their cruises. I am not a public health expert so I will take guidance from those who know better, but during the Covid pandemic, our public schools did regular pool testing and health officials are able to test the presence of infectious disease by testing waste water. Both these tools would seem to lend themselves to the cruise industry with transparent reporting and/or the direct involvement of Portland public health officials.

5. Please identify your highest priorities for cruise-ship policies and how you would pursue them.

Cruise companies must pay more in tariffs, fees, and taxes. They profit from our collective work as Portland residents. They must pay more to expand our local workforce (and these should be union jobs that pay a living wage), improve our public health infrastructure, and mitigate the impact of beneficial economic activity. Radically reducing pollution and demanding they share their profits with our city are my two highest priorities.

We asked the City Council candidates their thoughts about cruise tourism.

First up is Jake Viola, running a Clean Elections campaign in District 4.
Read more about his platform here:
https://jakeviola.com/

Follow him on FB here:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591587745878

1. What role do you believe cruise tourism should play in Portland? Please describe any concerns you associate with the current level of cruise activity.

Cruise tourism can be part of Portland's economy, but it needs to be managed responsibly, not treated as growth without limits. With dozens of ships calling each season and vessels carrying thousands of passengers, the current level of activity is straining our waterfront, air and water quality, and neighborhoods. I'm concerned we haven't done a real cost-benefit analysis weighing tourism revenue against environmental damage, infrastructure wear, and quality-of-life impacts on residents and Old Port workers. Growth should be paired with real environmental and public health safeguards.

2. Do you support prohibiting the discharge of exhaust-gas scrubber washwater in Casco Bay?

Yes. Open-loop scrubbers dump acidic, toxic washwater, laden with heavy metals and carcinogenic compounds, directly into the bay while ships idle at berth, and the science increasingly shows there's no safe discharge concentration. Other major ports, including Seattle and Vancouver, have already banned this through their terminal tariffs without losing cruise business. Portland should update Rule 8 of its Port Terminal Tariff to explicitly prohibit scrubber washwater discharge while ships are docked, requiring cleaner fuel instead. This protects Casco Bay's marine ecosystem and the fishing industry, which sustained my family in Portland for generations, that depends on it.

3. Do you believe Portland is adequately addressing the neighborhood and transportation impacts associated with cruise visits, including charter-bus idling, traffic congestion, pedestrian safety, noise, air pollution, and crowding? What additional actions, if any, should the city take?

No, I don't think the city is doing enough. These impacts are exactly the kind of quality-of-life and safety issues I've focused on in my own platform. I'd support anti-idling enforcement for charter buses, designated staging areas to reduce congestion near the terminal, and better pedestrian safety measures on peak cruise days. The city should also make it easier for residents to report cruise-related complaints and actually track and respond to that data, rather than letting it disappear.

4. Do you support establishing public-health protocols for cruise ships arriving with infectious-disease outbreaks? Please describe what information should be provided to the public, and what actions the city should be prepared to take.

Yes. Portland currently has no meaningful notification or response protocol, and recent incidents, including a ship arriving with the highest reported norovirus rate in the country, show the gap is real. The city should require mandatory outbreak reporting from all arriving ships, establish clear thresholds for quarantine or denial of entry, and use existing public alert systems to notify residents, employees, and visitors when an affected ship is in port. Old Port workers and businesses also need accessible health guidance so they can protect themselves.

5. Please identify your highest priorities for cruise-ship policies and how you would pursue them.

My grandfather became a commercial fisherman in Portland during the Great Depression to support his mom, dad, and nine brothers and sisters. My Dad followed in his footsteps after high school. Growing up, I often went to the fish pier while my Dad, granddad, uncle, and cousins unloaded the fishing boats. The working waterfront is so important to me, and keeping the water and city clean from pollution will always be top of mind for me on the City Council. My top priorities would be enacting the scrubber washwater discharge ban through the Port Terminal Tariff, establishing a real infectious-disease notification and response protocol with the Public Health Department, and improving transportation and neighborhood impact management around cruise days. I'd pursue these by working directly with the Sustainability & Transportation Committee and Public Health Department on the proposals already in progress, and by pushing for the cost-benefit data the city needs to set responsible limits on future cruise growth.

Cruise ships have morgues

Freezers with body size drawers for making the worst popsicles
via Alex Falcone

Unfun fact: Cruise ships have morgues

Portland unveils first ever alert system for cruise ship outbreaks

Residents of Portland can now be notified should an infectious disease outbreak take place on a cruise ship bound for the city’s harbor.

Local activists say a new opt-in text alert system is the first of its kind to inform the public of potentially contagious passengers coming to port.

Matthew Day, cofounder of the volunteer group Portland Cruise Control, said the idea for the notification system started last fall, when the Oceania Insignia docked downtown during a norovirus outbreak. More than 13% of passengers were sickened but the public was told not to be alarmed.

https://app.publicnewsservice.org/story/portland-unveils-first-ever-alert-system-for-cruise-ship-outbreaks-1/d7fdc017-24ab-4b73-8d09-a620a956ffaf

Portland Downtown

Portland unveils first ever alert system for cruise ship outbreaks Residents of Portland can now be notified should an infectious disease outbreak take place on a cruise ship bound for the city’s harbor.Local activists say a new opt-in text alert