Venice residents have voted to ban large cruise ships from sailing through the city. Cruise liners are planned to be redirected to another route into the Venice lagoon and a terminal on the mainland. Locals are worried that the ships threaten the foundations of Venetian buildings. Furthermore, they refer to cruise ships as a major source of pollution and overtourism in Venice, which has negative consequences on people as well as on the city’s buildings and heritage.

Each year, about 2 million tourists visit Santorini, and many of them arrive by cruise ship. Tests have shown that the air pollution on the island in the vicinity of the cruise ships is up to 100 times higher than in other areas and about 17 times higher than next to a heavily frequented road.

Air pollution might have negative impacts on the health of passengers and of Santorini residents.  

Tourists and cruise ships could be turned away under new plans to protect Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik has introduced a strategy to stagger cruise arrivals in order to reduce the number of cruise passengers visiting the city at the same time. According to reports, the plan will lead to a more even distribution of visits throughout the week.

The video shows that not only do air emissions of cruises have a major negative impact on the environment, but also the large volumes of waste and sewage which are sometimes discarded untreated into the sea. 

A ranking by the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union Germany (NABU) gives bad scores to cruise liners when it comes to environmental pollution. Some companies, however, have built new cruise liners that sail with liquid gas, which has fewer negative impacts on the environment. 

Princess Cruises apologizes for 'Culturally Insensitive' Performance 

In the wake of criticism, Princess Cruises has apologized for a big cultural gaffe when it had staff dress up as Maori and dance for guests upon docking in New Zealand on Sunday. The Maori are indigenous Polynesian people who settled in New Zealand nearly 700 years ago. At the Port of Tauranga passengers were welcomed onboard by non NZ crew members dressed in grass skirts with black markings on their faces. The cruise company issued an apology almost immediately, assuring to prevent any further possibility of cultural insensitivity.